fretmeister

The makers aren't missing a trick. At the moment they get to make 1 unit that can do everything. That is 1 production line, 1 price, 1 set of manuals, 1 training course for repairers and product demonstrators, 1 set of product testing, 1 supply chain, 1 order book, 1 inventory list etc. If they did do a "Plexi only" model or something it wouldn't be a plexi only model. It would be the full fat version that has been crippled and packaged differently (different tolex = more production costs. Different box, different manual etc etc). Even that would need slightly different software to limit it. And then people would complain if that was the same price as the all access version. But if it was a bit cheaper people would then try to hack it to get access to all the features at a lower price. Then the flood of warranty claims would start, or complaints that a jail broken unit can't get firmware updates. Just like what happened to the Digitech XP series pedals when it was realised £3 of parts and some computer knowledge could turn any of them into any of the other ones. I get option paralysis - I have a Helix and sometimes spend more time fiddling than playing. But that's my fault, not Line 6's. But sound design can be just as fun as playing.

I was getting excited... but they don't stock Dunlop. Boo!

Definitely some truth in that. I wouldn't say all the affected teachers are lazy though - many of those are employed by local authorities and are thus under a foul target system based on how their students do in the exams. They have targets for number of pupils taking exams, times between increasing grades, and the grades themselves. In that environment it's little wonder that the product is little robots. I moved both my kids (clarinet and sax) to a new teacher to get away from that. The teacher is independent and has no problem with whatever the aims of a student happens to be. Some want to get to Grade 8 as soon as possible and push for a conservatoire place. Others just want to play with advice for 30 mins per week. The new teacher is not constrained by Local Authority targets. It has made a big difference to both the kids. They are actually practising more, and it's fun again. Their progress has actually sped up simply because it is fun.

When Stringbusters were still around there was good competition between them. But for some flatwound strings it's actually cheaper for me to order from Germany and pay £10 shipping!

You've moved the goalposts a bit there. Rossi (as far as I know) doesn't have the skills to write a symphony. Beethoven clearly had the skills to write anything he wanted to. You have argued that Beethoven's attempts at writing Quo type tunes would have sounded contrived. You have not explained why. I have provided examples of genre hopping artists that do not sound contrived. You have not provided examples of genre hopping artists that do. "Contrived" does not mean 'not able to write it' it just means you didn't like it from an artistic point of view. That's fine, that's just taste. But that's not the same as not being capable of writing the tune in the first place. "Authenticity" is about the biggest load of codswallop in music. It's either a good tune to the individual listener or it isn't. Academic knowledge of music can't hinder. It's not the same as art. The artistic output still requires something more.

So you're saying he managed to play in the MOST contrived environment in the universe - a holiday camp - and not sound contrived on his own stuff. Flea is a phenomenal trumpet player. Yet his funky rock stuff does't sound contrived either.

I will pay it gladly.

I'm liking that a lot. From some angles I thought the Gus was fretless for a moment!

There's no way I can sneak another bass in at the moment. She's only just discovered there's a BF Super Twin incoming!

Alex Skolnick doesn't sound contrived when he moves from Metal to Jazz at will. Paul Gilbert moves genres without that problem. There's no reason it should sound contrived.

I do hope you are right.

Dad go smash! (why is there no crayon font on here?)

I think it's unlikely that Beethoven / Mozart / Bach etc etc could have composed what they did without excellent musical knowledge. I think it equally unlikely that a Beethoven level of knowledge would have actively prevented Francis Rossi writing Quo songs.

I always record direct too. Then muck about with plugins however I feel like. Currently I'm really liking Helix Native and the NeuralDSP Parallax ones. I often blend a couple of sounds together to get what I want.

If you paint it solid black like you should it won't matter.

The FT has the database. You'll need a sub to read them. https://www.ft.com/products?location=https%3A%2F%2Fig.ft.com%2Fbrexit-treaty-database%2F It's 759 treaties and international agreements. Trade agreements rarely cover all types of business. That's why there often more than 1 with another country. Just for different products / services / tax brackets etc. Many of them took more than a decade to negotiate. Music equipment won't be on any lists of important businesses to UK or the US. It's inconsequential compared to other products. I accept the £10 bet!

Amazon are fine if they are sold by Amazon themselves. It's the other sellers you have to watch.

I've recently (after 30 years) swapped to Dunlop. Stainless Rounds for some basses, and their flats for others. I only swapped because I couldn't get a medium scale B from D'addario and just went with what I could get. I tend to get mine from Amazon. I have Prime so I might as well!

We are coming out of about 750 different treaties. Going to have to be a hell of a deal on amplifiers to make up for all of that. And I'm going to bet you a quid that Trump gets another term. Why? Because it's the stupid outcome. And humans in large groups manage to do that very often.

I tend to view origin as the country they avoid their tax in!

I'm planning a modification build starting with an Ibanez Mezzo bass with a 32 inch scale. My plan is to remove all the existing pickups and preamp and replace with a good Stingray type and get a nice scratchplate to cover the existing holes. There are 4 control holes in the bass so that could be volume and a 3 band, or it could be volume, 2 band and a mini switch depending on what pickup I go for. There seem to be far more options than there used to be - now there are Seymour Duncan, Aguilar, Nordstrand, EMG etc. Anyone have any recommendations? At one end I'm looking for a nice sort of traditional Ray sound - 'Nard Edwards / Flea etc. At the other a bit more Joe Dart (I realise he uses flats). Any ideas from the hive mind?

I love that idea.... although I've just looked at my rig. Italian, Finnish, Japanese amps. British cabs. Australian, Japanese, Dutch, British, Finnish pedals (and 3 USA ones). The yanks will have to up their game!

Just thought I'd share this.