Franticsmurf

Logic and common sense says one top end bass, partly because I would expect it to play and sound good and partly because I would get used to the nuances and so on of that bass. And for my one bass, it would be a Precision, because it works and is versatile enough for all the uses I would put it too. But I'm a bassist and logic and common sense are alien concepts more suited to the keyboard/computer programmers. And I love new things. So I think that the one-bass-to-rule-them-all would eventually be replaced by a Fellowship of HBs (I'm straining the LOTR analogies here). In my real world, I have a Precision and a Sterling - both of which I consider to be my 'top end' basses. Currently the Sterling is resting and the Precision is out for the gigs. I have several cheaper basses for use as back-up, including a HB Guitarbass and a HB fretless.

The Hulla band organises and plays a festival each year and since I joined them I've put together a band to play a support slot at each gig. This year, it's with three of the main Hulla band members (drums, the dep bassist and the guitarist). The drummer and I are the only 'experienced' musicians - that's not to say the others aren't good, but they only play at Hulla rehearsals and gigs, so they have less stage experience and confidence. We've had five practices at which we learnt 17 songs and now we've slimmed the setlist down to 12. Last night we had the first full run through with our Hulla sound man in the critical friend role and a GoPro in the 'camera never lies' role 😃. We managed to squeeze two complete run throughs in and the inexperience showed through with big, silent gaps between the songs and messy starts and finishes in the first version. I could feel the frustration as each little error contributed to the next and there was no enthusiasm in the playing. We finished and took a break to talk it through. Fortunately, everyone was aware of their own problems and it was a pretty open discussion. The sound man had some suggestions as well (I was singing in too high a register for one song, for example) so we played through the set again with these in mind. It was like a different band had taken the stage. It was tighter and after the first couple of songs, the mood was noticeably better and this translated into the playing. We ended on a high. There is still work to do - mainly starts and change overs (there's an instrument swap midway through the set) but it was a great way to end a rehearsal.

I've used my Warwick 1x10" for loud rehearsals (with a TCE BAM200) and as a partner to my Elf 1x10". The only downside is that you can't easily stack a second cab on top because of the socket arrangement.

Last night was a long rehearsal with the Hulla after a long day volunteering with a local wildlife charity. We're building up to a big gig in June so it's more about fine tuning the arrangements and set order rather than learning new stuff but the BL brought in a new song (One Day Like This) and so I had to sight read (I don't sight read his charts very well). It all seemed to be ok for a first run through. We'll be performing 4 songs, including that one, with a local choir and that rehearsal is in two weeks. We've worked with them before and it's always a great sound when they're on board. As I hadn't gone home between day and evening events, I had minimal kit. No pre-amp, just a DI into the desk and my Spirit headless. The bass had been in the car all day and I was expecting tuning issues throughout the evening, but it only needed minimal tuning at the start. I've always found this bass t be very stable - one of the reasons it's often my back up bass. The sound was ok for the rehearsal although as I didn't have my IEM setup I couldn't hear my vocals properly (and that's the excuse I'll be sticking to if they were out of tune).

I'm using IEM from a P16M (see @Boodang above) fed from the Ultranet out of an X32. The feed is set to pre-fade so that I can create my own monitor mix independent of the main or monitor mixes from the desk. I assume the XR18 has the same ability to feed pre-fade signals into Ultranet. The P16M has connections to allow you to daisy-chain several of them from the one Ultranet feed, each unit retaining its ability to make a personal mix for monitoring.

As above, always unplug. And keep a spare battery handy, just in case. I've found that rechargeable ones don't tend to last as long but are handy as a spare.

Ohh, I like that. I'll have to try fixing my GoPro to the headstock next time I play. Nice playing, by the way.

Sometime you can over think things - I am guilty of that and have been the pain-in-the-bottom 'that didn't work and this was too fast and that could be tighter' voice in the van on the way home 😂. Bottom line is they enjoyed, you got paid and the things that didn't work as well are things that can be polished and fixed.

All the other comments above (mine included) not withstanding, whatever the act the audience has to enjoy it otherwise what is the point? So I get what you're saying. A tribute act at whatever level has to be careful that it doesn't take itself too seriously (however good they are, they are not the original band) but at the same time it has to be good enough to justify the 'tribute' tag. A fine line which will vary depending on the act being tributed as well as the level of venue (e.g. pub or theatre) and the expectations of the audience.

I was in a 'Plays the Music of...' Eagles band for a few years. When we put it together was talked about making it a tribute act but none of us looked remotely like the Eagles so we made a conscious decision not to try. As has been said above, a half-hearted attempt would be worse than none. That said, we made some effort with clothing and instruments to fit in with the look and feel of the Eagles. I didn't play my headless bass in those gigs (nor was it there as a back up - I used my P Bass with the Jazz as a backup)), one of the guitarists used a twin neck for Hotel California and we opened with the close harmonies of 'Seven Bridges Road'. At many of the gigs we played, while the gig was advertised as an evening of Eagles music by the agent and tickets sold as such more often than not we were asked by the venue owners if we could do a second half of more general rock which always went down well. In my opinion, to be a tribute act you should look and sound like the original act. Agents and venues will charge a premium for tributes so for that money I expect some effort to have been made and to see a show.

