Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Community => Gigs => Topic started by: jazzyvee on February 07, 2025, 07:57:59 PM
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First gig of 2025. A Dep gig with a reggae tribute band. The bass player I was standing in for told me to bring my rig as the venue has PA but no IEM system.
They did but it was quite a small box stage with huge subs underneath so i couldn't hear my cab above that.
Stage volume was too loud and so bassy due to subs which made it hard to pitch. If it was a set i knew the tracks well, it would not have mattered whether i could hear myself clearly, but it was one of the gigs where I got a setlist, then got on stage and got handed a different setlist with a few tracks I hardly knew or hadn't played before. They seemed happy afterwards so that's the main thing.
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Umph... that sounds like a tough night. I've been done that way a couple times too. Filling in is fun, being outside the comfort zone, but I always appreciate playing with my regular folks... knowing what's coming next is priceless.
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Yep I like the band concept and feel much more confident in that arena. However this is my breakout year when I am trying to get more of these stand in gigs and hopefully join an existing band playing something more demanding and creative than i've been exposed to so I can discover who the real me is
is behind my bass rather than the me playing cover basslines.
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End of an era?
Well it kind of is. I’ve been playing firstly guitar then bass on and off with Musical Youth for a long time, my first gig with them being ArtsFest Birmingham in 2004.
I don’t have any desires to go into the reasons for parting of the ways on here as things can be mis-interpreted and head into spirals that weren’t envisaged. I know some of you guys on here have followed my posts showing my musical journey with this and various other bands and projects and I will still continue to post on anything I get involved with and you have my gratitude for showing an interest. Even those occasional sarcastic remarks are good banter. :-)
During my time in the band I have enjoyed playing with and getting to know some superb musicians, i’ve done gigs at some really exciting venues, festivals and theatres across the country, the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth games in Birmingham to a global audience estimated at 1.2 billion was a biggie. Oh yes can’t forget a TV appearance playing bass in a bath for a Severn Trent Water commercial.
I’ve toured with the band in USA twice, firstly as guitarist on the British Reggae Explosion tour mainly along the west coast from San Diego through the Los Angeles, San Francisco bay area and across to Las Vegas, playing guitar for both both Musical Youth & Apache Indian. A tour in Slovenia in 2007 with Dennis & Michael, Andre Bassing, El Paso Dena and the Mighty Cornelius Wynter (RIP) on bass.
My last overseas tour with the band was in 2023 on on bass (Orion 5 string) for the Lost 80’s live tour which took in dates spanning Seattle in the north, down to Texas in the south, along the way playing at the famous Greek Theatre in Griffith Park. A place where two of my many jazz hero’s Stanley Clarke & Miles Davis performed. (Had to play a few bars of School Days and All Blues at that venue whilst waiting for sound check).
In fact one of my favourite albums “Live at the Greek“ with Stanley Clarke & Billy Cobham, Najee, Deron Johnson & Larry Carlton was recorded live there, and “The Griffith Park Collection” with Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard & Joe Henderson is associated with that venue. That was a lovely vintage venue with a great sound due in part to it’s location.
I like to hold the view that when one door is closed another is opened and certainly I will be opening doors to investigate new musical challenges, alembic in hand.
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Onward and upward, my British friend. I look forward to your next musical adventures as much as my own. Naturally with our Alembics in hand. 😎
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Too bad for Musical Youth. They just lost a helluva bass player! Onward and upward, indeed!
Bill, tgo
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Thanks for sharing. You've had a great 20 years. Here's to more!
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Jazzyvee,
Definitely their loss! But the accompanying baggage - as you described recently in another thread - has gotten a bit heavy. So on some level you probably feel relieved. That's often how it goes with longterm relationships.
Onward and upward to other great musical opportunities.
Best of luck,
Jimmy J
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Wonderfully written post, Jazzyvee!
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I heard from the guitarist today and told that he is no longer in the band nor is the keyboard player. 🧐
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Y'all should get together, find a drummer, and start a band!
Bill, tgo
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Y'all should get together, find a drummer, and start a band!
Bill, tgo
Agreed.
