Al Krow

Not every band going amp-less has the benefit of a FoH technician though, and if you are going amp-less as a bass player surely the reasons are pretty much the same as someone using a rig i.e. it clears up the mush and protects the PA drivers from over exertion?

Would you bother at all with hpf for your bass eg by using a separate hpf pedal if you're not making use of the hpf on the desk? If so, what frequency level do you kick it in and how steep a cut? Just as a fyi for any other Soundcraft Signature desk users, the hpf on these desks cuts at 18dB/oct from 100Hz - so it's decently steep.

No disagreement from me, that all makes good sense. My point was more a "both/and" i.e. if you want a big low end sound then some decent subs are going to help - we would still have hpf on all channels on our desk apart from the kick drum.

@Paul S actually I think you've just saved me £93 on getting that excellent looking Sine Effect H24 by reminding me that we've already got hpf sorted via our Soundtrack desk and I can also take the hpf off on my Zoom B1-4 gigging patches and just leave a few on for home use. That's a nice start to the day! 😊

Hi Paul - in short, yes. We have a Soundcraft Signature 12MTK and the hpf kicks in at 100Hz. We've got hpf engaged for all the channels, including bass, apart from the kick drum which has key frequencies in the 50Hz to 80Hz range and is not being hpf'd.

Not disagreeing that bass can generally be usefully cut with an hpf, there are definitely occasions when you want a powerful low end (as I think we mentioned elsewhere). Two examples might be: - reggae bass; - a club dance vibe. In such cases having the right kit to deliver a big low end, without it just being mud, is going to be key and typically is going involve decent sub-woofer(s) added to the tops. Beyond what my lot currently has in terms of kit, but we recently went through a pair of RCF 15" subs plus high quality tops at a function where we were sharing the PA kit of a pro DJ, and it was such a good sound!

Yes, thanks, you and @Chienmortbb are both correct i.e. fundamental and first harmonic are interchangeable terms so the next one up from the fundamental is the second harmonic not first harmonic.

I see that the MPC One Plus is out, although not feeling any particular pressure to upgrade! Are any of you Akai MPC users managing to make use of your kit in live performance? If so, would love to see any clips if you have them.

I think more accurate to say 1st harmonics at approx. 60Hz and 80Hz (if fundamental is at 31 Hz and 41Hz)? But take your point. That did look really good on the separate thread you started on this one. I've consequently sold my trusty Thumpinator I've had on my board for several years! (Just need to check what the HPF capability is on my Boss multifx before getting one of these as a replacement).

I don't think the SY 200 is going to give you a particularly good 80s synth sound, and it's definitely not an envelope filter. The YT demos are a pretty good demo of what it can do.

Pedals can be a lot of fun Playing bass can be hugely rewarding, but it's absolutely not everyone's instrument of choice Making live music in a band for me is one of the best things I've ever done, but same folk hate gigging 5 strings can be cool, but many prefer 4 and some love 6 Some use backline but others just go through the PA Life's short - do what works for you and brings you joy and don't worry too much if that doesn't suit others down the road Pedals can be a lot of fun.

The one we were at was Husky's studio under the railway arch and just along the road on Amelia St from the Tankard Pub (which is starting to do live music again).

Thanks Pete. Does the Les Paul have single coil pups or humbuckers? PS what was the studio you were at 40 years back?

Sounds sophisticated? Is there a pedal that does the same thing?

Outstanding suggestion. I think it would only work if they switched the power to the rails off though, which would make sense, but...

Yup both points covered earlier, but cheers anyway. We're gonna give the humbucker suggestion approach a shot next time around.

Good question! I guess the suggestion here is that a humbucker style pup may help?

I was wondering whether wireless might help and I can certainly take along a couple of "bugs" for the guitarist to use. My concern was that initially folk were saying "no easy remedy because electric guitar pick-ups are designed to convert a modulated magnetic field into an electrical signal and then amplify it." But thinking this through what's likely happening is that the guitar pups are picking up the vibration of the strings above them (obviously a good thing, haha!) and also picking up the ambient EM field from the railway lines. I guess if we were desperate to use the studio then we could try some shielding over the strings a bit like what Rickenbackers have? Unfortunately our regular guitarist is the least keen on the new venue as it's a bit less convenient for him, so maybe difficult to get him to think about such a mod. Are there any guitars with such shielding over the pups as standard?

Yeah the bass seemed to be fine - it's an active bass. I was going through a provided amp whereas the guitarist was going through the PA (which is what we were going to do for everyone at the gigs the following weekend - and which were thankfully really fine). We wondered whether it might have been the PA, but he got the same interference going through my bass amp with his guitar.

We rehearsed recently in a rehearsal studio in Elephant & Castle located below a railway arch with an active railway line overhead. There was unfortunately a lot of interference for the guitarist. The venue would otherwise be great for the band, being centrally located for us and accessible by public transport. My understanding is that electric guitar pick-ups convert a modulated magnetic field being generated by the overhead railway lines into an electrical signal and then amplify it, and will be made worse if long leads, which act as an aerial, are being used. Is there a piece of kit that a guitarist could use to neutralise the impact of the overhead railway line (other than playing acoustically, haha)? Cheers, Al

@Rosie C - the VE8 looks like a cool piece of kit! Are you singing as well as playing bass? Have you used any other vocal harmony pedals before landing on the Boss?