Muzz

Two channels and 2.67 ohms? That ticks a lot of boxes for me - I've got a new project underway in parallel with the function band stuff, and this'd make a lot of sense: although I rarely touch the EQ on my amp (other than during a soundcheck to adjust to a particularly problematic room/stage), it'd be nice to have to some quick stompable EQ flexibility, and I'd also like to have the option of running 3x112s for the, erm, louder project, and 2x112s for the function stuff, without sacrificing the tone I like.

My Shuker I had made for me so it was new, it's done possibly 120 gigs so far, there's no wear. I look after my basses, but only to a point - it travels in a gig bag and hangs on its stand all evening when its not being played. I chuck them around a bit onstage, too, but I don't have a belt buckle in the back of them, or wear jewellery on my right hand... Makes me smile/wince when I see some 'relicing'...I had a Yamaha for 20+ years, which in total picked up half a dozen small headstock/bottom end dings, and that was it...no-one can legislate for accidents, but some 'relics' you see are hilarious.. I'm gonna ding my Shuker now, aren't I?

I did about 50 gigs last year, I always take 2 basses (I have 8 in total, 4 of which aren't used outside the house), but the one that always gets taken, and used 90% of the time, is my main Shuker. The 'sub' spot rotates between the other three main basses (Dingwall, Thunderland or my other Shuker), but when it comes to getting onstage and reaching for a bass, my hand falls on the Shuker nearly all the time.

I'm lucky enough to play with a few deps, three of whom are all very very good in their different ways. Interesting how they bring out different aspects of my playing, too. We've discussed this on long van trips, and they've all said they play slightly differently with different band members, especially bassists. It appears to be a two-way street: that chemistry thing... The downside of deps is sometimes there's a right duffer turns up - not often nowadays, and they're not as awful as some of the guys I've played with back in the day, but I think they seem worse by comparison...

Played The Nines in Barrow, great venue, fantastic in-house PA and engineer - we sounded very very good. 2x45s, finished for 11:30, on the road for 12:10, and the money was excellent. All in all a very good one...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731'] I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now... [/quote] Thirteen of those are on our 'big' setlist, and half a dozen of them get played every gig. The upside is we play them well and punters love them, so there's always a good reaction, which is why I play. We'll try any song which we think might go down well, the only criteria for retaining them is if we can play them well, and they get the crowd up and moving. If they don't they get dropped, and we're all immediately and unanimously aware of that anyway. We bring a pro/dep approach to the function/covers band: I've never heard anyone moan about playing any song (other than to discuss the floor-killer situation above), and we don't bring any personal negativity to song choice. I personally can't stand Mustang Sally, but we regularly get asked for it by the people who are paying us, so we play it. No-one else in the band knows I can't stand it, and that's the way it should be.

I've never encountered anything with any neck instability that I've considered a product of the basic design: I think it would be down to build quality, mostly. My Dingwall 4's got a neck like a giraffe, in that it's a mile long and not overly bulky (and it's a bolt-on, too), but it's probably the most stable one I've ever encountered. Thunderbirds look like they should have necks like anglepoise lamps stability-wise, but I've rarely heard of stability issues. Snapping off at the headstock, yeah, but stability, no. As an aesthetic, they're an acquired taste, and one that is never gonna work for me, but it'd be a dreadful place if we all liked the same thing. You know, like the Ernie Ball Forum...

So, you can run the Shuttle into the Compact and BB2, the LMIII into the 2 x 1126s, and the Streamliner into the 2 x 112s: triple splitter, you've got three stacks and erm, triereo sound... :0) Aw, go on: it's Christmas...

Very interested in this one...

The S112s were my choice from the TKS lineup: it didn't work out that way for non-musical reasons (I ended up with a pair of Berg AE112s instead), but I'd gone through exactly your reasoning.

Yup, that was my understanding - it's absolutely no criticism of the BF cabs, I just think the Streamliner needs a 'voiced' cab. Well, for my tone goals, anyway...

I had exactly the Streamliner/Compact/BB2 setup, and I thought the cabs and the amp didn't sit very nicely together, which is probably more a Streamliner issue than anything else - it's a lovely warm tubey amp, but can get flubby unless tamed. The F1 I had played much nicer with all sorts of different cabs. FWIW, the best match I think I've heard (though I've been through so many it's getting hard to remember ) for the Streamliner was a Schroeder. If you're getting sounds you like from both setups, though, it's definitely a good problem to have.

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1449499928' post='2924082'] Love Jaco with Joni but can take or leave his solo stuff/Weather Report etc [/quote] Yep, this. Except I can actually leave it rather than take it...

Definitely, definitely play one (or more) first, not just for the ergonomics, but for the quality control: I bought a brand new one last year which went back the next day because it was frankly a bit rubbish. I'd never buy one blind without a cast-iron returns clause. As has been said, they're very Marmite basses. I love the look of them, but I just cannot get on with them, despite having owned a couple. Other folk love them, and yeah, if you find one you like, it's all good.

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1449243840' post='2921928'] I quite like the idea of running a combined cable for your guitar and and then plugging ear buds in. One question though, if you are only doing this just to hear some vocals would a pair of just cheap in ear headphones like you get with a mobile not suffice? [/quote] Depends what you mean by 'suffice', what sort of clarity and what the normal sound levels onstage are. You could always try them out by listening to an ipod through them during a rehearsal - it'd be confusing, but I suppose you'd get an idea of what isolation/clarity you could get...

Hey fella, well, I use a cheap-but-effective method: Behringer 1U headphone amp in rack, I take a feed from the desk into that and a feed from the amp (I can then combine these and mix myself higher or lower into the general mix), and after some unsuccessful wireless shenanigans I had OBBM make me a lead which combined the normal lead with a 3.5mm socket/jack, so I plug my in-ears into the socket at my end of the lead. You can obviously spend an awful lot more than the £100 or so I spent on this setup (secondhand headphone amp), but for me it works fine. I use ACS Pro custom moulds.

We're playing Barrow in Furness. Sweet Baby Jeebers and the Orphans... It might be fun, tho if it is, I suspect that'll be a first for Barrow...

In the main band I play with, we can go out as an acoustic-y three piece, an electric three-piece, or a four piece in which the frontman plays keys or guitar or neither, and we do an awful lot of the same songs in each format. It doesn't make much of a difference to what I play or how I sound, tho the band can sound very different. As long as you know the songs, just do what you do and it'll all fall into place.

Were they £460 in the States st the time?

I ranted about this at the time, but the Foo Fighters at Lancs Cricket Ground this year was dreadful: easily the worst gig sound I've ever endured. Cold and grey, too, and an audience of leathered numpties...left after about 45 minutes...

I'm a huge fan - I've had several secondhand, and have two now, and possibly another in the pipeline. For my 50th last year, I decided to get a custom bass built, and I talked to a lot of luthiers, but there was only one choice for me. Superb luthiery from, as Kiwi says above, a master craftsman. He's a great bloke to deal with, too. He also works out of the least industrial industrial estate I've ever seen in the High Peak...