PaulWarning

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1463645612' post='3052985'] Bands have always been plagued by egos. I can deal with an over active ego if the guy can back it up. The good musicians I've known have always known they were good. Some had over active egos and some didn't, but anyone who stands in front of other people and says "look at me and what I'm doing" has to have a larger ego than most. [/quote]yep, a front man with no ego is not going to be very good, nothing wrong with having a big ego as long as you realise you have and can therefore keep it in check when required

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1463499534' post='3051843'] I'm 63, playing 4 hours is a piece of cake for me. The tear down is a little rough on me , but that's ok too. Blue [/quote]no disrespect Blue, but the point I was making was that if we just stood there and played, 4 hours would be ok but we do a lot of jumping around and play all fast punky stuff (hard work for the drummer), no 10 minute blues style guitar solo's in our set, that may not be the case in your band of course but I would imagine you have songs where you take a 'breather'

there's no way the band I play in could do 4 hours with the effort we put in (punk) I'm in my sixties but our drummer is 28 and he is absolutely shattered at the end of 2 x 1hour sets plus encores

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1463433139' post='3051367'] Pretty much the same as bonzodog. Played with a pick most of my playing life. Not sure why, maybe its because i also played a bit of guitar first. I dont really like the tone most of the time. I have started playing with fingers at home but my drummer insists on playing everything so fast so i use a pick as my fingers cant keep up. Its a viscous cycle at the moment. [/quote]sounds like my sort of drummer

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1463391793' post='3050885'] Is there a generally accepted definition of 'heavy' and 'light' in this context? [/quote]personally I wouldn't like to lug around anything heavier that 30 Kg, but bulk comes into it as well, even if a Trace 4 x 10 was under 30Kg it's still 18" deep which makes things very awkward, my Rumble is 16Kg but it's still a bit tricky because of it's depth and the fact it's only got a handle on the top so it tends to swing around a lot

I've voted yes, I've got a Fender Rumble 500 v3, but also take along a Trace Elliot head, 12Kg, and a Trace 1 x 15 cab, 25Kg, as well for our main 2 hour gigs, I could get away with the Rumble TBH but it's just more rock and roll to have a stack behind you, it's not just about the sound at a gig but the whole show IMO, never like to see a band playing with tiny combos, or worse still, nothing at all it just doesn't look right somehow, to me anyway.

surely it's no big deal to carry an old head around? it's the cabs that are the trouble, I actually use a Trace Elliot 200 watt GP12 head with my Fender Rumble V3 500 as an extension cab because I prefer the Trace sound, plus I've got back up if my ageing T E head goes tits up

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1463234857' post='3049806'] Probably because it was the right decision not to release it at the time. Most bands have loads of songs that don't quite cut it and so, quite rightly, don't release them. If they become hugely popular the demand for new songs remains even after they split up, so record companies trawl their archives and end up releasing new but ever poorer songs, which the fans lap up because . . . . well, because they're fans. [/quote]slightly different, it was a new song in as far as they took a Lennon tape (made after the Beatles split) and the other 3 Beatles added their bits too it, so not an old recording

got to the pub last night, crammed into a tight spot with a massive table right in front of us, no advertising for the gig despite us taking some posters in the a month before, got them to move the table and switch off the TV, and the gig was a lot better than we thought, just received this message from the landlady "Guy's I owe you a massive apology...I hadn't realised until this morning that for several weeks I have infact been advertising the wrong band! I am so so sorry. You were absolutely fantastic and I can't wait to have you all back here again. Thank You so much for a brilliant night. Angie x" no wonder music venues close down!

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1463214601' post='3049530'] I remember when The Beatles brought out that Free As A Bird, 20 odd years after they split Expectations were high, but it was not well recieved. [/quote]I didn't like free as a bird either, much to slow and ploddy, quite liked the follow up though 'real love' they should have released that first IMO

somebody has just lent me a T E 4 x10 on permanent loan, sounds great but unless I get a roadie I won't be gigging with it any time soon, 40Kg and 18" deep, I'd struggle to get it out of my front door on my own

