Diablo

[quote]Ever had those days when your amp just sounds a bit muffled but you can't put your finger on why?[/quote] Yes I've had this, it turned out I'd accidentally smashed the guitards head through my amp as he was being a twat.

[quote]The air delay and other frequency changes due to atmospheric conditions can be overcome through common everyday engineering.[/quote] Interesting that is was the BBC that found the solution to this. If you take the time to research this you'll find on the olden days BBC radio listeners in Scotland would receive programmes sometimes as much as a day later than people near White City. Scottish listeners interested in current affairs were up in arms about this. The obvious solution was to increase the radio transmission power to make the signals go faster (like using more gunpowder in a cannon). This worked to some extent but the 4.5MW transmitter also wiped out all avian life within a mile of the transmitter and people got upset when cooked pigeons fell from the sky having been baked mid-air by the radio signals, or "BBC Death-ray" as the tabloids christened it. So the BBC then changed from LW to SW signals so they went faster, but this only shortened the delay to a few hours. Eventually the invention of FM cured this and now even people living in the Orkneys can enjoy "Today On Radio 4" within a few seconds of people in London. How we love scientific progress.

Not meaning to take this thread off topic, but with wireless it is a whole new world of confusion here. The signal depends on the air temp, humidity, and of course distance. If you want to play behind the beat a little you move further from your receiver, or place a guitard between you and the receiver so the signal has to go round them. To play in front of the beat you can stand right next to the Rx. Hot humid conditions (like a frontmans crotch for instance) give deeper bass sounds, dry cold ones give a bright tone suitable for twiddly playing. of course the 2.4GHz frequency band signals get to the Rx faster than lower AM frequencies so you must adjust your playing to accommodate otherwise you'll easily end up half a beat out. Cheers, Rich

Bet they unload it every night now!

"The Meters" were, and still are, the only certified metric band in the USA.

The easiest deterrent is not to leave your gear in the van overnight. You don't even need a PC to hotwire a 53 plate tranny, just such easy pickings. I am gobsmacked that a band would leave such a van full of gear outside.

You guess they only wanted the van, not the gear. But who would leave £30k's worth of gear in a £2k van? I wonder if they were insured to have all that gear in there? I hope so for their sake.

[quote]Would thrusting help? [/quote] I don't believe there is a single human activity where the results of thrusting are less impressive than those where a thrust, or multiple thrusts, have been employed. So yes, go forth and thrust, the more the better. Hmm, striped & tartan paint, that old chestnut!

[quote]I like the curly ones but it takes a long time for the sound to come out of the amp... [/quote] Only if you make the bass stuff in the wire go uphill. You need to stand on the amp so it always flows downhill, or put your amp on the floor rather than on top of the cab.

By far the best cables are striped. The two different bass-carrying frequencies of the pigments in the stripes act in unison and allow the electromagnetic waves to amplify themselves bringing clearer tone and lower bass frequency carrying capacity. I have found that cables marked with manufacturers names interfere with this electromagnetic transformation capacity and cause depleted musical performance. If only someone would invent a rainbow coloured cable (axial stripes - not radial, they stop the karma, man) then we can all bass-happy.

[quote]What's with the bumper car fetish? How strange. [/quote] I know what I want for xmas now! I guess the valuation on that J was a bit low, but not far off. How could it ever be worth £20k...? Even completely original early 60's minters are £10k tops maybe. Cheers, Rich

refin and non original bits, I can't see £20k in that!

I went round every s/h and vintage bass shop in London but left AB to last, glad I did. Man some of the junk that was being peddled in other shops at crazy prices as just comical. Don't buy anything until you've visited all the places you want to see.

It is 5 months too early for April fools. However I have it on good info that bass sounds deeper on full moons, my guess is the graphs above were due to changes in the lunar cycle

once you get used to playing whichever way helps, then try playing familiar songs you know well but with your eyes closed or looking out of the window. Keep doing it and eventually you'll find your fingers will fall in the right places without looking or needing marker dots. Cheers, Rich

[quote]What does selling out really mean? Is it that people want to keep bands a secret so they have the cool factor of being in the know? I guess bands want to reach new audiences, so that is why they do it. [/quote] When your songs are used in car insurance ads you've hit rock bottom. Queen went through a phase a few years ago of being in loads of TV ads. Now I don't think Freddie set out to promote products on Saturday night TV when he wrote those songs, he wrote them to be listened to live and at home as music, not a promotion gimmick. That is selling out in my view.

They've been using Kashmir on X-factor since the start, about 10 years ago IIRC. I remember when Queen songs were considered sacred, but somewhere along the line they sold out big time. I hope Zep don't do the same.

I feel kind of queasy after seeing that photo.

You can usually find a dummy sat on the drum throne if that helps. You can also leave them tethered in most places and, to the best of my knowledge, no-one has ever stolen a drummer. Funnily enough they can be had for as little as a bag of haribo in high street second hand shops featuring a musical instrument section. They are they ones stood drooling and daydreaming in the bongo section so easy to identify.

Junior Wells was "coming in on the one" with Messing With The Kid back in 1960. That style was nothing new when funk became a new word for it.

Good covers bands don't use music stands. They have rehearsed and leaned the parts so no need. As was mentioned above as soon as a singer starts looking at a stand then the gig is shot - the audience engagement is lost as the singer stares at the paper/ipad in front of them. After 3 months our last singer was still using a stand, so we fired him. For people who don't engage, such as sitting strings, brass, woodwind, fair enough in an orchestra, but for a 3-5 piece covers band there is no excuse really, just learn the songs. IMHO anyway. I've never dared turned up at a gig with a music stand, in fact I rarely even do it at a rehearsal. Cheers, Rich

[quote]Hopefully Mrs.Right won't be an extra £1k on the budget.. [/quote] Isn't that always the case....! Was for me, don't regret the purchase though. I'll be back to Andy's again if/when I have funds to purchase another. Cheers, Rich

Be warned - I went to Andy Baxter to buy a 70's Jazz and walked out with a very good condition and beautiful to play '68 with all the correct authenticity to back it up. Andy knows his stuff, and his den is somewhere to spend all your money without any problem. Cheers, Rich

Herbie Flowers has a brother called Spicie Vegetables