SimonK

It depends on where you are in life - when I was a teenager/early twenties I would go almost any distance for a practice or gig so long as I could afford it. With my last band we recorded a whole album, but then couldn't be bothered to do any gigs (also not helped by COVID). If you are having fun do it, if not ditch it!

The difference between nationalism and tribalism is always one to think about - and to a certain extent we are cursed by evolution (certainly social evolution) to lean in these ways. That manufacturers can capitalise on this with their prices and marketing is a straight business decision!

That sports hall must be fun acoustically - reminds me of my youth at cutting edge events in Littlehampton...

That's a lot of filth on the bass - sounds great in isolation but do you find you disappear into the mix live? The big muff sound I have above is about as much drive I can put on it while still cutting through.

Right - quick guitar loop on a Digitech Trio (to get drums) straight into audacity, but these are the similarish sounds I get from my board, all of which are usable but not ever so exciting (apologies for the dodgy bass playing - monitoring was a bit of an issue!). TEST.mp3 1 - Just compressor (which stayed on for the rest) 2 - Hartke shape at 280ish 3 - Hartke shape + pre 4 - Big Muff 5 - Slap with Boss GEB7 6 - Chorus (Stingray Bass, 3EQ set flat)

Cool - thanks - I liked the fuzz at the beginning (16 seconds) which isn't far from the big muff sound I sometimes use (my reference is normally the Bass fuzz from Ben Fold's Kate). But the other sounds do you actually use them in gigs - I kind of imagine some sort of psychedelic trance type thing if you do... ...I will see if I have a moment to record some of the different tones I get out of my board, although as mentioned they are better described as different EQ curves rather than effects... PS love the reverse headstock on the p!

So I play guitar and bass, and certainly from a guitar perspective view compression, delay, chorus, a few drives and recently the awesome FreqOut as essential for almost every time I play. For acoustic I like some compression & chorus. But the truth is I play gigs on bass far more than guitar, so naturally have wanted bass effects. But the more I try bass effects the less I seem to use them, finding that compression plus various EQ shaping options seem the most useful once the band starts to play. This week I put my envelope filter and octaver back on the bass board determined to use them, but again after one practice swapped them out for the Hartke bass attack because of the two tonal options - a warmer mild crunch & the pre-shape that seems to just work better in a band setting. Generally I plug in, fiddle with the amp/pre-amp to get the 90% of the time sound (hence having a couple options as even in the same room things just change), use the Bass EQ for slap, chorus for fretless and very occasionally big muff when things get crazy, but nothing else seems needed. I then see some of the awesome pedal boards on here and start wondering what I am missing - what do people use their effects for beyond getting a solid basic sound?

Weekend pedalboard - decided to include octave, filter & chorus options this week - not that I ever use them but one day...

...and after some googling it seems it was Nathan East, probably on a Yamaha BBNE2, and into a LA-2A levelling amplifier - so no way of replicating that sound easily!

Just got the ZS10 Pros through and thought I would test them with Daft Punk's Random Access Memories based on the above discussion - pretty awesome, especially the bass guitar tone - something to aspire to!

I just took advantage of the Amazon offer and bought the IEMs with the mic figuring I can use them for zoom meetings as well. I'm toying with getting the little Behringer headphone monitor as well and going fully in ear just for myself, as I think I can plug the XLR from my wedge into one input and then run an additional line out from my pedal board (via a second DI box) to the second input and mix accordingly....

If it's only an extra ring on the jack socket it will still be compatible with 1/4 headphone outputs, I think it was more the other end of the cable I was thinking about - ie would it still be compatible with third party cables.

Yes I think I will grab a set as a spare - is there any harm getting the version with mic so I can also use for zoom calls - ie is it a different connector?

So I have been reflecting on this thread, and perhaps another thing that has irritated/bemused me is the distinct shift in marketing strategy as represented by the Gibson Garage, and I appreciate a couple other big brands have done likewise. We all know and love the higgeldy-piggeldy music shops with eccentric staff and the person in the corner playing stairway to heaven/smoke on the water. Granted Thomann, Guitar Centre, Andertons etc. have become behemouths, but they are still a natural evolution of the little shops dotted around the country/world. But the Gibson Garage seems to be a different type of thing - marketing high end equipment to wealthy, often older, people. Obviously there is money to be made in that market, but it feels a long way from traditional music stores and gigs in dodgy pubs with punters knocking people unconscious while spilling their beer into the mixing desk*. I think the worry is that if brands start focussing on this high end status seeking customer there is less for the majority of the rest of us who keep the music scene alive. *story for another time

Looking at what I wrote above I'm pleased I said "...initially it is about keeping it very simple...". I never play a song without at least one carefully chosen killer lick to keep up the interest - normally squeezed in between a verse and chorus. That way you can keep the rest simple, but still have a bit of fun! I also bring a fretless along for entertainment on the really slow songs when it becomes all about the mwah and vibrato... it has to be fun afterall!

For me the biggest challenge of playing in church is getting the feel of the song right. You often have a mix of interesting instruments and even more interesting talent, so initially it is about keeping it very simple and trying to work with the drummer. If the drummer is a bit inconsistent with their kick you can also play a ghost note every time the snare hits which is often a bit more consistent.

I think it was the general principle I was commenting on - that as the speaker moves the air it may actually be the most important part of the rig - rather than commenting on the Fender Rumble per se!

I played a very similar version to that at my wedding in 2006. My bestman and I took off our jackets and played it for one of the hymns - the comment being there couldn't be a service where we were not playing! I mentioned the Rend collective to our drummer today who nonchalantly name dropped that it was his wife's cousins band!

I don't think that is what people are saying, more "value for money" is more important than brand or where somethings was made. Which of course opens up a can of worms when it comes to musical gear/instruments given how hard the major brands absolutely try to make it about name and place of manufacture. I think for some of us there is also a level of disappointment, perhaps wanting to try the new Mesa products but realising they are out of reach even for someone on a pretty decent salary for whom music is a hobby that needs to fit in with other priorities. Similarly I can't imagine many teenage or younger musicians playing Mesa products.

So despite what I said above, after Friday night practice my board felt so empty I added everything back again... and then guess how many I actually used this morning - nothing apart from the tuner and compressor! The bass corner:

My suspicion is that there is an element of national loyalty there - for players in the US buying Mesa or Gibson is supporting their own manufacturing, whereas in the UK we might select other brands and see no need for the markup inherent to a "US" made item. As others have said above, and distinctly the impression I get from the Gibson Garage video, these now feel like brands that you buy once you've received your Christmas six figure bonus, perhaps popping into the Gibson Garage on your way back from the Porsche garage...

...doesn't the tour of the Gibson store kind of show the marketing direction? Both Gibson and Mesa are premium brands aimed at bankers not gigging musicians. They have turned into PRS from twenty years ago.

What about bands that had been going quite well but last played together in March 2020... 🙋‍♂️

I know someone who might just take up the challenge of writing something with a different key signature for each verse - I will see what he says! It's a boss TU3s which is the same as the TU-3 but without the footswitch and yes, always on. The problem I had with the TU-3 was wanting the tuner to both be always on AND have a mute. Initially I had the Murder One alongside the bigger TU-3 to achieve this, but when I realised the TU3s was a thing I got it to save pedalboard space.