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1463212219' post='3049507'] Difficult to bring something back that had relevance such a long time ago. When was their time? 88? or 89? That's forever ago, everything has changed so much since then. There's almost nothing they could have done that wouldn't have got ripped to shreds. Their choices were: 1. make a catchy tune that sounds like them and fun at gigs (that's what this is) 2. make a pastiche tune with the funky drummer break and get accused of rehashing everything 2. make a 'serious' tune and get accused of being pretentious and preachy 3. make some bloated dad rock like U2 and get ripped apart by everyone for being old 4. make something completely new, and get accused of not being as good as the old stuff. Difficult to do a comeback, I don't know why bands bother, it's kind of like a mid life crisis. [/quote]I agree with most this, but they bother because they're better together than apart, and more popular, most of us like to relive our youth and at least they've tried to bring some new stuff out rather than doing endless greatest hits tours

I suffer from intermittent tinnitus in my left ear (being left handed the drummer's always on my left) I use ACS moulded ear plugs but it's still definitely worse after a 2 hour gig then over the next couple of days calms down again, for those that have not seen it this is the best online test I've found for hearing loss [url="http://myhearingtest.net/"]http://myhearingtest.net/[/url]

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1463054872' post='3048120'] Where you turn your gain/volume knobs to on different amps is completely irrelevant. Some amps run out of power at 3/10, some amps keep getting louder to 9/10. Just depends on how the gain stages are configured. And as soon as you change the player and the instrument, the point that an amp will run out of power changes - you're not just plugging in a CD player where everything is mastered to 0dB peaks. [/quote]quite so, I always turn the gain up to full ( I use a passive Precision), the Rumble runs out of steam at about 1 o clock on the master volume, I've not reached that stage with the Trace Elliot yet

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1463050562' post='3048059'] Was just about to mention the rumble 500 combo it's light and loud without the extension cab. I've not gigged one but plenty say it's loud enough on its own. [/quote]it usually is, but like I said we've got a loud drummer and couple of times I've been near the limit so I take an extension cab now for a bit of headroom, I've also used a 200 watt GP12 Trace Elliot head using the Rumble as an extension cab and I would say that's even louder, T E watts don't you just luv em?

I use a Fender Rumble 500 with a T E 1x15 ext cab in a Punk Band with a very loud drummer never run out of steam (I have without the ext cab), in fact I get asked to turn down sometimes

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1462956102' post='3047167'] We did actually fire a guitarist who kept suggesting we should play Beatles tunes. [/quote]didn't Glen Matlock get fired because he liked the Beatles too much?

[quote name='sammybee' timestamp='1462905142' post='3046879'] It's not that much of a bargain - there's one in the marketplace for £99 [/quote]yeah it does seem well overpriced even with a flight case, great cabs if you've not got to move them but then you wouldn't want a flight case

these things weigh 40Kgs, ok if you've got your own roadie

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1462800284' post='3045716'] Personal to the individual i guess, but i never liked that attack that pick players speak of. Most pick tracks seem to sound like mild versions of Jean Jackets Brunel of the Stranglers, a tone i really hate, despite whether he's a good bassist or not. YMMV of course [/quote]well not entirely accurate, I've never heard Macca sounding like J J saw a band on saturday and I was chatting to the bass player who played a Ric, he looked a bit taken aback when I said they all sound clanky to me, and to be fair it didn't when he played finger style, then he played a couple of songs with a pick, clank clank clank, but then, back to Macca, he never sounded like that when he played one, it's all down to eq I guess

I once read somewhere that some pro bass players play with fingers in the studio but a pick live, don't know whether it's true but it kinda makes sense

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1462373637' post='3042486'] but I've always preferred a higher action, which inevitably requires more relief in the neck. Variety is the spice of life, as they say. [/quote]not sure I follow the logic there, I would have thought a higher action wouldn't need as much relief to stop fret rattle in the middle of the neck, I have just come back from the pub though

[quote name='Dan Bass' timestamp='1462310425' post='3042101'] I never use a pick and I can get that same exact sound with the tips of my fingers, like Duff's sound in Gun's n Roses and Dirnt's pick sound from Green Day. I just make my Bass a little clearer and set the EQ harsher sounding with more attack, works perfect. Oh, and I always use brand new stainless steel round wound Bass strings. [/quote]you probably can, I can get the sound similar to fingers with a pick and a bit of EQ

the players that inspired me to play bass use a pick, J J Burnel, Macca, Foxton, I prefer the sound of pick playing, and the look (means I can have my bass a lot lower) plus I play in a punk band, so it never really occurred to me to play fingerstyle, I have tried it but never had the enthusiasm to carry on with it

this has always troubled me, only I prefer the A string to the E string, the A string always sounds punchier and clearer to me, cuts through the mix better, whenever possible I avoid using the E string, I'm not a fan of fivers as you can imagine