Tops and Flops: Gig Stories, No Reverb & Insect Interference
B string, or Bee sting?
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Tops and Flops - Gig Stories, No Reverb and Insect Interference · Source: George Loveridge
This week’s Tops and Flops sees me cover a recent gig experience. It’s all live here, folks, so if something can go wrong, it usually means that it will…
This Week’s Tops and Flops
Tops and Flops!
Welcome back to our weekly instalment of wins and fails. And, potentially, the last edition of this series. Where your editorial team at gearnews.com delve into their week as musicians.
Thankfully, gig season is well underway for me, but things can sometimes take an unexpected turn when out in the open…
Back On The Road
Over the past two years, the vast majority of my gigs have been at outdoor events. Specifically, playing at classic car shows. It sounds quite niche, but never underestimate how many people want to show off their pride and joy on a Sunday afternoon in a field.
Just guitar and vocals, my partner and I play as a duo. Covering all sorts of songs from throughout the decades. Be that stuff from the swinging sixties, Motown movers, 70s disco bops, 80s dance anthems or even contemporary pop hits. We play them all!
Accompanying me on stage is my trusty 2016 Fender California Malibu CE Mustang in Olympic White. I’ve had this guitar since new, and it has genuinely been one of the best guitars that I’ve ever owned. The Fishman preamp is stunning, and despite the parlour proportions, it makes a huge sound when plugged into a PA system. But sometimes, the aforementioned PA system doesn’t want to behave as it should.
Fender doesn’t quite make my guitar anymore. However, you can get hold of a *Malibu Player instead. If you’re looking for a compact, comfortable semi-acoustic guitar, then you should look for one of these!
No Reverb?
Powering our setlist is a rather unusual setup for a two-piece duo. However, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? As for speakers, we have a hulking pair of Electro-Voice EV SX300 speakers that have been used by my partner’s family since the 1990s in their gigging days! They’re powered via a Numark Dimension 4 amplifier, which really packs a punch.
However, our trusty *t.mix 1402FXMP mixing desk decided that it was tired of providing us with reverb. Essential for vocals and desirable on my guitar channel, we both like to use a generous amount of reverb to fill out the sound of our set. But no, not this time. With eight channels to play with, none of them wanted to help us out.
Upon reflection, we’re hoping that the lack of digital effects was caused by an inconsistent and or weak power supply. Because we were playing outdoors, we were using a small diesel generator to power us. Having never had the issue before, fingers crossed that was the problem. Otherwise, our desk that has done 6 years of gigs could be on its way out. Sad times indeed.
A Bug’s Life
Playing outdoors is great. Providing that the weather holds up, it can be such a joyous experience to play outside. Having spent many hours playing guitar in sweltering pubs and gin bars over the years, and getting our equipment knocked over by a tipsy listener, being outside makes for a nice change.
Despite having sunny weather, if a little cold, there was something else that I had to worry about whilst performing. Bugs! Here in the UK, we’re currently transitioning from Spring to Summer, and as a result, all of the bugs, flies, wasps and bees have come out to play. Whilst I’m also trying to play.
Trying to remember the chord progression to Sir Duke is challenging at the best of times. But trying to do that while battling with insects flying around your face and fretboard makes it even more challenging. The worst part? People watching must have thought I was possessed as they could not see what attacking me.
Gear to Review
To conclude this week’s tops and flops, let’s end on a high. I’ve referenced the Kirklees Guitar School Podcast before. I’m proud to co-present this weekly show on YouTube, and now, things have got even better!
We’ve been fortunate enough to have been loaned some *Boss Katana Gen 3 amplifiers to help out with the production of the show! How cool is that? Over at KGS, we have always used the Katanas, so it’s nice to get our hands on the latest versions.
So, if you have a spare hour every Sunday to watch and listen to us talk about all things guitar, why not give us a try?
Further Information:
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