mike257

Glad to hear it! I'm awaiting the arrival of a big one (the 5013) to convert into a backline tech work-case. Going to wind up with LED strips around the inside of the lid, with a tuner, mini-amp and a setlist clip mounted in there, and a guitar neck stand and body rest in the base for restringing, with compartments underneath for tools, strings, spares etc. That's the plan anyway! Hoping to have it all ready before my next tour starts next week, I'll have to stick a photo up if I can get it built in time!

I do it frequently now - function gigs, three piece up to ten piece. I don't really feel the need to be thundering on stage, so long as I can hear enough to know I'm playing the right (ish) notes. More often than not I'm providing PA and on engineering duties, but even when I'm not I'm quite happy to forgo backline if I can get within hearing distance of a wedge. If I'm carrying all that PA, I can't be bothered carrying a bloody bass rig too!

The Ui16 has issues whereby it completely locks up and you can't regain control without a complete reboot of the unit. Had terrible issues with one at an AV company I do some work for. Allegedly the new firmware (currently available for beta testing) fixes it but I'm not massively confident. Won't use it unless I absolutely have to.

Agree that the valve socket is a likely culprit. I changed a few 12AX7s and probably binned some perfectly good ones before I realised taking it out and putting the same one back in worked too! One design weakness in an otherwise cracking amp.

Typical wedding involves a 4/5pm arrival and leaving at 1am by the time you've packed up, so at least an 8 hour day not including your travel time. Can easily run to 12/14 hours. Enough to pay each band member an absolute minimum of £150 but realistically more (especially if it's an extra long day), cover expenses, plus a contribution to the "business" to reinvest in PA gear, marketing etc. If you're essentially acting as the agent seeking the gigs out, doing the back and forth of discussion with the client and managing that relationship from enquiry, through sale, to the delivery on the day, then it's also reasonable to take an additional cut for your time and effort, as that can be quite involved for some wedding gigs. All stuff to consider in your price. It's also standard to stipulate that a hot meal and soft drinks be provided for each of you, or if that isn't possible, a small increase in the fee to offset this. Obviously, the right answer is "as much as you can get away with" though

I'll play anything for the right paycheck, and I get a kick out of a full dancefloor so still enjoy knocking out the standards on a function gig. I really enjoy the chance to rework things a little bit though, or rock up some pop tunes. Frustratingly this week, I was scheduled to shoot some live promo video with a bunch of lads who are brilliant players and good friends too, but for various reasons it had to be postponed. Me and the drummer tried to salvage the day by tracking him in his rehearsal space and put down drum parts for our crack at a few pop tunes - we were made up but the two guys not in attendance have protested the choice of songs and said they're not interested in doing them and want to stick to the "classic" stuff. The annoying part is that we've gone for songs that are always on the DJ playlist either side of our live sets and consistently go down a storm, so I reckon they'd work. I'll be finishing them off with other players/singers anyway, so I'll still get some use out of it, but it's just a shame when you've got a bunch of killer players who aren't up for widening the spectrum of the set a little bit.

I had a track from a post 3 Colours Red band on a Rock Sound cover CD many many years ago, name escapes me now. I'll have a think!

Have you been able to test the mics and transmitters independently to be certain which is at fault?

No worries guys. I've had mine in and out of vans non stop since I bought it and, aside from having to tighten the bolts holding the wheels on once or twice, I've had no problems. I've got a few friends and colleagues also using them who are equally happy. Ordering another one soon to build a guitar tech workstation in!

Pelican are ace and popular in touring world but aren't cheap. The 1510 is the hand luggage sized model. I've got a Peli knock off from Trifibre.co.uk, cost me £45 inc courier delivery - their equivalent to the 1510 from the Challenger range. I think the model is TR5015. Had it for two years as my main toolbox for audio and backline teching and it's been rock solid. You don't get the lifetime guarantee that Pelican provide, but it's also a quarter of the price! EDIT: Here's the link https://store.trifibre.co.uk/waterproof-wheeled-rolling-travel-equipment-tool-hard-case-pick-and-pluck-foam.html Fifty quid with the pick and pluck foam insert, or a couple of quid less without. Also, the official Peli 1510 lid organiser fits this too, as do the divider sets etc.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1488856940' post='3252424'] SUBS there's ya answer,totally unnecessary at 90% of venues yet every sound person insists on putting all the bass through them. I actually get earaches from subs. Normal PA speakers can handle bass just fine,there is no need to use subs for bass. [/quote] Subs only reproduce the frequencies below the cut off point where the mid/high units can't effectively and efficiently recreate them. In a gig, "All the bass" doesn't go through the subs. They just reproduce the extreme low end (generally around 100Hz and below). The presence of subs aren't to blame for a below-par mix.

