flyfisher

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1008360' date='Nov 1 2010, 11:51 AM']I always do a pre-gig check, make sure everything's tight, nothing is crackling or scratchy. It's amazing how many of the things which stop working at gigs show up in rehearsals or practice first and are just ignored.[/quote] Yep. One of our guitarists was having trouble with a loose jack on his strat for two or three rehearsals before an internal wire finally broke. I don't know how anyone could put up with something like that. OK, he wouldn't really know one end of a screwdriver from the other, but you'd have thought he'd get it looked at. In the end I fixed it for him. It took less than half an hour but he now regards me as some sort of technical genius.

I only have one bass, a 1989 MIJ Precision that I've had from new, so I've no choice really. But it's never let me down and I've never broken a string (perhaps I'm not trying hard enough). I take a small bag of bits with me including, spare strings, screwdriver, tape, tuner, etc.). However, I do worry a little about things breaking so I'd probably take another bass if I had one. I've been thinking about getting a 5er for this very reason and to push my playing a bit - and also because I'm feeling deprived by all the photos of great bass collections on here!

[quote name='Darkglass' post='1007528' date='Oct 31 2010, 04:32 PM']The assembly quality looks quite Ok. I have seen way worse (and way pricier!). The components seem to be as good as it gets (for pedals anyways) Wima capacitors... good stuff. I like to use the least amount of wiring possible. More reliable and cleaner: Regards! Doug.[/quote] Very nice job.

Maybe he thinks he could have been a better player or more successful if he hadn't been held back by that "[i]cheap piece of cr*p[/i]". Still, too late now.

Fancy coming on this GAS-zone and asking if you need more gear! FWIW, I have an Ampeg combo (that I'm using tonight for a small pub gig) and an Ashdown head + 210 and 115 cabs. I sometimes think about getting an even smaller combo for practice. But having been lurking and posting here for the past few years I've concluded that my real deficiency is on the bass front. Will I ever be able to hold my head up again if I confess to only owning one? Yes, I know, it's hard to even comprehend isn't it!

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1005978' date='Oct 30 2010, 02:00 AM']And for all the naysayers, if being a 'sh*t bass player' had netted me around a billion quid, i'm sure i'd skip my 'Advanced Bass Soling Techniques' lesson too - i'd have a private Jet to catch to my private Island in the sun or some other useless crap to be getting on with. It's easier to throw sh*t at a bigger target.[/quote] So true. I put it down to envy. I only wish I could have achieved a small fraction of Macca's and The Beatles' mediocrity. I'd even have been prepared to "woooooo" my way through a few songs if it would have helped (let's see now, what is the [i]tiny[/i] percentage of songs where Macca actually does that?). Respect to Skank for injecting a bit of objectiveness into the discussion though.

[quote name='skej21' post='1005768' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:59 PM']My brother in law is a session drummer and has just come back from a European stadium tour as he plays with quite a famous band. He swears by his metronome because he is the first to admit that at live gigs (especially on such a large scale) the adreneline rush you get inevitably pushes you into speeding things up. It's a natural reaction that we all have, but when you're playing live gigs (particularly such important/large scale gigs) you want to sound as professional as possible. This is where the metronome helps, as it overrides the drummer's adreneline and stops him/her from naturally speeding. He uses this and mixes it into his in-ear monitors; [url="http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/DB-88/"]http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/DB-88/[/url] It also helps to make the track lengths/set list duration consistant so you can plan sets more easily [/quote] Thanks for that - very interesting. I somehow doubt we'll ever do a Europeaan stadium tour ( ) but if it's good enough for real musicians then perhaps we should give it a try. Interesting point about the set list duration as well. I guess these are the sorts of details that sort the real pros from the ''muddle through somehow' bands (like us!).

