Phil Starr

Surprised no one’s offered any advice on this. First of all the low cost suggestion, why not try just one sub? If nothing else you’ll know one is enough for certain. Theres an issue with subs that you don’t get small/light loud and cheap all from one speaker. Obviously without knowing a lot more about your band we can’t judge if you need a sub or how big it needs to be. I’ve seen one band locally gig with a single FBT 2x8 sub. Sub was only handling drums for them bass was backline but the kick sounded great even in a decent sized pub. I guess a 1x12 would have been equally loud. It can be done if you share prepared to manage the compromises. I’ve a pair of Wharfedale EVP subs. 43.5kg. I’ve recently bought an RCF 905 sub which is lighter and louder. Finally do you need a sub? £600 is quite a contribution towards some better tops which might add as much as a small sub to your PA.

Once you've played a couple of gigs and recorded them you can then do virtual tweaking of each channel. Optimise each persons vocal or instrumental sound without them having to be there. This is great for eq, reverb and delay on the vocals

My experience is that a touch screen is also superior to actual faders in terms of how easy it is to make fine adjustments, though that depends upon rock solid wifi I suppose as well as how well the software is thought out. Big sliders and a simple screen layout help.

I pretty much take the mixer to all rehearsals, it's so much simpler and saves so much time. It's down now to plug and play. Just like everyone else I think a couple of 'technical' rehearsals before changing something as fundamental as your mixer is really important. There are little things that you have to learn with every mixer and you'll probably want to do some basic eq for every channel as well as set up some reverb and delay on the vocals. On top of that you want to introduce the band members to doing their own monitor mix and this all takes time. My bands are all aware of the need to get the technical stuff right and are moderately happy to support all this. I try to make sure that it's about making each of them "sound as good as possible" through the PA and they love that. Generally speaking we try to rehearse only when needed and gig as often as possible so we rarely do wasted rehearsals. We'd never go more than a month without meeting up though so if gigs have been sparse or someone has had a long holiday we'll try to run through the set just before a gig. On monitor mixes I just tell them "it's better to do your own mix but I'll do it for you if you are struggling" None of them have ever really struggled with the mixing part of this but they regularly fail to log on to the wi-fi or log onto someone else's channel. The failsafe is to give them a FOH mix with 3db 'more me'

I'll bet the fear factor has already dropped a level or two @Al Krow It's just so easy to see what you are doing at a glance and everything is so visual. I always found it hard to switch from one analogue desk to another and pick out what tweaks had been made to each channel when you have a few hundred physical knobs, buttons and sliders. I used litle bits of tape to mark most of the settings on the vocal eq so I could recall a basic setting. So much easier to be able to see the response curve for each channel on screen and simply save settings. First gig with mine I allowed an extra hour to set up the mix and it was actually quicker to set up than using the analogue mixer I'd run for years. I was so nervous about the loss of physical sliders. That seems insane now, digital gives you so much more control and becomes second nature within three or four gigs. This is going to be so much fun, I'm jealous of your next steps.

To be fair John @Chienmortbb did all the real work

The Gnome is really odd in its eq with lots of boost in the mid/tops, The frequency response we measured was like the side of a hill, though it sounds very 'clean' through a small speaker. I can't find the response curve but this was our attempt to get a flat response from the Gnome. The midrange centre frequency was 400Hz btw

I'm really responding with my own experience with the Peavey mk111 and mkIV amps which to be fair are pretty old kit. In each case it was an amp that had been in storage for a long while.

Colchester too far? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1631319867736613/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Abefb2f34-e128-4eac-bbe6-61ac6604ce0c

There's certainly no lack of space to fit the replacements in. If memory serves the replacements were at least 30% smaller in each dimension and had to be packed out to fit in the clamps. Once again though unless you know what you are oing this is not a diy repair. Big electrolytics can store a lot of charge for several hours after the amp has been unplugged and a DC shock is considerably more unpleasant then a mains shock and potentially lethal.

