Stub Mandrel

Can't remember what we charge, but the blues band I'm in sell cds and t-shirts. We only do covers although we are quite capable of writing our own material.

I used to use (in the 80s) a 1x18. Rock and roll/rock covers. Changed to a 2x12 (a closed guitar cab) and enjoyed the clarity and portability. Then (90s)added a home made 2x12 with two full range Mackie PA speakers. Indie rock, then pop rock originals. Then added two high powered piezo tweeters in a home made 'bright box', and never used the attenuator. Big gap. Trace 4x10 combo, was excellent for rock then a big mix of covers from funk to pop and rock. Added a peavey 1x15 but never used it in anger. Now a little GR Bass 2x12. Great for everything. Mostly blues rock and heavy rock, also general stuff. Not sure ifvthat tells you anything exceptvthat I try and make the best of whatever I have.

Why not fit a tweeter attenuation switch or wirewound pot?

Back in the 90s, the smaller venues we played (pubs and clubs) didn't differentiate between original and cover bands. Today it varies hugely on the status of bands. A recent originals night with four local bands (most only have about 30 minutes of material apparently) paid £60 each. House PA was provided. The motivation for the event was partly getting a decent sized audience together for bands used to playing to small groups of fans. (Alt-rocktpop rock) In contrast one of my bands BL also plays in an indie rock band with a following, have been on a bbc playlist and their last ep was no. 3 in the physical singles chart. When I saw them they packed a readonable sized venue. To date they have have had to plough every penny made back into the band, despite getting a sizeable grant to cover recording the ep. For a recent gig they had to borrow my other band's subs. I can't find anyone wanting to start an originals band because people in my demographic mostly are motivated by playing to a good sized audience. Covering costs with income isn't an issue for most of us as we see gigging as a contribution to the cost of a hobby. I can see that established bands can keep things going (I know a few people who make their living from touring and recording) but it is very dependent on their level of ambition, popularity and most of all, willngness to gig almost non-stop (one of them does over 300 gigs a year inbthe UK and USA).

Totally different layout.

So utterly different to any sportsground in the uk!

Thinks... fit probucker to Jaguar...

Flea jazz, great for blues.

Useful to see different ideas. To be true to the monster fuzz, I recall there was a transistor stage and (dual?) Op amp stage. I will probably go with a gentle transistor stage and experiment with 'klon-like' assymetric clipping using germanium diodes. I will bulid it on a prototyping board first.

Want to design it myself. In the spirit of 'Doc's Monster Fuzz' which I put together around 1984.

Orange definitely use a 10dB pad. But have an aversion to marking switches properly so you have to switch them to see which way is which! I won't mention their right to left obsession...

For sake of argument, imaging I have a 500W amp and a 250W amp side by side with a 250W Elf through identical cabs. I initially play at the same low volume through all three amps. To start with, all three amps sound fine, but I increase the volume (let's assume the gain is low enough not to overdrive). As I get louder I reach a point where the output stage of the 250W amp starts to distort, probably unpleasantly, if it's solid state). The 500W amp has extra 'headroom' so it still sounds fine. The Elf compresses the signal so it still sounds fine, but isn't as loud. To get the uncompressed amp to sound good all the time, it would have to be turned down. As we mostly play at reasonable volume with a few loud passages for emphasis, the Elf can 'keep up' with a more powerful amp MOST of the time, but is a bit less loud during the loudest passages. In this scenario, the effect of the Elf's compression is being used more like a limiter than a compressor, but the effect is more gradual rather than a 'brick wall' so it sounds better.

My brother gave me a PA when I started my second band. It's turned out that i've upgraded speakers and amp. I've also bought basic powered cabs and passive extension cabs that serve as a capable vocal only pa or as monitors with a bigger PA. Vocalist has invested in a serious digital mixer that does vastly more than my soundcraft Folio. Lights are fun... I've bought some cheap led lights and laser modules and one guitarist has very similar stuff. It isn't Pink Floyd, but when we have space it lifts things up. So it's all worked out ok.

Agreed, yet many amps have a 10dB pad to get rid of all that unnecessary active bass gain!

I've got a lovely and varied selection of low-gain germanium transistors, all pnp. Thinking of making an overdrive/ fuzz with a six-way two pole switch to change the transistor. Plus extra gain stages. Do the panel think the original fuzz-face circuit would be a good starting point?

I have a high sensitivity (103db) cab but it is 4R. I've gigged it with the Elf in a big pub with vocal only PA and I had it only ticking over. It's loud enough to be my backup amp... partly because the very good automatic compression as you raise the gain gives the same effect as having lots of headroom. Means the average volume can be as loud as a significantly more powerful amp.

As does the P10, but bear in mind Sire active basses don't boost levels much. The flat setting is pretty much the same as passive mode, despite being 18V preamps.

I decided that after my two-year sabbatical, I would start using pedals again. My old pedal box was a bit of a disaster as the lining wasn't as good as proper velcro, so a car journey on its side and all the pedals would fall off. I decided to go for something a bit smaller but better organised to make me cut down the pedal count (ha!) This Gokko one of Amazon was less than £40 even going for the premium orange coloured version. It has an easily removed base for my PSU and lots of 2" velcro (although I had to add some strips of loop in teh base for the PSU). It even has a matching orange padded bag. It's a mix of old school and modern, but a bit sad some of my other pedals didn't make the cut. Pedal order is not obvious, due to what I wanted at the front and practicalities of where leads go: 1 - my homebrew Death Note switcher featuring Ryuk the Shingami. His Shingami eyes light up when a lead is plugged in and the one selected glows even brighter. Unused inputs are grounded via a 22K resistor. Surprisingly complicated to figure out the wiring! 2 - Boss TU3, not just a tuner but a convenient mute switch. 3 - An, err, new addition, the Demonfx Pearl White Autowah. This is a direct clone of the Mad Professor Snow White and it's opened up a huge range of new options. Set the sensitivity low for slap or near 12 o'clock for fingerstyle and you can either get classic autowah sounds (think Fly Away) or increase decay and you can ride it rather like riding the gain for overdrive effects, except it's like a variable tone control. 4 - TC Electronics Forcefield Compressor. OK, it's a Behringer in a bullet-proof box, but it works really well adding harmonic texture without cutting the bottom end as well as keeping my crap slap under some sort of control. 5 - Joyo XVI polyphonic octaver. It does make some incredible sounds, but is definitely best used in moderation. It would be nice to have two or three set up to suit different songs - I hate knob twiddling during a performance. 6 - Ibanez Digital Stereo Chorus. Wowser, apparently these fetch about £150 these days! But you can't have it, with everything dialed in the direction of slow, wide, deep and high it will stand in for anything wanting a general purpose 'effected' sound without having to pack a phaser and a flanger as well. 7 - TC Electronics Mojo Mojo Overdrive. At my first gig using it again I learnt not to set the drive too high, but set right it can add more consistent grit with less finger battering than digging in for a whole song. A test showed it was darker than a tube screamer clone and the HM2 was just too OTT. 8 - My homebrew 'Nano Gumpinator', a 24 db/octave high pass filter with the knee at 32Hz. Takes away all the handling noise and certainly appears to be kind to my speakers. (Interesting aside, my phone camera recognised the 'Forcefield' as a face and focused on it!)

We love Crazy Train 😁

Life's tough. I have to stick to air bass. I suppose you could take up air ukulele?

Should vegetarians (me) and vegans make themslves known to help ensure the food supply is balanced?

I will keep you in suspense... I have a new borad but awaiting low profile patch leads so I can add a couple more pedals.

From videos I've seen the Zoom is quick. As fast as a Fender or Lekato clip on or a Boss TU3. Those three are my favoured brands after much seeking.

The reason I recommend the Crush 20 is I have one, and the sound was what made me choose an Orange head for my rig. So IMHO some practice amps sound good. I have also used it at open mics with an acoustic bass.

They've found a way of overcoming Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?