chris_b

[quote name='byrne182' timestamp='1465314403' post='3067046'] Probably treading on dangerous ground here but I can't help thinking that there is a serious amount of "babying" going on with basses..... They are tools at the end of the day aren't they?? Surely I'm not the only on who has the opinion that a bass sounds better if you beat the living crap out of it.... am I? I know not all styles of music allow crap beat-age... I understand keeping them in good working order, but they are built to be played after all. [/quote] How do you guarantee that they are in "good working order" when you "beat the living crap out of them"? All my gear gets gigged. Every piece works for it's living and when I find something I think is better the old gear gets retired and becomes the backup. Anything older than that gets sold. None of my gear has ever has the "crap" beaten out of it. That seems to be a particularly pointless thing to do in the pursuit of making music.

I've gigged in the Rising Sun.

Good call.

IMO there are 2 ways to go, use at least a 3" padded strap and buy a bass that weighs less that the one you're using now. 8.5lbs is the upper limit for my 5 string basses but there are a lot more lighter 4 string basses out there. Hollow body basses can get down to 5 lbs.

All I'd say is that the keys are not too forward in my headphones, the guitar certainly is, though. Take the guitar rhythm work down a few notches. Why does the guitarist feel the need to double up on the bass part? Get him to play something more rhythmically interesting.

Playing live in the rooms that most of us play in is always a compromise, and most of us are not playing with the facility of FOH or putting bass through the PA. So what [i]we[/i] do has to work. The closest I've got to a consistently good sound on stage and in the room, and a sound with the fewest compromises, was with Bergantino cabs and now Barefaced cabs. I'm not a fan of EQing out of a problem because what you change to make work over here will probably make you sound worse over there. IMO good cabs are the front line in that battle. edit - spelling

Put the TV audio signal through a hi-fi system and everything will be fine.

Tex Comer, ex Ace bass player, uses a pick and sounds better than most finger style players. Ignore snobbery and do your home work. Then make the best choices for you.

You need front ported cabs. Blocking up the ports will totally change (almost certainly for the worse) the sound of the cab and might cause the speaker to overheat. I had Aguilar GS112 cabs and moved to Bergs. A significant improvement in tone in my opinion. Now I'm using Barefaced cabs. I'd recommend checking both these makes.

When I need to play through an amp at home I play quietly through my stage gear. To me it's a waste of money to buy gear I'm only going to play at home. I'm not bothered about the sound at home. I'm practising so the important bit is getting the fingers and brain around the new part and not what it sounds like.

What does "old but massive" mean? If an option is to link this with your gear then I guess it's a combo. A marquee is basically an outdoor gig. There are no reflecting surfaces so the bass will get "lost" and, as you know, your bass will need help. The first option I'd check out, is the PA is good enough to DI the bass. If it is then problem fixed. If it's not then checkout the Peavey and daisy chain the two combos. You're combo can take an extension cab. IMO bass always sounds better with more speakers even when being run at ordinary gig volumes, so I'd suggest getting the extra cab.

It's definitely possible, but I only gigged my Berg AE112 on it's own with an acoustic guitarist. I've gigged one Super Compact several times, but that's not a very fair comparison.

Yep, context is everything. It makes me wonder when I see posts saying they use a 112 with a "hard hitting" drummer! We obviously have a different experience of the term "hard hitting". Unless I know the gig has neighbour problems I'll always turn up with 2 112's and before my current rig it was often 3 112 cabs. IME the more 112's you use the better you sound.

No small hands complaints from him then!

I would tailor the set list to the audience, wherever we were. Our cover band puts up a slightly different set list for every gig.

Sadly Pro's don't always have a pro attitude themselves. Towards the end Thin Lizzy never knew if Lynott was going to turn up or not. At the end of the Motown era James Jamerson was starting to be dropped by producers in favour of Bob Babbitt and the other guys because of his attitude and no shows. If you can't resolve problems with a band member you can always show them the door. It get more complicated when they are band leaders or a "lynch pin" in the band, or mates with the manager. Tidiness wouldn't be high on my list of reasons to fire someone, but badly printed set lists is.

The comments when I looked. . . . Guy Pratt's board looks as messy as any cover band's gear. Don't the pros have people that make things nice and neat for them? [url="https://www.facebook.com/tcelectronic/?fref=photo&rc=p"]TC Electronic[/url] Seriously. Who cares? As long as he gets the tone he wants. For instance, Eric Johnson has the most messy board in rock n roll history, and his tone is godlike! It's all about how you perceive your setup. Are they tools to enhance your trade or are they ornaments to make you look cool? +1 for TC. I guess TC thought people would be interested in how he gets his sound. It would seem that pro's have OCD over what and how they play and semi pro players have OCD about what they play on.

Just stop. We get it. Stop now.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1464024195' post='3055851'] Yes i know, but my point is that when someone says amp A is louder than amp B, the standard response seems to be the knob position has no relevance. Without testing both amp how do these people know this? Why is it dismissed without any back up data? [/quote] The pots control the amount of tone and volume. Pots are all made to operate differently and different pots are used, so one will do 100% of it's work in the first 50% of it's travel. So an amp with this pot will be fully on with the volume controls at 12 o'clock. Looks like you've got another 50% to go and that can fool the player into thinking the amp is louder than it really is. Other pots will only be fully on at 100% of their travel.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1464853993' post='3063101'] I've been on the other end of this as a drummer - the band demanded that I buy cases to transport my drums in, because "it looks unprofessional when you walk into a venue without them in cases". [/quote] I occasionally play with a very good drummer who doesn't bother to bring the cases. His kit is about 30 years old and has been known to suffer from "structural issues" during the set. He's so good, none of that matters.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1464856667' post='3063127'] I don't think I'm explaining myself very well. [/quote] Don't worry, everyone else knows exactly what you mean.

It's a trick of the camera. That's a six foot tall bass sitting in front of 2 410 cabs.

As I said, it's their decision. I saw the Animals a few years ago and the only original member was John Steele, the drummer. They did a great show that consisted of hits so they were exactly what this thread is opposing. It was a great night and they did the songs and memories proud. It didn't matter one bit that the others had moved on.

This was in 2009. The original guy did come on stage with a walking stick, so I suppose it's entirely possible he has passed on by now.

Why do fans think that a band should be fixed in time and that they all should just stop playing if the band line up changes? I saw the Four Tops and Temptations at Wembley Arena and it was a great night, in spite of there being only one original member in each band. And the Commodores without Lionel Ritchie is still a band worth going to see. Little Feat, Pink Floyd, Genesis and many more carried on after loosing a leading band member and reinvented themselves. IMO those 3 bands are just as good as the bands they evolved from. Dave Gilmour has been touring and playing Comfortable Numb. Does that make him a tribute act? The opinions of the band quite rightly outweighs the opinions of the fans. If a band carries on after line up changes and remains a good band then there is no problem.