mike257

I've never found it a big deal, although it's always been a case of the band playing in a particular tuning, and the most I've had to shift mid-set is down to drop D and back (or drop C# - same difference!). I can imagine using multiple tunings in one set would be a ballache, and that's why rockstars have a rack of guitars and a hairy bloke in a dirty t-shirt to hand them the right one. I'd be happy to take two instruments to a gig to cover it off, although the Morpheus Droptune/Capo pedals or a Whammy DT could be a lighter and less expensive solution for some people. If it makes the band sound better it's worth the minor (IMO, of course) inconvenience.

A friend of mine runs CDS in Chelmsford and does some great sounding stuff - go check out Fei Comodo on YouTube, have a listen to their recent singles. Top stuff and he knows his metal too. EDIT: Here's a link, was on mobile before! [url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/CDS-STUDIOS/117434231617766?sk=info"]https://www.facebook.com/pages/CDS-STUDIOS/117434231617766?sk=info[/url]

[quote name='krysh' timestamp='1344290431' post='1762452'] forget the pilot on the floor: and for rehearsal/recording the rig on the right: [/quote] Love that big red Guild semi, don't think I've seen one of them before. Did you build the amp yourself?

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1344009615' post='1758704'] Forget the left hand side of the picture and concentrate on the Moog on the right [/quote] Lovely stuff - is that your Jacko tour setup? Are you using the laptop for synth sounds too, or is the Moog doing all the heavy lifting?

There's plenty of us here dabbling in other instruments so I thought we should have a thread of our own for our rigs - guitar, keys, drums, xylophone - whatever you're rocking out on, stick it in here! Here's my guitar toys to start us off - the nice UPS man just turned up with my Orange cab this morning so thought it was time for a photo. I've not tried the it with the new cab yet (sleeping baby son in the next room!) but think it's going to bring my old Carlsbro 50 Top head to life!

I used to have a Korg DTR-1000, great tuners. I had a mute footswitch on the floor for it though, and eventually decided that if I was going to have something on the floor anyway, it might as well just be the tuner!

Also, it's likely that the output for your PC speakers from the soundcard is a standard two channel stereo signal, and that the speaker system will have a crossover that splits the low frequencies for both channels and sends them to the subwoofer. If the jack that plugs from your speakers to the soundcard is TRS (two black stripes around it, if you're not sure) then it's two channel/stereo and you can follow OBBM's suggestion about running everything to the mixer, and the speakers from the mixer's main outputs.

The DI output on your amp should come before the master volume in the circuit - just turn the master volume right down on your amp, and you should get no more sound from the bass amp but still have a signal passing to your mixer

Drums was the first instrument I ever dabbled with - I love playing them now whenever I get the chance and recently picked up a cheap electric kit to get some extra practice in. I think the drumming informs my bass playing, guitar and songwriting in a big way - makes me extremely conscious of rhythm and how everything fits around it. I think learning more about music in any form can only be a good thing, and picking up another instrument can inspire your playing in new directions - give it a try!

There's a Silverstone cover on the Orange cab I've just grabbed on t'eBay - judging from this thread, I won't be picking up a matching one for my head! Off to Roqsolid for me then.

Old thread bump - did anyone else go in for this? Got my email this evening to confirm I've got one of the guitar slots so I'll be amongst the unwashed masses with my six-string. Be seeing any fellow BC'ers there? Mike

I've always loved the SVT3, I owned one for years and only moved it on out of necessity, still miss it. The 4 is essentially a higher powered version of the same thing. Will definitely do growly for you. I haven't got personal experience of the Warwick stuff but ny usual rehearsal rooms had a bunch of them as house backline and they had terrible reliability issues - they were there lower models though, don't know how different the 10.1 is. Can't add anything on the others apart from to say that I've heard both in action at gigs and they sound fantastic - don't think you could go far wrong with either of them or the Ampeg.

Hey fella, forgot to post the link to the guy who shot the video, d'oh! His website his here: [url="http://www.power2thepixel.com/"]http://www.power2thepixel.com/[/url] Tell him Mike from BOOM! Transport sent you

More lovely work mate, well done. I remember laying the new wooden floor in the studio I was assistant engineer at back in my teens - cut and planed all the reclaimed wood ourselves, and then, being the lowest ranking fella (there was only me and the boss!) I got the lovely, dust covered job of pushing the giant sander round the floor all day. Grim, stinky, and for weeks I was finding sawdust in places you'd never imagine you could get it! Great to see the control room taking shape, makes it feel like things are finally coming together. Just realised that this thread has been running since early 2009, must be the longest running build thread BC has ever had!

