Hi all. My stepdaughter that I regard as my own is participating in a franchised school that emphasizes band practice and playing live. She takes concentrated singing lessons from them, but not Bass. She has started playing bass and learning songs they assign and making great progress. When she feels comfortable time wise I intend to get her private Bass lessons as well. So far very happy with her progress.
My issue is their live sound. She has performed in 3 live concerts I think. They use the cheapest SS tiny Fender amps that you can think of. They are using a Rumble something that sounds pretty good and cuts through depending on the player of course. Some are good and play with confidence and others are working on it. The guitar sound is the worst gutless crap I have ever heard. Last week they took the bass out of the mix and there was nothing.
Now I have never been a fan of the Fender distortion in their cheap amps. Their tube amps are another discussion. So maybe I am a little biased.
I am thinking of sending an email to the director with the suggestion of upgrading the guitar amps at least for live performances. I understand budgets, business etc and I don't want to be "that guy". I also understand how good it felt to play through good gear when I was not used to it. I certainly have enough sense to do it in an assertive, complementary and diplomatic manner. I don't really communicate with them normally as my wife does that, but she is tone deaf. They have been in business here maybe 2 years.
I am not talking Marshall stacks, but certainly there is infinitely better gear for short money. What say you?
Been through that same scenario, only it wasn’t the amp, it was the EQ. It was the prototypical lost in the mix EQ at a very low volume. From what I could gather, the director just wanted a prop (boy are we hip, we have an electric bass in our band) but had zero intentions of it being heard. It was a nice Crate bass amp on an amp cart (that I got to push around in the Millennial Parade in London) that actually when set up properly, sounded pretty good.
What is funny about this BD, he had zero problems with the level of DB in the Jazz band, of which my son also played in as well as the Show Choir Band, and String Concert Band. Over all, his time in high school and this music program was a very good experience for my son and laid the ground work for his career as a Bassist in the Marines Fleet Band program.
If you feel a need to contact your daughter’s BD have at it. I would recommend a recorded sample as that can be worth a thousand words and is not as “challenging” as a verbal assault. Your thoughts on buying a better rig is a really nice gesture and could be greatly appreciated in a school with a tight budget.
That said, most BDs with any sort on tenure have their program down, it’s their fiefdom and are not (sans a direct order from the principal and good luck facilitating that) about to change. One other point, most of them have pretty good ears, so be careful you don’t insult their skills.
As for your daughter, if there is no resolution, sometimes being forced to comply with a higher authority is a great important life lesson on a number of different levels whether it’s appreciated or not at the time.
