Re: bad nights, loose whiskey...

[Unit Circle Media <unitcirc@unitcircle.com>]

I've learned that the last thing I do before playing is to make sure that
every cable is plugged in.  It's now pretty automatic, just got pedal to
pedal and push on the cable.  I learned this after an amazingly lame show
I had on tour where I had a very simple set up (four pedals from bass to
amp, in series) for a solo set and I just couldn't get any volume out of
the setup and it was really distorted.  I fought with it for a few seconds
in front of a very large crowd and then just gave up and turned everything
up as high as possible and tried to play through it.  It was a pretty weak
set, because the whole time I was scanning my pedals looking for a weak
battery or loose cable to no avail.  Finally when I was packing up at the
end of the night, I had discovered that one of the cables was almost, but
not quite, plugged into a pedal.  Plugged in enough that I couldn't tell
it was unplugged, but I could feel it pop into place when I touched it!
If you're like me and unplug your battery-operated pedals after you set
up, it's definitely worth the extra twenty seconds to make absoultely sure
everything is plugged in all the way before you begin.

        Kevin


Kevin Goldsmith                         kevin@unitcircle.com
Unit Circle Media                       http://www.unitcircle.com/