It's really disheartening to go that long without something happening for you, but the next band might be just around the corner. I left a (very good) band in Nov 2010 because there was too much ego flying around. Resolved to finally do my own thing with the music I was writing and spent all of 2012 with a revolving door of let-downs trying to get it together - believe it or not the only constant was the drummer! With a year of wasted time and money and a baby on the way I was almost ready to pack it in at Christmas, but glad I didn't. I'm now playing in a regularly gigging function band, with other dep work coming my way, and on the verge of getting involved with a great new originals band with a good manager and some realistic prospects of them bagging a decent agent and going out on some good shows. I went 18 months without stepping on a stage and I'm now at the point of considering pursuing music full time, things can turn around!

Wow - tons of really great posts full of good advice and experiences, thanks guys! I've been dropping in reading them but in the midst of doing loads of jobs in the house so only just had time to reply! [quote name='silddx' timestamp='1342964496' post='1743190'] You'll also need to be very organised and clued up about your tax affairs, and running your own business to maximise your income and minimise your outgoings. [/quote] Great stuff again Nigel, thanks - this is something I'm really trying to dig in to. An ex-bandmate of mine is a qualified accountant and now runs his own business managing bands and promoting/booking tours, had some good advice from him in the past and hoping to grab some more! [quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1342965146' post='1743196'] .....IMO quitting requires serious unpleasantness going down in the day job coupled with guaranteed rewards in what you look at next. Both conditions are necessary; stay out of what you used to be good at for long enough and no matter how good you were, you'll find it very hard to take it up again. [/quote] Phil - it's not something I've considered lightly. I used to get a lot of satisfaction from my day job, but with this latest redeployment it's almost like a demotion - I've been moved to a job with little responsibility or accountability, and little chance to gain any job satisfaction or progression, and I was moved almost on a whim to balance somebody else's budget sheet. Completely de-motivated and angry about it after helming a project that has won awards and saved my employer tens of thousands over the last two years. I've tried to pick up as many transferable skills as possible so I'm not tied to a narrow selection if I do have to go job hunting again! [quote name='gjones' timestamp='1342965642' post='1743202'] You have a van? Isn't that how Bill Wyman got the Rolling Stones gig? [/quote] It's amazing how many best mates I suddenly got when I bought a van! [quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1342967838' post='1743228'] Can you read? Reading opens up a lot more possibilities for paid work. [/quote] Not a great reader at the moment Jake, it's something I'm aware is a gap in my skills that needs to improve. I've got a pretty solid grasp of theory and I know what I'm playing when I play it - I've just not put a huge amount of time into interpreting it from a score, mainly because it's never been necessary for the gigs I've had. I realise that becoming more proficient is a doorway to more work and it's definitely something that's in the plan. [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1342980547' post='1743397'] - If you decide to keep your job, or find a better one, can you live with the thought of never having tried living off music? [/quote] This is the bit that keeps me up at night - I don't want to live with the "what if" of never having tried it hanging over me. [quote name='dood' timestamp='1342988962' post='1743582'] I'd say for anyone wanting to go down this route, do not place all your eggs in one basket. Use your talents and skills to form multiple streams of income so when one dries up (which it most definitely will) you have something else to fall back on whilst you fill that gap. [/quote] I'm hoping that I'm covering that off by mixing playing gigs with tour management, engineering, band transport etc - I know there's not really anyone else locally providing what I do with the splitter van, especially with the extra things I can offer on top of just turning up with the bus, so freeing my time to take more work on in that area is hopefully a good thing. [quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1343000342' post='1743763'] The kids are your biggest responsibility. [/quote] Definitely, and I'll only be writing my resignation letter when there's enough in the diary (and the savings) that I'm not panicking about where the next few months rent is coming from! [quote name='fatback' timestamp='1343042614' post='1744083'] First off, most people who make a living from music do it mostly from teaching not playing. Will you like teaching? Will you be any good at it? Is it what you imagined you'd be doing? [/quote] Done a bit of it before, and also a qualified trainer and provide training courses in my workplace - obviously slightly different but a lot of the experience is transferable. I'd be more than happy to do it, although there's some areas I'll be brushing up on myself too! All the advice so far has been great, lots to think about, and also reassuring to hear from the guys who are making a living from this. I'm not harbouring dreams of super stardom, and never have, but I love music in all its forms, it's always consumed so much of my life, and nothing would make me happier than to make a living from what I love doing most. I think bagging some more regular function work and doing some serious business plan-writing are next on the list, and Nigel's suggestion of cutting back to part time hours as an intermediate step has got me keeping my eye out for opportunities.

