mike257

I used to tour with upwards of £5k of kit which I foolishly didn't have insured. These days I'm covered up to £2k with my MU membership and my kit travels securely in the back of my splitter van so that gets me through most of their caveats. Don't see the point in buying lovely gear to only play in the bedroom. I guess if I was playing somewhere particularly rough I'd think more carefully about what I was leaving lying about but I don't really come across places like that. I buy gear because it sounds great and feels good to play, couldn't justify leaving it sat in the house!

Reaper is built to be light on resource usage. I've done 12 track simultaneous recording on a pretty basic spec laptop that was crawling slow and full of crap (borrowed from teenage stepdaughter when mine was out of action!) and it didn't bat an eyelid. Mixed on the same system and didn't object when I threw a load of VSTs at it. Cubase would have been creaking at the seams well before that point, in my experience. On a well specced system its less of a concern, but if you're looking for a DAW that you can use on a low spec box, or maybe throw on a cheap laptop for location tracking then it's a great shout. All that aside, it's nice to use, pretty comprehensively featured these days and costs buttons. It's a fantastic piece of software.

The MIM Classic Series instruments are great. My Telecaster Deluxe '72 RI is a fantastic guitar and I know a bunch of bassists who have owned and loved the Classic Series 70's Jazz. The MIM Standards can vary in quality but if you get a decent one they're great for the money. The USA Standards are better in principle but I'd go to a couple of shops, play the hell out of both and see if the bump up in quality is enough for you to splash all that extra dough. If you grab a MIM you like then you might not feel the extra expense is justified.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1390484610' post='2345903'] What does concern me is the "lie back and take it" attitude that some of my fellow bassist seem to have to the fact that some engineers seem to want to take the DI directly from the bass irrespective of how important or not the other elements in the bass signal chain might be (although this is something that I have NEVER come across in my 35 years of playing). [/quote] That's a fair point. One thing that never ceases to surprise me (as someone who wears both bassist and sound tech hats) is just how many bassists there are out there who don't give much consideration at all to it. I've been happy with just a feed direct from the bass when that has been a suitable sound (more often than not, if I'm honest) and worked out a more appropriate route when it's been required, but I've worked with guys at various levels who just don't seem remotely interested in where their tone comes from so long as its loud and bassy!

The "lazy" or "stuck in his ways" sound engineer always comes up when this is discussed. When a sound engineer is working a multi-band bill he'll have very little time to prepare individual solutions for each band's preferred tone and usually have a small window for soundchecks. Invariably, compromises have to be made and often the best thing to do is to follow a tried and tested method that you know you can get a good result from in that room and with the gear you are working with. Sound engineers don't mic the guitar and DI the bass out of apathy or laziness. Believe it or not we'd like the band to sound good too, since that's what we're paid for. I'll usually give a band the option to take a box or a line out from the amp, if they're a decent player with decent gear you'll get a good sound from either and amp failures on stage are relatively rare. If I worked long term with a single band I'd tweak my working methods to get the best out of them but that is a luxury and not one that your house engineer at a typical local venue can generally afford. We ARE on the same side as you guys, you know!

I haven't played the PM but I do own a JM4 (now called the TM4 if I've got them the right way around - it's the Jazz type one). It's a stunning bass and has killed my bass GAS completely. I've played really heavy stuff, mellow stuff, folky stuff, and all kinds of covers stuff too with it and it's nailed any tone I've needed and has sounded great with rounds or flats. My Stingray barely gets a look-in now. I actually find myself leaning towards the neck pickup more these days, as I love the extra heft in the low end it has, but the bridge sounds great too. Versatile pre-amp, splittable humbucker, sounds great in passive mode, there's nothing not to like in my opinion. I picked up mine second hand in a trade deal but if ordering brand new you can specify options to suit you, but the stock instruments are great as they are.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1386612660' post='2302186'] To be honest, live, I would be very impressed if people could tell the difference through the FOH system between a DI straight off the head and a dedicated DI. I would only be looking at serious DI boxes like the Avalon if you are recording. [/quote] This is it really - I've used a U5 in the studio and it sounds great. To really get the difference at a gig though, it'd have to be a big enough room that the audience are hearing much more from the rig than they are from the stage and also be a good enough PA to reproduce the signal with sufficient dynamics and clarity. For most of us, that's rarely the case! I know of at least one BC member who has used the U5 into a power amp as his bass rig and spoke highly of the result, but if you're just looking to augment your live sound you could probably get most of the way there for a lot less cash with the suggestions above!

