Grand Wazoo
Well-known member
This afternoon we hired a medium size hall at the local sport centre which is used mostly for sportsman award presentation, Actually this was no theatre but more of a basketball court with rows of seats and the stage is not elevated but at floor level with just 12m x 12m two inch rubber mat for the band's instruments. Nice Peavey PA Board, but unbranded unknown speakers. (they looked cheap)
Greenwich Council is actually very pro-music and they were happy to allow us to rehearse there for a small fee.
I decided to travel light so I only took the Mark Bass CMD102P and the Bongo 5HHP, no effects, just straight through, I though to myself the hall is big enough for natural reverberation so no need to tatter the sound with delays and room effects.
This was the very first proper outing in the "real world" for the Bongo and the Mark Bass and I believe this hall can hold up to 200 to 250 people, both seated and standing, or sitting on the floor.
I had no idea how to set this amp in relation to the acoustic so I let my pal Tony (the guitar player) pluck random notes on the bass while I fiddled with the amp settings, then walk to the end of the hall and hear it together with the drums, keyboards and then go back and fiddle some more, I told Tony "don't use the bloody pick Ton!", just pluck with your fingers something as easy as "Sunshine of Your Love" or whatever.
Well once I was happy with the bass setting I got back on "mat" not stage
and started setting the Bongo to match. And then it happened... it was so simple actually: a little bass, a little low mid, treble set flat, hig mid set flat, piezo set to off, and the most important ingredient was the pickup pan which was turned just a quarter over to the bridge humbucker, well it wasn't just me that thought it sounded like Jaco but all the other guys noticed it too, and let me reassure you, by far it's not down to my playing style, because I would only dream to be able to play like Jaco, but the actual sound had the exact same dynamic, attack and "mashed potato" that it's distinctly similar to the real thing even on a fretted bass!!
I had to get pen and paper to write those settings down so I wouldn't forget them, I just hope that when eventually the hall will be filled with people, that the sound would not be affected too much and that it would retain this magical flavour.
Here is how I have achieved it.
On the amp - Mark Bass CMD102P:
On the bass - Bongo 5HHp:
Greenwich Council is actually very pro-music and they were happy to allow us to rehearse there for a small fee.
I decided to travel light so I only took the Mark Bass CMD102P and the Bongo 5HHP, no effects, just straight through, I though to myself the hall is big enough for natural reverberation so no need to tatter the sound with delays and room effects.
This was the very first proper outing in the "real world" for the Bongo and the Mark Bass and I believe this hall can hold up to 200 to 250 people, both seated and standing, or sitting on the floor.
I had no idea how to set this amp in relation to the acoustic so I let my pal Tony (the guitar player) pluck random notes on the bass while I fiddled with the amp settings, then walk to the end of the hall and hear it together with the drums, keyboards and then go back and fiddle some more, I told Tony "don't use the bloody pick Ton!", just pluck with your fingers something as easy as "Sunshine of Your Love" or whatever.
Well once I was happy with the bass setting I got back on "mat" not stage
and started setting the Bongo to match. And then it happened... it was so simple actually: a little bass, a little low mid, treble set flat, hig mid set flat, piezo set to off, and the most important ingredient was the pickup pan which was turned just a quarter over to the bridge humbucker, well it wasn't just me that thought it sounded like Jaco but all the other guys noticed it too, and let me reassure you, by far it's not down to my playing style, because I would only dream to be able to play like Jaco, but the actual sound had the exact same dynamic, attack and "mashed potato" that it's distinctly similar to the real thing even on a fretted bass!!I had to get pen and paper to write those settings down so I wouldn't forget them, I just hope that when eventually the hall will be filled with people, that the sound would not be affected too much and that it would retain this magical flavour.
Here is how I have achieved it.
On the amp - Mark Bass CMD102P:
On the bass - Bongo 5HHp:
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