JTUK

No...got a couple of outdoor gigs in Kent. Beer festival and THE wedding themes. I am sure there will be a few as if the weather stays good, they will all work, IMO

Like them...good effort. In the first video..I would have a few more diverse images rather than go back to the singer/main guy so often, myself, but otherwise well done.

Have to say I was not at all knocked out by Verdine and Fred White when I saw them at Wembley. I know Fred was used as a session drummer a bit for that straight 4 on the floor thing which he did well, but I have a suspsicion that Verdine couldn't even play bass on some tracks...dunno where I got that from. But, that aside, their accredited EWF recorded work is right up there.

thombassmonkey..why are you telling me this? I am not the one who needs to know this at all.. I have my sound sorted, IMO, thanks. I don't need to elevate or tilt my gear, it works off the floor, 95% of the time..and for that extra 5% I can consider the room is against me and I'll work round it with either the bass or amp EQ. It really isn't rocket science, just use your ears. Alexcaber..I'd say if the user couldn't hear the cab from the floor..then he has bought the wrong cab to use as a standalone. This is a time-honoured issue with 15's as a standalone, IMO. I'd say this for any 15" as well..JBL, EV, Gauss, Eminence etc etc ..I've had them all. I got flamed for saying this before but it is a tough sell for one speaker..and the 15 is not it, IMO, IMV, IME. If the OP doesn't agree with me..then that is fine, it is his choice and his kit, and his problem to solve and he can try some of the alternative ideas here.

Why are you arguing with me..? He can't get a sound out of one of your cabs..?

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1207215' date='Apr 21 2011, 04:09 PM']If you have a tall stack, you don't need to angle anything and everything should sound similar to you as it would to people in the crowd. If you have a short stack (as Alex was saying), the treble and mids will be going past your knees while all you hear is the less directional bass (which is more pronounced the nearer you are to the amp as the angle to your ears increases), meaning that either you won't have a good sound or to give yourself a better sound, it's going to sound tinny out front where they'll be hearing far more of the higher frequencies (assuming they're not stood right next to you). Angling cabs and my suggestion of having a cab on the other side of the stage angled in slightly are compromises that could increase the amount of higher frequencies that the OP would hear without spoiling the sound out front too much, so long as the angles aren't taken to extremes and leaving the audience with the muddy frequencies that the bassist is trying to avoid. If the sound's right at the source next to your feet, it doesn't mean it'll be right at your head. Likewise, if the floor of the stage is at shoulder height for most people (as a lot of stages are), then they'll be getting a balanced sound from a 2x10 but it'll still be too low for the bassist stood next to the amp to hear any clarity properly (assuming the 2x10 is the bassist's only cab with no PA support). [/quote] No... wouldn't and shouldn't need to do any of this. Too much of a faff for a simple problem.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1206967' date='Apr 21 2011, 12:11 PM']Treble is much more directional than bass. If you point your cab at your ears, you'll hear more treble (and mids) than if you stand behind it. Since most of the definition in bass is from the treble and mids, if your speakers are pointing at your ankles you (or anyone stood close) won't hear the definition and you won't sound great. If you angle the cab or have it higher up (or both) more of the treble and mids will be pointing at your ears and you'll have better sound. It's why monitors are angled, it's why PA full range cabs are elevated to nearer ear height on poles (since bass isn't as directional, bass bins usually aren't). If you're bumping up the treble and mids because being stood above a cab means you're not hearing those frequencies, anyone that can hear them (remember, if you're on a high-ish stage, they could be pointing directly at someone's ears) is getting a very rough deal and you could be sounding thin and clankey.[/quote] Pointing a cab at your ears doesn't help the mix out front if you don't have P.A support. If you can't hear your bass well enough from less than 2 metres, how is anyone going to..? It may be that the OP has a deep bass sound which he likes and wants to keep but then can't get the higher end out of it that he needs to hear. This will need a compromise then. Get the sound right at source and you'll not need to have amps and cans flung all over. If your cab doesn't have enough standing on the floor for you then I doubt the sound is going to be that great any further away. Whether you can get all you want out of a 15" is debatable.. Some might do IF they have a lot of attack on the signal and play with a pick. But anyway, back to the OP...a middle compromise would be 12's with a horn, IMV.. 2x 2x10's would be better, IMO, but this isn't a one cab carry. 15's are good for poke but not so much for definition, IME which is why 1x15 and 2x10 is very popular. This will be my preferred config that I'll go back to for a larger rig. 6x10 would be even better but for transport compromises. I have come round to the opinion that small and light carries it own compromises and it just comes down to where or what you make these on. For the OP..if he is happy with the cab, I'd add an higher freq one on. A compatible 12" with a horn would raise the height...that would be a bonus ..plus add a higher freq response.

