discreet

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1435056074' post='2804937'] ...I expect I'll be tweaking it for a while yet. [/quote] Nice, but shouldn't you be trying out your new rig?

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1435037878' post='2804790'] I like to trickle everything into to pa to help a good balance at low volume , whereas many think just turn up amps and compete, I've no idea if I'm right or not. [/quote] This can work really well IF everyone can play quietly enough (I'm looking at you, drums. And guitar...)

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1434995660' post='2804546'] "Never rub another man's rhubarb" is sage advice. [/quote] Quite. At least not without permission. I suppose if you offer advice it's tantamount to saying, 'you sound crap and I can do better'. Hardly surprising if people get the hump, really.

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1434979565' post='2804341'] ...the best way to get good as a band is to do more gigs... [/quote] Carve this in stone and make everyone carry it around wherever they go! Or more practically, have it printed on a t-shirt.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1434976161' post='2804285'] ...I played the whole set almost entirely with my thumb up by the neck. [/quote] Wouldn't it have been better to have both hands free to play the bass..?

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1434975975' post='2804282'] Kind of odd the way the greatest players generally use simple set ups, passive fenders etc, and still manage to sound, well amazing... [/quote] Heh. I think the difference between great players and not-so-great players may well be in direct proportion to the difference in time spent concentrating on gear and the time spent concentrating on playing... Obviously active basses etc have their place and I've tried one or two, same with FX and the plethora of preamps and so on, but the best results I ever got was with a P bass and an Ampeg rig. Nothing got in the way of concentrating on what I was doing. There's a lot to be said for keeping it simple, especially live. YMMV, IMHO, IME, ASOASF (And So On And So Forth).

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1434970331' post='2804200'] depends whether its a valve amp or not... [/quote] Yes, I meant valve amps. SS guitar amps are variable, as you said. Don't see the point in miking up either, unless it's a really big pub.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1434967805' post='2804173'] Headache by the time I got home, raging tinnitus all day Sunday. [/quote] Hate it! I always carry earplugs just in case, but it's ridiculous when you have to wear them just for a pub band (for example). I blame guitarists. You only really need enough power to compete with an acoustic drum kit - why do guitarists use 100W for pub gigs? It's arse-shatteringly loud, especially if there are two of 'em. You only ever need 30W maximum for guitar, imho. *Scampers off*

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1434963536' post='2804113'] ...when the drummer cocks up everyone notices... in fact usually everyone else stops turns round and stares at them. [/quote] I don't - I keep doggedly playing while scowling at everyone until they join in. Then deal with the shouting and recriminations later. Thankfully it hasn't happened for quite a long time... I insist on everyone being very well-rehearsed. *Slave-driver whip noise* Whoosh-CRACK!!

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1434965073' post='2804137'] I am afraid not :/ [/quote] Ah... then that does put a whole different angle on things. I'm guessing the train would be best public transport option, but you're going to be restricted on what gear you can carry, and travel certainly won't be cheap... sorry.

[quote name='blamelouis' timestamp='1434933391' post='2803978'] Anybody else think EVH'S statement that he doesn't listen to music disconcerting? [/quote] Yes, I do, very much so! Our drummer stopped listening to recordings made after around 1982, 'because I don't want to be influenced by anything'. I find that disconcerting too. More and more he is getting on my tits. Trouble is, he's good! Also people like Simon Cowell, Noel Edmonds et al, who don't have proper record collections, don't listen to music as a recreational activity and allegedly don't even have the means to play music in the house... anyway, I digress... EVH is a twat.

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1434963328' post='2804107'] I know! Both the guitarist and I are in West London, so it may be quite difficult. [/quote] Ah... it's not really the Kent bit then, it's the getting from west to south east London bit... do you drive? If you're in SW London then the South Circular would be favourite (A205 > A20 > M20), or possibly A3 > M25 > wherever, depending on when you're travelling, etc etc.