Call yourself, Musical Mature. ;)
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Just got back from the second gig of the year with the same reggae band i did the first gig with. I took the Orion 5 to the gig and when the stage lights went off. I wish i'd have taken my black europa which has the led side dots. It's only when you don't have them you realise how useful they are. The orion dots are really hard to see in low light.
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Next two guitar gigs 20/05/2025 and 21/05/2025
https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/jah-makin-it-happen/
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A musical! Live theater shows are a blast. Have fun. 😀
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I was confused by the dates, but I see now the dates are in June. This looks like FUN, Jazzy. One of the highlights of my would-be musical career was getting to play bass for live performances of a ballet production called "Ties". We had played for the soundtrack and on occasion were asked to perform the score live for larger venues.
Have a good time with this one. Will Series guitar, Dragon Magic make an appearance here?
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Thanks Greg. Just got back from the band rehearsal. I've been using my Orion for the last two rehearsals and it has been great to get to use it out of the house again. The thought of taking the dragon is really appealing, though it might look out of context. I will just get the set under. my fingers first before finalising. The plan was always to take a passive guitar as a backup and one alembic or strat with alembic pickups and electronics.
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Went with the series guitar and passive Eggle Berlin Pro for backup. The play went great, Standing ovation for all three sold out shows.
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That Dragon is Magic. 🐲 😎
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Jazzyvee,
Definitely their loss! But the accompanying baggage - as you described recently in another thread - has gotten a bit heavy. So on some level you probably feel relieved. That's often how it goes with longterm relationships.
Onward and upward to other great musical opportunities.
Best of luck,
Jimmy J
Thanks for your words Jimmy, just since last week i've been offered 12 gigs between the start of July up to the end of August. And after the theatre gigs I did on Friday & Saturday, one of the actors asked me to dep on bass or guitar for his band too. So gonna be a busy summer. 😎
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That Dragon is Magic. 🐲 😎
If it is, maybe i will find out how to exploit it with more use.🥳
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... gonna be a busy summer. 😎
Enjoy!
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Two festival gigs with a Bob Marley Tribute band this Saturday. Looking like it will be my first two gigs with my warm sounding Koa Series II shorty.
https://www.henlowbridgelakes.co.uk/post/full-line-for-2025-tribute-festival
https://wrdeup.co.uk/
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… warm sounding Koa Series II shorty.
Sounds like the perfect bass for the gig.
Keep it low and stay outta treble!
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Change of gigs, will be on this one Taste of the Caribbean festival in Beckenham London.
https://tasteofcaribbeanuk.com/festivals/beckenham/
and
https://www.henlowbridgelakes.co.uk/post/full-line-for-2025-tribute-festival
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That just sounds like a bunch of fun, Jazzy.
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Yeah the band is one I did about half a dozen gigs last summer, though i've not done a UB40 set with them.
Pauldo, the series II does sound great however sometimes I can't overlook that extra something my maple europa brings to the sound which I feel sits in a reggae context better than anything. Whilst i've used most my alembics in that in that genre, most of the times I end up wishing i'd taken that europa. For certain it's my most gigged bass for that genre. :-)
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... that extra something my maple europa brings to the sound which I feel sits in a reggae context better than anything.
I'm curious what control settings and amplification you're using for this. My bass has Europa electronics and is all maple. I can get a lot of different sounds out of it but that deep, clear, articulate reggae tone still eludes me.
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Well this is my main rig.
F-1x, SF-2 SYNQ stereo power amp and a Barefaced Big Twin II. My Europa had signature electronics and I got an upgraded wiring loom from alembic to change it to anniversary electronics.
My main tone comes from the neck pickup and I usually have the filter closed or virtually closed depending on the track. I always add some of the bridge pickup to the sound mainly to make hearing my pitch on a large stage easier. I leave the Q off.
On my F-1x I have the bass all the way up, mid on 4 and treble on 6.
I tend to use the SF-2 a lot because I want to emphasise the low end so normally I have around 100hz with minimal Q and that gives me lots of heavy bottom end without losing clarity.
The thing is the maple bass has so much brightness it's almost impossible to lose note clarity.