Dave, have you talked to Sims or their mates over the road at WD..? I expect the former to be too expensive if you have one made but they may have a few in the workshop that didn't make it onto a custom job in the end for some reason.. Might be a vague chance but as much as ebay would be, also. Having said that..I would think someone here would have one.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1206890' date='Apr 21 2011, 11:24 AM']If you're standing right up against a short-ish cab then you're going to miss out on a lot of the treble and midrange which the rest of the band and the audience are hearing, because your ears are much further off-axis. ...............[/quote] I'd disagree, I'd say the sound into the cab or the cab itself is lacking. I run two single 12's which aren't the tallest.. They don't lack for signal even though everyone talks about them having a mid scoop. If I had any problems hearing them ...it wouldn't be the positioning that I'd respond to. I find too many bass players go for a bassy sounding cab and then wonder why they can't hear it. Either the cab has a bass bias which they like but it is not ideal for hearing or the signal in isn't clean enough. If you have a muffled sound you are going to have problems.... and stacking one on top of another is bypassing the problem not dealing with it, IME, and of course, makes a mockery of a one speaker per cab solution in itself which is a myth, IMO.

Sure, why not? If the tune is good and along the same lines as the rest of the set, you may find a lot of people wouldn't even notice. When we pick songs the only criteria is, do we do it well, does it sit aside the rest of the set and is it a good tune? A good song is a good song is a good song.

Don't understand why the bass can't be heard so I'd question the mix and sound first. I am assuming you are mixing yourselves for the audience as well but a decent cab will project from the floor perfectly well given the chance. After settling for a decent bass sound, I'd go through all the other instruments and see if you can clean up some of their frequencies, ie, out of the way of the bass. 1st problems, too loud band volume, 2nd, noisy gtrs, 3rd, keys left hand, 4th, badly tuned drums, but to be fair to drummers, most have an idea how to tune their kit. If you get nowhere like this...you might have an unhelpful room every now and then but if this is almost every gig, I'd say the bass sound itself was at fault. I really can't see a reason why having an earful of bass is going to be helpful...when all it really does is surpass a problem not fix it, IMV.

I'll watch it if I can remember its on but that is about it. I far prefer Sky Arts 1 so will often check in there as it is on all the time rotating between film and music. But, I'd prefer not to lose a live show like Later but by the very nature of these things, you need to pick and choose.

I wouldn't worry about having a vocal cheat sheet out when there are other issues for me. The vocal dynamic is too limited as is her range. You get this with female vocals a lot but you need to help her shift around the songs more so it is not just the one continuous monotone type vocal coming at you every song. Give her a chance to sing something really well rather than pound the same old set all the time. You really have to go with what a vocalist can sing rather than impose on them a set that you want to do. The band has energy but the thing that came across to me through that clip that it was all bish-bosh-bash and the songs all were delivered in the same way.

In reply to the OP...no, it is not normal, IME and who would play with these people if they don't know what they are doing? It would be such hard work that you wouldn't bother, IMO. Perfect pitch is a very very rare thing.

[quote name='fatback' post='1204527' date='Apr 19 2011, 10:33 AM']Been learning to read this last seven months, but i know I'll never have a use for it in any setting I'm going to play. The biggest plus so far is it opens up a huge amount of written material to learn from. But that's it really. Now some theory is another thing altogether, a must imo.[/quote] There is reading and reading as well. Mostly a simple chart with chords and repeats and a coda is all you need to be able to follow. If you get to solo over a sequence it helps if you can count the bars off as well as navigate through the chords.. !! Excepting the solo, this is what most bands that can crack through a set in pretty double quick time for learning will likely use. It is a simple navigating tool to save time... It doesn't make you a better player, but it can't not get you more dates, IMO. For simple dep type gigs and standard jazzers; If I had to do a head-count round here, all the horns read and can be pretty hot blowers, IMO. The best gtrs round here don't use charts but then they can lay-off a tune to suss it out anyway.. Keys are 50-50 but can't ignore theory. Drummers...? the best readers aren't the best drummers as it happens and maybe it is 50-50 on the bass players, but the readers will edge out the others on the amount of gigs they cover. You need to be sorted one way or another as no one rehearses these gigs..and you meet and network on the day and you want to get called again. If you don't do this sort of work or want to do it, then do what you do, but I find that the biggest complaint is not knowing people. If you can put yourself into a lot of musical situations, you could end up knowing who the better players are, plus they know you so no one has a problem listening to your ideas because you aren't an unknown entity. I would guess that most of the people who dep a lot know who they can contact for a new project and they'll end up with a decent band pretty quickly. None of this audtion nonsense..you have gotten past that.. the only thing left to do is get together and decide if the combined chemisty is going to be good. That is the major benefit IMO.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1204600' date='Apr 19 2011, 11:38 AM']A 5 string bass is a natural evolutionary step.[/quote] Agree..and I wouldn't use anything else. Lots of nice basses are up here but if they aren't a 5 I couldn't even be started to be interested. I even have one for sale myself..so am off to prepare some pics on this lovely fine day. But other than that..does it matter what someone else plays...? I'd be more interested in what they do with the bass they have rather than anything else.