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1434961593' post='2804091'] Sorry to resurrect this thread, but as it happens, I needn't have worried after all.... The gig went well, a couple of mistakes (amazingly it was the drummer who made the only glaring cock up) And reaction was good. My new lightweight Markbass rig sounded awesome and I can't wait to do it again! I feel that I now actually WANT to do gigs! Not just feel that I should do them... [/quote] Well done... it's addictive, isn't it? So matey got his act together after all. Great.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1434903440' post='2803715'] A word of warning. If you sell your Limelight, you will regret it. I sold mine and I very much regret it. It has come back up for sale, I'm going to try and get her back. Keep your fingers crossed for me please [/quote] I sold mine too, and also very much regret it. Good luck with getting yours back, Karl. Mine's gone forever I think, I had to prioritise my 76P, then I needed to spend quite a chunk on an unrelated issue, so there it is.

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1434962856' post='2804103'] He's moving to Kent and we are based in London. I realise there are quite a few connections going out, however travel is painfully slow in London. Things are still up in the air at the moment, so when things die down we will have a chat about whether changing practice locations would help. [/quote] Depends where in Kent, really. Kent is a huge county. I was in a band that rehearsed in High Wycombe and I live in south London. I left in the end, but it wasn't because of the rehearsal commute. It also depends on what your transport situation is like.

I can feel for you, I've been in this situation myself. As you know it's not easy finding good drummers, less so when it's someone who is practically telepathic and just does the right thing from the off, so you don't have to waste time explaining things to them... had one like this in the late 70s and have been looking for 'that' drummer ever since. Having said that, our current drummer is very good ...but he's a bit of a twat. Not much help really, but I know where you're coming from!

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1434904935' post='2803740'] MA: solid, dependable, and has more ability than he gets credit for. [/quote] [quote name='rjs1909' timestamp='1434935455' post='2803983'] MA is a very underrated bassist. His tone and groove have always been awesome. [/quote] I found respect for MA when I had cause to learn a couple of Chickenfoot numbers for a project a while back... initially I thought he was a bit of a plodder but when you listen properly and learn one or two of his lines, the penny drops... he can rock out like a good 'un.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1434886348' post='2803548'] You can't polish a turd. [/quote] No - but you can roll it in glitter. Our drummer refuses to indulge in GAS or even use his own drums most of the time, the lazy bastard. When asked if he would not prefer to use his own kit - the one he presumably selected over years of drumming for its sound - he said, 'Drums is drums'.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1434882346' post='2803505'] ... Tis GAS and fighting it is futile. [/quote] I too only recently bought a guitar to lay down guide tracks, bit of noodling, etc... then realised I can't play it. Bugger!

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1434879296' post='2803453'] I would never dream of going up to a band and telling them to change settings unless I knew them or they asked me. [/quote] Very much this. It's all subjective anyway. If you think a band sound terrible, then they sound terrible and that's how it is, regardless of whether they are otherwise any good. For example, I sometimes despair of how people are dressed, how they speak, what they say, how they drive, how they behave in public and so on [i]ad infinitum[/i], but it doesn't mean I'm in any way qualified to judge them or to make my views known to them. It would be control-freakery on my part. It's an imperfect world and I'm learning to live with it. Accept there are things you can do nothing about and move on.

[quote name='spiritchaser' timestamp='1434880507' post='2803472'] I own three of them and each of them is just awesome. [/quote] Ahhh! Especially this one! White Wal! White Wal!

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1434876521' post='2803420'] ...people, but especially the under 30s, don't have a clue what 'good' sounds like, which IMHO, is linked somewhat to years of listening to MP3 through cheap headphones and poor sound systems. [/quote] This is so true and it's very, very sad. Recordings have to be pushed to as close to 0db as possible to compete with all the other songs doing the same thing - modern music lacks any kind of dynamics and is very tiring to listen to.

[quote name='BigAlonBass' timestamp='1434873587' post='2803388'] ...just a GAS Attack. [/quote] Very much so. The madness isn't restricted to bass players either - people generally buy things they don't need. It's called consumer capitalism and is the bedrock of our wonderful economic system and the mainstay of the advertising industry. More coke, anyone??

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1434843694' post='2803305'] What fascinated me is that the pub punters were well into it, even though it sounded like they were playing under water, which perhaps bears out many people's belief that most punters have got cloth ears, and the stuff we worry about, they don't hear, and/or care about. [/quote] Sad but true. In fact, a lot of 'musicians' (or at least the ones I know) have got cloth ears too, so what chance for your average punter? [quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1434843694' post='2803305'] Bizarre, or is it me? [/quote] Both.