Possibly, yes - I work for a pretty big company and have experience in a number of areas within what we do, so it's certainly something that I could look in to. My employer makes regular use of contractors via a couple of employment agencies to cover times of peak demand for engineering work too, so it's something I could fall back on if money got tight.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1342962718' post='1743170'] Don't underestimate how difficult and stressful it can be, even for established artists. [/quote] Thanks Nige, wise words. Whilst I'm still writing and playing original music, I'm not expecting that to generate any kind of real cash and I am totally prioritising things that will make a bit of money. Whilst functions etc aren't anywhere near as enjoyable as creating original works, I still enjoy being out playing them enough to make it a main source of income compared to a thoroughly unrewarding 9-5. I'm trying to have as many avenues for earning as possible so that will hopefully alleviate the stresses of where the next pay check is coming from slightly. I do worry about the gaps in between and am looking into insurance to cover sickness etc. I'd like to get some decent savings in the bank before kissing the day job goodbye!

Hi guys, I'm sure we've all considered this at some point in time, I'm seriously thinking about taking the plunge and would love to hear your experiences, those of you making a living or those of you it didn't work out for. At the moment I have a reasonably well paying job, but have been 'redeployed' from running a successful, award winning project that was saving tens of thousands a year for my employer into a lower grade desk job that is essentially glorified customer service. This has left me completely pissed off and demoralised, and thinking it might be time to make a life change and do something I love for a living. I've recently joined a function band who are out doing a couple of weddings a month, with bookings already in place until this time next year. I also own a seven seater splitter van and do a bit of work transporting, tour managing and teching for bands, and some occasional freelance live engineering for a local PA company - my day job limits the amount of this work I can take on at the moment. I think if I could pick up one more regular function gig, I could probably get close to making a reasonable living, though I need to carefully consider things as I've got the missus, 3 month old baby and two step-daughters to think of. I'm lucky to have a very supportive other half who made a similar move a few years ago to pursue photography and has ended up with a career she loves as a lecturer in a local college teaching the subject, so she understands where I'm coming from and is very supportive. I'm trying to make positive steps towards this - I've joined the MU, and I'm just getting signed up with an agency that specialises in hooking working musos up with function acts and dep gigs (a friend is on their books and between them and a few bass students he's making a living from it) - and I'm putting together a catalogue of video and audio recordings to build a proper online presence for myself. I play bass and guitar, so that will hopefully double my opportunities, and I'll be starting singing lessons soon to get my BV's up to scratch. I'm hoping that between this, the splitter van and the engineering, I'll have enough things on the go to keep my options open for work. I know there's a good few full-timers on here, and a wide range of experiences, so I'm really looking for some advice - am I being realistic here? Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Any tips and suggestions? Thanks in advance for all your help and advice! Mike

I love that colour combo on a J style (particularly with the black scrachplate) so certainly looks the part for me - cheap basses can be pleasantly surprising. I've still got the 'Extreme' branded Jazz I won in Silverfoxnik's BC charity raffle a few years ago, think it retails at £95 but I think the neck feels great and I've had no issues with the fit and finish elsewhere. It's my main 'playing at home bass' and lives propped up in my back room ready to be grabbed whenever, and it's just a decent set of pickups away from being a good solid gigging bass that I'd happily take on stage.

Yeah, that would be the place for it, and any low impedance volume pedal (or any active one) will do for your needs. Placed after those pedals, it will effectively act as a master volume. The only big tonal difference it will make is if you use any drive from the Microbass - it will reduce the gain hitting the pedal so your drive tone would clean up a bit. If you're running it clean anyway then it's no biggie!

I see you're in the West Midlands, so only an hour or two from us in sunny Scouseland. There's a guy local to me who's building up quite a portfolio with local bands, he's doing increasingly good work. He's done a few for this band here, but this is a good example - location shots out and about near where they live, performance shots in the corner of the basement where the band rehearse and in a park up the road, looks ace. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxfj-ltW7-g[/media]

As said, high impedance pedals are great for placing right after your bass in the signal chain. Low impedance pedals may play nicer in the middle or at the end of a chain of effects. Another option is an active volume pedal - these can go anywhere. I've got a George Dennis volume pedal on my guitar board, it's active so sits wherever I want, optical so has no pot to wear out, and also has a switchable distortion effect if I go an extra push down at the top of its range. They do a range of volume pedals with different effects built in, or just dedicated volume - I picked mine up dirt cheap on eBay and don't use the built in effect, so don't be put off by that if you spot one cheap, you can safely ignore it and just use the volume function. If switching between a min and max volume is a concern, I think some of the Morley volume pedals allow you to set a minimum level, so your bass will never disappear. Alternatively, there's pedals out there (or easily built DIY style) that are essentially the same as the volume pot in your guitar, but in a box - if you just want to switch between 'loud' and 'quiet' this would be a simple solution, and cost buttons to build if you're that way inclined. I played with a guy who used the Ernie Ball VP Jr - heavily abused it as he basically emulated a pedal steel guitar in our alt. country band so the volume pedal was in constant use, and he swore by it, so if you're going for a simple passive solution they're probably a good option.