BW were decent drivers at the time but if this cab doesn't have them, I would think it is a huge effort to move around without too much power. Good in their day and if in good conditon, will do a job if they are very cheap.

You can be thankful that a lot of drummers don't read but they still need great ears. And if the drummer doesn't read that rather negates the necessity of anyone HAVING to but the bass player will then only really have bar 1 to pick up the groove otherwise it sounds a lash. You are still going to have to deal with a few time sigs and feels though and you need to get it right away. The gtr can hang back on the intro as can the keys a lot of the time, so it is really down to the bass player to get it with the drummer in the first bar. This sets up the whole song and also sets up the gig as the idea is that no one is any the wiser you have just met half the band 30 mins ago. So, in cases like this..and this is just the local jazz horn playing booker that requires this, this is a decent paying gig that you'll need to cover..if you want to maximise your money with as many acts as possible. Even soul review type bands round here have a bass pad. Admittedly, it can be funny if everyone is reading it and it feels like crap...but at least it give you a chance. You try playing Copacabana on the fly ha ha it will not be pretty. I can see both arguements and it is down to the individual which way they play out their hand. If we are talking about developing and people have lessons for this, nice gear, 2-3 basses and are pretty serious about their playing, then theory is another string as well.

I have to come down on the more educated side myself..just for all the doors that it will open. Now if you don't want that, then no problem, do what you do...but the simple fact is that there are so many gigs out there and it helps if you have as many tricks and skills on your side. How many times do we get a thread that says..I can't meet musos..well, this is one barrier. There are not many gtrs round my way that can blag/busk a gig without paying some sort of lip service to theory. I think there are some very very good players but they don't get onstage on some gigs if they don't know a shuffle from a swinger..and cant play in horn keys. They may not want that..or may be out of their depth, but it means the same thing..they have a limitation that is beyond their control. I know players who play the London show circuit..and frankly their ability to read fly-sh*t counts for nothing in playing terms..but it opens doors and they get to play with a lot of people way beyond their station. The fact that you wouldn't have them in your band stylistically matters not a jot as they have earnt their living playing music and being well-networked for many a year. Even if players just want to try their luck at an open mic night, you will need to know a few things..they caller might say this is the key, 12 bar swing with a changearound to the 6th and it needs to make sense. If he gives you a key by offering 3 fingers down you better know you are in Eb major etc etc .. Admittedly, this is more a horn jazz leader type thing but it can be the gig.. If you have good ears you can hear all this... but it doesn't half make it all simpler ..and a lot less stressfull, if you just know, rather than guessing or bluffing. But hey... if people don't know this or don't think they need to know..that rules them out of competing for a lot of gigs, IMO.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='1202911' date='Apr 17 2011, 08:15 PM']Had a really enjoyable gig last night at Bollington Arts Centre near Macclesfield - a small but very nice theatre in a lovely village. It was really well organised and the room was full and set out cafe-style. We had a local support band called The Visitors who played their own stuff which was very good. I doubt if we made any money on it but what the hell, we don't do it for the money. As long as we cover expenses we're happy. It was my first gig on a 6er and I don't mind telling you a dropped a couple but I suspect only musos noticed Really pleased to see my good mate and fellow BCer russjm turn up to watch - thanks for coming Russ Here's a pic I took while we were setting up... [/quote] How did you get on with that boxed in stage sound-wise...? huge boom potential, I'd suggest.

Sounds like a perfect answer to the problem of only playing 5's but wanting a P-bass sound at times. I wouldn't see the point of just a P5 and welcome the extra Jazz pickup..or in this case...what sound does the MM type pickup add..apart from MM sounds which I could afford to miss, personally..