Franticsmurf

A mere 6.30- 10, and a 10 minute drive home with no excuse for a food stop on the way for me last night. I was rehearsing with 'The Bartenders' - a scratch band playing on the 17th. They're guys I've depped with before but the music is mostly stuff I don't listen to regularly so I'm still picking up the little details. After a few years of relaxed social gathering style rehearsals with the Hulla, these sessions are more focussed, harder work and they leave me feeling tired. But I also feel a great sense of achievement and as I have mentioned in the past, it's revitalised my playing and my self confidence. It mostly went well apart from my faux pas in getting the key of one of the songs completely wrong. I even managed some decent backing vocals.

I'm in. I've managed to sneak in my IEM upgrade before the starting gun and I don't anticipate anything else other than a couple of professional set-ups that fall within the rules.

Thank you for running it this year.

Being a prog rock fan, I can't decide whether to aim for 5/8ths decent or 7/8th decent. 😂

Bridge pick-up on my Sterling 34HH through a Nux Sculpture compressor, Ampeg SCRDI, Sine HPF (40hz) and into the FX return of a Peavey Minimax 600 and thence into a pair of TE 1x10". I've been using the same combination for several dep gigs now as I'm very happy with the sound - punchy with a little bite and enough room to colour the tone with variations in right hand finger (and pick) techniques. I use the same signal path but DI directly from the SCRDI for my main band although I sometimes need a wider range of sounds and will vary the pick up combination and occasionally the Sterling's tone controls. Both set ups have received compliments for the sound from band members and audience members.

I was sort of agreeing with your original statement, in that I pick the bass that makes me look good in the band (in my head, looking fancy). Another consideration is the bass that makes me feel good - that I love playing, that will get me 'that' sound. When I'm in the zone with the bass, I'm probably looking as good as I ever will. 🙂

All the very best @Greg Edwards69.

I will choose the bass based on the type of gig - i.e. I wouldn't have played my headless bass at a recent C&W themed gig (Squire PJ). And an Eagles tribute night looked better (in my opinion) with me playing my Precision than my Sterling Stingray. And as they are performances, looks are important. Sadly, nothing can make me look particularly fancy. 🙂

The most I've paid for a bass was a brand new Sterling Stingray 34HH, which cost me just over £1000 in 2021 (and that was 'mates rates' from a local music shop). £1k is the benchmark figure I've used ever since. Apart from not having the disposable income or the frequency of gigs to justify paying more, I've been fortunate to find some bargains in 'B' stock or second hand instruments and I've built up a small stable of basses. My second most expensive bass is a 'B' stock American Precision which cost around £750. None of my other kit has cost more than £500 and I recently played a full gig using a £100 Squire PJ (with a £250 Ibanez semi acoustic as a back up).

I bought my only brand new bass in 2021 - a Sterling Stringray 34HH - which was meant to be the bass that would appear in all the band photos, the one I would develop my signature sound on, the 'One bass to rule them all and in the darkness bind them' instrument. Alas, my eye wandered and over the years I have bought and played other basses with various shameful excuses - it's too heavy/too big/doesn't fit the band image. I need a semi acoustic/fretless/headless/spare for stage. In my defence, the main band I pay with have such a range of styles of music (from C&W, through folk, blues, rock and heavy rock to a bit of grunge and punk although not all in the same gig thank goodness) that several types of bass seems logical and as we're a 13 piece, it's sometimes a tight squeeze on stage, so the headless basses come in handy. With a recent series of depping gigs, I thought I ought to get my act together and come up with a consistent 'signature' sound so the bands know what they're getting. Fortunately, the Sterling bears no grudges and together with my amp, cabs and minimal board it has found a place in my heart once more.

After several years of trial and error, this year I have managed to come up with a fairly consistent line up of pedals that are giving me what I consider my core of my sound. Add-ons take care of specific effects for specific songs. The signal chain is MS60B (which provides a noisegate and tuner functions, as well as any one-off effects - it's currently providing a synth bass patch for one song) > NUX Sculpture compressor > NUX Voodoo Vibe > Ampeg SCRDI. If the signal is going to my amp and speakers, it passes through a Sine HPF set to just over 40hz (and I'll adjust it as necessary on the night). If I'm going straight into the desk, I let the sound engineer handle the HPF duties.

I got the gigs through a mate I'd played with in the past. One was a band he had also depped with, and he recommended me. The other was with his current band. Initially they weren't based on my reputation or my visibility as most of my gigs with my main band over the last few years have been private functions. It's all about contacts.

This year has seen me get a few good depping roles in decent local bands. They've been on personal recommendations, too, which makes me feel great. Working with new musicians and learning new songs that I would never have looked at otherwise has given my musical self confidence a boost. If I'm honest it's also renewed my enthusiasm for playing in general, which was sagging a little. An added extra is that with the dep roles I've gone back to using backline and I've managed to get a consistent sound that I'm really happy with, and that the bands have complimented me on (as if I designed the TE cabs and Ampeg SCRDI that I'm using to get it 😂). While DI into the desk for my main band makes sense (there are 13 of us and we usually play large venues), I am enjoying the thump directly behind me.

There was a recent post somewhere on the forum about a battery tester which plugs directly into the jack socket. I can't remember where now, but it may be of some use. I've had a quick look but can't find it.

Step Into Christmas - Elton John. I played it with the band last night and it went down well. I'd never heard it before being given it in the set list about two weeks ago.