Bassnut62

Keeley compressor is the only pedal that has held its place on my board for the last 8 years or so, whether playing bass or guitar. It's not on all the time, but I do use it a lot and for different purposes. Sometimes it's just about maintaining a particular place in the mix. Sometimes it's full squish for some funky hip-hop style. Sometimes it tames spikes on a wah. Sometimes it cleans and tightens signal going into a synth. Sometimes it maintains the bottom and presence in front of a dirt pedal. Sometimes it's just improving the tone of my signal. Sometimes it's adding boost and creating it's own slightly dirty valve like squish. It is always the most useful tool in my box and only impedes my dynamics when I want it to. Can't imagine not having one to hand.

I saw Gerry play in Ravenshead Village Hall near Mansfield in Notts the other day. His band Hogan's Heroes was gigging with Albert Lee up front on vocals and mind-blowing rock n country guitar. Great gig and loved the sound of the pedal steel with old Peavey amp.

You can work a day job as an employee, paying PAYE and have a business of your own on the side; but be clear about the boundaries of each job and whose time you are working on. Some employers may not want you working so hard at being a muso that you're too knackered to do the day job. Re tax in this situation, you would definitely need an accountant to complete an annual tax return, which will now include employed income and PAYE, and self-employed income & expenses. You can usually get away with about 5 years of running losses on the band (after all expenses, incl depreciation on equipment purchased), before HMRC will consider you're muso business to be a failure and you just a hobbyist trying to offset his hobby against tax! In an ideal world of course you will make money at the muso business (even after all expenses) and you will of course have to pay tax on the net profits. Being on this exact road, I would say that it will probably take 3-4 years at least to start turning any kind of real profit and if we do that, we will have been very lucky. I am running the band as a self-employed person (on top of an employed day job) and paying the musos as sub-contractors. I will not pay anyone, unless they provide a proper invoice with NI number if necessary. One thing to bear in mind is that if you are trying to get proper paying function gigs, your client will be given a lot of confidence to deal with a properly registered business or self-employed person, who works to a contract, provides a proper invoice, carries PL insurance, is fully PAT tested, etc. In fact many will not deal with anyobody that does not do this. Guess I better get back to the day job......

Register self-employed and write off cost of your equipment over 5 years to offset tax on earnings. If you're clever you might make enough losses to get a tax rebate on your day job. You can charge other expenses like transport too. If you're serious about making it a business, don't forget to get your gear PAT-tested and carry PL insurance.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1230751395' post='367372'] AWESOME! My one still has flatwounds on it. The best neck I've played(carlsberg moment) If you're in a band what do the rest think? Most comments have been "too wooly" [/quote] Used to have one too and regret selling it. The neck was fantastic on mine too and the bottom was at 10 on the Richter scale; but lacked top end and cut through. I was tempted to put a J pup near the bridge, but didn't want to mess up the originality. I got ripped off on the swap too, turned out the P Bass I got was a bitsa, not an original 70s as claimed. I have since got another telebass though: an '89 G&L Asat Bass with Leo signature (like this pic) and that has every sound in the book and plenty of presence in any mix, or can be made to shake buildings like the old 74 Tele, if wanted.

Gumtree is pretty good usually; also Join My Band

I only owned/used one bass (old MM Stingray) and one amp (old Fender Bassman 135) for over 20 years in numerous different bands/musical-situations and it taught me to get different sounds of the bass with fingers, slaps/pops, plectrum, palm muting, etc. I played with fingers most of the time and even just the angle of attack of finger to string could make a huge difference in sound. So I reckon one good bass (as long as it's not a Ric!) and one good amp plus some worn-in fingers should do the trick in any situation.

I hate performing Play That Funky Music. Why do so many punters love it so much?.....And yet they would probably run a mile if you played something really good by The Godfather of Soul, Mr James Brown, apart of course from the usual I Feel Good. Having said that, because the punters love it, I have learnt to enjoy playing Play That Funky Music.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1430481983' post='2761838'] Is there any lip synching? [/quote] Just a little lip action! It's better synched if you go straight to Vimeo to watch it, rather then via BC or FB, etc It is our recording in case anyone thought we were miming to someone else!

