10/14/12

Day Four ACL

The last day of the fest at the Hole in the Wall and we are running on fumes. Hickoids went on at 4:30 and played for about an hour. 4:30 is way too early for a show, especially a Hickoids show.

There were around nine bands throughout the day and both stages were going front and back, one right after the other, until the back kick drum broke. The last few bands were all up front on the "classic" stage. It really only feels like the Hole up there. The back is cool, but the front is the HOLE!

Purple Stickpin, Billy Joe Winghead, Pocket Fishermen, De Los Muertos, and many others. After the Hickoids played I drove home and rode my bike back to enjoy the rest of the night. I had a hell of a time and I really enjoyed the new Pocket Fishermen song about Chips mutilating people. It's an instant classic.

Breakdown

The Hole was great all day. I had a bunch of Beers on the tab and even near the end of the night they were still buying them for me! Thanks

I need some rest...

9/17/11

ACL day 3.

So much corn... I don't know how I'll deal...

Trophy's

One of the few Austin bars located across the street from a middle school...
That might not mean much anywhere else, but it's kind of a(nother) Austin anomaly. That scheme is currently illegal.

There were two stages one in the front and one in the back. You know, not in the back, but on the stage...

If you've ever been there you'd understand...

Breakdown

No free beer (I believe they call this lame...) but a really cool and enthusiastic bar staff. some really cool folks.

SVT, blah blah blah..., we whipped it, it was a hell of a lot of fun, casters and Hickoids. My ashdown rig was on the front stage and this gal asked me how to make it make noise (does it have a broken fuse?!?!?!?!).

"Just push that button by the blue light". The mute works wonders.
This might be some kind of an analogy...

9/1/11

My bass amp history.

I know, real exciting stuff.

When I bought my first bass from Southpaw I picked up a cheezy Peavy combo amp to play it through. It was so crappy, but it was that "Peavy" crappy. You know, sounds kinda ok, but you can throw it down a flight of stairs and pour a six pack on it and it will work fine. I never even used it in public.

Soon after I picked up a GK 400. They were all the rage back then and for $350 it worked ok. I played it through a Dietz 15" I'd picked up for Ray Henning for $125. That combo worked well for a few years. I used it in all kind of clubs and for many nights until my neighbor lent me an SWR red head. The GK lived in a closet for the next year and a half and I used that SWR until it died. It was well used when I got it and I beat it in to the ground. So for four or five months I went back to the GK, I was not happy...

I picked up an Ampeg B-2 and at first I pared it with the Dietz, then I picked up an Aguilar 15" cab and I was swinging. That was one punchy combo. Eventually I found a deal on the Ashdown I've been using for the past couple of years. I'm not even sure why I bought it, but I really liked the combo of the Aguilar/Ashdown. Not only did I do the usual gigs all over Texas, but The Hickoids took it out west and it rocked all up and down the left coast.

Then I popped the driver in Houston (opening for Dash Rip Rock) Aguilar wanted $250 for the cheezy stamped metal replacement. I ordered a "generic" 15" driver and replaced it, then sold it with the Ampeg head.

I found a good deal (Bass Emporium) on an Ashdown 4 x 10" cab figuring it would be a perfect match. I have never been happy with the all Ashdown set up. It has never punched like a 15" cab and it has very little attack and mushy tone. None of that is good.

The cab is poorly built in many ways. It's front heavy and the handles don't counter balance that at all. The input plate sticks out too far and you could easily shear off the connectors in a van. The inset boxes behind the handles came off on the Hickoids last tour. When I  emailed Ashdown they confirmed they were held on with silicon caulk. No screws, just silicon. I had someone build a little frame around them and we silicon caulked/screwed them back on. I think it might stay this time...

I've used a TC Electronic 450 head with the Ashdown 4 x 10" in the past and I remember that sounding really nice. I'm borrowing one for the Hickoids ACL, I'll update after.

7/19/11

Had a Bigfoot Chester rehearsal last night. For the second time we did it at Trailerspace Records. It's a cool record store, but it's a little strange rehearsing there. People are literally shopping for music and we are going over the fine points of a song and playing it again. Not your typical evening.

This week is the Davy/Rice trifecta. Three of the four bands we are in together are playing this weekend, Thursday the Hickoids, Friday the Gay Sportscasters, and Saturday Bigfoot. We would have gone for the superfecta, but we were too stupid/lazy to think about it until a couple of days ago... Oh well.


Broke gear...

I got my bass cab repaired and it seems to be working just fine. I'll do another post about my broken Ashdown 4x10. Right now I'm just happy I didn't have to spend big bucks on another cab. It's small, but I count it as a win.