Muzz

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405419335' post='2501686'] Yes, I really must try that one of these days. [/quote] It's a shocker the first time it happens ("Is that ME?)...didn't half tighten up my playing...

I used to love mine, and was more than happy to suffer the pain of moving it, and the deafness after gigs - hey, you're indestructible when you're 25...nowadays one would be uttely pointless with my tinnitus as I couldn't really turn it up much, and since I moved to in-ears I wouldn't go back anyway - being able to hear yourself [i]properly [/i]is a new and addictive experience.

Gigging tonight again with my Jamup/iPad front end: versatile and easy. Giving thought to streamlining my setup by rack mounting as much as I can and using just a power amp and cab (or even a powered monitor for stage monitoring. Great articles which got me started down this road: thanks again...

It's taken years to get it down to so few: one fretless, one acoustic, a couple of bitsa 'traditional' types, and three very very nice basses. All modded in one way or another. Actually, I'm pretty sure I've owned everything which would even vaguely suit me (and plenty which haven't), and the ones left are the ones which have won for me. The list of things which have come and gone include basses by Fender, Musicman, Gibson, Overwater, Alembic, Yamaha, Ibanez and lots of others. It took me the majority of the time to work out exactly what I liked and what I didn't. It was fun, though, and actually didn't cost all that much to do, mostly because I've only bought three new basses in my life: one for my 18th, one for my 50th, and one in the middle somewhere (in the 80s).

Without wanting to tempt fate, since I got my second Shuker, I'm pretty much done for basses...they're fantastic.

I was initially startled to see that my first reaction to what'd be in the Top 20 Motown popular hits, Band of Gold by Freda Payne, wasn't on there. I've subsequently discovered that it technically wasn't a Motown record, despite being a Holland-Dozier-Holland song played by Mr Babbitt and the rest of the Funk Brothers...

Interesting to note that the majority couldn't tell maple from rosewood boards - I'd also be interested to know, did anyone/everyone spot their own bass?

[quote name='WarPig' timestamp='1404638480' post='2494270'] +1 Really bad photoshop, looks like he used paint. [/quote] Why would she be playing a guitar chord shape on a bass like that? Looks veeeery iffy...

Completely chalk and cheese as basses, I'd say - while I've no experience of Limelights (and probably never will - can't be doing with relicing) I've played a few ACGs, and they're lovely instruments, but as a comparison it's like a very good sportscar and a very good 4x4 (in no particular order) - neither better necessarily than the other, it all depends on what you want out of a bass.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1404372545' post='2491919'] Well yes... but using that logic I don't really need any bass at all, it's not like my life depends on it. [/quote] Yup, but it's a sliding scale across all aspects - like some other chaps here, I've happily gigged a £60 Sue Ryder (which I still own), but my two main gigging basses would cost upwards of £3.5k if bought new (bought secondhand for less than half of that). That's purely because I wanted them. Nobody else gives a crap, really...

'Need' and 'Want' are two very different things.

On the other hand, I started off with a RH450, then went through (owned*) several micro and not-so-micro heads (inc the Ashdown Spyder, the LMIII, and then a Mesa M-Pulse and a Walkabout), and they all went in favour of a Streamliner. The Walkabout's very nice, but it's not the only game in town by any means. The bottom line is your own ears, try and play through as many as you can, preferably with your own cabs. If you're buying on here secondhand, you can buy and try properly, and resell without losing much at all if you don't get on with the amp. * And I borrowed an SVT-Pro7 and a PF500, too...and tried the OTB500, the LM Tube, the LM Rocker, etc...

I generally don't like relicing, but the Fender RW Precision I played a while ago was a very, very nice Precision, so I guess I'd put up with the damage, and I can see the point of not worrying about gigging a pre-dinged bass (though I gig my Shuker and Dingwall all the time). What I [b]completely[/b] don't get is the metalwork relicing - that corrosion's minging, and it does nothing for the feel or sound, it's purely for the look, which doesn't equate in my head.

There's lots of different approaches, depending on the type of band - from a bunch of good mates who trust each other and play now and again for beer money down the pub, to a full function depping unit run by one man who calls all the shots. Within all those scenarios, though, I'd say everyone's responsible for their own kit - if you want to be in a halfway serious band, then you need the gear. Replacement and maintenance is your own look-out. As mentioned earlier, vocal PA is the responsibility of the singer, full PA can be handled a number of ways already mentioned: the owner can take a bigger cut of gig fees (the band are effectively renting it from him), or the purchase cost can be split (which I've never know turn out well in the long run).

I regularly work with three or four professional/semi-professional deps, and they set up (we give them a hand in with their bags/boxes first) in 20 minutes max, including a kick and overhead mic, with minimal noise until the actual soundcheck starts. Any more than that and I'd be looking at a guy who frankly hasn't got his sh*t together... The professional guys are the fastest to set up...funny that...

I have a friend whose Mrs was out on the lash, and at the end of a long drinking session decided to climb a steel fence, jumped down the other side and carried on up the street. It was only when she and her friend had got to the top of the road about 1/4 mile later and were trying to hail a cab that she spotted she was missing the top two joints of her left little finger. During all the shenanigans with hospitals, etc, her other half went looking for it with a torch and found it sticking out of the top of the fence...

That's the rig of a man who knows he's never gonna have to lift any of it...

Coincidentally, for most of our gigs it sounds like I'm playing with my feet...let's see the Flea boy beat that... EDIT: For a real answer, I think it's a perfect time to use the phrase "shambling on like Wombles"...

Sold Frank a Hipshot Xtender - easy, pleasant transaction - deal with confidence, he's a top chap....

I noticed the ER20 standard ones did get uncomfortable after a couple of hours (and went from comfortable to very uncomfortable quickly), but I can't recall any time I've thought the custom moulds were uncomfortable - trying to think of the longest stretch I've had them in in one go, and that'd probably be three hours or so at a long practice session. I regularly have them in for 90 minutes at a time at gigs.

I've been through just that upgrade path - started with the generic plugs, then moved to the ACS custom fits, and I now use these for both attenuation at other people's gigs and for monitoring onstage at my own with the ACS T15 drivers. As far as monitoring goes, the T15 monitors are right at single-driver entry level for that kind of thing (tho better than in-ears like the Shure SE215), and some folk prefer 2 or 3 drivers, but for my ears they're fine, and I don't feel any desire to spend £300 more. The ER15 (now Pro17) attenuation is very very good, and the custom fit moulds are a world apart from the off the shelf jobbies. They attenuate sound across the spectrum, so I don't notice any boominess, in fact for things like talking to people at gigs they're miles clearer than not having them in. At loud guitar-based gigs, they take out the harsh ringing upper mids and highs, and you can hear more of the spread of instruments. Like any attenuation, they take a little bit of getting used to, to get over the slight disjunction of lower sound levels, but as I've started with tinnitus, I won't go to gigs (or gig) without them now. Comfort-wise, I'm rarely aware I've got them in.

Sold Mark some Hipshots, smooth and easy transaction - he's one of the good guys...Cheers Mark.

I've got the T15s in a set of ACS moulds, and I get plenty of bass. Not as good as triple drivers, naturally, but then they're a third of the price. I use them for general listening, too, and they're fine for me. Better than the SE215s I had, certainly. There's got to have been something wrong with the seal if the was no bass at all...as with all in-ears, it's all about the fit. If they're not attenuating the outside world, they're not fitting properly. Are you using the black adaptors between the T15s and the moulds?