Unknown_User

Haha! So many in here that could have been lifted straight out of my head. Especially: "Cool, I've been spot on so far... ah crap!" "How does that middle 8 bit go again?" "Why is he playing that bit now?" "Are we nearly done yet?" "Gah, it's the last song, I was enjoying that!" "I wish that guy behaving like a Sir Richard Head III would go home." (probably this is what the audience are thinking of me too) Personally I love it when they leave the telly on so I can watch MOTD or whatever. I tend to just play then without being distracted so much by this other stuff, strange as it may sound. Although there's a video of us playing in a pub where the telly with the footy on was right next to me, and all the way through the song I'm basically just looking off to the side ignoring the audience. At one point you can see me going "ooooh!" when someone hit the post. Probably not my most professional moment.

Cheers for the recommendation. I actually already ordered a Behringer DI600P. It's a passive DI which I know I shouldn't be using with a passive bass, but I have a few pedals to go in front of it so I'm hoping they will heat the signal up enough before it gets there and then the passive DI will remove any noise. I'll have to see how it goes! I only want something cheap and cheerful for this really. So I might check the active one you recommend out if this one doesn't fit the bill. It's only £17 online. Could you put the BDI-21 into or out from pedals and then into a passive DI, or am I in the grip of some sort of mania with this now?

The reason I mentioned a DI was if for some gigs I could dispense completely with an amp and just run through the PA. It'd be good to not have to drive to some gigs so I could have a drink. Which I could do if I only had a backpack and bass case to lug around! Most of the places I play are just pubs, so I was hoping that would suffice. I've ordered a cheap DI box to try it out in the practice room sometime. Though I hadn't considered the effect of not standing in front of the amp. That's a good point. When we set up, the PA speakers are always in front of me so that might be a worry. I can normally hear vocals without a problem though, so maybe it'd be ok. I want to get rid of my existing combo anyway. It might be best to go for a Fender combo to replace it rather than going the separates route, which seems like a slippery slope to spending way more money than I should! I played through a house Fender Bassman 200 combo last year at one gig and I really liked the sound out of it.

You can change your technique to change the pitch of your voice, definitely. If you sing from high up, around the nose and throat, you sound higher pitched and if you try to make your voice gravelly doing that then yes you're going to wreck your vocal chords. If you sing from deeper down around your lungs/diaphragm, then I find you can get lower, fuller sounds and put more growl into it without it hurting your throat.

I find singing when playing bass particularly difficult because often the rhythm of the vocals and the rhythm of the bass are very different and running them both parallel in my head it's easy to trip over one or the other. So I would say to try and keep the bass line simple on the bits when you're singing and keep your vocal parts away from any fills.

Interesting stuff and all good food for thought. I am trying to start saving up to upgrade my cheapo Behringer combo and thought I might go down the separate head and cab route. I thought maybe a Hartke LH500 and then I could use the DI out from that into the PA if I didn't want to have to lug a cab to a gig. For the same sort of price as a head and cab I'm starting to think I'd be better off getting a DI box and Rumble 500 to do the same job. Anyone got any recommendations?

I got these the other day as they were reduced from £20 to £5 in my local HMV: https://store.hmv.com/technology/headphones-(1)/no-proof-no-glory-(npng)-earphones. It looks like they've a big sale of headphones on at the minute as loads were reduced and they are discounted online too. They replaced my old Sennheiser ones (which were twenty odd quid a couple of years ago if I recall) that had broken. The sound out of the new ones is much clearer and the cable is a narrow ribbon rather than a wire, so they get a lot less tangled. I'm happy with them so far.

Thanks for the suggestion, TheGreek. It definitely a good idea, although I'd be very shocked if they would repair such an old amp that's been out of service (and which I've already opened up) for free. Sorry if I've upset anyone by calling myself Unknown_User. The username I wanted was taken already and after 15 minutes I still couldn't come up with any better ideas. So I settled for that. I assure you I haven't signed up to cause a fuss.

I've an old Ashdown 65W combo amp that died on me about 15 years ago (it's probably about 20 years old). I stuck it in the loft thinking I'd one day get it repaired and since I've recently started getting into making my own pedals, I thought I might have a crack at it myself. When it went it made a popping sound and then just wouldn't switch on. I opened it up and there doesn't seem to be any visible damage. I can't see any blown capacitors or anything. There was a 500ma glass fuse that had broken and I've replaced with another 500ma glass fuse. With the new fuse it now switches on for a second, but then the speaker makes a thudding sound and the power cuts out from the amp. The fuse doesn't blow any more, but if you switch it off and back on again the same thing happens. Light on, thud, light off. Does anyone have any ideas about what might be causing that? Is it something I could tinker with or has it had it's chips? Thanks all!