Low End Bee

We used the Eastwoods for the first time in band rehearsal last night. The bass is best with both pickups on when it sounds like a fat Jazz. I had to back off the lo mids a bit in comparison to the P bass. Nice sound though. Very growly. The neck pickup on it's own is a useful big sound too. The bridge pickup soloed is in truth a bit guitary and not very nice. The neck has settled down and I've even managed to set up the stupid 3 pointer for a nice action. The 6 string is great. In truth you would be hard pressed to tell the difference sonically between it and Sam's old Gordon Smith. This is good because that's a great sounding guitar. The added bonus is the trem is very useable and more surprisingly very stable in tuning. Even when he did a bit of dive bombing. Good sounding, nice playing very giggable instruments. Result.

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1371737644' post='2117552'] If you can, try pedals in the context of your band....it changes things expidentially Si [/quote] Absolutely. The wonderful sound I got from a Big Bass Muff caused my bass to vanish once the guitar and drums turned up to rehearsal

We get our EP's printed 100/150 at a time on CDR with card sleeves. Each re-print will have slightly different artwork to make them 'editions' . It makes it more fun and doesn't tie up the cash flow too much or leave you with boxes of CD's everywhere. I hate jewel cases and they feel more like records in sleeves.There's only pennies per unit in it this way.

Puberty Liz in form 4B Punk rock

My favourite three:

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1371322211' post='2112624'] £4.80 for a bottle of f***ing Sol?! And that was the least of our worries last night. The venue had a good stage and a nice room, and soundcheck was good, apart from the singers not being able to hear themselves properly from the two flying monitors. Then I found out that because they did not have enough mics for the the upstairs and downstairs venues, they charged us £85 to hire mics and stands, the owner told this to the two bandleaders and the promoter the day before the gig, I feel sure that was a deliberate tactic. Cancelling on principle was discussed but too many people would be let down at such short notice, and we had two young rappers playing a few songs with us, it was their first time on a stage and they were the best part of the night really. There were so few people in the venue that we delayed our set by an hour and went on at midnight. We were expecting a large party of people who turned up an hour late. We do the first song. The sound on stage was dreadful. We were the only band on so no f***ing excuses Mr sound engineer. After two songs about half the audience of about 50 left and there was a steady exodus through the set, there were about ten people left by the time our set finished. We found out from some friends after that the sound was so loud that no-one could hear anything and it was painful. A few people including two of our friends who come to most of our gigs had asked the guy on the desk to turn it down, he refused. We played like sh*t. 85 f***ing quid, what a c***. I will never play at a venue run by this cockroach again. [/quote] Ouch! Just read this. I hate it when you get dicked around by a venue like this. It's a hard call on cancelling beforehand.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1371547214' post='2115206'] Then there's the evil step-twin of this syndrome, which is that moment of frozen terror as the four-count into the songs starts, and you can't remember the first note...it all comes back in a rush, but just for that moment... [/quote] I know this very well. Then I get the intro and the first bit of the verse out of the way and there's a split second of doubt as to how the chorus goes. It's always something I've written too.

The Strad would sound better with a Badass.

Every couple of months. Depending on when the 'zing' goes. I do have a very agricultural technique. Slightly angled plectrum bashing away near the bridge. D'Addario Pro Steels seem to be lasting longer than coated strings and other similar brands I've used. I've just put a nickel set of D'addarios on to see how they go.

I thought we were quiet to medium. Happy Jack think otherwise.

I'm hoping the secret is buying the engineer their favourite biscuits just before they start mixing. I'll let you know if it's worked next week.

Depends very much on the band I guess. We want a slightly rough at the edges recording that's a representation of our live sound. We've dabbled with synths and stuff on demo's but have realised we're happier recording with the stuff we use live. There's plenty of guitar and vocal overdubs of course but we've decided against zithers and nose flutes. If we played more complex or proper music I'm sure we'd go to the instrument cupboard and use it all including the kitchen sink. Saying that we're not averse to adding a soundbite or a sample before or after a song if it feels right.

