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Progressive Travels

The haphazard chronicles of a professional musician and his relentless pursuit of an otherwise boring life.

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Location: St. Jacob, Illinois, United States

If it ain't Baroque, fix it!

13 December 2005

Dueling Soundmen & Prototype Amps

Saturday, 19 November 2005
The last time BenWahBob played at Rusty’s in Edwardsville, IL saw the best crowd since we started playing there. We had come to consider it a “paid practice” because of the consistently low turnout. Our last visit was so well attended that it was actually like a real gig. This time was pretty good as well.

My setup this time was even easier than usual, as I didn’t have to bring a bass amp. Carlos has been working on a new Ampeg B200R combo amp. I had used it at rehearsal the previous week with good results. The sound was pretty good, and it seemed like it would have enough muscle for a small venue like Rusty’s where volume is an issue with the management. Carlos agreed to let me try it there. I brought along the BA500 combo that I usually use just in case there were any issues with this prototype. So, I only had to load in the lights and my bass. Sweet.

As I arrived, I noticed several trucks in the back parking lot with trailers attached. Once inside, I found that we had dueling soundmen. Mike Stevenson had told us he could not work this gig because of a sudden family illness. Carlos had called Bobby and arranged for Eddie Christ to bring out Bobby’s system. In the interim, Mike had called Jeff at J&J Sound to cover it for us. Somehow no one called Jeff back to tell him we already had sound, so he drove to Edwardsville from O’Fallon MO for nothing. We decided to give him gas money for the misunderstanding, and he stuck around for a while to make the trip somewhat worth it. Jeff’s a good guy, and was very understanding about the situation.

Carlos arrived shortly after I finished setting up the lights and rolled in the B200R prototype. I set it up and started playing around with it. It has a nice fat tone for a 200-watt amp, probably due to the 12AU7 vacuum tube in the preamp section. I punched in the three boost buttons for Ultra-low, Ultra-mid, and Ultra-high, and left the four EQ knobs flat. I was pleased with the tone.

As I was standing in front of the stage talking with the guys in the band, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to find one of my co-workers from Wick’s, Darin Meskil, standing behind me. Darin is a guitar/bass player for the Double D band, who plays around the Highland/Trenton area. Dawna and I had gone to see them the previous week at a bar in Trenton. They were a fun band - very in-tune with the crowd. When we walked in the door there to some interesting looks, Darin charged over from the stage, handed me a Fender Jazz Bass, grabbed Dawna and headed for the dance floor. They were playing Brown Eyed Girl, which Darin had told me he absolutely hates playing. I remember thinking that I already have a Jazz Bass, and was getting the raw end of that trade. I returned the bass to him after the song and reclaimed my girlfriend. He promised to come see BWB, and appears to be a man of his word. He didn’t stay long, though, as he said he had babysitter issues. I guess I’ll have to return the favor another time.

We actually played a bunch of not-usually-in-the-set-list songs that we had been dusting off in the previous few weeks. Of course, Dale put them all in the first set, about which we teased him endlessly (Gotta hurry up and do them in the first set before we forget them?). Most of them came off pretty well, with the distinct exception of Soul Man, which I flubbed by not remembering that there are three verses before the modulation, not two. Oops. Besides that goof, I also locked myself out of the back door when I went outside on break to call Dawna. Bobby seemed quite amused by this when he looked out the window and saw me standing there with that “please-come-open-the-door-because-it’s-freakin’-cold-out-here” look.

The rest of the night was pretty standard fare. I did notice that as the night wore on, we got louder and louder. This became an issue with the B200R - it just didn’t seem to have the cajones to keep up with a louder stage volume. Carlos mentioned that he was thinking of opening up the limiter a bit to get more out of the power amp section. I agreed that this would be a good idea. Other than that, it seems like it will be a pretty good amp. I’ve always liked the Ampeg Diamond Blue bass amp series. This one should be a nice addition. We tore down, loaded out, and stood in the still very cold parking lot talking for entirely too long before heading for home. I listened to Wounded, an Enchant release from the mid 1990’s, for the drive home.

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