James Willerby Jnr II

The objective is to draw an audience to play to, rather than playing to an empty hall, or to just mates or mums and dads. The specifc event will be sponsored by a corproate sponser so admission will be free, therefore all the issues of ticket sales, door takes and all the other usual sh1te are not involved. Sorry to disappoint the cynics out there, it's not an exercise in making money from a gig at all. It is an exercise is drawing a good crowd to make a gig more viable for both the popular and less popular bands to play. Best way to find out who people want to hear is to ask them! Again, thanks for the many positive suggestions, keep them coming. James

Once again, thanks to the people who put forward positive suggestions, keep them coming.

Stroopy and Jake: Well I can't argue with that at all ! As JWJr II I'm the 2nd JWJr and the 3rd JW, so yep I'm gonna agree with you both there.

Thanks for the constructive replies for band suggestions. Keep them coming. The reasons for asking are simple enough ................... There is no point in laying on a good, large venue in Aberdeen and then inviting along several bands to play to nobody other than their mates or their mums and dads. It looks totally silly in a larger venue to have a just handful of people, it's crap for the bands playing to hardly anyone and it's not going to generate much press or other interest. Far better to try and establish who people actually want to hear and then book them to play. Of course with a few popular bands, you can also add in some lesser known ones. It's interesting how answers to this type of question always draw out the positive people, who give good useful information, the can-do types and the negative people who only look for what's wrong with the question and for reasons why they can't do it. Good to see the positive responses, keep them coming. Thanks James

I've heard of the Amt pedals but I've never tried them. Things I heard were good though, very good. Clever to make a pedal sound like 4 preamp tubes and a quartet of power valves. I'm not a pedal user myself I like to get the amp to do the work itself. As ever horses for courses, each to their own. I've used the ENGL Tube Tonner though! It's the front end of an ENGL Screamer in pedal form!! Great sound, has loads of outputs for PA or amp. Used in front of another Amp gives a wild sustain Sadly also now discontinued too!! Seems most of my gear is discontinued now! Hate Event I do apologise i'm behind the times in tHat last time I read your postings you we're at RB . Anyway no longer you say. Somehow I imagine the people here don't need you to "even up" stuff for them. I'd guess they will already have figured it out for themselves. Nice of you to take on the role though, I'm sure people will appreciate you helping them that way. Horst Langer who designs ENGL amps is a good guy. Very accessible and what he doesn't know about valve amps isn't worth knowing, he's a top man. Happy playing

I'm not the III because i'm just the II !! The next James Willerby will be the III !! Confusing I know but true!!

No I don't work for ENGL, wish I did, lots of freebies maybe!! I'm just a really keen ENGL user, I like the products, really well made, great sound etc. I've used the amps since 2001 and found them to be really good. Sadly for reasons I don't understand they 've just never really caught on with the British players. People who have them love them, like me, but getting to know them isn't easy as they are not widely available in shops. I was amazed to find them at IIMusic in Aberdeen last year, stunned in fact!! Was like entering as Palace of Temptations for me, a shrine to ENGL, just amazing !! James

Before everyone says it's themselves, objectively from you own experience who would you rate as the best Top 10 Local Bands in Aberdeen at the moment and why ? I'm interested because I want to draw up a shortlist for a music promotion a little later in the year, and I'm looking for the popular bands who I could ask to take part. Rather than making the descision of who to ask myself, based on my likes, I'd really prefer to hear who other people rate and would bother to go and see. Thanks James

HateEvent you "work" at RB Music don't you ? I was attracted by the ENGL discussion, as it's something I know a little about. I'm a long term ENGL user, got several of these excellent amps ranging from a Savage 120 to a Gigmaster 15, love-em all, fabulous amps! The Gig-Master range offers a lot of really great features from a small package, but would I use it to play Metal ? Not very likely, it's not really designed for that job, as anyone selling the amp, like HateEvent, would/should really know. The Gigmaster 15 is a great little bedroom amp, thanks to the attenuator but can easily be used at gigs, where either the place is small or it can be mic'd / DI through the PA. At least you don't need a roadie with the gigmaster 15! The Gig Master 30 isn't a bedroom amp in the same way due to the lack of attenuator, which seems a draw back in someways. Both ranges 15/30 deliver the trademark ENGL sound but ALL ENGL amps are voiced differently for different styles. The Gig-Master series is a rock/blues voicing. Sure you can fiddle with it and draw out more but it's basic voicing is rock/blues. Plus the 15 combos have 10" speakers and the 30's have 12" hardly great for metal, bit small and weedy. If you want 7 or 8 string de-tuned metal then the Powerball head and a 4x12 cabinet works a treat, it's got the features and correct voicing for exactly this type of music. Lots of metallers play this amp. My own favorite is the Savage 120, which is hughly versatile and flexible and an absolute gem of an amp, for all styles, it even has Ultra Lineir output, so it's speaker control is very preciase, it's really totally top stuff. HateEvent is here to plug( and he did say that! ) ENGL at "lower prices" for his employers, so I'm guessing he's not really quite grasped what Price Matching, as operated by other stores also in Aberdeen, is all about ??? It means there is no such thing as a "cheaper price somewhere else" and it's a great thing for buyers, has saved me a fortune so far. No more getting screwed by an arrogant local music shop again for me! I've visited IIMusic in Aberdeen to try some of the ENGL's that I don't have and they have a proper range up there,not just the Gigmasters. Billy set them up for me, so I played a Powerball, a Ritchie Blackmore Signature Head, a Sovereign 100 combo, a Screamer 50 head and more recently the new Gig-Master 30 head all via ENGL 4x12 and ENGL 2x12 cabinets and they all sounded marvelous. Great amps, Im planing to buy a Gigmaster 30 head to finally complete my collection,well that's what I tell the wife, tell ENGL bring out another one! My own amp bedroom amp is a Savage 60 which ENGL discontinued a few years ago and I also have an ancient 1995 Sovereign 2x12, which is simply amazing, still has the original factory valves as well, sounds just magnificent. I've used ENGL gear for around 10 years and it's 100% reliable, never let me down at all, so I'd highly recommend these to others here, but check for yourselves and hear the different voicings. I play a Strat with 3 single coils, mostly Blues/Rock and not really Metal. Happy Playing, what ever amp you use. James