NJW

Hello hello. Just in from a gig, and the support band used my Ampeg 6x10 cab with their Ashdown bass head. In the soundcheck, I was just standing minding my own business when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the top 2 speakers in my 6x10 were glowing a violent orange. I absolutely pat my shants and ran over and turned his head off. I then got him to play quietly and checked that both the speakers were functioning properly and sounding ok - which they were. He then told me that this was normal, and he has it all the time with his ampeg 8x10. He told me it is simply a 'level light' in the top of the cab. I've played about 160 shows with my cab and NEVER had this happen before. Did my cab just get buggered? I convinced him to play the show more quietly, and it didnt happen again... but this aint right, is it?

Hello. I recently encountered a problem with a Mighty Mite neck. I was working on a Japanese fender jazz, and despite my best set up efforts for a customer, I was still having constant tuning issues. Eventually I narrowed it down to Frets 9, 10 and 11 being completely out. Hmmm.... So I check over everything again, making sure I've done nothing stupid, but I just can't resolve the problem. Customer asks me to look at it in more depth, so I take the neck off, and sure enough, it is not a Japanese Fender at all... as the neck was stamped with MIGHTY MITE. This then led me to discover that the pickups werent original either. Anyway, I put the neck back on and checked the fret spacings with two different sets of calipers, and sure enough, the spacing on those frets was WAY off, like, not even remotely close. Playing a D on the low E string would result in closer to a # than the note itself, almost a full tone. Anyone else experienced this with Mighty Mite? I would have though with modern mass production techniques, it wouldn't be that hard to have the fret spacing right!

Dynaudio BM5.

I am 21. I like to play passive jazz basses, but I own an active. I play differently depending on the situation. In my two main bands I play mostly with a pick. On other, more 'pop' projects, I will play fingerstyle. I am currently filling in for a bass player for a few shows coming up, and this has backed up my philosophy that when it comes to bass, less is (usually) more. In my own bands, I like to play only whats necessary, and give everything else plenty of room to sit and sound good. Sometimes this means just playing a driving rhythm on one note for a bar of 8... and some would say this is boring, but it works and (to me) sounds better than walking the line all over the place. I think the most important thing as a bassist is to understand your drummer.

I once went into a hifi store with my father because he wanted some stuff. I tried my best to say nothing, but when the salesman tried to sell him two 'monster' phono leads for £180 (ARGH!!!) I lost my temper and had a bit of a go at him. He stood there, and tried to explain that these cables are 'time aligned' - which means that the copper through which the treble runs, is wound tighter so it takes longer to get there... because apparently bass and treble travel at different speeds and normal cables have delayed bass. He could not understand my argument that 'electricity is electricity', and actually said "we're talking about sound travelling through these cables, not electricity". Grrrrrrrr... And the upsetting thing is that people take this crap in day in day out, spending hundreds on interconnects.

on two seperate occasions we have parked on the loading bay at the back door of the underworld, spent 'extra long' loading... and then at just before half 6 moved vans up the road, take the first left behind the underworld up a little residential street and (if i remember correctly) theres usually spaces there free after half 6. Excuse the lack of street names/clarity - I am from scotland afterall:)

i added you on msn in the hope of some advice

somebody should post up some info on PRS and MCPS membership benefits, and how to join, what you need etc.

the 5 minutes of chat makes me cringe.

Hey guys, Just back from the BBC doing my first real live session (not pre-rec). Pretty good fun, unfortunately the vocal feed disappeared from our headphones so our vocal pitching is horrendous but it was a laugh anyway. You can listen to it for the next week on [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/musicscotland/vicgalloway/"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/musicscotland/vicgalloway/[/url]

[quote name='Buzz' post='35661' date='Jul 22 2007, 07:34 PM']^^ That. Nowhere does it say in the all encompassing stickies that it's not possible to feed an amp into another poweramp to get more wattage, nor does it say why, although I'd hazard a guess it's because it's only designed to take the level of input for a guitar or pre-amp, rather than the more powerful signal of after the poweramp. Although it's nice to know when posing a question you get looked down upon because of your lack of knowledge in a subject. Cheers folks.[/quote] True. A quick way to learn, and not one that I recommend in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, is to plug a lead into your guitar, and the other end of the lead in your mouth. Play the guitar, you won't feel a thing. Then plug a lead into the speaker output and put the other end of the lead in your mouth. Warning: This may hurt, a lot. DISCLAIMER: DONT EVER PUT POWER AMP OUTPUTS INTO YOUR MOUTH OR ANY OTHER PART OF YOUR BODY. But yeah - a power amps output is a powerful electrical signal. Plugging it into anything but a cab which is designed to turn these signals into sound, is a bad idea and a surefire way to cause damage for the reasons above.

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='35637' date='Jul 22 2007, 06:08 PM']I disagree a good engineer with a bad desk/pa/band will sound good. A bad engineer with all the best gear and bands wont. Just my opinion. G[/quote] Sorry, was still a bit testy earlier from a gig last night. A band of 14/15 year olds playing 'twee indie pop' and mumbling into the mic at a level quieter than ordinary conversation. Daddy of the singer then went off on one at me because he couldnt hear the vocals over the drums. The drummer was wailing on the cymbals like they were the guy who didnt call his sister back after a date, and the guitarists kept turning their amps up and up. Argh.

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='35607' date='Jul 22 2007, 05:02 PM']Thats a bit of an imature statement. The differences between good and bad sound engineers are the same between good and bad bass players. There are some brilliant engineers i work with on a regular basis and the difference they make is huge. You tend to find that the good engineers dont work in rubbish venues that often..... G[/quote] The reason behind the statement is that the majority of the gig going public don't realise that a band with bad equipment may sound bad for that reason. A colleague of mine (who is a fantastic engineer) was actually assaulted by a punter who punched him on the nose, because the guitars weren't audible. Fact was that the guitarist was using a horrendous crate amp and kept turning the amp up and down mid song. A good band, in contrast, is NOT hard for ANYONE to do sound for.

Sound engineers cant polish a turd. Something many people forget.

howdy! where in scotland are you based?

Our favourite budget manufacturer have really cracked it this time. They have released a new bass amp with a REVOLUTIONARY, err, shape! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 'BVT'!!!!! "The ULTRABASS BVT5500H amp head comes with 550 Watts of massive power. BVT stands for BEHRINGER Virtual Tube and features the revolutionary VTC Tube Modeling technology to provide the sound and feel of a real tube amp. This bass monster impresses through loads of features such as the Voicing selector with 5 ultimate sound variations, the switchable Overdrive channel and a limiter for more volume without distortion. The unit also includes a 9-band graphic EQ as well as dedicated Bass, Mid and Treble controls—perfect for ultimate sound control. " oh dear...

its funny that the 'live' DVD sounds a whole lot better than the album itself. Worst sounding rock record ever made?

I was lucky enough to hear a Sound City 200 through a 4x12 last night. Wow. Just wow. What a sound with a Jazz with Flatwounds and a good player. Incredibleeeee.