Franticsmurf

I learnt that one for last year - it took me ages but it is a great bassline and I enjoyed working on it. Then the band decided not to do it. 😬

I agree that the great moments are when the band is working as a unit, everyone is having fun on stage and off, and the songs are flowing. The first time I really got that feeling was about a year or two into my 'career', playing a benefit for a local biker who had lost a leg in a crash. The place was packed and we started playing Comfortably Numb (a favourite of mine) in which I sang the chorus. When I went into the first chorus, the audience joined in. It was a 'hairs on the back of my neck' moment that I have never forgotten. Another great memory was closing a multi-band line up event with an hour long medley of up tempo rock. We played non-stop and kept the dance floor full the whole time. The band had been playing regularly and often for a couple of years and we hadn't planned the song order or to keep playing but the singer just called the tunes and we went into them. We tried to build it into the set as a regular feature, but it never worked as well again.

To answer the original question, do audiences want Xmas songs? I don't think they want Christmas songs specifically but they probably expect to hear a festive tune or two. And they probably want songs they can dance/sing/fall over/smooch to. Slade and Wham would cover those expectations. At the gig I mentioned above, the audience will have been wine tasting since at least midday, and so when we go on at about 8 and as long as there are sleighbells and festive hats, we'll get away with anything. "It does sound a bit like 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', but its actually Floyd's 1979 Christmas hit." 😀

I can confirm, two 1x10 cabs combined is indeed amazingly beefy! 😃

We're playing a Christmas party on Saturday. Into the set has gone Fairytale, Blue Christmas, Merry Christmas Baby, Merry Christmas Everyone and Merry Christmas Everybody I get the latter two titles mixed up so the set list is annotated Shaky and Slade respectively. This is a regular Christmas party gig for us (the singer's work colleagues) so we know what they want (and don't want). For a general Christmas gig, we have the above songs plus a couple more to call on and would probably include a couple of festive tunes as a matter of course and to test the waters.

Hi Brian.

Welcome Jslack.

Welcome to the site.

I have the BDI 21 too and mine sounds ok. Sounds like the signal going in to it is too high. Have you tried removing the DI's and checking to see if the clipping is still present?

Depending on the weight of your cab, this. https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15987592/hi-gear-sloan-stool-15987592 I'm using one that came with a removeable table top as well to support 2x TE1x10 cabs and a Peavey Minimax 600 - about 20kg in total. Mine will take a total of 90kg in stool form.

We're doing both. Slade is much better for getting the crowd involved. We're also doing Elvis' Blue Christmas. Not my choice. It'll be a close run thing between the depressed drunks and the bouncing drunks. 🤣

Hi Gary.

Hi Bdplaid. I saw L42 a couple of times in the early 90s. Met Mark King outside one of the venues as he and the band were leaving the bus. He stopped and chatted and was generally a real nice, down to earth guy.

It was no. 9 on my list and may well have made it to the list on another day. As an aside, have you heard the 'Todmobile/Jon Anderson' version?

Yes, well done. Now the fun starts. 😀

1. Wonderous Stories - Yes (Going for the One). First 'proper' rock song/band I got into as a kid. Buying the Yesshows album got me started on my musical 'career' so it will always bring back memories of those early days. 2. Garden of Paradise - Steve Hillage (Rainbow Dome Musick). A great chill-out piece and takes me back to the summer of 86, that glorious pause between college and work when everything is possible. 3. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (Pulse). I was at the gig they recorded for Pulse. This was the first song I sang in a band, and when the audience joined me for the chorus the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. 4. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel (Any live version). This is a song that never fails to pick me up out of a bad mood. And the pace is just right for walking, so I'd have it blaring as I explored my island, looking for Kate Bush. 😀 5. Golden Air - Sun's Signature. A new one that has rapidly grown on me. A song for watching the sun rise over the endless ocean. 6. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley (Exodus). I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2014 and this was in my head during the final night ascent to the crater rim. I slowed the tempo to fit the relentless plodding pace and kept telling myself every little thing gonna be alright. And it was. 7. Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner. Because on the days when I'm angry at being marooned on my island, I need a soundtrack to be angry to. 8. I'll Find My Way Home - Jon and Vangelis (Friends of Mr Cairo). Apart from the obvious message of the title, this was the song I used to listen to before my 'A' level exams. The one I'd rescue from the waves - probably Wonderous Stories for the specific memories. Book - Lord of the Rings. Plenty to get into there. Luxury - a camera that uses the same power source as the device that plays my discs. Failing that, pen and paper to record my diary. I keep a record of all my treks and travels. Most of my musical choices are songs that generate strong, pleasant memories. I guess that would go some way to keeping me going during my isolation. That and my search for Kate. 😀

Brilliant. Good luck and remember to enjoy it! 😃

I've been in a similar position to the OP, with the singer only agreeing to perform songs that he already knows. Turns out they were from his solo act. Initially not too bad (although frustrating as we missed some good songs) but ultimately it led to other problems as his ego realised he could do anything he wanted. We had all sorts of odd tunes turn up, strange random arrangements of the songs we already did. Eventually, as he was putting no effort in to playing with the band, even his own song choices suffered as he forgot there was a band behind him. The rest of the band walked. The drummer stills says he played Hotel California many times with the singer, but rarely the same version more than once. 😃 To the OP - my point is that the band's reputation suffered as the singer got more of his own way, which equated with poor performances, song choices and ultimately attitude as we became fed up with the situation. We lost venues as a direct result of his attitude. We should have acted sooner but the lure of gigs was strong. A band is a band. A solo artist with a backing band is a separate beast. Everyone has to own the material or the performance is poor.

Quantum bass. The notes I play are right and wrong at the same time unless someone listens to them.

Hi Jacq.

Brief update. Plugged the VI into my B1-4 with studio headphones. Initial setting was an effects free 'Through' patch. No issues with string volume balance. The difference I heard was, like @BigRedX said, the difference between FRFR and bass amp/cab voicing.

48

The GBVI was initially bought partly as an experiment (I have small hands and the short scale and string spacing appealed to my ex-guitarist self). It was also to use in a 13 piece, largely acoustic, band who were missing some melody parts. This it does but with the aforementioned drop off in volume. Recently I've been depping in a duo/trio and I can see place for it there, too, filling the sound out with some chords now and again and playing some riffs as required. I think I'll create a pedal board just for it, rather than using the same pedals as the main basses I use. I have an EQ pedal which should be able to compensate for the difference in volume (and I should add that its not a massive difference). Thanks again, all. I find reading all the replies here has set my mind thinking on tangents about solutions, work-arounds and so on. 👍

I get the same comments from the Hulla Band (part time band that just plays for fun and charity gigs). I like to give my basses an airing now and then. Every time I turn up with a different bass, I get the 'New bass?' comment. I have 8 basses and two electric 6 strings. I did have to stop and think for a minute. 😀

Initially TCE BAM200 and TE1x10 cab. One gig was with a supplied TE combo, where the difference was more noticeable but this I put down to it being an unfamiliar amp and I was unable to make proper adjustments to the controls. I hadn't considered FRFR but it's not really an option for similar reasons to the custom pickups as you mentioned above. I will include a run through my recording set up to see if there is a difference. The reality is that when I use the Guitarbass to play bass on the EADG strings it's fine. It's when I launch into the upper registers using the B and E that the issue appears. It is the world telling me to leave the upper registers alone. 😀