Paul S

Anyone know anything about these? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144960864792?hash=item21c0574218%3Ag%3A5CoAAOSwv~hj-R5v&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoD422%2BC7voNrBnDZiBBfKysUnntE%2F4%2FJVMLA9yVDOikfNo4Dnx905HU%2Bb8fGscEK2rEosC02awbeKjDWXEG%2FjfrDarFncU2Yd9%2BnGe5cUWxXxbV4C6m4zc2Ecsrxbd%2Fl60zsfqbPCsmKGGHZ6X1ejxEnet2rkcu6B54E2niYaieUUWfgYcvhTIxZjTrMZ4XaWfbEXc3AqIwUn%2BvohhVW%2BFM%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_SboJ_SYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Tecamp Puma?

I am Mike S, and so is my wife.

Compared to how much the Yammy was - I imported it from Japan - it was small beans. Then, of course, once it arived I didn't like it.

How about gold strings? I had (briefly) a Yamaha BB5000 that was black with gold hardware and a set of Optima gold strings looked proper posh.

I don't use a back line so my set up is bass > wireless > tuner > DI/EQ pedal > desk. I take a spare for every part of the chain - spare bass, a lead coiled up next to the wireless, spare DI, clip on tuner. Had to change basses twice at a gig - broken string and a dodgy jack - it is so much easier to just reach over to the stand and grab bass #2. When I used a backline I always carried a spare amp. Had a tube amp go kaboom on soundcheck once (now THAT was expensive) so took my spare out of the boot.

Anyone used both and able give a comparison? I have a PBXN in one bass but never used a Tonerider. As ever, muchas gracias.

A DIY flame maple finish? Nothing wrong with that ... hang on, puts on specs.... ..... oh.

I'll be interested to see how this pans out, too. I was on the verge of chucking some serious money at a '78 Mustang before I knew the weight and still feel there is an itch that needs a scratch. Too late now but the Thomann E-Guitar gigbag is a country mile better than the Fender. It is longer than the average guitar gig bag and fits all my short scale basses, has several useful pockets, more padding. And it's only £27.

Yes, that's right. Drummer was complaining he couldn't hear the guitar very clearly so we cut the bass. Too much, in retrospect. But it was clear as a bell last night.

Here's a song from last night, one of our new ones (which kind of drifted towards the end of the solo) but gives a nice impression of the sound of the pa - vox, bass and kick drum. Recorded on an iPad. Link from FB won't embed. https://fb.watch/iVKumNnib8/

I'd say the same. Of all the 'pub bands' I've been associated with over the years this is the best pa I've experienced for all sorts of reasons. Ours are the RCF EVOX 8 V2 which I see has been discontinued. They are plastic boxes, not wood, each unit weighs 22kg, I think. Luckily drummer Joe is a young, fit farmer and carries one in each hand to load in an out. I might have done 20 years ago but not these days! They are superfast to set up, no heavy lifting onto tripods, no fear of drunken punters sending the whole lot crashing to the ground. No monitors. Of course none of that would matter if they didn't sound good but they have astonishing clarity and dispersion. My bass sound has never been better and - the HUGE bonus - no bass backline. It is just so liberating, not having to worry about that whole side of things. I just have my DI/eq pedal set and that's the job done. We are a 3 piece, so not unduly complicated from the start. Usually we just put 2 x vox, bass and kick drum through it and, with the various volumes set for our usual pub situation, the whole thing is just coasting - there is loads of headroom available should we need it. We have our own rehearsal space and, just for the hell of it, have put 2 x vox, bass, mic'd guitar, all the drums mic'd up a couple of times and it sounded awesome. We have a gig later this year at 'Barleylands Blues Club', which I believe is a little bigger than the usual pub space, where we supply the pa so we should be able to give it a proper workout. I am not for a minute saying it is the best solution for everyone but, for us, and the type of music and venues we play, it is just perfect. 3 years ago I got a bundle of 2 x B stock units (boxes were open but plastic inside wasn't!), Soundcraft Sig 16 desk (overkill, it transpires) + case and all the leads for £2K and I reckon that was a bargain.

Here's a lawn that people can live in

Gig with my blues/rock trio Toredown last night - the second gig into our monthly 'residency' at the Shamrock in Ipswich. Set up is getting quicker as we've played there a lot and pretty much know where everything goes, what the levels are like, so we arrive later and just dive in. Which means I can leave home later by which time the Friday traffic has calmed down. I managed to get parked just down the road, which is a bonus. I wouldn't say it was packed but by 10pm it was busy, most of our regulars were there. We played a couple of new songs that were, frankly, under rehearsed and not as tight as we'd like. Got away with it but next time they will be on point. Other than that, we played well, went down well, picked up some new followers. The staff there love the band, which is great. Unusually there was a bit of bother and one of the punters, who I hadn't seen there before, had to be escorted out although that didn't impact on us. This was my first gig with a bitsa 50s Precision with its newly fitted Retrovibe single coil pickup. Could be a game changer, the tone is just exactly what I want, sat perfectly in the mix with bite and grit. Also guitarist Alan sat his amp on a stand which made a massive difference to the overall balance - I think last night ws the best we have sounded. A12 was shut on my return journey, diverted through small roads following a caravan of lorries so it took an extra 30 mins, got home at 2am. Still, a good gig and £100 in my pocket can't be bad.

Most places we plug and play - feedback just doesn't happen. Just a couple of times we've found a room where the vocal mic or kick drum mic feeds back and then it is the same as with any other pa - find the mic that is the culprit (OK, we only have a choice of 3), then the frequency, then cut it until it stops. I am probably the least technically minded of anyone in your acquaintence but even I can manage this Still, probably too late now.

Yes. The Hohner was better than the Spirit. There is a passive, PJ Hohner with a bolt on neck, the B2B, which was my pick of the range. The P pickup, especially, sounded more organic and P bassy. I also had a Yamaha, the 5 string BX-5, which I should never, ever have sold. That is a country mile better than Spirit or Hohners - a quality instrument. That is a pretty good call. I read on here recently someone had one that was a nightmare but mine was gig-ready straight out of the box. All I had to do was tune it up.

Just out of curiosity, Bas, what was it about my band's RCF EVOX 8 set up that didn't hit the mark?

This. Except I'd go for one of the Hohner B range.

Indeed. They say Live and Learn but I struggle with the 'learn' bit.

I have Android/Chrome and get that but only on Basschat. I don't visit many forums (fora?) but the others are fine.

Eric Johanson, stumbled on him chasing YouTube links a couple of years ago. His first album is great, not a dud track on it.