Ok, at risk of being shot down fast, esepcially for out of synch footwork.....here's our new video demo: [url="https://vimeo.com/125894753"]https://vimeo.com/125894753[/url] BTW - I am playing guitar not bass on this. Feedback of any flavour is welcome, as long as it is polite and constructive.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1429602403' post='2752955'] My bass demoing technique is nothing compared to my guitar try out routine...I clear a space in the shop by moving the other guitars to one side and play bendy rock solos on my knees with the amp on max volume and cathedral reverb setting... sometimes I cry through the sheer beauty of what I'm playing and let the tears roll down my face... [/quote] Ha! That's what I do too.

Went down this GASpath a year ago and ended up with the TC, due to toneprints and real estate. Very good functional pedal with good sound, though maybe a little too perfect.

Thanks chaps, short cable into TK electronics micro Polytune, then Kelley Compressor, then loop with about 8 pedals (all TBP, no Boss, etc), then into buffered Tech 21 Boost DLA, then short cable to amp (occasionally long cable here)......seems all sorted in sound to me. Good to finally understand buffers.

Well I don't understand any of that science either; but I have just discovered that putting my Tech 21 Boost DLA after bypass loop (with about 8 TBP pedals in it) and before the amp, balances the signal to the amp very nicely between the bypassed signal and the signal from the loop. I am very pleased about this discovery. Now I am wondering if I should put a buffer at front of loop too. Would that improve signal in the loop? Ps. I am running a passive MIJ 54 Strat through pedal board into assorted old valve amps.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Keeley 2 or 4 knob compressor. It's the only pedal that has been welded to my board for over 5 years now. It is very transparent, preserves clarity and is especially good at the tops IMO. Everything just sounds better through it.

Hi all Anyone know any female lead singers in Nottingham area. We need a sweet soul voice to do the high stuff for Live Disco Band for weddings, functions, venues. Rupert 07825 702798

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1428441913' post='2741377'] Yeah, up sweep and low range is where it's at for me. [/quote] I am using mine for guitar at moment and up sweep, high range is most use for me; but I do like the chewiness of the down sweep too. I'm sure if I was using it for bass, I would be in low range too; which is also nice for guitar, but tends to get lost in mix....lucky it's got that gain in the pre-amp for cutting through when required. I like the distorted end of the pre-amp gain side too......

Have you played with the up/down sweep and range yet?

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1427977346' post='2736578'] Ah, good spot I didn't realise it was AC that was needed, cheers! [/quote] Yes, defo AC not DC. Awkward bloody funk pedal! But well worth the hassle.

looks v sweet....but what is it?

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1427967333' post='2736346'] Well, I caved and ordered the Mu-tron 3X. That's right, the [b]Mu-tron [/b]instead of the Tru-Tron - it turns out they are allowed to use the trademark outside of the US. I'm not going to go for that Farnell power supply just yet as they quote £10 delivery and I already have a generic Maplin one with adjustable voltage and interchangeable tips that should do the trick. [/quote] Hope you love it as much as me. Interesting about the Mu- vs Tru- Tron naming; though mine does have name Tru-Tron on it, even though exported to UK. Re the power, Mike Beigel was insistent about getting that voltage as AC not DC and not too much (or was it too little) current - I think about 500mA is OK, but not certain. It might be worth double checking the spec of your Maplin PSU with Mike B direct.

Yup, great band - seen them live twice including tiny venue in Nottingham a few years ago....absolutely brillinat live band....closest I'll ever get to feeling what it must have been like to see/hear The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd in their prime. Tho BSmoke are neither of those bands, they just share common roots.

[quote name='abc' timestamp='1417541133' post='2621526'] Priority for me at the moment however is getting an octave and an envelope filter. [/quote] if you can stretch to it; I would recommend the MuFX Octave Divder and TruTron3x.....they are awesome, tho a little bit big and the PSU is a drag As for Fuzz....I love that too and still haven't found anything better than the ZVex Wooly Mammoth, which does benefit from having a compressor in front of it.

Here's a gratuitous pic of the offending articles in place!