[quote name='skej21' post='1005729' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:36 PM']Most of the really good drummers I play with have some form of metronome ticking over in their ear... even at live gigs which means they're always tight and things don't drift.[/quote] Funny you should mention that - I've thought about suggesting it but was worried it would be a bit controversial. I've even wondered about programming my drum machine with a bass only beat and feeding it into the PA. Both might work and would also be a good way of being more consitent with the BPMs we actually play to. I've heard of recording studios using click-tracks, but never in a live context. Is it really that widespread? It would certainly help soften the task of raising the issue

[quote name='lojo' post='1005732' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:37 PM']Better not look at what he is writing about you on the drummers forum then[/quote]

[quote name='TimR' post='1005697' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:15 PM']Is this the same drummer you wrote about that had no stamina?[/quote] I have mentioned it before, but I don't recall stamina being a problem as such. Being a bit too relaxed perhaps. And yes, like many things we tend to avoid confronting, I know what the ultimate answer is but the 'mates' angle complicates things and the gigs we do play seem to go down well enough for us to be asked back. But it's becoming increasingly frustrating and I know we could do better.

[quote name='skej21' post='1005655' date='Oct 29 2010, 07:30 PM']And if he isn't playing the bass drum, you won't have the classic problem of trying to tie-in with a continually changing bass drum rhythm! Hurray![/quote] Yep, 'locking on' is not a problem. Perhaps I'm being a bit over-sensitive. I used to play drums (still have a kit set-up at home for the occasional thrash) but I never considered myself good enough to play in a band. I could maintain a good rhythm but my fills were not 100% reliable and I was paranoid about not getting back spot-on the beat. Obviously I was worrying far too much. Again, it might just be me, but even when I drum along to CDs I find it takes a fair bit of concentration to keep really tight, whereas our drummer seems far too relaxed to me and I get the impression he's just following everyone else, which means things drift. There surely has to be a single point of rhythm reference and I've always thought of that as being the kick drum. That's the drummer's key responsibility isn't it? Not that I'd ever claim to have a lot of live experience, but 4 bands spread over 6 playing years (excluding the schooldays) with a reasonable number of gigs ought to have taught me something I reckon. I recall an old joke or anecdote about a British wartime bomber aircraft (a Wellington?) being described as 5,000 rivets flying in a loose formation and I reckon that's a good simile for the band in question. Not so much one band as five individuals playing the same songs.

[quote name='lojo' post='1005668' date='Oct 29 2010, 07:50 PM']Well it saves 2 trips to the car park each gig [/quote] Oh no, he has got a bass drum, just doesn't seem to use it. I suppose he needs it for fixing the toms.

A priceless comment from our drummer at rehearsal last night when asked to set the right time by providing a lead-in using the kick drum: "[i]I don't usually use the bass drum[/i]". The ensuing silence was no doubt the combined diplomatic restraint of the rest of us resisting the temptation to shout "[i]yes, we know, that's the f*cking problem[/i]". Oh dear - bands and mates. Can the two ever happily coexist?

[quote name='Starless' post='1005262' date='Oct 29 2010, 02:53 PM']There is no point comparing Macca to any of the above mentioned bassists. Macca never gave a sh*t about 'bass as art-form', unlike the kind of pretentious twiddling heroes-of-bass mentioned above. Macca was (still is and will be until he dies) a MUSICIAN and SONGWRITER. Musical instruments to him are the means to the end of a complete rendition of a song (remember those things with words and melodies?). He only ended up as the bass player because 'someone had to do it'. He has a very healthy disregard for strings or tone or technique - as long as the end product is fine that's all he cares about. His basslines are beautifully put together to compliment the complete composition and recording. And yet pseudo experts still insist on picking them out in isolation and comparing them to widdling, solo-ing, bass 'heroes'?? Eh, why? What is the point of that pray tell? Back in my day at school (late 60's/ early 70's) there was always the playground 'look at me' merchant daring to be different. One tactic they employed was to profess to 'hate' the Beatles (or anything else that was incredibly popular). It looks like they grew up (or I should say, got older), had kids and the same 'look at me' DNA has been passed on through the generations and we see it now on Internet forums. I'm not an Elvis fan, does nothing for me, but I can appreciate his impact and (continuing) influence on popular music. I can't therefore 'hate' Elvis. For someone to say they 'hate' The Beatles just highlights their complete inability to appreciate popular music in its historical context - and that context includes the shock-horror revelation that bass guitar in 60's popular music really was almost an afterthought (records were mixed to sound good on a transistor radio after all). Bad-mouthing McCartney because of his (68 year-old) face, or the fact that he might be right up himself, is just hilarious. Takes me right back to the playground...[/quote] Absolutely, 100%, spot on - right down to the school years, the "I hate the Beatles" 6-7 year old kids, and not liking Elvis though recognising the stupidity of denying his influence. Yep, these sort of arguments truly are hilarious.