Having barefaced cabs made a heck of a difference compared to my old mesa boogie cabs.
What is your rig consisting of?
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My rig is not as nice as yours ;)
I'm usually playing smaller clubs, breweries, small outdoor festivals, usually with good PA support, and with acoustic guitars (and real piano when one is available). A lot of gigs I can play with a 30W tube amp on stage as a personal monitor, and DI from that to the PA. If I need more stage volume or to fill the room without PA support, I have an Ampeg SVT-3Pro. Either amp goes through a Euphonic Audio VL-210, which is pretty transparent and full range. I love it when I'm playing through it and hate it when I have to lift it in or out of my car (it's about 75 lbs.). I have a tube preamp pedal (which the maker says is inspired by the F-2B) and a simple HPF/LPF filter pedal. Most of my EQ happens there, I could probably send just that to the PA rather than use the amp DI.
I have standard Europa/Rogue controls on my bass. They're incredibly versatile, it's like having many basses all in one. I change settings to get the sound that fits a particular song, sometimes evoking more familiar basses (I can get pretty close to my Rickenbacker, or what a Precision or Jazz aspires to be), sometimes more obviously Alembic.
That picture is the Europa you were referencing? That looks like Signature electronics, with a filter for each pickup, not the standard Europa with a single filter, so you have more flexibility. But as you say, the brightness of an all maple Alembic is hard to lose - I'll experiment more with your suggestion of filter (almost) closed and Q off, and blend just a little bit of bridge pickup along with the neck pickup; and maybe turn up the bass EQ on the preamp more.
Thanks for taking the time to provide the advice!
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I also have a standard Europa that is made from mahogany and bocate. I used this one as my main bass for reggae until I got the signature. I go a great sound reggae sound from that. Filter closed or just off closed, depending on the reggae track, blend almost all the way to the neck pickup. No Q, treble switch set to cut, then used the bass boost occasionally when doing a dub section. But that had all the bass needed.
I used a simpler head on my three gigs yesterday. Same cab, just the F-1x set with bass on full and mid at 4 and treble at 6 and Crown XLX1002 power amp. The PA got the sound from the DI on my preamp which is sent pre, which I think means it includes the tone stack but not the gain knob on the preamp. Sounded great and had so many compliments about both my playing and the sound of my bass.
I'm quite surprised with your setup that you are having problem getting a good reggae tone. Yes the bass does have a lot of brightness even without a maple body so there generally is enough coming through. There is a "lot" of bottom end available from an alembic but my understanding is that it's not enhanced by the electronics in the bass.
My question to you would be where are you finding the sound lacking, when you listen to your rig or from comments about the FOH sound. One of the reasons I started using the SF-2 is due to the sound guys at many venues not knowing how to EQ for a reggae sound and cutting the bottom end or boosting the bottom end so much that you lose definition.
These days I tend to have my rig more bassy and less bottom end in my monitor so that i can hear my pitch better on stage.
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My question to you would be where are you finding the sound lacking, when you listen to your rig or from comments about the FOH sound.
What I'm having trouble with is removing unwanted brightness yet not losing a defined, articulate attack; and making the lows sound deep and powerful without becoming woofy or muddy.
My situation is different from yours. I don't play a "reggae gig" where I dial in that sound and don't change it. I play (mostly) original music in two different groups and change settings and technique to get a sound that best fits each song (that's the joy of my Alembic, it saves me from having to bring four different basses to a gig ;)). A few of the songs call for a bass sound that would usually be associated with reggae. So I'm looking for control settings on my bass that I can reach down and change in a few seconds, rather than having to adjust EQ somewhere else. And whatever I do has to work without needing adjustments at the PA.
Your suggestions are valuable! You confirmed I'm on the right track with Q off, treble cut engaged, filter set low. I thought I had to turn the bass boost on, but seeing that you usually have it off is making me rethink that; maybe that's what turns "deep" into "woofy". I'll play around more with leaving it off, and search for exactly the right filter setting (a small change can make a really big difference).