Phone with the control app open on a mic stand clamp?

My most regular bass gig at the mo is with a soul band - got to be Never Too Much. I'm no Marcus but it's still so much fun to play. Second set opener and gets us all fired up!

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1488203232' post='3246716'] I went to a local repair guy who told me its a £30 bench fee plus vat upfront for diagnostic. Paid up to be told it would be three to four weeks before it's ready to be looked at excluding actual 'repair' time. I had a last minute gig and called to say I needed the cab, got to the shop and the place was reeking of weed (it was a Saturday, two employees, no 'jobs on the bench') no signs of any actual work being done and once I got the cab in the car the cover was also stinking of weed. I'm heading back down today for a refund. I don't care if they're stoners but a three to four week wait and £36 up front so these lads can mooch about? No ta! I usually go via a local guitar shop. Drop the stuff off on a Friday collect the following Friday, £25 bench cost. I thought I'd go local as it's literally 5 minutes drive from my place. Needless to say I'll be dropping it off the next time I have a week without gigs. I get people need paid and it's a 'specialist' service but there's taking the p*ss [/quote] That's just sh*te service. Amazes me that people like that stay in business.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1488219189' post='3246925'] I'm sure it was enjoyable as a spectacle, and there are many other forms of immersive entertainment that have huge artistic value - however it's not a gig IMHO... But I suspect this is an argument that has no right answer, only opinions... Now lets bring in the "backing track argument" and we'll be at 21 pages before we know it... :-) [/quote] The thing with shows at that level is that it very much has to be about the spectacle. You get to a certain size of show (particularly arena stuff) and it becomes next to impossible to develop any kind of intimate connection with an audience in the same way as you can at a venue. The scale of the venue (and the little stick men you can barely see on stage) necessitates something more visual, which is where the lights, creative use of video content etc really comes in to play these days. That can mean that the show is less spontaneous as productions of that complexity can't really be "busked" from a techy point of view, and a lot of things are timecoded, synchronised and ran the same way each night for consistency, but the overall experience from an audience perspective is arguably more engaging and memorable. I'm all for "band on stage playing their songs well" as being the only real requirement of a good show, but there's some brilliant creative people out there who really elevate the visual elements and help turn a big gig in to something really special.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1487938870' post='3244340'] And carrying a flight-cased SVT and flight-cased 810 is something that should be avoided. Trust me. [/quote] One of my regular clients tours an SVT CL head. It's one of the smallest boxes in the van, but it's the only one I won't try and lift on my own! Absolute killer.

I've got the odd client that have requested my UTR, and something on paper from HMRC confirming my self employed status. Most notably large national chain of venues that I do some freelance teching for who'd (so I was told) recently had the taxman give their books a good going over. Never given anyone my NI number in a work related capacity like that. As said above, there's no reason for it and nothing they can do with it.

All the good techs I know charge an initial bench fee. The hourly rate seems high compared to local independent techs, but a big company has different overheads in terms of administration, premises, insurance, human resources etc than a local guy working from home or a small workshop. Not that unreasonable really. The other thing is that going to an authorised repair centre shouldn't affect your warranty, whilst letting someone else open it up probably would, so if you're still in the warranty period it's worth considering.

I think the ABM range sound great. Borrowed an ABM900 EVO3 with the 8x10 once when my rig was inaccessible, and it's probably the happiest I've been about my bass sound ever. Plugged in and just grinned like a loon.

I'll usually take a spare, but I'm usually on a function or corporate gig where I can't afford for things to go tits up. I'll also make sure I have one if I've got a bunch of songs that need a different tuning. I wouldn't suggest taking one to "match the tone" to each song. The difference will be negligible in a lot of settings, and you can achieve more noticeable variety in tone from varying playing technique and hand position than you will from playing three different basses the second way.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1487096079' post='3237056'] I'm guessing they don't sell as many so don't get the volume price breaks that they get for the normal ones...? Maybe....? [/quote] If you're going to insist on giving a sensible answer.....

Yeah, i'd heard he'd wound things down due to ill health, great to hear he's back in action. Fixed a few bits for me and also had some very interesting chats about gear, he's a very knowledgeable bloke!

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1487184321' post='3237892'] I thought Shergold ended up in Tesco Lasagne? [/quote] No, you're thinking of Lord Lucan.