StingRayBoy42

Can anyone recommend a modern sounding, clean preamp/DI pedal? Playing Dua Lipa, Britney, Arianna Grande, Beyonce, Destinys Child type stuff on a StingRay 5 straight to PA with IEMs. Aguilar Tomehammer? Tech 21 Q strip? Can I get the sound I want from my VTDI? All and any input welcome.

I've got five six and I'm skint. Come to think of it, that might be why I'm skint...

Depends which version you watch, apparently! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_shot_first

We're called The Cantina Band because we always play the same songs. Also, we generally play wretched hives of scum and villainy.

Tonight: The Lounge at Boldmere (Sutton Colefield) with the rock band. Nice place - when we got there, a bloke was being ejected for some light-hearted comedy racism and the bouncer told us there were a lot of d!ckheads out tonight. Yay! It was full of wideboys, the manager told us it wasn't really a 'Rock' venue and asked could we not play the Motorhead, Pistols, AC/DC type stuff that makes up pretty much our entire setlist. 🤨 We said we'd see what we could do and played the Motorhead, Pistols, AC/DC type stuff that makes up pretty much our entire setlist. During the first set, there were three or four people dancing at the front and about seventy people watching from the safety of the bar at the back of the room. Gotta love that huge, yawning chasm between the stage and the audience. A bloke came up to the singer mid set and gave him some money, I assumed they were mates. When this happened three or four more times, I wondered WTF was going on... was he a staff member paying the fee bit by bit? Turns out he was some random bloke just giving the singer money. Bit weird but he cut us all in, so no complaints. Second set was loads better, everyone was suitably refreshed and they really got into it, the whole place was up by the end. The manager came up as we were packing up and told us how wrong he'd been, he and everyone else had loved it and that he would definitely rebook us, so that's a win. Sterling (love that Bass for rock stuff) -> small board -> Sansamp PBDDI -> Markbass CMD 121P. Used my wireless and went and had a boogie on the dancefloor during the last song - I can heartily recommend it! Feet update: Red socks and silver Converse. Second gig with the ACG custom earplugs, they felt tons better than last time, it sounded like us just quieter. I've lost my voice which meant no BVs... I really missed singing but I did notice myself focusing on the Bass more rather than just doing it on autopilot. Spent the fee on a Pedaltrain Novo 24 on eBay inbetween sets - Apologies if you were bidding against me. I'll be selling my Classic JR this week if that helps?

I like my Markbass 802 - sounds great, small enough for home practice, I also use mine for a 5 piece jazz band, a 20 piece jazz orchestra and 'proper' band gigging (with PA support). Small and light, good for Double Bass as well as electric, handles a low B, I paid £250 used for mine.

None on any of mine, but a tasteful one in the right place can look superb, like a nice tattoo on a beautiful woman.

I bagsy 'Hot Honey' for my drag name.

Lot of money in them days!

Yes, top end Basses from the likes of Fender and EBMM cost a lot, but there are loads of good Basses around for a really good price... Sire, Squier and Harley Benton off the top of my head. When I were a lad (late 1800s), options for cheap Basses were limited and fairly pants - anyone remeber Marlin or Hohner Arbor? Squier Basses were rubbish then, now they're fantastic. We could (and no doubt will) argue if they're on a par with the US models, but they're undoubtedly well made, decent sounding Basses that are affordable for most people. Some good points made about nostalgia - I'd love a YOB P Bass but as they now go for 3-4K (and upwards), I'll probnably never own one. I'd be really interested to see Bass prices then (70s/80s) alongside incomes of posties, teachers, bus drivers, nurses etc compared to prices now vs those same incomes. I paid £850 new for my StingRay in 94/95 which was a lot of money. Still got it, still love it, still gig it.

I bought a Bass Uke off Paul - he was a pleasure to deal with all the way.

I've had my eye on one of these for ages, it's even made it to my ebay saved searches. When I foolishly decide to get one, I'll let you know if it's worth having.

I'm with @tegs07 on this - A Rickenbacker. I've no use for one, it wouldn't fit in any of my bands, they're so ugly it's beautiful... their only redeeming feature is that you can use the headstock as a bottle opener. I'd love one.

Kmise get rave reviews for the price... I've nearly bought one of their banjoleles a few times.

+1 for Tenor uke. There's also the concert, which is between soprano and tenor in size. Cheap ukes have put many a brave man off and with good reason - they just won't stay in tune! A decent tenor can be had for 70-80 quid and are a revelation. Lanikai and Kala are both decent cheap-ish makes worth owning. Worth getting a decent set of strings as well - Aquila nylgut are pretty much the standard. I fell right down that rabbit hole a few years ago and ended up with a 6 and an 8 string - they sound fantastic and are just as easy to play. A decent 8 string uke is a beautiful sound - half uke, half mandolin and half guitar... I love my Pono 8. Enjoy!

These were just earplugs, not IEMs, the band are very old school. I love IEMs with my other band!

Tonight: Oktagon (it's got a K in it) in Knowle - the posh end of Solihull (it makes Didsbury look like the bronx) with the rock band. The guitarists's missuses joint 40th with a friend. I was a bit dubious as it was a very posh bar in a very posh area, full of yummy mummies and I didn't think we'd be their cup of tea/glass of Prosecco, but the birthday girl has seen us loads of times, so she knew what she was in for. We started at 7 (!), the first set went down OK, the second set went down loads better and the place was rocking by the end. Hooray! Played the Jazz for a change -> small board -> Sansamp -> Markbass CMD121. There was wood-fired pizza for afters. Mmmm. Done by 930, home for 10. It was my first gig with the ACG custom earplugs in... bit weird at first, I felt a bit disconnected and like the band lacked a bit of ooomph. Got used to them after a bit, and found they helped with the BVs as I could hear myself through my headbone. A good night, all things considered.

I really like my MB 802 for electric and upright. 150W and 2x8" speakers. Might be a bit big & heavy for your needs though. I used to use a MB 101 Marcus Miller thing which I loved for upright - 45 watts on its own (I think?) and a 10 inch speaker - there's one for sale on here (not by me) which might be worth looking at?

Do they both sound OK straight into the amp? If so, any A/B pedal will do the trick. Boss LS-2 is a fantastic option - it has volumes on both channels and is useful for loads of other applications. Bright Onion do some pretty nice stuff too - from a simple A/B to ones wih FX loops and tuner outs and allsorts. https://brightonion.co.uk/ If not, I'd suggest a preamp for your upright. I use a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ II (discontinued) but I'm sure there are othes! I also use a Sansamp VTDI for electric (nice 50s/60s thump) and keep the amp as flat/clean as possible.

I knew you guys would come up with a workable solution!

As per the title, this is no doubt an extremely silly question so apologies in advance. I have LED strips on my pedalboard, controlled by one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202152695416?var=502140337723 to change the colour of the LEDs. I also have a Boss LS-2 to swich between FX loops. Is there any way to change the LED colour when I change the FX loop on the LS-2? So loop A (green light) - LEDs go green, loop B (red light) LEDs go red. No loop - LEDs go white. Utterly stupid and pointless... it'd be good though, wouldn't it?!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196187269632