[quote name='TheGreek' post='1005479' date='Oct 29 2010, 05:13 PM']I was thinking that it may be better invested by buying something and tucking it away for a few years.[/quote] You're absolutely right. It [b]may[/b] be. Your bet, because that's all it is really.

We rarely ever know the full history of such things and there could be a million ifs and buts. You can only really decide based on what's on the table. Offer what it's worth [u]to you[/u] or walk away. But there's no need to tell him to "[i]F@%k right off[/i]", that's just plain rude.

All the above, plus turn all the pots end-to-end a few times.

Ditto. Or cobble together a tester using a torch bulb and suitable battery. A multimeter is almost essential for anyone who makes up cables. The other thing I have is one of these: [url="http://www.studiospares.com/test-gear/behringer-cable-tester-ct100/invt/370030/?source=215_4"]http://www.studiospares.com/test-gear/behr...0/?source=215_4[/url] It can save lots of time when setting up at rehearsal or a gig and things don't seem to be working right.

[quote name='wingnutkj' post='1000769' date='Oct 26 2010, 08:18 AM']My general rule of thumb is "if the courier was to transport my package between A and B by kicking it there, would it survive?"[/quote] Should that rule of thumb begin with "As" rather than "If" ? Good rule though - always assume the worst.

It's a bugger isn't it?!!! But it's not just cheap amps that can suffer such indignities. Our guitarist's Laney LC30 amp suffered the same problem when the tip of a 1/4-inch jack came off and lodged in the jack socket. I had to take the combo apart and desolder the socket to get it out.

Can't comment on the design or componentry for obvious reasons. It looks like a competent construction but is not really to professional standards. Stripboard is a bit "amateur" these days when proper PCBs are fairly cheap to design and manufacture, but I guess it depends on the volumes being manufactured. If you don't physically abuse it, it will probably hold together OK, although socketed components is not a great idea (perhaps this is a test model and the guy was trying our different transistors?). The diecast case will be nice and rugged but that's not the whole story if the internals are not securely fixed and start rattling around, especially if the box is kicked around on stage. £65 seems a reasonable price because there's a fair bit of assembly work required. I presume this is a sideline activity rather than a full-on business?

I'm not sure of the specific technical differences between 'time-delay' and 'slow-blow'. Might just be an terminology thing but 'slo-blo' generally means the fuse will withstand twice its rating for 10 seconds rather than the normal 1 second. At least it did when I was actively doing electronic design work. Sounds to me as if the 'time delay' fuses will be OK. They are the correct rating for continuous operation so the worst that can happen is that they might blow when you switch on. I'd give them a try.

Not sure what you mean by "timed fuses" but I don't think they're the same thing. The coiled wire fuses are typical of slow-blow designs and such fuses are generally intended to withstand the in-rush current during switch-on of the amp. It will do no harm to to use a fast-blow fuse, but you'll probably find it will blow after a few on-off cycles, perhaps the first one if you're unlucky, but it might get you out of an emergency situation.

I've got tix to see FTJ in Cambridge on 27th Nov. Looking forward to it!