PaulWarning

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.

[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1471519417' post='3113594'] Ha, I knew I was opening myself up to scrutiny!! Laziness is all. It's just how I have learned the songs and havent bothered to change it. I guess being relatively new to bass and gigging, the comfort factor is important as in I dont want to give myself anything else to think about. I will get round to making it easier for myself at some point!! [/quote]fair enough

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1471518717' post='3113582'] I've never used a backup. I have had a failure that I got round and since then take a backup but 1 failure in 30years? How high profile are the gigs? [/quote]must admit, when it's no fee, originals 30 minute thrash gig I don't take one, but, if it's gig you're getting paid for it would be really unprofessional not to be able to finish the gig because you've not bought a spare bass IMO

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1471517574' post='3113570'] I`ve seen a couple of bands have to stop their set short due to no backup bass, whereas all guitarists seem to take backups. Only time I don`t take a backup is if there are other bands on the bill that I know, so we agree before the gig to loan our basses as backups if needed. When there are three such bands on the bill you`re pretty safe doing this. [/quote]unless you're cack handed

sunshine of your love or Peaches, I usually mess up the Chain, and as someone else has mention I go up and down the G major scale

[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1471516859' post='3113552'] I have 2 basses with me for a gig purely because a couple of songs are tuned down a whole step and i dont want to faff retuning all strings between songs so I just swap basses. If all songs were standard tuning I would probably wouldnt bother with a back up. I have spare strings and cables as well but thats all. [/quote]this is probably a stupid question but why don't you just have one bass detuned and play the standard tuned songs 2 frets higher up the neck?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1471517023' post='3113557'] For a lot of people, myself included, it's a question of simply not being able to afford spare equipment. [/quote]I'd rather have a cheap back up, in my case a £40 Hondo, than none at all, I've seen a bass pack up because a wire came unsoldered

I usually take a spare bass, leave it in the car, I've never needed it, but I work on sod's law, if I don't take I'll need it, also have a backup amp that I've never needed as well

I've got a Zoom 506II which is a great bit of kit, in some ways I prefer it to my Zoom B1 on, which has taken over from it, I use the EG distortion which isn't spikey fuzz with maximum gain then EQ it to suit, EQ 0n 6, contour on 0, have the compression on C9 but I don't thing that does a lot with using the distortion, It's gets me into JJ Burnel territory, sort of. Just remembered there's a bassist in a local mod band who wouldn't use anything else, he gets a good sound too. IMO all amp sims are just distortion and EQing with presets

I think a guy called Darren Russell Smith is the main man