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Another thing I pinched from Aston "Familyman" Barrett is to have my thumb resting on the top of the fretboard and actually play right at the end of the neck or just over the end. When I want a really warmer sound I use the outer edge of my first two fingers rather than the tips. For really slow parts I use the third finger as the tips are softer than the other two and gives a much more meaty bassy sound. Can I suggest using the bass boost switch and move your fingers close to the end of the neck and plays ofter. You could also choose to fret notes closer to the middle of the bass and avoid the G-string if you can as there generally isn't enough mass on that string to give you a deep enough sound that balances with the other strings.
(https://www.jambase.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/aston-family-man-barrett-1480x832.jpg)
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Thanks for the Familyman picture and technique tips. I have to remember to pick right up at the end of the neck (or even over the top frets) - in that picture he's plucking at about the 24th fret position. And you make a good argument for a 5-string. My reggae-sounding songs happen to both be in Bm, lowest note F#, sure would be nice to play that at the 7th fret on the B string.
You might enjoy this quote off of Talkbass - how Familyman EQs an SVT:
*THE Reggae super bass hack. !!Try at your own risk.!! With 2 810 cabs pin the bass (on an SVT this is madness), mid freq knob to 1 (250hz), mids 12 noon. Look longingly at the treble controls which should all be disengaged. Wish for a second Ultra Low. The more hair you put on this tone the better. Play with super tight articulation, dead strings, and tone knob off. Welcome to reggae town. (These settings were literally left on my SVT by THE Family Man after it was rented to the Wailers by a back line company here in WPG)
(Whole post is in Ampeg SVT4 into an HLF410 (https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ampeg-svt4-into-an-hlf410.1520798/#post-25396364), EQ advice that might help if you're ever stuck with an SVT and 8x10 as backline.)
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Playing with the Bob Marley & the Wailers tribute band at this weekend's festival.
https://nearlyfestival.com/maldon/ (https://nearlyfestival.com/maldon/)
Should be a good one. I think that was the same festival I did my first dep gig with this band, and I think none of us had played together in this band before. So it could be the same situation again.
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If I were in geographic proximity, I would quite certainly attend your performance. ;)
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Thank you kindly sir.
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Saturday's gig with a Bob Marley & the Wailers Tribute Band
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Looks like a good time, Jazzy. That is a long bill for a music festival too.
I would be fascinated to see/hear what a British take on a tribute to Dolly Parton would be like.
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Dusty Springfield with a twang?
hehehehe
Bill, tgo
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Tonight, headlining with another UB40 tribute band called Johnny 2 Bad.
https://bigtribfest.co.uk/
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Looks like a fun show tonight… enjoy!
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Looks like a good time, Jazzy. That is a long bill for a music festival too.
I would be fascinated to see/hear what a British take on a tribute to Dolly Parton would be like.
well that's what she looks like.
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You had to know I was sincerely curious Jazzy, so I went looking for Blue Smoke. Fascinating... she certainly has the costumed look. Maybe I am surprised without good reason... it had just never occurred to me Dolly Parton might have international appeal. She is quite revered/beloved here in Appalachia. It must have been a challenge too, for a British lady to emulate an East Tennessee accent and Dolly's stage mannerisms. Like Sir Michael Caine (with fairly heavy Cockney accent) playing a convincing Texan, opposite Robt. Duvall in Secondhand Lions. You just have to be 100% committed to the job.
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Well there was an Elvis tribute on before us last night and musically they were superb. I'm no authority on Elvis so no idea how authentic the guy was to his accent.
James Taylor did an authentic snippet of a Birmingham (Brummie) accent when he did a concert here a few years back. Which is not an easy accent to do.
Anyway back to the thread, the gig went well last night a large marquee stage and the room was packed when we came on for the encore. The organisers rebooked the band for two festivals there next year.
Had some nice comments about my playing. I took my 5 string burl maple series I which I have to say sounded wonderful. I have another one with the same band in a couple of weeks or so. And another gig in Scotland with a different UB40 tribute band soon.
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(https://www.whatsonnetwork.co.uk/uploads/800x600/b8d231c94213c74deecdd73e83bac4dc.jpg)