https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/pa_systems/stagepas_400i_600i/index.html These are tjhe Yamaha Stagepas systems. The mixer is also a power amp and sits in the back of one of the speakers for transport. There's a box in the back of the second speaker for your leads so ist all ver neat and simple. I have one of the older 300i systems with a slightly less powerful amp but the 400i is an improvement on an already good system. They are ideal for your proposed usage and also work well as stage monitors. Your whole PA is then a single trip carry. They pop up used fairly often. The 400' will probably be big enough for what you are proposing . The 600i will go to full band volumes

The Yamaha Stagepas series are worth a look. Several of the stick systems have a mixer built in too, the RCF Jmix8 for example. If you are looking to do this on the cheap a few of the lower cost speakers offer a couple of mixable inputs. Usually mic and instrument plus Bluetooth for your between sets playlist

My First Bass Amp These sound excellent and with one proviso they are bombproof. The problem with any amp this age are the electrolytic capacitors particularly the big ones in the power supply. Over time they start to break down and can leak a goo-ey mess onto the circuit boards. The good news is that replacing them is fairly simple and cheap, but not a DIY job as they handle dangerous voltages. If you like the amp then it's worth doing

Just browsing Facebook Marketplace and there are five of these up for sale. £280-400. These are great live mixers now discontinued. 18 channels 8 mic pre’s 6 aux outs. Stereo recording only. The strong points are arguably the best software yet for small band live mixing. Simple, well structured workflow. Nothing hard to find and never more than two clicks away when you need it. Just perfect w hen mixing from stage. Dual band and rock solid router. Best of all all the faders adjustable by 1db just by tapping on them. All the eq and fx you’re ever likely to need. Downsides are lack of flexibility in routing. No RTA. Only 8 mic channels (limiting you to a 3 mic drum mix) and only stereo recording so this is a live mixer no good in a studio. If you are looking to go digital but are worried about losing control of physical faders these are about as good as it gets. I’m tempted to buy one as backup.

It’s really simple, do you fancy doing it? Context is all however. If a close friend who needed a favour asked or it was a chance to play with people I liked or I was at a loose end and it didn’t look like a lot of effort I’d give it a go,and have done. As an occasional band leader and organiser of jam sessions I’ve often asked friends to do me favours. I’ve also stepped up to the mark for a friend who formed a band from the best people at my jam session. They wanted to do rock classics, not really my thing but we’ve all played them. I was perfectly happy to sit in until they found a permanent bassist. I’d have gigged too but they found someone else before we got that far. It cost me nothing really, rehearsal was on an evening I Was free and it was more fun than practice at home. It’s tough getting a band together. You need momentum so if asking a friend makes the rehearsal work I’ll ask. Having a dep who knows the set can benefit both sides. I’m always flattered to be asked. If I can’t do it or aren’t interested no one takes offence.

I've never owned on of those Peavey's but I've played through a friends. I thought it was pretty wonderful and looked out for a used one for a while. I'm really keen on a graphic particularly when playing in an acoustically difficult space.

So are you just using the Elf as a pre amp then or is it running it's own speaker? The thing is that the weight in the Peavey comes mainly from the power supply with the case probably second, just removing the pre-amp would only save a few hundred grams and a new case would save not much more. The case probably contributes to cooling too so I'm not sure this is a great idea. Other options would be to sell the Peavey and buy a PA amp with the money, class D if you really want lightweight. Alternatively the Peavey has just about the most flexible eq out there. As it happens we measured the response of the Elf, it's a smiley face eq with the midrange suckout centred on 400Hz and with a bit of drive at high levels plus some HPF. you ought to be able to dial up something similar with the Peavey.

Yeah this is true and I did think of including that, I even wondered if you would comment. I've a tendency to long-windedness in some of my posts which I'm trying to curb, usually unsuccessfully Sadly a lot of amps aren't built with the best of components and the fact that so many musicians know about bridging the fx loop and/or cleaning up the socket suggests that a lot of cheap components are sitting in this critical position.

I don't know to be honest. It just seemed remarkable to me that you would provide not one but two XLR line outs without allowing you to continue monitoring your playing. The Boss website was quite unhelpful but my interface for instance allows me to monitor either what I'm inputing or what is looping back from the computer. I wondered if those switches would allow you to do the same. Worth a try anyway?

