TimR

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1432852954' post='2785722'] Excellent stuff. I'll be walking around with my two cameras, taking photos and vids of the event, and also taking photos of the photographer taking photos of you guys... Big thanks to Si for manning the photobooth, TimR for the backdrop, and Mick for the idea. [/quote] No problem. The photos look really good.

I only had one Tuba. Although classical musicians are a bit more relaxed about other musicians borrowing gear. The orchestra pit isn't quite like a pub gig.

[quote name='randythoades' timestamp='1435237732' post='2806846'] as TimR and Marc S say, I do carry a DI and don't do backup amps for some reason. I have two amps, one set for DB and one for EB but prefer the DI backup for both. Although I rarely have needed the backup of anything myself, I like to be the one who saves the day by having a spare cable, mic, connector, strap, strap locks, pens etc. I mean who takes spare guitar strings and pedal patch leads to a gig where they play bass and no effects? Me! What a plonker... [/quote] It got to a point when a drummer had a go at me for not have the correct spare lead for someone else. That's when I twigged... Look after your own gear and it won't go wrong. Look after someone else's and you'll get the blame when their kit goes wrong.

[quote name='smaz' timestamp='1435236074' post='2806808'] ... I do however have extra guitar cables, speakon leads, power cables etc. - don't have backup strings at the mo (need to sort that out!). That way I've also got stuff other band members may need too... [/quote] That's what I used to do. But in the end I learned it's really madness.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1435233652' post='2806762'] ... My obsession has gone a bit far though as if playing at a big-ish, paying gig I take a spare Amp head.... just in case Is that obsessive? Never had an amp break down during a gig..... ... [/quote] My dad always used to take a spare power amp to his gigs. It's not a huge thing and can be used on any instrument in an emergency. Nowadays a DI into the PA will get most of us through a gig.

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1435225358' post='2806629'] If you haven't broken a string at a gig and then tuned back up and carried on playing on three strings for the rest of the set until you can tie a knot in the end of the broken one and put it back on in the break between sets.... then you haven't lived. [/quote] I broke a machine head on the E string on the opening number of a NYE gig. Spent one verse of the next song moving all the strings up a machine head. The rest of the night was not easy. I take a spare bass.

[quote name='wdejong' timestamp='1434990897' post='2804487'] I intend to swap guitars when we play that one song in drop D. No idea if/how it's going to work, as it will be the first gig I'm doing it. Is there anyone who down-tunes their guitars live on stage, mid-performance? [/quote] Yes. I do. The important thing is; it's not part of the act. The vast majority of the audience are not there to watch the bass player down tune or the lead guitarist swap guitars. As said above, do it quickly and effortlessly with the minimum of fuss. The only people who should notice it happen are you and that gear-geek in the audience who is only there to gear spot

I have recently (last 5years) started taking a spare bass to gigs after a catastrophic failure. I have spare strings, a spare instrument lead and a spare power lead. I also have a DI box so I can play via the mixer in the event of my amp dying. That's it.

In 30 years of playing in bands I've never listened to the vocals other than to check the level and that they're in tune.

"Letting a stranger loose on my PA" isn't the same as "Taking some advice on a mix." I love the Internet.

Marillion pioneered the crowd funding idea. https://www.virgin.com/music/how-marillion-pioneered-crowdfunding-in-music One of the bass players here has done it too but I'd have to do a long search.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1435050112' post='2804863'] I think the best approach to broaching the subject of sh*te sound with the band is something along the lines of "Nice set guys - it sounds a bit muddy at the back where I was standing, do you need any help with the sound?". They may refuse, but only complete c*cks would respond with any hostility to an approach like that. [/quote] Precisely. It's all about your approach.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1434995866' post='2804551'] You'll seen 'sound guys' doing the same thing in a pub.... especially on these multiple band charity bills. Invaribly the next band on will be taking note and TELL the 'engrs' what to do....if only if it is to say..VOX only P,A please... as I can hear how the are 'mixing' the other bands [/quote] Are you typing on a phone, that makes no sense Maybe I'm different to everyone else. I'd rather speak to the right people who are responsible for the bad sound, at the time. It has better results than coming on a forum later on and complaining to the wrong people after the event. On at least two occasions in the last 30years I have had to point out to a 'soundman' that there was no bass guitar in the mix. Only for them to head off to the stage looking for a failed XLR cable, but only after scowling at me and then suddenly dawning on them that I was right. Seriously, it's not hard to have a polite word with someone. It's their problem if they don't want to listen.