Have a good one mate. Sorry I can't make it. I'll see you at the next Kipper gig.

Ever since an A string went on a sound check last year when I hadn't bought a back up I take two. Next gig will see my Eastwood Stormbird get it's first outing backed up by my US P bass. I also have a spare cable and a DI close by. I was never in the scouts. Maybe I should been? When we've only got 40 minutes to impress a crowd I don't want to waste any of it string changing.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1371050216' post='2109145'] A major Teddy Boy revival? I remember seeing a few kids hanging around the local chip shop trying to look like Showaddywaddy in the 70s but can't remember a major revival. [/quote] Not a revival around my was as such. Quite a few that were original Teds in their 30s with younger brothers and new recruits attached. I loved their look. They weren't happy with the adoption of the odd drape jacket and creepers one bit though.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1371049356' post='2109117'] I think it depended on where you lived. There was a major Teddy Boy revival in the early 70's,and there were a lot of nasty incidents perpetrated by them on Punks. [/quote] My manor had plenty. We had a 'Western and Edwardian' clothing shop on the parade of shops nearest me. Proper hard nuts they were too.

Sadly (more probably luckily) I haven't got any of the old late 70s early 80s tapes and I haven't seen any the former band members for over 25 years so I'll have to go wth my first recording after coming out of retirement. Here's the only track I can just about bear to listen to from the previous band Magic Ship that all three Jetsonics were in before a bloody coup d'etat in 2009. There's a lot of out of tune out of time awful Americana guff on that 2008 LP. This somehow made it onto the cover mount CD of Classic Rock mag though. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr1K4-lYUmw[/media] Here's the title track fom the last EP we did. I'm a million times more comfortable with what we're doing now. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IWtcDY0ZjM[/media]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1371029121' post='2108725'] Exactly, Jake. I always find them and introduce myself and offer to buy them a drink if it's appropriate, they usually get free drinks on the house anyway so you'll rarely be out of pocket but the gesture can go a LONG way to making your gig a pleasant one. I always thank them afterwards too. [/quote] Me too. Nearly all the sound people we have are nice and if treated with respect like a human being will help you sound better. There's only one we have at a certain venue once or twice a year who's a rude, know all little t**t. But we still smile and say great job.

It had an outing while we were recording the next EP on Sunday.

Yep. Interesting stuff. I'm just happy if I can vaguely hear what's going on at most venues. I have a 28 foot lead so I can hear from an audience perspective on the sound check (and during the set on one song). If it sounds OK there I'm not to bothered about the monitoring.

[quote name='Rimskidog' timestamp='1370977701' post='2108261'] Yup. When you work with a decent producer/engineer you generally end up with a much better product than if you self produce (there's a reason record labels require their bands to work with established cats) [/quote] Absolutely. I've done a fair job in the past and have a good ear for arrangements I think but I don't have an outsiders view or bags of experience. We had a great final session yesterday. Lots of suggestions on vocals and harmonies which really added to the songs. He won me over when we he pulled me aside so we could discuss at length how the bass should sound. This could be because I bought in the biscuits which he scoffed though. The songs sound great at the moment and there not even mixed yet.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1370957749' post='2107917'] I can't remember the last time I did something to try & impress teenage girls... I'm aiming for the Mums! [/quote] Yep

I would happily gig my TC RS112 on its own. I only really take the RS210 to gigs so I don't have to bend down to to fiddle with the knobs .

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1370945778' post='2107699'] 8 Pages in, and no one's mentioned Crass yet? Hmmm..... [/quote] You can now dowload Feeding of the 5,000 on itunes now. Irony overload. They're more Woodstock than punk really.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1370876215' post='2106717'] Its always about the trousers.... [/quote] It's not everyone that can carry off a pair of Lionel's like our xilddx.