DaytonaRik

Did you get the bill from UPS pre-delivery?

Is Thomann still offering free shipping on items over £100?

Even if you flip it, it's still nowhere near the £53 that @bassist_lewis was charged on a £136 item!

A quick check of the Government Trade Tarrif website https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9207901000#import would show, for example, guitars to be subject to 20%, 2% 3rd World Duty and 0% import duty. - £500 guitar + £100 VAT and £10 3rd World Duty = £610 plus a small brokerage fee of say £15. Total additional fees £125. I'd suggest people start asking questions if there are dubious looking sums being requested.

Brokerage - aka handling is usually that kinda figure from all of the carriers. Does anyone out there know the current import duty (if any) of musical instruments into the UK - the online one I usually use has it at 0% so just VAT is payable?

Did they give you a breakdown of charges? VAT would be about £26 of that - what's the rest?

Justice era Metallica featuring the Cowardly Lion? Hell yeah! The music, not the oggling bit!

You've gotta get it looooow!!!

Just a whole lotta NOPE!!!!!!

Cheers @Dad3353 - I do have a lav mic on a wireless system - I might use this and record the audio directly into Reaper which will allow a degree of manipulation before adding to the video footage. GoPro's seem to require lots of additional add ons for external mics! It's easier just to record the audio and import it into iMovie!!

Of course -it's the springs in conjunction with releasing the pressure on the pedal - durrrrr! Does being a cyclist impact this? Lost of ankle/leg strength already going on here - toe down riding (out of the saddle efforts for climbs and sprints) feels very similar to the muscle groups used in heel-up, whilst a quick dabble at heel down gives that same foot/ankle feeling as a traditional pedalling technique. I'm trying to stick to a 30 min session each day split into 2 halves - one half concentrating on the homework set by my tutor, the 2nd being time to experiment and try different things. It's the first time that I've had a formal tutoring in an instrument - being self taught as a guitarist and transitioned to bass playing so I'm open to pretty much anything and everything re progressing this further - unlike my preference for playing rock on guitar/bass.

Hi all, if you like to laugh at unfortunate souls trying to do new things then please feel free to watch, like, subscribe and click the bell icon at my new Strings to Sticks YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCToZAm9iHojrp-Hc1Rizb-A There won't be any reviews, top tips, best ofs, what kit you should get etc - just a journal of my journey from absolute beginner to hopefully something slightly more than a beginner! Ta!

Thanks @Dad3353 - appreciate the encouragement and kind words. Funnily enough, whilst practicing today I noticed how different foot positions produced that rebound and had intended on asking my tutor about looking at foot down - it takes a lot of effort to consistently bury the beater head into the skin (without an unintentional double strike), whilst the foot down method works, as you say, the same way as a snare - relying on the head to push the beater back and not gravity when you lift your foot. Foot up and playing with rebound are not, I think, a good pairing? Perhaps as with most things, being able to adapt and not get stuck with one or the other but to be equally comfortable with both (although you will naturally have a preference) is the ideal way to go? In the same way that not many drummers practice playing open handed but stick religiously to crossover? I've already been pulled up about that left hand grip with a view to 'holding it like a tube of toothpaste not wringing its neck' - and holding the stick closer to the end. These are some of the reasons why I wanted to have lessons - as much for good habits and techniques as providing the encouragement and push back, making me explore the drums rather than just learning parrot fashion. Pleased that you think I'm doing well though 😎😁

After a 3-4 days of 30 mins a day... video-1611530897.mp4

As long as it keeps out the noise, it would be an improvement on any Flaming Lips show!

This is the Crimson II kit that i ended up with...and already added a 4th 8" rack tom and a 2nd dedicated ride that will be used as a china type. Absolutely loving learning to play drums which is sort of scratching a life-long itch if the truth be know. I have no idea of the drum-learning curve - how long it should take to play off beats (before and after the beat), open hats, simple 4/4 open handed, hi-hats triplets as a fill - I don't know where the hell I am in relation to what's good/bad/indifferent progress but I know I'm having a load of fun and it's taken about a week to get the hang of the above on a 4/4 beat! Lessons have proved to be a good thing in terms of technique, exercises to ensure progression etc. (I have also cabled wrapped the cables nicely - it was day one and I wanted to hit things!)

When I read the title I thought it was going to be an in-depth observation on people you've never met and/or don't know...but alas not!

More non-bass purchases - Alesis Crimson II electronic drum kit!

I've also taken the plunge into electronic drums but went a slightly different route and opted for the Alesis Crimson II kit - hopefully it'll arrive later this week. My theory is that if I actually splash some cash then I'll be much more likely to stick at it, where a cheap/used kit that only cost a couple of hundred may sit there gathering dust and I wouldn't be too bothered. Our drummer is a drum tutor and I'll be taking lessons with him on a weekly basis via WhatsApp. I must admit that I'm looking forward to getting stuck into something that I've been fascinated by for years.

I'm trying to break away from the Slate subscription model so took the opportunity to start stocking plugin arsenal with the most used items - SSL 400 E console, Neve 1073/1084 console, Pultec pre-amp - at a bargain price. the problem is that for $15 per month I get access to everything Steve Slate produces...and that's all of the EQs, preamps, compressors, gates, verbs, delays, virtual tape drivers, mastering tools and everything in between

I dipped my toe back into the plugin market and snagged the Lindell Audio Channel X strip - a software emulation of their 6X-500 preamp, PEX 500 EQ and 77X-500 compressor (even though it's marked as a 7X it has the variable attack/release functions of it's big brother) in one package. I also picked up the Brainworx Townhouse compressor emulation of a famed piece of hardware built in-house by Townhouse Studios engineers from an assortment of SSL components that they had laying around. Primarily a buss compressor, it also works well on individual channels. Big savings to be had using the Plug-in Alliance voucher and sale - £29 for what usually retails at $448 the pair! They both go well with my Brainworx SSL 400 E and Neve VXS channel strips, and my Lindell Audio 80 1073/1084 channel strip.

It's such a simple but effective trick - full whites, chases, alternating colours, even run them as 2 x banks of 4 - say green and blue then fade between them - really effective with blues/reds as 'police lights'

I tend to have a few patches - scrolling colours, a big end to flash then a black which fades back up to pastels, perhaps certain patches for specific intros etc. I'll swap between patches for verses and choruses but keep it pretty simple. I have a simple rig - 2 x par 64 LEDs running as sides and 8 pin spots running as effect lighting behind the band, occasionally I 'll move these to the sides if space is a premium and there's no backdrop stand

For me it was a change of material - I play both guitar and bass but really only play heavy rock. Once lock down started myself and two members of the rock covers band I play in formed an acoustic/unplugged rock trio and playing stripped back versions of song where the bass has to work to fill space has really improved my playing, along with material that I'd never have consider playing before - The Police, The Pretenders, Ryan Adams, John Mayer to name just a few. Anything that encourages you to learn is always better than just going over things you already know.

New Plugin Alliance discount code WELCOME-21 which gives a $21 discount and is valid until 4th Jan