Richard R

Review here:

Yep, I bought one in the January Sales. Review is here:

A review of the Armourdillo Bass Defender bag. Bought from Daswons in the January sale. My other gig bag (a cheap Ritter that came with my second-hand bass) has had to be repaired a couple of times in the past two years so I’ve been looking out for something to replace it. In particular I wanted something that would also protect my laptop and save me carrying a second bag for bits and pieces. The laptop’s worth four times what I paid for the bass, so having just a pocket on the outside of a thin gig bag isn’t ideal. First impressions: First impression – substantial, well padded, well made. Second impression – heavy! 3.1 kg on the luggage scales, the bass is 3.9. After using it for a couple of weeks carting about mainly by car, here is a more considered opinion, photographs at the end. The bag is definitely well made, and well designed, but it might not suit everyone. Guitar protection: My guitar is 35” scale and fits nicely as you can see in the photograph. A friend’s guitar with a more “Fender-esq” headstock was just too long. (I’ll measure the space when I can find the tape measure). The padding on the bottom end is nice and thick, as is the padding around the sides and the neck support. The lid on the guitar space is also well padded, so the instrument is well protected. Accessories space: The “accessories” space has three compartments, one for a laptop and two others, each zippered separately and with an outer zipped cover over all of them. The laptop space looks like it’s a standard component as it includes space for pens etc. My laptop is 13.5” and very thin, you might get a 14” laptop in, but definitely not a thick 15” machine. The extra padding isn’t massive, but it’s enough to protect a laptop against most bumps. A thin piece of ply would provide protection against more impacts, but as I largely drive to church and practice, I’m happy. The other two compartments are just single spaces with zippers. There’s enough space for bits and pieces (tuner, glasses case, leads). The depth is enough for a shallow stompbox (the photograph shows my home-made page turner), but the switches can be felt through the outer cover, so aren’t really protected against knocks. Construction; The construction is good. The outer fabric is thick, and I think it will wear well. The zippers are large and again seem like good quality, if you wanted to, then the loops on the zipppers are large enough to padlock closed. The straps for the side handles are rivetted and sewn, and loop round the whole case, which is good design. You can see this in the photographs. The shoulder straps are well attached at the top, again rivetted and sewn, but it’s not possible to see how far down they are attached. The shoulder straps don’t completely detach, but they unclip at the bottom and can be tucked into a back pocket. You can see how in the photograph. Whether this would be safe enough to allow the bag to as checked baggage on a flight I’m not sure of, but it’s definitely better than having the straps loose. Conclusion: Would I recommend this bag? Yes. It won’t suit everyone, and it’s probably overkill for what I need, but it does provide a lot of protection and space for accessories. I paid just under £79 in the January sale from Dawsons, their standard price is £119. https://www.dawsons.co.uk/armourdillo-defender-bass-guitar-gig-bag

"The Irish Washer woman", a 6/8 jig. Why? Because it's blooming fiddly* nothing like anything else I would ever play, and I've been listening to too much Dave Pegg and associated folk over the past couple of days. I blame a certain BC member - you know who you are! * no pun intended

According to the box set booklet it's a cribbage reference. I guess you could play cribbage between the sheets?

Thanks @Stub Mandrel for bringing Dave Pegg to my attention. I had a Waterstone's voucher for Christmas, and now yet another musician's biography on my shelves. It's three books down the list though, so will have to wait until I've read the others. Even more excitingly I found A Box of Pegg's in the music section of the Library of Birmingham 🙂. Impossible to buy, but £1.50 to borrow it for a fortnight. The box set booklet is extensive and a real education. Like most people I only know him from Tull and Fairport. Didn't know he was in The Exception or any of the other bands or collaborations. Thanks again!

That's a lovely looking bass!

p.s. make yourself a promise: don't by another bass until you can really play the one you have. 😉

Hello, welcome aboard! I only started less than two years ago, like you I got hooked on a borrowed bass 😀. Studybass.com was by far the best resource I found. By coincidence I'm just actually returning to the site to go back to some basics again for a refresher. Have fun!

The EMO takes mic, line, or 50v speaker level inputs, I have never used the latter! I actually got them because many years ago I needed three DI boxes in a hurry. I was working in Leamington and a colleague suggested I try some shop called Bass Direct on the off chance. I phoned and the owner said they didn't stock them, but he was clearing out some used personal PA gear to sell so as it happened he had two mono and a stereo DI. They have been on stage at church, or kicked round the back halls ever since.

Thanks for posting this, I look forward to a proper listen on a laptop with headphones. I have been trying to explain to the other engineers that the frequency response of a DI box depends crucially on the components (esp the transformer for passive DI), and that there is a good reason to use active DI for passive bass because it doesn't load the guitar. Maybe just listening to the differences will make it clear. I use EMO passive boxes on stage, bomb-proof. Not perfect for elecroacoustic guitar, but better than any other passive I tried, and fine for active bass and keys.

There's probably a whole thread to be had on apps for digital music. OnSong seems popular for chords, I use MobileSheets and have used Picascore in the past. SongSelect is probably the default source for downloading music covered by CCLI onto PDF. No doubt there are others too.

Filter?? BC has a bass porn thread! https://www.basschat.co.uk/forum/4-gear-porn/

It took me ages to realise that when the band leader lifts one leg that means "back to the chorus".

Welcome aboard. Great band name 👍

I was sort of spared the kids song this evening, as I had to double up as sound engineer. Sunday will be OK if I manage to get some practice tomorrow. Hope your Sunday goes well @Big Rich.

Welcome! What's the second on the left with the knife-like headstock? Very cool.

I'm off to band practice in about 10 minutes, and have discovered that we are playing this as the kids' song: I appreciate it is for young children, but any suggestions? Please? Help!

See also the thread on smuggling pop bass lines into church music. 😉

I have a washboard somewhere...

"my church band" - I take it that means you already know the style of music and setup if you're worshipping there regularly? Assuming that, then I guess it depends on your playing ability and experience. I still have to get the music/lead sheets/chord sheets well before the practice and in the keys the band intends to play them in. (Lead sheets especially as they show what the timing should be). Practicing with YouTube is fun, as you probably won't play in the same key as the video! Then as @LukeFRC and @owen have said, it's about playing tastefully to support the band, who support the congregation. If you can add fills that support the music then great, but watch that pianist's left hand. And, please, talk to the sound guy/gal. We're not scary, just tired, and we do actually want the band to sound as good as possible. 👍

Welcome aboard!🙂

At the Midlands Bass Bash? Assuming we finalise the date..

Just googled your band and found the bandcamp pages 😁 Need a proper listen when I not being harrangued to help with the end of year crossword, but as you say, very metal!

Hello and welcome 🙂