Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:40 am Post subject: Eh, the Zendrive again folks :-)
One for you Daved!
firstly I hope things are going well with for you & your work and I look forward to meeting you again, hopefully on the next European tour.
Now, I know the mention of such geeky things as settings on amps etc, normally get pulled from pillar to post on this board, and probably rightly so , but I couldn't resist this one!
Please take a look at this link from the GearPage (post # 10), and look at the photo of Robben's Zendrive.
It has a marker for every knob! Why is this? In the picture, the knobs aren't actually set to these pointers, and I guess this is due to the fact that every venue needs a little fine tuning of the equipment. So, if this is the case, why are these marks there?
Also, and I appologise if this has been asked before, is the Super Reverb standard stock?
Thanks, Daved
Cheers,
DD _________________ Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.
Last edited by diatonicdude on Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:04 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 11:49 am Post subject:
DD, regarding the markers. I think this is common practice for touring guys. Years ago I noticed similar markers on the faceplate of Robben's amp. I've also seen them on Carlton's amp.
I had a bit of a chuckle at a clinic when Robben invited me to plug into his Dumble combo, there on the top of the cabinet, written on masking tape, were the locations of the power and standby switches. Great for me as I didn't have to feel around the back of the amp for them, not ever having played a Dumble before. But how long has Robben had this amp? And how long has Daved been working with it? You'd think they'd know where the switches were by feel, just like most of us can walk up to a Fender and reach around to the switches without looking at the back. I don't think they let other folks play with the amp, but many touring players get their stuff set up on stage by whatever local crew is there. Marking all the switches and settings speeds things up considerably. I have put color coded dots on the effects loop jacks on my Fuchs and have colored cables coming from my rack delay. I also marked the 8 ohm speaker jack so I don't have to think or try to read the silkscreen on a dark stage while setting up. The knob setting on the Fuchs are not so finiky so I remember the basic directions they should all be pointing and just tweak from there if the room needs it.
I've noticed Robben playing with the settings on his amp more often than he used to. I can't be sure, but I don't think the setting stickers were there the last time I saw him. He may be doing more personal tweaking of the set ups. Or maybe that is a difference between Francis and Daved, where Daved sets up the amp the way I do, rather than relying on markers. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
As ever, you give great feedback and info. Your explanation makes real sense.
It was just my curiousity getting the better of me as I just noticed in the picture of the pedal from the link above, that the knob settings were way different to the markers (rendering them useless?!), especially the tone pot which was cranked fully open.
How are you finding you Zendrive, now the supposed honeymoon period is over?
All the best,
DD _________________ Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.
Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 289 Location: Baltimore, Md
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:28 am Post subject: markers...
What Aeo said...
Many years ago I played keyboards in a band. Sometimes our PA sounded great, sometimes not so great.
After a "good" gig, I suggested to our sound guy that he write down everything, i.e., what the board settings were, who was using which mike, the monitor and cable configuration, etc., etc...
Then for the next gig, he could just set it all up like the last gig, and it should sound *approximately* the same (in theory.)
Unfortunately, he never did it...and our setup/sound checks continued to be an "adventure."
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:28 am Post subject:
In the days before software driven mixing boards and effects, part of an engineers job was to write down how everything was set. Along with what mikes were used, and notes on how they were set up. If something needed to be patched later on, they could approximate the same set up. As they mixed the project down, they made notes of at what point in the time code the bumped or lowered which track. Then at the final mixdown, they'd get a bunch of people together with the track sheets, each responsible for a handful of faders, and they'd all watch the time code track and try to hit their cues, moving the right fader the right amount at the right time. Nowdays you just program whatever fade you think you want into memory and you can mess with them all at once. Besides the mixer, think about all the settings of equalizers, compressors, reverbs, and how they were patched together, that they had to jot down. Between that and cleaning the heads on the tape machine, it was a less than glamorous job.
Same thing for live guys. They often use a different mixing board for the opening act so they can set it up at soundcheck and leave it alone while using the main board for the headliner. But in smaller circumstances, the soundperson has to write everything down so they can quickly reset it during the show. A lot of folks have little sheets made up graphically depicting their board and effects rack. (the manual for my Allen & Heath has a pre-made-up form in it for just this purpose) Then they can quickly jot down how everything was set. There's way more to this than the piece of masking tape showing who's in what channel. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:32 am Post subject:
Oh, on the Zendrive. I'm still waiting for it. I heard Alf got affected by the storms, as did probably everyone down there. Hopefull it gets here soon, I have a gig in a couple of weeks at a small resturant where I need to be pretty quiet and the Zen I borrowed though my DR sounded great at low levels. If it doesn't make it, I'll have to put my Fuchs in the parking lot with a mike. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Had my first Zendrive live experience last weekend. I was invited as special guest to play with a local Blues Band so I just brought my little Roland Cube 60 and the Zendrive. The other guitarist had a Fuchs OD amp and sounded great - so did I
Had my first Zendrive live experience last weekend. I was invited as special guest to play with a local Blues Band so I just brought my little Roland Cube 60 and the Zendrive. The other guitarist had a Fuchs OD amp and sounded great - so did I
Yep, the zendrive is one serious piece of kit. Great choice, Ed!!
DD _________________ Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.
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, but I couldn't resist this one!
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