Quick update to this in case anybody is ever searching for feedback on this gear. Been used for 20-30 gigs since my last post and on the whole I'm really happy with it. Ended up getting a Yamaha 01V mixer for an absurdly low price too - it's old tech now, and not the greatest sounding but for under £200 it was head and shoulders above anything else I could get hold of cheaply and I've got a preset mix stored that now only takes the bare minimum of tweaking to suit the room we're in at soundcheck. The EV Force cabs are still working reliably and sound great. I do feel like the subs are lacking in a little 'oomph' but I only take two out for space/practicality reasons. If I was putting a big rock gig on I'd run all four but in reality it's probably plenty for most wedding/function venues with the two. Came with a pair of Cerwin Vega CV-2800 power amps and a cheap'n'cheerful active crossover. I'm running the 2x15 tops in stereo with one amp, and the second amp split to feed a mono-sum sub signal (crossed over at 100Hz) from one side and a wedge for the drummer from the other. I think the amps will be the first thing to be upgraded as they're back-breakingly heavy and our 12u rack is a monster lift because of them. Really pleased with what we got - the whole system (cabs, amps, mixer & case, rack, cables, bits to make patch panel etc) came in at around £1500 so think it's proof that you can achieve really good results on a tight budget. We regularly mic the whole band (kit, bass, 2x guitar, keys, 3x vocals) and the sound is great, especially when we've got a big room to put it to work in. The amp rack connections are all on a patch panel and everything is labelled with all cables stored in a rack drawer so I can have the whole rig up and making noise in around five mins flat, and the none-techy band members can do it almost as quick too!

I've never asked a dep to pay for a rehearsal , nor have I ever paid for one when I'm standing in. I actually offered to once as it was for some good friends, but they politely declined aa I was helping them out. Are the band a covers band, earning money at gigs? Sounds like the regular bassist has got himself a sweet deal if they are! I'd get my coat.

Aside from the O2/ABC I've recently had a band up at Stereo, that was nice. Lovely place, nice staff and crew and we got fed a tasty meal too - all vegan food, some interesting and tasty stuff on the menu. We had a bit of a Spinal Tap moment in there too. Drummer walked through the wrong door into a fire exit instead of the dressing room after the main set and couldn't get back out for the encore!

If you join the MU then you personally are covered by their public liability insurance, not your band. This probably won't pass muster if a venue ask to see your PLI. This doesn't happen to us all that regularly but it is something you need to be prepared for. I don't think any of the MU's insurance would cover your liabilities if you were unable to meet contractual obligations, that'd be for the band to deal with. You might be able to look in to some kind of business continuity insurance or something but would have to speak to somebody far more clued up than me to know if that could be applied to the situation you describe. A stand-alone PLI policy for the band as an entity shouldn't set you back more the a couple of hundred quid for the year and likely a lot less and is worth investing in - you don't want to be footing the bill if your PA falls on Joe Publics head mid-show! MU membership does give you £2k of gear insurance - you don't have to specify the items so in theory you could claim for any members kit but £2k doesn't go that far when you add up most muso's gigging set ups. You're also (I think) limited to the number of claims you can make per year so if you claimed on a bandmates behalf then something happened to your kit six months later you could be stuffed.

I do 40-ish weddings a year with my function band, whilst we have a song list that clients get to see that probably isn't far off that number, the reality is that we continually evolve our set and replace things with fresh material but from one gig to the next it doesn't change massively. It isn't as if you're playing to the same crowd every week and having to change it up for them, so if he wants a pro wedding band your first priority should be getting an absolutely storming 2x60 mins that you can play really well and then looking at things you can have up your sleeve to change, deal with requests etc. If we tried to maintain 200 songs to a high standard (whilst keeping that list fresh with new material, which is a necessity) we'd spend ten times more hours in the rehearsal room than we would being out earning - not really the point of being in a 'pro' band. The majority of clients are perfectly happy to let us call the shots with the setlist so we concentrate on having a really solid core that works week in week out. As a new band, you need to make a good impression and playing 40 songs brilliantly will do that much more effectively than playing 200 songs moderately well.

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1382802495' post='2256744'] Do you? I hadn't thought of that aspect to it. So basically we're looking at a quality kit plus a quality PA to get the best out of it? [/quote] And monitors for the whole band. Absolutely cannot scrimp on your monitoring as you will be stuffed if you can't hear him!

Matt, you weapon - I have the perfect bloke, pro session man who plays both to a very high standard, I'll drop you a text later!

