mcnach

urgh... That's a shame. I hoped you wouldn't need to do a test again. I *think* I would pass a test now, but I would hate the process immensely.

just out of curiosity... can't licenses be exchanged pretty much automatically? (after paying a fee, I suspect, of course). I love driving... but driving in town is not fun, I don't love that. I do it because the alternative either does not exist, or it involves a lot of time or hassle or both. For example, where I used to live before, it was barely 15 minutes by car to get to the rehearsal place. By bus? Around an hour. It involved changing buses too, which is a looot of fun in bad weather. Too many situations like that in my city... so I bought a car and never looked back. If I lived in London, I think I'd use the car a lot less and would be using public transport more.

I think based on the responses here, there's largely two groups: those in a big city and the rest. Those in a big city mostly play in their city, where driving and parking is probably not very convenient and the venues they play are venues that either have their own PA, lights etc, or do not require any of that. So these people mostly use public transport, and travel light anyway. Then, the rest, don't live anywhere where public transport is a viable alternative because of the amount of gear they need to take and the lack of coverage.

Most people would not have a problem picking up a band member, equipment etc. I have done it many times, and others did it for me when I needed it. However, it gets tiring pretty fast if it's frequent. Picture yourself driving back home from a gig. It's late. You're tired. Band mate(s) have had a few beers and maybe are snoozing in the car. You then arrive in town, and proceed to drop your band mates at their places, and finally drive home. Your trip can easily be an extra hour longer, late at night. If it's a frequent occurrence, it can get old pretty soon, despite your best intentions.

I was in my mid 20s at the time... but heavily into 80s metal and prog rock, and 'virtuoso' guitarists etc... which I guess didn't help. Once I grew up and my taste expanded considerably I was able to like a few of their songs, and Noel's voice is not bad either... but the band just seemed terrible to me, coupled with their attitude and the whiny Liam as a front man... I just could not digest it.

oh yeah! I was expressing my amazement that the guy could see something special in them at all... I see regularly bands that are far tighter and more polished, in every style you can imagine... so for someone to choose THEM, it's what I can't get my head around it. But then maybe it's why I don't make my living out of signing bands

It's undeniable that they had a huge effect. Kids picking up guitars etc... that's true too. Which all adds to my amazement. Sometimes I feel like I was away in Mars and I had missed a whole decade or something because I really could not understand how they were so influencial. I think I also resent them a bit because they were the reason I found it so hard to find a band I'd like to join. Far too many Oasis wannabes... but without the good songs

so they were real idiots, not fake idiots?

... which I find so hard to understand. What did [I forget his name] see in them, at that famous gig in Glasgow's King Tut's, to decide he should sign them? Was the musical scene so dire at the time that it made them stand out? Noel has written some good tunes, no question, but the videos I saw from that time didn't look promising (to me, of course). There are bands I simply don't like, for one reason or another, and I'm fine with it and I understand that people have different tastes. OK. But Oasis intrigues me like no other. How did they become that big? The music? Their lovely personalities? I watched the documentary and it was like watching an accident. I didn't like what I saw but I could not stop watching. It was interesting, but it did nothing to change my mind about them.

That attitude just seems pathetic to me. Trying too hard, transparently, to "be cool", which by definition is a fail. I really can't stand them. Urgh.

That amp is versatile enough... I don't see why it wouldn't work for your style of music. (I owned a Shuttle 9.2)

I use one of these "electrician's tool cases" to carry my amplifier. I added a layer of hard foam at the bottom, and made a frame with more foam so that the amp doesn't move in the compartment. The space it leaves is where I carry most cables. There are additional compartments where various other bits can go.

and with my luck, the holes will be anticlockwise

Fantastic! The dimensions are perfect. Thank you so much! Order placed. Great price too!

when sound engineers give me their DI to use, I give them my signal after whatever pedals I use, so you don't have to lose your effects. Watch for your overdrives 'though... an overdriven bass DI'd often sounds really fizzy out on the front. If you warn the sound engineer, he may be able to tame it somehow, but chances are it won't sound great, so best get a microphone for your cab in those situations, or use some kind of speaker simulation. I've recently started to use a DSM OmniCabSim which is pretty cool, it allows you to model the sound of a speaker cab, and sending that to their DI gets a much nicer overdriven sound. There are other units out there.

Not being able to hear yourself is far from ideal, and it removes a lot of the fun of playing that gig... so that seems like a good reason to avoid falling into that. I've played quite a few gigs where they 'prefer' I use what's provided, but when I show up with my stuff I never had a problem. Of course, this is because in those cases I wasn't bringing a 410 or something, but something small that could easily be set in an already busy stage without causing trouble (A little MarkBass combo or a 210 cab + head, generally). On big stages they were always very accommodating and let me use whatever I wanted. I played a festival gig once through a 30W Gorilla practice amp. Yup. I would have loved having my amp nearby that day...

anyone? I've been looking for one of these but everything I find is in the US. thank you!

That would be my approach too. Even when everything is provided, I generally I still have at least one of my cabs and my amp in the car. There's been enough times that I showed up and either there was a problem with their gear, or monitoring is poor for whatever reason, and I could run to the car and set up my little 210 cab and amp before the drummer is done.

Too late now but, in the future, check the screws regularly. I noticed mine had a habit of getting loose, so from time to time I'd tighten them. Before you reassemble it: have a look at the plastic mounts. On mine, the rubber covering the metal blade inside the handle had worn inside the mount. The blade was slowly but surely sawing away at the plastic post. It was almost at the midpoint! I guess it depends on how much you carry the amp by the handle. I was using it a lot and taking it everywhere... I was lucky it didn't snap one day while carrying it, it could have been an expensive accident. I contacted MarkBass about it who sent me a replacement straight away. But of course, it was identical. I would last a few years, sure, but I did not trust it, so I ended up getting a similar handle with metal mounts on eBay for a tenner.

True, the cost of strings is not really an issue for me as they last long enough... ONCE I find the strings I want. It's the trial and error phase that gets expensive.

Same here with Fat Beams. However, everytime I try a new set I get a little disappointed... until they wear out *just* a little bit, then I remember why I liked them so much. If I were an extravagant billionaire man, I'd have a guy wearing all my strings to perfection before I play them.

Oh, nice. I'll give them a try. Thanks for the emasurements!

I was just making light fun at how the font that you use appears really tiny onscreen

and you can bury your annoying neighbour under it

Have you tried their white nylon tapewounds? I wonder how the flats compared to them with regards to feel? I really like how "controlledly floppy" they feel. I'd love to find a set of flatwounds (no tapewound) with the same feel.