Have you tried the 'Loop Back' switches on the back of the amp? There appears to be one for the digital output and one for the line outs.

Here you go, this is a 'typical' switching jack socket. You can see two silver connectors on the left hand side dangling below the socket and two more on the far side. If you look carefully the ones on the far sidereach across and lightly touch the ones on the near/left side. You shoulkd just be able to make out the little dimple where they touch. The left side is the input side and the right side is the output side to the power amp, that light touch is enough to complete the circuit and connect the ttwo. When you push a jack plug in these contacts are lifted and the input side is disconnected. Pull the plug out and the contacts spring back down and re-connect the pre amp to the power amp. The problem is that this isn't a great design. The contacts aren't spring steel and constant re-use weakens the spring. When the contacts are lifted dirt can get into the gap and block the contacts and as everything is open to the air the contacts themselves can corrode and the oxidised metal blocks the connection. The 'correct' fix is to replace the socket. A new socket is going to last 10-20years probably. However if you can get to the innards of the amp you can clean the connectors. Some rubbing alcohol will clean out any dirt and corrosion can be removed by a very fine abrasive or even scraping with a sharp blade but this will be temporary as the abrasive/blade will scratch the connector and it will corrode again but more quickly. Switch cleaner like DEoxit or Servisol in the UK will help but obviously you need to get it between the contacts ideally, just spraying it through the jack from the outside is going to cover the circuit board it is probably soldered to. Not all components respond well to this you can try spraying the contact cleaner onto a cotton bud and try rubbing it against the contacts which you can usually see from the outside. If you get enough in and wiggle the contacts with a jack plug you can get temporary relief. A new socket gives you a nice strong spring and clean contacts. The socket costs £2 and takes 5 mins to fit but you'll need to pay a set fee for anyone to open up and disassemble your amp to get to it. If the socket has failed then using a jumper lead completes the connection so the switch doesn't need to work. If it is just dirt on the connector then wiggling a jack in and out will clear it for a while.

I started playing bass at 55. You are just 5 months older than I am. Never give up It's horrible being between bands. Given the dates a lot of this is down to Covid. You missed out because of lost years and even now the band scene hasn't completely recovered. I'm getting more bookings for my duo and fewer for my band just because money is still tight. This might also be a Bridgnorth thing, it's easier to have a thriving music community in bigger towns. The internet sites are flaky at best. It's so easy to post an ad and costs nothing that all the fantasists and self deluded are there as well as genuine players. The problem is that most musicians remotely our age still playing will be in gigging bands. If you are capable of learning a set of 30 songs in a few weeks those are the bands to go for and any band with gigs lined up is having to take it all seriously so look for that in ads. I avoid anything where someone is looking for more than one band member, it's better to join a functioning unit where the bassist has left than a complete start up band. From what I see you'd be a good addition to most covers bands. I'd be flexible about genre though few of us really get to play the music we love most. In a four piece band you'd be lucky to get 20% of the songs you would want. No point in asking if the singer can't sing it and no point gigging with a set the audience don't know or like. In fallow periods it's worth trying a change in genre. A lot of the fun in playing is down to the people and learning new things and you'll enjoy playing outside your comfort zone with good people more than playing music you like with people you wouldn't otherwise mix with. Being flexible opns up a lot of possibilities. Most of it though is about networking, open mics are good places to start meeting people especially if they do the odd jam but also go and see other local bands perform and try chatting with them in the break. Most local musicians know or get to know all the others over time so they may know someone looking for a bassist or remember the guy they spoke to at the gig who is looking...

On the subject of bracing: I eventually settled on a single horizontal brace placed centrally in the side panels. The vertical brace was too close to the port and placing it off centre didn't really add to damping the panel resonance. Placing the horizontal brace centrally shifted the resonance up an octave as you'd expect but on a simple tap test reduced the resonace considerably in volume. The cab sounded fine with no bracing too but the cross brace was a simple addition so I left it in

There has always been an element of that and there were usually a notice board of band members wanted

That's brilliant news Steve, I'll be more willing to go on shopping trips to Exeter then 😁