King Tut

And your 'Big Rig' is?!!

I’m sure we (stray) we’re on the same bill as you somewhere not so long ago. You were the main act. Can’t for the life of me think where!

Or - yes, it may be a duff string. It happens.

So is this the first generation ABM? An EVOi so to speak?

Yes - Stu is now living in Spain. We played with MT's Wishone Ash last year and I met Martin - Nice Guy!

We had a really enjoyable gig at The Cavern in Raynes Park last night playing as ‘Del Bromham and Friends. It was a more intimate venue than we normally play, and it made a change to only have the keys, vocals and kick drum going through the PA - but it was really nice - hearing the guitar and bass as the musicians have voiced them! We only played a handful of numbers by Stray, concentrating on Del’s solo stuff. We played a few we’d never played before including ‘Around The World in 80 Days’ (Del reckons even Stray had never done this one live), ‘Morning Dew’ and ‘I Am’ from the new album. We also played ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’ which I’d never played before and ‘White Feather’ which we’d only played once at The Stables PC (pre covid!). WE had a great crowd and to top it all there was a fab chippy next door! Big thank you to our drummist for the long derrière drive there and back, Noel, the Guvnor for his welcome and enthusiasm, and everyone who turned up for keeping music live!

I’ve got a Veyron that is my main squeeze. I’ve also had a LH500. Both the Veyron and the Hartke are as loud as you’ll ever need, never mind the 1000! Theres no pre post switch on the hartke for DI so you have to use a jack from the tuner (I think) socket for post eq DI. The Hartke’s tone stack isn’t very intuitive but it does sound really good. It’s very clean so forget about valve drive. The Bugera is incredibly loud. Well equipped and more intuitive to use. Also has an onboard compressor which sounds good if used sparingly. it sounds like the Hartke you’ve bought is faulty sadly. I’ve read about similar issues with these in the past. Hope this helps. For me, they’re both good amps but I’d go for the Bugera.

I’ve used a G30 for years and not had a problem with active basses.

Ed Zeppelin Oldplay

We played Silja Rocks last night, my first gig on a cruise ship going between Helsinki and Stockholm. We were first on in the starlight Bar opening for Michael Schenker. I was travelling light using my Ibanez shorty and a Zoom B1 four using the house rig. I’d been picked up at 0120 to get a flight from Heathrow at 0730. Travel all went without a hitch. When we arrived we were disappointed that what was provided didn’t match what had been promised, main worry being no backup instruments. I risked it and Del managed to blag a Les Paul from another band. I ended up going through an EBS Fafner 600 and a Markbass 4x10. I had a lovely tone but I had to seriously crank the volume to get loud enough which again leads me to blather on about how loud my Bugera 1001T is. Our drummer was struggling as he had a seriously crap kit to play on which was a shame. On the plus side, stage and FOH staff were all fab and we had a great stage sound and apparently FOH was epic too. We had an absolute blast and went down a storm. We made a point of watching a part of Schenker’s set. He had a great band behind him and they were on fire. Finished with a raft of UFO numbers and I was in my element. Currently sharing a bus back to the airport with his band (minus Michael) and they’re all great guys. Still pinching meself about how this is all going in my retirement, honestly! Caviar for breakfast and as many Maoams as I could eat - heaven!

I use a patch in our band that uses the ‘defret’ pedal in the Zoom B3n. It’s a kind of fret less synthy sound. I reckon I could get it more fret less if I worked on it. Same sounds more or less on the B1 four

You live and learn! I often use a speakon to jack cable to hook up to a cab, am i in danger of imminent electrocution? If that’s the case, I’m surprised there’s not a warning in the manual - after al they’re not shy of warning us not to eat the product, immerse it in water or use it on the bank of an active volcano!!

I thought bridge mode was something that you got in stereo amps where you use both amps for one cab? This isn’t a stereo amp.

4 Ohms. 2KW of what kind of watts is the question? It’s not 2KW RMS but it’s loud enough to gig with - easily - and then some!

I took these pickups out of a CIJ fender Jazz some years ago and they've been sitting in the draw. I recently installed them in a bass and they actually sound pretty fruity. So much so, I'm not convinced they were original to the bass as the bass was an export version and I thought the pickups were a weak spot of those basses. Interesting that one has the wires enclosed in a shield where the other doesn't. Also interesting that I have to 'reverse' the colours to be wired correctly. Anyone recognise them? I only really want to know as I'll be putting them up for sale once I've worked out what they're worth!

Well I wouldn’t use it for a proper overdrive sound but it does have that nice warm valvey break up if you have the gain so the pre is just clipping. To be fair I could probably get a tone I’m happier with, with the Peavey if I spent some time with it but the weight means it just stays at home

I struggle to call myself professional as my main income definitely doesn’t come from music. On Saturday we’re flying out to Finland to play on a rock Cruise to Sweden, we’re on just before Michael Schenker. Back line is obviously supplied but I’ll be taking my Ibanez TMB30 (short scale) and Zoom B1 Four X. I rehearsed with the Ibanez last night and to be honest I’ve no problem at all gigging with it. I’ve replaced the pickups with SD QP’s and put a high mass bridge on it, but could easily have gigged it bog standard. I normally use a Zoom B3n for gigs, only because it’s a bit easier to switch between patches, but the B four has the same sounds and with a bit of careful programming does the same job. When I’m gigging in the UK I normally use a Bugera Veyron 1001T head. I’ve got the choice of that, an Ashdown, several Traces, a Peavey all valve job,a GK and a Markbass. The Bugera knocks ‘em all out of the water, I’d say for an amp it’s Budget price. I must admit, bass wise, I normally gig in the UK with something a bit classier, but the Ibanez usually comes out as my spare. If it gets lost in the baggage system at Heathrow I’m not gonna be having nightmares over a lost Rickenbacker!!