chris_b

. . . . and people are posting like they know more about this stuff than Alex does! Jeeez!

There is a bass player with the same name as me in Sydney, Oz! The only difference is that she is isn't male and I am! Apart from immediate family I'd only ever heard of one other person with my surname, but I had a lot of trouble finding a name format that was unique when I set up my email address. There seem to be quite a few people in the UK with my name.

I have 2 5 string basses, a P and a J. That's down from last Christmas when I had a P and 4 J's. I'm looking to upgrade the J but can't see me owning more than 2 basses at a time any more. My thoughts are; with the cash I had tied up in 4 good Jazz basses I could have bought 1 seriously good bass. So that's now the plan.

My experiences of buying and selling here have mostly been positive and all but a few of the guys have been a pleasure to deal with. Some people will leave a day or even 2 between contacts and others won't wait 10 mins. Some will keep you informed and some don't bother. When I'm selling I give the first guy who says he wants it a reasonable time to sort himself out, even if that takes a couple of days. If people are talking to you then you can deal with it. If they go silent for a day I just pm them that I'm contacting the other buyers. I did leave some buyers hanging recently. I had a bit of an emergency at home and lost focus on the sales. I still feel bad about that and again apologise to anyone who was affected. I haven't been messed about by buyers but I have been by sellers, several times! After 2 days of PM's I was arranging to go and collect an amp and the seller "suddenly" remembered he'd promised the amp to someone else! Awhile ago I said I'd have the item and would get back to a seller, but half an hour later he PM'ed me and said it was sold and "I'd lost it". Basically saying tough luck mate! A bit harsh, but what can you do? I think that seller was an a-hole but as a buyer you have very little control and no come back in these situations. Put it down to experience and move on.

How does he do it? I really don't care. . . . as long as the cab is light, loud, makes a great noise, is flexible and modular then I have an interest. More flexibility is always a good thing and a flexible good thing is pretty good in my book.

At the start [i]how[/i] you play with the other guys is more important than [i]what[/i] you're playing? That'll come later. Are they at the same level as you?

If you join a band you'll need to get up to speed on what is important and put the stuff that isn't aside for later. With regard to "fills". . . . what sounds good played at home might not work so well in a band. Get the band going and things will become much clearer.

[b] Now that is interesting. . . . .[/b] [b] [url="https://www.facebook.com/BarefacedAudio/?hc_ref=ARTQXZQHrvB2omkDdn4v_uyAT8MoNITkCHGln_oy4F7cyKD0aACdRdfPNxk8vOxeI5c&fref=nf"]Barefaced [/url][/b] [b] [url="https://www.facebook.com/BarefacedAudio/?hc_ref=ARTQXZQHrvB2omkDdn4v_uyAT8MoNITkCHGln_oy4F7cyKD0aACdRdfPNxk8vOxeI5c&fref=nf"]Audio[/url][/b] [url="https://www.facebook.com/BarefacedAudio/photos/a.10150125091062704.324333.130257677703/10155805170787704/?type=3"]1 hr[/url] · [url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brighton/112710045409378"]Brighton[/url] · We've bloody done it! Switchable impedance Two10. 4 ohm when you're using it on its own, 12 ohm when you want to make a stack. Just flick the toggle switch on the back! [url="https://www.facebook.com/BarefacedAudio/photos/a.10150125091062704.324333.130257677703/10155805170787704/?type=3"][/url]

For me the best preparation is to have done a few gigs in the previous week. Gets the juices flowing. On the night it's just a switch. Gig brain engaged and count in the first number.

[quote name='nicsim' timestamp='1506768806' post='3380977'] I haven't owned an amp for years and I'm wondering - what's a decent non-nonsense Amp setup to play small pub gigs (hard rock, blues covers). [/quote] Just make sure, if you get a combo, that you buy one with an extension cab socket so that you can add the second cab if you need it. Personally I'd go for an amp and a cab. That's the most flexible and will allow you to upgrade all the parts separately when you want to. . . . and you will at some time.

Reggie Young. See. . . . nobody knows his name but you've all heard his playing.

On his site Alex says [b] [i]Mix and match 12XN rigs [/i][/b] [i]All the 12XN550 Barefaced cabs will work well together. However the best pairings are either with identical cabs or with matching 1x12" and 2x12" variants (i.e. BB2 with BT2, SC with ST). The other particularly good pairing is the Super Midget with the Super Compact.[/i] Just email Alex and find out exactly what you need to know.

You have more scope if the overall sound levels of the band are low. My gig last night was right at the top end of the PRO17's. Now I'm thinking about the next level of filters!

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1506766712' post='3380957'] It's good to know one is not alone. I'm going to try a lower attenuation filter (9db) and see what's what. [/quote] Lowering the level of protection is not a good way to go IMO.

I use my big rig TH500 and a BF One10 at home.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1506692345' post='3380475'] What's the difference between the ERs and the PROs?[/quote] I have no idea. I don't analyse them. There's probably not a big difference between the ER's and PRO's but I wanted a second set, got a discount voucher last Christmas and bought the latest model.

I buy good used basses so the "first knock" syndrome doesn't apply to me. If you gig then knocks and scrapes will occur. I get very few marks on my basses because I take extra care but they still happen.

As I said before, I think small audiences are a sign of the times and not always a sign of failure. But maybe they're a sign that if you work a little harder things might improve. OK, I know you're unlikely to counteract a bad promoter or any of the various black-holes of apathy in this country, but you just might gradually start some momentum if you have a positive attitude to every gig. One gig Police played on their first US tour was to 5 people. They gave it the full beans and one of the audience turned out to be a local radio DJ, who played them non stop afterwards. They could have switched off and "gone through the motions" but they didn't and that gig started the ball rolling. I played to 5 people once and we got fired. (Added for balance and a reality check!)

I' e seen good reviews from DB players about the Bergantino B|amp. If you have the budget, check it out.

Show me a gig and I'll do it. I wouldn't be picking up a bass if I didn't play regularly in a band. I've just had to turn down a couple of gigs (family commitments) and it hurt! In the early 70's I was one of the many gigging 7 nights a week, mostly in the South East but you went where the gigs were, and the hours we put in on the US airbases in Germany were brutal. Then you'd go and sit in with the bands in the local clubs who were still playing after we finished. We once drove from London to Sunderland for a gig. It was a good gig. Getting caught in the rush hour coming back into London the next morning was a pain and finally getting dropped off by the van at lunchtime the day after the gig happened more than once. It never occurred to any of us that there was anything else we wanted to do. It was great to be a part of that world while it lasted, but sadly the days of wall to wall gigs have long gone. I think the 300 gigs a year guys like BB King did would have been too much even for me, but 5 years a go I was doing 3 gigs a week, 150 gigs a year. Times change. I did 3 last month! A band I dep with has just driven up from Surrey to play in the Orkney Blues Festival. If they'd asked me I'd have done it. Never turn down a good gig.

ACS for me. I used ER15's for 10 years and have now switched to the PRO17's. Of course ear plugs change the sound, but not as much as the issues you get with hearing loss and IME the differences caused by ear plugs are easy to deal with. What's the alternative? Massive tinnitus, giving up gigging, hearing aids and partial (if you're lucky) deafness. Great choices!! All of these problems are preventable. If you're in a gigging musician then hearing protection isn't a choice it's a necessity.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1506612335' post='3379952'] Incidentally, I had 3 of them (not all at once)! [/quote] I only had 1. That was enough! My 412 and amp just fitted neatly in the back but the thing was a veritable rust bucket. An unfortunate trait in the British car industry at the time! Bass gear and cars from the 60's and 70's. . . . IMO neither can match up to what we can buy these days.

I thought I sounded pretty good in the 60's and 70's with my 100 watt Marshall amp and 412 cab. Though on reflection I probably sounded much like every one else. I then played through a 100 watt Simms Watts and 412 and then a 100 watt Hiwatt and 2 412 cabs. I even toured with an SVT and fridge. But the reality is I have had a better tone and volume in the last 10 years with Bergantino, Aguilar, Thunderfunk and Barefaced than I ever got back in the day.

Ahh. Sorry, speed reading fail again!

It's not the bass you thought it was or wanted. Don't throw any more cash at it. Sell it on and get something you like and want to play.