They're missing the mains lead!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1381941471' post='2245830'] You are going to have to play it by ear and they should be telling you what the gig pays...but since they aren't, it suggests to me that someone might be wating to pay less than the contract rate and that will get you the gig before anything else...?? Not a good start, IMO. I'd give them a weekly fee.... as they should have given you. You must have some sort of idea... or these guys sound too chancey for my tastes..?? [/quote] Well, I was working off the basis of typical function fees for the gigs themselves - it's the additional time involved that I'm not sure what to charge for. Apparently travel, accommodation and food are all covered so there's minimal expenses for me day to day once I get there. It does seem an unusual way of doing business, that's for sure. If the booking has been made (even tentatively) there must have been a fee or a budget discussed. There'll be six musos so I'd just expect a straight split for the band after whatever agents cut is involved but there's obviously a different approach being taken here.

[quote name='roonjuice' timestamp='1381938109' post='2245771'] just say no;) [/quote] I do! As soon as you stop sticking to your guns people think they can get away with it all the time. I'll occasionally mix a band for free but I've only done that for long term regular clients who are in the van all the time. Its hard sometimes, can seem like you've got a choice of working cheap or not at all but you've got to place some value on your time and skills!

[quote name='roonjuice' timestamp='1381937482' post='2245757'] u still get far too many people wanting you to tour manage, drive, mix, crew and sort merch for £50 per day or something farcical.... er...... no. [/quote] Tell me about it. I'm a splitter van owner/driver and although I'm more at the budget end of that market (can't afford a fancy Sprinter right now!) I still get bands turning their nose up at quotes and prices when I discuss adding services on top of the basic 'man and van' rate. Everybody wants everything for nowt these days, its cutthroat. Thanks for all the feedback and advice so far guys, its definitely giving me a clearer picture. Whilst I've played, TM'd and mixed my way around the UK, this will be the first time I've booked a gig that needs a passport so its new territory and the help is gratefully received!

From the little bit of info I've had its basically function type work at a single location but I'll have 3-4 days off through the week. Flights and board are covered. I feel like I should be charging something for the off days because as said above its not like I can pop off and gig elsewhere! I don't know if charging full rate us the done thing so don't want to come across as hard-faced if its poor etiquette!

The devil makes GAS for idle hands! I feel like that whenever I'm not occupied playing/writing/gigging, but brain still in music mode. You start wondering about gear and then you start reading about it on forums and there is it, the demon GAS. When I'm playing my guitars a few nights a week I don't think about changing them but now my function band has had a two week break I'm compulsively offering to trade all kinds for god knows what. Its a curse. Get well soon mate, then you can get on with the important business of playing with your gear instead of pondering about it! Hope the missus gets well soon too.

Alright folks, got a question and hoping some of the pros I know are floating around here can help me out. Been asked to quote for a week abroad depping but only half the days would be gigging - having jumped from semi-pro to full time music around a year ago, all my work so far has been within the UK so I'm not sure what the usual way of doing things is for these type of bookings. I don't want to price myself out of the running or sell myself short so was hoping some of you who are regularly off getting your passports stamped could give me a clue as to how it usually works with regards to charging for your time when you aren't actually playing. General tips and advice on the bold new world of being an international jet-setting bass chancer are also welcomed! Cheers, Mike

Jon Graboff plays some great pedal steel with Ryan Adams. I was in an Americana band with a guitarist who had nailed the technique of making his guitar sound like a pedal steel with just a reverb, volume pedal and some virtuoso playing. I'll find some links later but people were often shocked when they realised it was 'just' a guitar!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1380180076' post='2221797'] Nah DI and a Mic works great DI for the sub, up to lowest mids and sparkly top, Mic for mids if the player has some grit in tgeir sound. This will convey 'their sound' better than a VST whilst leaving you max control in the mix IME... [/quote] This, if you've got the room/mics/preamps to make a decent go of it. I've been really happy with a blend of Avalon U5 DI with my Genz Benz Shuttle/Ampeg SVT610 miked up. I've also had some good results for more agggresive tones by blending a DI and bass amp mic with a driven guitar amp to get some filth into the mids. Having said that, if you haven't got an acoustically decent space and access to quality mics and pres, you may get better results from a clean DI and processing the sound in your recording software, where the world is your oyster in terms of plug ins. I've heard positive things about the Ampeg SVX and I believe its pretty cheap now. You don't really say if the studio is just for your own use or if you're looking to track paying customers so it's hard to say what level to pitch at.

Fender killed Genz's guitar amp lines pretty much immediately after the acquisition. I use a GB Black Pearl 30 and its one of the nicest guitar amps I've had the pleasure to play, with great build quality too. They were £1500 amps that were killed stone dead and blown out at around £500 by dealers to clear them out. Guess it was only a matter of time. I've seen talk on other forums suggesting that Jeff Genzler is working on stuff for Fender so it'll be interesting to see what comes from them in the near future. Would still love to get my hands on s Streamliner though!

I've had good results from HK Actor, a used six box system might come in your price range and you'd be able to scale it down to four or two boxes as required for smaller rooms.