willgatesbass

Wowsers! Thanks everyone. You've definitely all given me some food for thought. Like I said, they are my best mates. I know they appreciate me and it's only this small issue relating to gear that is on my mind. Forgot to mention, our main sound engineer is also the bass player that quit, resulting in me getting the job. He used an amp and no in-ears. As a result, he used to turn up loud so he could monitor himself as well as doing sound on the fly. Slight 'pot calling kettle black' but I know he was just doing what he had to. He's a good guy. I think the main thing I'll take from everyone's advice, is that I was hired for good reason and I should own it. You can't please all the people all the time.

Hi all - this subject probably belongs in the gear section in some ways but the main issue is with communication from my colleagues. I'm in the very fortunate position of being a fairly new bass player that has landed a very cool, well-paid, full-time job with a great UK party band. They happen to be my best friends, which is probably why (when their last bass player resigned) I was offered the position instead of someone more skilled/ experienced. This is particularly jammy as my first instrument is the drums and I had only been playing bass for a year when they asked me. I guess this is my lucky break and I'm very grateful for it. They are very happy with the way I conduct myself in all aspects of the band, and despite regular mistakes, they are sympathetic and patient about the fact that I am still basically a beginner. Sorry for the long intro but I feel it kind of sets the tone for what I'm struggling with. We have a great PA and we're all on in-ears. The logical thing to do would be to use a pre-amp pedal or similar with no amp onstage. I've tried this in the past and although I'm generally happy with what I get in my ears, my drummer and guitarist often complained that they missed the rumble of an amp onstage. The guitarist in particular complains about not being able to feel any bass, yet won't have any of me in his in-ear mix for fear of muddying his guitar/ vocal monitoring. On the other hand, when I buy an amp, they often complain about it's size and weight. To add to the problem, a sound-engineer we often use rarely lets me use any volume with the amp which rather defeats the object. The communication problem comes when I try to discuss gear solutions with them. It probably comes across as bass-geekery when all I'm really trying to do is discuss a solution for amplifying the bass that pleases everyone. They are uninterested when I bring the subject up, but when I buy something new to try, they are very quick to speak up about what they don't like about it. I have just bought an amp which I'm really happy with. It is on the heavy side but I have a folding trolley which makes it very easy to move. It is certainly no bigger or heavier than the RCF subs we load in at every gig! Anyways, this new amp is certainly being enjoyed by everyone. It sounds killer and gives everyone a great feeling on stage. As predicted though, the complaints about it's size are already coming in. I'd like to add that I've owned a few very powerful lightweight rigs which avoided this issue but still didn't get around the sound engineer killing all my volume. I have distant memories of being in an originals band with a great bass player. The guitarists and I would often listen to each other with great interest about the type of gear we were using but when he tried to talk about his gear, we'd all generally switch off! lol. Is this a universal thing for bass players? If it is, I suppose I'm getting my comeuppance! Anyone experienced anything similar? I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how to read what my band mates want. For the last year, I've had a silly amount of gear coming and going and it would be nice to settle on something.

I tried a different lead. Didnt see a warning light. Good to know that you and others use these heads without a cab connected. Thanks

Good shout. I'll hook the cab up in more sociable hours and see if I'm having the same problem. Thanks!

That's a relief. I bought it secondhand.

I'm fairly new to the instrument and definitely new to all the gear that comes along with it. I have to keep the noise down when I practice so I generally use my Vox Amplug, which is great. I recently started putting a pedal board together and decided it best to figure out sounds with my amp (GK MB800) as this is what I will be using live. I have a 2x12 neo cab but can't use it in the house so I have been using the headphone output on the back of the head for the last couple of nights. I was half an hour in to testing a new compressor pedal this evening when the volume dropped substantially and the sound became distorted and crackly. I took my new pedals out of the equation and went straight into the amp - same problem. I then took the bass out of the equation by testing it on the amplug - no problems there. It seems that the amp has developed a fault. I remember once reading that an amp must be plugged into a cab to work. I'm now worried that using my GK head as a headphone amp without a cab connected may have damaged it. Maybe it's just blown by coincidence. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!