I believe they call it 'character'. 😃

A long and late finish rehearsal last night (one of many to come) in advance of the Hullabaloo festival in June which the Hulla band organises and headlines. There are a few acts in the line (including a support slot for four of us from the main band) and we're working with another one ( a local choir) to play four songs with them. We have a workout with the choir in a couple of weeks but in advance we went through the four songs we'll do with them - City of Ruins, You're The Voice, Land of a Thousand Dances and Rocky Ground. Rocky Ground has a choirboy/female vocal at the start and throughout before the choir comes in. Yours truly was deemed to have the most choirboy/girly voice and so it falls to me to sing those bits. It's a little above my range and my throat is suffering a bit today. It's all coming together nicely, though.

I guess that like anything it's about how close they want you to get to the original. Some classic rock is fairly straight forward, some is more complicated but can be simplified and some has to be played as recorded as the bass forms an important part of the song. I was asked to learn 'Fool For Your Loving' exactly as on the record for an audition and once I sat down to listen to the bass parts, I found there were more notes than I thought! 😃 But I could have got away with playing less had they not insisted on complete accuracy. I assume you have the set list so you could categorise the songs into 'Easy to learn', 'Easy version of tricky bass line' and 'Iconic bassline that needs to be played'. Ultimately the band will set you right on what they want. Personally, I don't like the phrase 'get away with' so I'd be learning the basslines as they are or versions I can learn quickly that are sympathetic to the song. Go for it and good luck. 😃

I think there's a fine line between rehearsing enough and too much. I left a band last year because the rehearsal became a comfort zone and they had lost the interest in gigging. On the other hand, I used to play with a band for whom rehearsal was a swear word - it was fine while we were playing regularly (although the setlist rarely changed) but once the gigs became more infrequent the band lost it's edge.

The likeness is remarkable. 😂

Longest serving instrument is a Kawai K1 synthesiser bought in the mid 80s as I'd formed a proggy band and in addition to playing guitar, I had some synth parts. I still use it now mainly as a controller for a couple of rack units and software synths, but I don't play it live. Longest serving bass is my Spirit XZ2. I can date it back to 2008 from photos so I must have had it at least 16 years. It's been through all kinds of adventures from being dropped (no headstock is definitely an advantage) to being the communal bass for jam sessions (I'd never do that now) and it's currently the base (see what I did there?) for my VBass pick up. When I sold all my gear in my great 'toys-from-the-pram' retirement from live music episode in 2012 (I was fed up of playing the same old tunes night after night), it was the only bass I kept. I don't play it often but it will be the last bass to go if that happens again. I have a rehearsal tonight at which I was going to use the P Bass, but just typing all of this I think I'll take the Spirit, just to give it an outing. 2012 2013 2022

Of course it is. 😉

As above re the A/B switch, perhaps to a Behringer P1 which you could wear (battery powered) or install on the board (9v). The P1 has a second input should you need it. Inputs are via XLRs so you'd need an adapter. I have one and used it for IEM before moving to wireless. I now use it mainly for silent practice.

When I do my own set list, I will include notes about any little quirks/key changes etc, so in my head it makes sense to have the 10/8 there as a reminder. When I started playing (originals) we had 'pet' names for some of the songs so Trundle could be that, or it may refer to the way the song sounds.

The first band I was in had Gong, Steve Hillage and Hawkwind as the headline influences. Back in the late 80s there was some interest from the student population, but not enough to sustain gigs and we reluctantly moved away toward mainstream rock.

'otong, surely? 😃

The Hulla played an 80th birthday party in the local village hall last night. The potential for getting the setlist wrong was great as we didn't know what the demographic would be. Fortunately, we have a range of tunes on tap but as it turned out we found the right mix with the initial selection of songs. It was a small hall, there were around 100 people there and everyone was handed a glass of Prosecco as they walked in, so the atmosphere by the time we squeezed on stage was pretty good. Unsurprisingly there was dancing from the first song and for every tune thereafter. I was using IEM and my mix was great. The stage was very cramped (there was a plan for getting everyone on and off!). My B6 was under the cymbal stand where I had to stretch my foot to tap the switches without kicking over the ride cymbal. The saxophonist on front of me was occasionally stepping on the mic stand leg, so I had to anticipate him and move my mouth away from the mic to avoid impromptu dental work. I played my Ibanez EHB1000s as any regular scale bass would have been brushing up against the curtains at the side of the stage, or slapping the guitarist on the back (I don't play slap style 😃). Overall a most enjoyable gig without the pressures of the drunken city mob. An earlyish finish and the birthday girl really enjoyed herself.

I use a Bespeco expression pedal connected to the 'Control In' jack on the B6. This is assigned to a 'Master Volume' which sits as an effect in the patch. I don't know of a global option. You could achieve the global volume control using a volume pedal in the signal chain.

"No, it goes like this..." Yes, I've fallen foul of that one too! 😃

The Hulla has been booked to play a wedding anniversary function in Port Eynon on Saturday. We're a 13 piece and the hall is, so I'm told, quite small. I've brought out the headless basses as I know that the space I am allocated will make a full sized bass fairly impractical. I care about my fellow musicians and whilst the occasional 'accidental' tap is sometimes tempting, it's never acceptable. 😃 Fortunately I go through the desk with this band, so no back line to worry about and I should be able to shift the monitor speaker to give me a few more inches as I'm using IEM. The set list appears to be a random list of songs but quite a few are requests from the organisers as they know our full list of songs and have been able to pick and choose. Along with such gems as 'Then I Kissed Her', 'Running Bear', 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Mary Lou' we have 'Get Your Rocks Off', 'I Fought the Law' and 'A Town Called Malice'. We cater for all tastes! Saturday's instruments of torture: