Happy Jack

Doesn't this interfere with the sound of the cab?

Started to watch the clip, then realised that it's an entire program lasting 46 minutes. Any chance of some edited highlights, Owen?

Daft thing is, that quote doesn't make sense anyway. If you've been backdated, surely that makes you older ...

Finding stuff about "Excelsior" is just too easy ... it was quite widely used as a model name and over a long period. When I did a quickish Google yesterday I was swamped with relatively modern B+H Excelsior DBs and also with other musical instruments labelled Excelsior. Couldn't find anything at all about 3-stringers though. This might actually be one of those rare occasions where old-fashioned reference books are more useful than online searches.

That's because you can't see his socks in the last photo.

That's been around the block a few times. I'm guessing that it's a 4/4 rather than a 3/4? You say it plays well, Owen, but what does it sound like - drop dead gorgeous or just another DB?

There's also a substantial element of each generation thinking that it invented sex'n'drugs'rock'n'roll and being desperate to avoid accepting that everything in their lives was actually created by their grandparents.

Liking this a lot. Way more work involved than just buying a pop-up unit, but a great way to disguise the sheer ugliness of a big tripod stand!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47606592 The clue that this obituary was not written by a guitarist probably lies in the sentence: That was where he developed his percussive style of playing, initially on a right-handed guitar, despite being left-handed - essentially meaning he was playing back-to-front and upside down. ps: Note the entirely helpful rude word filter amendment to the Title imposed by the not-at-all-intrusive Big Brother software.

You're really taking this future-proofing seriously, aren't you?

There you are! What did I tell you?

I wonder if electrician's forums have similar threads. You know: "That Edison guy, I don't get it, what was so special about him? And don't get me started on bloody Marconi." Presumably mathematicians have forums where very average modern-day number-crunchers debate the lack of originality in the work of Fourier and Bernoulli. Yawn.

Last I heard, he'd retired.

Things come, things go. 10 years ago I was routinely trading Wal basses with Clarky. He'd buy one, sell it to me. I'd buy one, sell it to him. Not one of those trades was valued at more than £2000 and some were sharply cheaper than that. The same basses now trade in the £3k - £4.5k range. They're the same basses, and the intervening period has (allegedly) been one of austerity and low inflation. Go figure.

Yup, my recommendation was entirely empirical, as in "this worked for me, so it might work for you". Nothing I wrote should be misinterpreted as suggesting that I know what I'm doing. I wish, I really wish that last sentence was intended to be funny, but actually it's merely an accurate observation.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASSURGERY-4003-INSPIRED-6-STRING-BASS-GUITAR-PRE-USED/392126458450?hash=item5b4c8eea52:g:gBUAAOSwpUtboQKH

Was that exposed red & black wiring for the speaker really how they used to it?

Moos3h: If today's learning curve for Silvie & me also works for you, then the sequence is - Connect your iPad via the XR18's in-built wifi as usual, load up the app. In Setup, change to DHCP (do not enter any IP addresses or anything else), Apply box goes green, click Apply. Switch everything OFF. Move selector switch to Ethernet. Run ethernet cable from laptop to main WAN/LAN port on the external router. Run ethernet cable from XR18 to any remaining unused port on the external router. Switch on the router and WAIT for it to complete its start-up sequence ... this can be 2/3 minutes. Once the router is running properly, power up the XR18 and the laptop. Use the laptop to access the router using the password on the bottom of the router; be sure to disconnect from your home wireless (or similar) FIRST if your laptop has auto-connected. Once the laptop is connected to the external router, load up the app on your laptop. In Setup go to Connections, you should find that your XR18 has already appeared as the only item in the list. Link to the XR18 and click Mixer to PC - Hallelujah! Now that you've got everything up and running by using the laptop, power up your iPad and connect to the external router using the same password as for the laptop. Once the iPad is connected to the external router, load up the app on your iPad, repeat steps 11 and 12. Having used the laptop as 'scaffolding' to build your connection, you should find that you don't need the laptop again. Next time you can just power up the router and the XR18 and your iPad will find the router just like any other login sequence. BUT having the laptop hardwired to the router next to you on stage is the ultimate insurance policy against wifi problems. If the wifi fails, or the iPad fails, then you carry on regardless by treating the laptop exactly as you would a normal desk.

That goes beyond 'routing' and ends up well into 'excavating'.

Well that's you banned, Pete!

Have a word with Guy Trigg at Tricky Audio: [email protected] They're the fellas who built both my Crazy 8 and my Crazy 88, they definitely know what they're doing.

We've tried on three different tablets; all show the channel strips and the sliders really very clearly, but do not show the 'colour bars' for Gain, FX and EQ that I see on my laptop. As to 'just plug in an ethernet cable', I don't wish to be sarcastic but, incredibly, we actually tried that. It didn't work. We tried quite a few things that didn't work. Happy to believe that this is down to our lack of knowledge and understanding, but that doesn't mean that this is a trivial problem to solve.

Yes, it's working really well for us. We've been told that the Mackie is more intuitive when you first use it, and I'm prepared to believe that, but in truth it took just two days (when we were both off sick anyway) to be confident that we could march in to a venue and set the XR18 up first time without any drama. There are some excellent 'How To' videos on YouTube (and of course some pretty dreadful ones) and so long as you start by setting up using a laptop and NOT a tablet it's pretty easy to get things sorted out. Each new setup for a new band requires some effort and some patience from the band but, as with any decent PA, once you've got it right for Band X at Venue A it becomes a doddle to also get it right for Band X at Venues B, C & D. With The Junkyard Dogs we have allowed one hour for load-in, setup and soundcheck for years now. Last Friday we allowed 90 minutes because it was the first time with the XR18 (and we hadn't ... ahem ... actually told the band before the gig); we needed about 75. On Saturday we allowed 90 minutes again because we'd never played the venue before; after 60 minutes we were all twiddling our thumbs and wondering what to do for the extra 30 minutes. On both nights we played to full rooms with loads of mobile phones being flashed around. We suffered NO wifi dropouts at all. Doesn't mean it'll never happen, but it's a reassuring start. Our biggest issue by far is that the screens are different for laptop and tablet, and the tablet is harder to use until you understand the system. On the laptop screen you can see and adjust everything for every channel with rarely more than a single click being needed to get you to the crucial area. On the tablet you see roughly a quarter as much which means that you have to navigate your way to the desired area before you can even start to make changes, and some of the places you really, really need to navigate to (like Gain and EQ) are anything but obvious. We are also annoyed that we can't yet work out how to directly link the XR18 to my laptop using an Ethernet cable. A key factor for us in deciding to buy the XR18 was the knowledge that in the event of a total wifi meltdown we could go fully cabled in a matter of minutes, perhaps even seconds. I still don't doubt that the kit allows us to do this ... but I have no clue how! Not to worry. A band I dep for occasionally are big fans of the XR18 and have it fully sussed out. Silvie and I are visiting the band leader on Wednesday for a private tutorial.