[quote name='ironside1966' timestamp='1434916504' post='2803857'] The problem most people who are bad don't realize it. Most of the time the people who just pop out of the audience and give you advice are generally the last people you should be listing too. Anyone with a lot experience of live sound will probably have come to the same conclusion. If a bass player came up to you and stated giving you unsolicited advice you would probably class them has a bit of a dick and it's the same with sound. [/quote] I don't agree. It all depends on how you speak to people.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1434908543' post='2803766'] It's not your band so why bother? If they like their setup then leave them be. I know I'd be peed off if a random bloke said we could improve the sound doing X, Y and Z. [/quote] They didn't though. They were fiddling throughout the set. There's a difference between a band that sets itself up and just believes it's right and a band who are clearly struggling.

If someone tells me the bass is too loud. I turn it down. I wouldn't like us not to get called back just because the bass was too loud. People are too worried about what someone 'might' say. It's really not a problem if I offer help and they don't want it. What would be worse for me would be to go home at the end of the gig wishing I'd said something. We're all musicians and human beings. What's the problem?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1434895306' post='2803634'] No - but you can roll it in glitter. Our drummer refuses to indulge in GAS or even use his own drums most of the time, the lazy bastard. When asked if he would not prefer to use his own kit - the one he presumably selected over years of drumming for its sound - he said, 'Drums is drums'. [/quote] If you're a pianist then you get to a similar point. I spent 7 years off and on looking for a new bass that I liked. In the mean time I stuck with the same bass I had been playing for the preceding 15 years. My dad (now in his 70s) spent his late teenage band years playing whatever piano was in whatever pub. Changing gear is a bit of a luxury for most of us. You get to a point where what you play, how you play it and who you play it with is more important than what you play it on.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1434879282' post='2803452'] I'm not sure, but I think you're talking about formant - the instrument's physical DNA as it were. Timbre is the sounding result, and very much so affected by the fingers. [/quote] A quick Google tells me that formant relates to human speech. I think an instrument's timbre is what differentiates a piano from a trumpet etc. Ultimately it depends on how bad the player is and how bad the instrument is on how much each affects the resulting noise. It's very subjective. The hardest but cheapest (financially) thing to get right is the fingers. Anyone can spend a fortune on gear but as the saying goes 'You can't polish a turd' - or sh*t in sh*t out.

I've sometimes spoken to bands, saying that they look like they're having trouble getting the PA right and asked if they would like some help. If you're polite about it you shouldn't come across as an arse, more likely they'll be relived. Worse case scenario you get a stare and a "no thanks mate we know what we're doing." .

I think you're all trying to overthink this. If you pluck an acoustic double bass it will sound completely different to an electric bass. That's timbre. One electric bass will always have a different timbre to another. Change amps, FX, speakers, they'll all change the timbre. The fingers won't affect the timbre. But all the fiddling with settings and changing amps and cabs in the world won't alter what you are playing with your fingers. They're your 'fingerprint'. I suppose it would be like taking fingerprints using different colour inks. The fingerprint remains unchanged and recognisable but there is still an obvious difference.

It's all in the fingers. That's where the sound is created and if the sound coming from the way you strike the strings isn't right you cannot fix it with strings, pickups, tone woods, FX, special leads, amplifiers or speakers. You can dramatically change the sound coming from the gear just by changing one small aspect of how you strike the strings.

I learned the Lets Dance line a few years ago. The notes are really uncomplicated but I think you need a really solid drummer who knows what they're doing to be able to pull them off. There is so much groove in the bass line.

IME the U.S. and Canadian immigration officials are ok if you play along with them. However, they are trained to wind you up as much as possible so that you give them any excuse not to let you in. I managed to get into Canada with a letter from General Motors stating that I was being paid by an English company. However, the guys who had entered 3months earlier had spent 5 hours being asked the same questions over and over again, often by the same official. The worst I ever had was one guy asking me five times in slightly different ways what I was going to be doing. I gave exactly the same answer every time. I wasn't sure at what point he was going to get bored. We also ran into trouble crossing the border when we had an old cut-off section of plastic pipe left in the boot of our car. "I thought you say you had no trade materials in the car." - 2 hours to explain that one.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1433523376' post='2791874'] The bloke in the video might be right, but his voice and manner really does my head in. [/quote] I think I might work with him... .

You could look at it another way. If the basses were identical in your eyes, it makes your bass now worth £850. Happy daze!