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Little practical tips. Let's hear 'em.

#41
Take some time every so often to lay out and organize all your gig gear essentials. After a number of gigs, these bags usually end up pretty messed up and you start not being able to find stuff or don't realize you're out of something at the worst possible times.

Also - I keep a variety of band-aids in my wallet. You never know when you're gonna get a cut, but you almost always have your wallet with you, right?

Oh yeah, if you're gigging during Mardi Gras, no matter where you live in the US, HAVE LOTS OF BEADS HANDY! I've been on stage watching very gorgeous, rather tipsy ladies dancing like crazy. I'd just hang some of those magical beads from the end of my headstock and suddenly HELLO! (o)(o) :eek: By the end of the night they were competing with each other for more!
 
#43
Georynn said:
Are you from boston?

Just kidding, these "tips" are great... I already did the loop thing on the amp side and the winding your cable. but that grolsch beer straplock.....
GuinnessBrilliant.jpg

BRILLIANT!!
Click to expand...

The Grolsch Beer Ring Straplok was made popular by none other than Tim Commerford, its even on his wikipedia page.
 
#44
lethargytartare said:
End stripped strap button holes?

I haven't really tested whether this works as intended or not, but I started doing it recently:

First thing when I get an instrument, I pull the strap buttons and screws, and then flood the holes with very thin CA glue (super glue) -- or maybe wood hardener would work. let that dry, then reseat the button and screw, careful to catch into the original grooves. My thinking is that, by hardening the surrounding wood, it may be less likely to strip out over time, it'll be easier to mate the screw and grooves any time you have to take the screws out, maybe they'll be stronger, etc. If it works, it's a helluva lot easier than refilling and redrilling the holes if they get stripped!

ltt
Click to expand...

Another way to fill those holes, say if theyve already been stripped, is to take a wooden match(minus the red tip) or a toothpick, stick it in the hole and then put your screw back in. My bass has had that match in there for 3 years now...

Also, in regards to a pickholder, if you use a mic stand just lay a small strip of duct tape near the end of your stand, attach pics, done!
 
#45
I have a cheap strap but I am comfortable with it.

So I got some fishing line and put it thru the strap right above the leather ends and looped it around my strap button.

So IF the strap fails the finshing line should catch the bass as a backup.
I have rubber washers holding the actual strap ON the buttons.

My only concern is that since (for appearances) the fishing line is between/underside the strap and the bass horn, could the fishing line dig into the bass finish (poly)??

Berg
 
#46
I posted this on a prior board and topic, but just like carrying spare strings and batteries, always carry backups for ALL of your cords on a gig. Amp power cords, instrument cables, speaker cables, etc. Come up short on one of those on a gig and it's disaster with a capital D.

Also, a Leatherman (or similar multipurpose tool) that never leaves your case should be a standard investment if you play out at all.
 
#47
lethargytartare said:
End stripped strap button holes?

I haven't really tested whether this works as intended or not, but I started doing it recently:

First thing when I get an instrument, I pull the strap buttons and screws, and then flood the holes with very thin CA glue (super glue) -- or maybe wood hardener would work. let that dry, then reseat the button and screw, careful to catch into the original grooves. My thinking is that, by hardening the surrounding wood, it may be less likely to strip out over time, it'll be easier to mate the screw and grooves any time you have to take the screws out, maybe they'll be stronger, etc. If it works, it's a helluva lot easier than refilling and redrilling the holes if they get stripped!

ltt
Click to expand...

even easier solution if you've got some printer paper lying around, rip up a little and put it in the button hole(ha?) your buttons will go in almost like the hole had never been stripped.
 
#48
jaywa said:
I posted this on a prior board and topic, but just like carrying spare strings and batteries, always carry backups for ALL of your cords on a gig. Amp power cords, instrument cables, speaker cables, etc. Come up short on one of those on a gig and it's disaster with a capital D.

Also, a Leatherman (or similar multipurpose tool) that never leaves your case should be a standard investment if you play out at all.
Click to expand...

Two really good ones there! I keep a bag in my car that has a full set of all the patch and power cables for my whole setup -- just like you described. Instrument cables are almost always the last thing people think will fail, and yet they probaby take the most abuse lol!

And a leatherman is definitely an indispensable tool -- and that made me remember -- a small flashlight. I was on a few gigs where I was setting up on a dark stage, trying to look into the back of my rack to see if a cable was misconnected...
 
#49
tZer said:
Take some time every so often to lay out and organize all your gig gear essentials. After a number of gigs, these bags usually end up pretty messed up and you start not being able to find stuff or don't realize you're out of something at the worst possible times.

Also - I keep a variety of band-aids in my wallet. You never know when you're gonna get a cut, but you almost always have your wallet with you, right?

Oh yeah, if you're gigging during Mardi Gras, no matter where you live in the US, HAVE LOTS OF BEADS HANDY! I've been on stage watching very gorgeous, rather tipsy ladies dancing like crazy. I'd just hang some of those magical beads from the end of my headstock and suddenly HELLO! (o)(o) :eek: By the end of the night they were competing with each other for more!
Click to expand...

Yup, band-aid in the wallet, but Damn! I gotta find a gig south of the border during Mardi Gras!
 
#53
seanm said:
For those of us with less than boutique basses, take some very fine 400 to 1000 grit sandpaper and wet sand the back of the neck. Gives it a very very smooth feel.
Click to expand...

Damn, I do that too, forgot to mention that...

One more thing I just found out yesterday: Don't shove your earplugs too deep into your ears. Or carry pliers with you. I've been trying to remove these godawful things for half an hour after rehearsal. Ended up going to a bar (like we do after every rehearsal) with them stil lodged firmly into place. My roommate finally removed them with the use of a set of pliers when I got home. I think I was being *very* loud and rowdy in the bar, what with the earplugs still in and slowly getting drunk.

Anyhoo. Yeah. Let's keep 'em coming!
 
#54
jefkritz said:
I keep a set of ear plugs and a pick (though i mainly my use fingers) in every gig bag and case I have so that I'm never in need of either.
Click to expand...

You raise a neat tangential topic -- so you have your gig-essentials, but are there things that folks, like jefkritz, keep in every case and gig bag. Space is more limited there, so you can't throw a full set of cables in every case, but what DO you like to keep everywhere.

My list:
a rag BARELY saturated with ax wax (not really saturated, but there is some residual amount in them, and I think that helps keep the strings happy longer); a tuner (I buy cheap tuners whenever they show up on CL or anywhere, and try to keep them in all my bags and cases); string winder, set of strings, picks (like someone else mentioned, even though I don't use them on bass, I tend to keep a few in the bag or case)
 
#55
I take out the bottom strapbutton on the basses I actually gig with. Then I buy one extra strapbuttons, so I have two spare ones (The one I took out and the on I bought extra). Next, I screw them onto the bottom of my bass, a bit apart. One at say, about ten centimetres to the left of the center where the original strapbutton used to be, and one ten centimetres to the right. This way, I can lean my bass up against the wall without having to balance it carefully, because it rests on the two strapbuttons on the bottom instead of only one in the middle. I never have to bring a stand to a gig and I just hang my strap from the top button.

Here it is on my bass:
Link Removed
 
#59
I recently bought an Ibanez ATK and since I was used to precisions, the pu placement was throwing my right hand placement off. To counter this, I made a thumbrest with ducttape. You just take, I don't know, about 20 strips of tape and put them on top of eachother and, hey presto! Thumbrest.

This way, you can also experiment with thumbrest placement without drilling into yo hunney.

Also, I second the stickynomination of this thread. :D
 

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