PaulWarning

Gareth Holder aka Brian Helicopter from the Shapes is who I think about when someone mentions the Ric Sound http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrAEkvWuK8A

most of the Ricks I've heard sound very knocky, so boost the mids around 600 Hz, having said that Macca's didn't sound like that and most people want the opposite, hence the smiley EQ

[quote name='Sammers' timestamp='1472726130' post='3123656'] Was it like this 1? [url="https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/0242600503/electric-basses/fender-modern-player-jazz-bass-satin-2-color-sunburst"]https://www.anderton...-color-sunburst[/url] If so I don't think they are 5 string pups, it's just that the pole pieces are between the strings rather than a pair of pole pieces directly under the strings like a traditional jazz. I'd imagine unless you find someone either parting out a modern player or someone who can custom build you a pair it'd be pretty hard to get a hold of those spec pups off the shelf! [/quote]yep that's the one, shame I'm a leftie, again , you could be right about the pickups, presumable they're not a Fender stock item

possible, but I might be looking at some 5 string humbuckers, don't know what difference it will make but they must have put them on the Modern Jazz for a reason

the Dimension series doesn't seem to be available in cack handed versions either, think I'll keep my eye out for a second hand Squier VM with a view to having twin humbuckers installed, it'll mean routing out the body but might be worth it, risky though, God knows what it will sound like

heard a guy playing one of these at the weekend, loved the sound he got, turns out it's got 2, 5 string humbucking pickups (it is a 4 stringer) instead of the 2 single coil 4 string ones. The bad news is they don't make them anymore and they seem very rare, and there doesn't seem to have made any lefties at all, Anybody know if there is anything close to this set up

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1472064432' post='3118175'] This shows that with a sound man, it's not really an issue. Most pub bands don't have the luxury of a dedicated sound man and rely on one of the band setting levels ( if you use a PA that is ) You also rely on someone in the audience letting you know " how it's sounding" I'm the singer as well as being the bass player and I am tied to the mic stand and struggle to get out front to hear how it's sounding, so have to rely on others This annoys me because I want to know we have a balance as I don't trust our guitarists opinion of a good sound. He once told me bass should be felt and not heard. There is nothing worse than hearing a decent band with a poorly balanced sound. It can make people think they are bad when they are not. A loud band can be off putting to the audience, but if the stage sound is too loud it puts off the members and as I said earlier, your ears will compensate by blocking certain frequencies. We played a small pub once and decided not to use our PA. just back line. What a difference. It was one of the best sounds we have ever had. We realised we needed to be quieter but it lasted one gig, then it was back to loud as hell. [/quote]we always have a couple of partners in the crowd they let us know if somethings not right, surely all bands have someone at gigs to tell them if something is wrong, we never mic anything up except vocals and the bass drum, me and the singer are also wireless so we can make sure the sound is ok at sound check, of course if you have a guitarist who thinks bass should be low in the mix you just have to ignore him, I agree with you about bands being too loud, that's why we don't mic the drums up

at a local pub venue with in house PA, the sound guy just turns up the guitar in the guitarists monitor when he wants him to turn down, (after he's asked him nicely) says it works everytime

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1472033531' post='3117811'] In fairness, I don't think the drummer is the problem, as he is a comparatively light hitter. As I mentioned above, I dished out a fair amount of money on custom plugs (15's filters) but they did not "do the trick". The problem is the [u]combined[/u] band volume. [/quote]well you mix must be awful then, can't you get someone out front to tell you if someone's to loud?

another do you mic up the drums? if you do, don't ( maybe a bit of bass drum if you must) and set the other levels to match them, can never understand why bands mic up the drums for a small pub gig

A guy I know at open mic uses one, and I don't like it to be honest, can't put my finger on it it but it just sounds false to me, but that could be because I know he's using one

[quote name='sharkboy' timestamp='1471777846' post='3115744'] Thus topic has come up a number of times of late; once, about 13 months ago, raised by me after out guitarist's PRS custom came off second best to gravity. My research revealed a number of horror stories of people that had relied on home contents insurance to cover damage at a gig or in transit only to be rejected on the grounds that their gear was not covered as it was used to generate income and therefore professional equipment that doesn't fit on a domestic policy. The research sent me straight to Allianz's specialist music equipment insurance. £13 a month for £10k worth of peace of mind is a bit of a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. Insurance is only a waste of money until you need it. If your gear isn't that expensive to replace then, sure, you might want to forego premiums and just pay out from your own pocket to replace/repair damaged or lost items. If, however, you might be glad that someone else will give you the couple of grand to get a new custom bass to replace the one that was stolen, then I'd suggest that specialist insurance is the way forward. [/quote]as with all insurance it's your attitude to risk, some people like to have every angle covered, others, like me, think "well I could afford to replace it out of my own pocket so I'll risk it" the chances are you'll get away with it otherwise insurance companies would go bust

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1471777540' post='3115740'] I don't think it would. Ambient mics put the room sound back in but don't give you the control over the mix between instruments that you'd want. Like the annoying snare and cymbals that cut through everything. [/quote]I take your point, but if it's on the mic stand it would pick up what your ears would be hearing more or less, but yeah you've got no control, apart from what goes through the PA, wonder if anybody's used one and can tell us?

I use my home insurance too, my P bass is listed on the policy, I did use Allianz for one year, but the only time it would get nicked really is if it's in the car and it's got to be locked in the boot or the glove box?????? to be covered not much use if you've got an estate car, I know some people will say never leave it in the car but sometimes it's unavoidable, you look a bit of a dick carrying it into the gents at motorway services for instance

depends whether I've got my hearing aids in or not seriously, I know what the Nicko is on about, bass is usually not very prominent in the mix so they all sound the same, live, anyway, which is why I plump for a P bass, it just seems to cut through the mix better than most other basses, yeah, I've seen bands with bass players swapping basses, can't tell any difference, saw a 60's covers band the other week, first half he used his £7000 1967 Rick, second half a Fender Jazz, sounded more or less the same to me TBH, and yes I had my hearing aids in

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1471735297' post='3115506'] More interesting IEM solutions...? Try this. - [url="http://posseaudio.com"]http://posseaudio.com[/url] Quite like the idea of the mic stand mounted controls and ambient feature. [/quote]yep, solves the problem of having to mic everything up

after this thread I actually took my spare bass into the venue tonight, got it out to tune it, jaws dropped to the floor, (it was about a tone flat) it's the first time the rest of the band had seen it

anybody got a plan if the PA fails? ours did once I put the singers mic through my bass amp and used the effects in for my bass via a Zoom pedal, it worked, no backing vocals (might not be a bad thing lol) of course we don't mic any instruments up

our singer knows (I married) a monster from outer space, poem, that fills a couple of minutes

I'm surprised how many E strings get broken, I would have thought that one would be the least likely to break, given how thick it is

I wonder if certain basses are more susceptible to breaking strings?

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1471550437' post='3113965'] I think you need to start a new topic on this because it's always mystified me too. [/quote]I've just started a poll

a poll on how many times you've broken a bass string, be interesting if it was pick or fingers

no problem with that, one of my favourite gigs of recent years was the Glitter Band, and yes they did Gary's songs as well, but they did warn everybody with "we're going to do some songs from a while ago now, so if it's going to upset you you'd better f*** off now" nobody did that's what they were waiting for

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1471548503' post='3113935'] How are people breaking strings ? [/quote]that's always mystified me, I bash away with a 1mm pick and never broken a string.