mike257

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1333997901' post='160944'] .....and I would ask that you love my excitement when Kyuss ring me to say Reeder is being a bellend, and they need a Scouser to hot wire their van [/quote] This made me chuckle. I've never thought of adding that to my bass playing resume, I'd get tons more gigs if I advertised my scouser skills!

Went in for this, band have now split up though shame, ace band and seemed like nice guys.

Something like an Avalon U5 or a similarly transparent DI might be the answer for you. I've tracked through one playing my Sandberg (Glockenklang pre) and it sounded great, really natural bass tone. Not cheap, but a great piece of kit.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Barefaced cabs - I don't own one but had a Barefaced Big One (now discontinued) when it was sent around the country on trial. Insanely lightweight and great tone. If you drop Alex at Barefaced a line he'll be happy to help out, the guy knows his stuff and is a pleasure to talk to. If I was looking to replace my SVT610 with something lighter, I'd definitely be looking at them.

You say you're after a Marshall, but not all Marshall's are created equal - the MG series is the entry level cheapy model and is a long long way from the legendary valve tones that made Marshall famous. I can't see it giving you a better bass tone than the DP150!

I've got a Shuttle 6 (not the max version) which I think has the same power amp module and I've never had trouble getting volume out of it, definitely try woth a different cab/cable, and try a different head with your Peavey, there's something amiss somewhere!

There's more than just playing ability to consider though. I used to be in a band with a couple of singer/guitarists who liked a few beers before a gig (or even at ten am in the van on the way to one!) and whilst I can say that it genuinely didn't have a negative impact on their vocal/musical performances (always spot on) it did affect their personality and behavior on the day, which often came across in their interaction on stage. Was definitely one of the reasons that band stopped being enjoyable for me, I miss the music but i don't miss the attitudes!

Any thoughts on the difference between the modern 3 band 'ray preamps (mine is '04) and the East?

The reamp box corrects the impedance so you get a signal that 'looks' like a guitar going in to the amp, ideally you want to do this for the best results. Is there a reason for sending the unamplified signal through the desk first? Would be simpler to send it straight to the amp as normal and pick up the Mic there.

I bought my Stingray over there, from Allan's in Adelaide - got a good price at the time (back in 2004) but from what I hear things are pretty steep over there now.

Not a bass, but shipped an SVT3 in a rack case to Oz recently, cost about £120 I think. I let the buyer arrange the courier so he could pick out insurance etc he was happy with. Make sure you pack it to survive a nuclear war as it'll get tossed between a few planes and probably see some rough handling. I bubble wrapped it inside the flight case, then surrounded it with foam pieces, bubble wrap and those little polystyrene wotsits so it had a good few inches of packing each side - ended up a LOt bigger than the item so probably bumped the shipping up but got there safe and sound so worth doing.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1333551774' post='1603435'] Hire a van and take cost from the gig money before allocating remainder to band members. Set up an account whereby 10-25% of all gig money gets saved for future van hires etc Van hire isn't as expensive as you might think depending on your age for insurance purposes. If you are nearer the younger side of the BC gang then ask someone's dad to hire and drive van for a small fee of course. Check local press - some guys will hire a van and driver at pretty reasonable cost - some specifically for band use too. Do you know any local mates who have a van and might drive for you allowing all to partake in a light refreshing "cola" after the gig. Dave [/quote] Vans that are suitably equipped to legally transport a bands worth of people are hard to come by in most places though - that's why I bit the bullet and set up my own. There's quite stringent safety requirements for fitting extra rear seats, and insurance for a modified vehicle is a tough game, you'd have a heart attack if you'd seen some of the quotes I was given (from the few insurers prepared to quote on it!)

Fingers crossed its someone from here, well done to everyone who had a crack at it! I know its nerve wracking, recently got pretty far through auditions for a quit the day job gig only to suddenly get radio silence. Thought I'd ballsed it up but fast forward six weeks and they've just announced they're breaking up! Looking forward to the big reveal, fingers crossed for the BC crowd!

It sounds like you're in love with this bass, and a used instrument that's been on the shop floor for over 9 months should definitely be up for haggling! As for the ACG, it depends on whether or not you're the type of player who is always tweaking these things. I know its not the same ballpark as far as complexity goes, but I have a couple of go-to sounds on my two active basses that I find suit most situations - I don't like the fiddling to get in the way of playing them! Obviously some people prefer that limitless tweakability and it may suit you, but if you're more "set and forget" then its a lot of dollar to throw down!

I resolved it by buying a big van and kitting it out for transporting bands - as this gets me more work than my bass playing does these days, you don't appear to be the only one in this predicament!

It's nice to have a compact set up that you can just switch on and go, seen it done before but not done it myself. The acoustics are obviously going to be impacted by jamming your speakers in the wardrobe, but for a home practice/demoing setup I can't see it causing you any problems, go for it!

I've played with a few guys who have the AC30. You enjoy it at home volime then you're going to love it cranked up - they're glorious. Great with pedals in front of them too.

Got to agree with Jake - although you don't neccesarily need massive theory knowledge to get by playing in a band, to teach somebody you need to be able to relate to them in clear terms what you/they are playing and why to allow them to develop an understanding of the instrument. Music theory knowledge is a tool to help us explain and relate the principles of how the instrument works - if you can't explain it, how can you teach it?

I've not been in this situation myself, but I'd imagine that having a decent dep available for one/both of your gigs would be a great move. It allows you the flexibility to be where you need to (musically or financially) without letting someone else down, and also means you can give yourself a night off if it gets too much or something else comes up.

Gotta go with the crowd - from the sounds of things this is very much the wrong band for you to be in. It's not fair on you to keep putting pressure on yourself, and it's not really fair on those guys as sooner or later your differing attitudes will cause an issue. There's nothing wrong with wanting to just play for kicks with your mates, and theres nothing wrong with shooting for the stars, but the two don't go together!

So is this cheaper than hiring a musician to play the keyboard parts? Now there's an interesting slant on the 'backing tracks' debate - "Lets have backing tracks but lets have enough 'musicians' on stage that nobody knows we're using them."

If there's no practical way of bypassing it then you're probably doing right to avoid it. My only (admittedly limited) experience with these boxes saw them trip when the drummer played on his own. Nothing electric had even been plugged in yet! Unless (like Doddy's crew in his post above) you're suitably equipped with electric drums, in-ears etc for playing a quiet gig, you'll likely find it a struggle.

Yeah, they've had them up there for ages - prices don't seem any different to the Joyo ones, although I've seen stores selling the Valco branded ones for almost double the usual.

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1331660239' post='1576800'] Perhaps next time someone asks about the right D B pickup for a Skiffle band I`ll offer an unasked for opinion on whether Skiffle bands are actually music, seeing as a washboard isn`t a real instrument like.... MM [/quote] Can't find a decent washboard player round here, I just run ours off a sampler.

What did you do to sort it? Got the same cab, mines out of action at the moment, only thing making any sound is the tweeter! Hoping its just a wiring thing.