NancyJohnson

I like Stolen Babies. They're like a female fronted version of Ludo.

It's another nine days. Or maybe it just seems like it's on top of a hill.

Unless this is a rhetorical statement (like 'Its hot, I want an ice-cream'), stick a request in the items wanted section. You might get lucky.

Dream Theater's John Petrucci has used these perspex boxes for years. On one of their DVD boxsets there was this gear rundown piece. When asked about the perspex box, Petrucci made some off the cuff remark about drummer Mike Portnoy being nicknamed The Camel. There then followed a short series of stills of Mr P gobbing out huge dockside oysters in the direction Petrucci' s gear. So back then, he used them as phlegm protection.

Ooh, Friday will be a day of deliveries for me. We shall also be taking delivery of a dining room table.

Elaborate?

Sometimes you just see a list and try to join the dots. As an ex-credit manager, you try and do the maths...look at the Grover debt, $370K. If Gibson are making 170,000 guitars a year, that's an average of c.14,200 a month. A set of Grovers retail at £60-£100, so let's say $100 a set. That's c.37,000 sets or 2.5 months of production. Seemingly, everyone knew Gibson were in trouble months and months ago and I'd have withdrawn the credit facility on the strength of that alone, just to reduce the exposure; no freaking way would I have let it accumulate to $370K. I'm sorry to sound harsh, but more fool Grover etc. for allowing Gibson to continue to ramp up debt. I'd be interested in knowing what Samick were doing for them, given they manufacture guitars in South Korea and Gibson are allegedly US made.

To echo comments made elsewhere, Gibson was/is a brand you aspired to; I remember when I started out, I'd get a Bells catalogue or drool over stuff in Beat Instrumental, but on my paperboy salary Gibson (and Fender) were well out of my league. From a bass perspective, our Gibson choice has been very limited; by comparison with our six string bretheren, we have experienced limited model choice, limited colour pallettes, limited options. Yes, I know other manufacturers are available, but when you want something, you want it, eh? I've seen that Joe Bonnamassa is interested in taking the business over. Honestly, love him or not, having a musician running things might make things better. There was an interesting video posted elsewhere where three guys were discussing the decline of Gibson and summed up that you need to be able to buy a decent guitar for $1,000 as beyond that figure, you're looking at people on doctor and lawyer salaries. Perhaps (if Gibson survive), it'll be a case of giving the publice what they want, less custom shop pricing, more choice, less reliance on Les Pauls and SGs. There's a lot of demand for double cut Les Paul Juniors, so why didn't Gibson start making them again, preferring to go with the Firebird X or these ridiculous limited run models? Because they became detatched from this customer base and diversified into other markets. They're a company selling (apparently) 170,000 guitars a year. They shouldn't be in the state they're in.

I've used racked power amps for many years...I know that any powerstage will add a degree of colour to anything (I have no idea what qualifies as 'true-flat'), but I'd prefer any pre-stage I used (be it, POD, BDDI, VT Bass, RBI, GED) is what does the work into my rig and what goes to FoH.

Cheers to Dave at LBO https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-01/gibson-files-for-bankruptcy-with-deal-to-renew-guitar-business https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-gibson-brands-reaches-restructurin/brief-gibson-brands-reaches-restructuring-support-agreement-to-reorganize-around-core-businesses-idUSASC09YH1

If they survive this, hopefully the restructuring will help this company shed the ridiculous leisure brand acquisitions (Onkyo, TEAC, Philips) and just get back to making affordable instruments. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gibson-brands-reaches-restructuring-support-agreement-to-reorganize-around-core-businesses-300639935.html

It does sound good BUT he still has his amp affected (not flat) before the dUg pedal hits it. I'd much rather these sort of reviews be done straight into the effects return or better still into a poweramp.

I bought some Soldier branded strings off Amazon a while back. They were only intended as a set to put on while I doing a setup on a bass. They're currently on bass #2, an Epiphone T-Bird, they don't get much use, but they still sound fresh. I think they cost £4.99.

On the subject of Rotosounds, sure if you're an endorsee, using multiple basses per night and getting your strings for nowt, then sure they're going to sound great for about an hour and you're going to give them two thumbs up. I just took a look at their artists page. Loads of bands I've never heard of (which I suppose is fine), but my eyes happened upon Queen. 'Now hold on,' I thought to myself, 'Old Brian uses Optima Golds, doesn't he? Has done for decades.' 'Brian May used' and 'John Deacon used'. Being a bit liberal with the facts really.

Elixir Nanowebs here. They last for yonks. I stopped using Rotosounds about 30 years ago. Terrible strings, terrible playing life. Occasionally you'll read these comments along the lines of 'Oh, D'Addario make Fender strings,' but with little (or nothing) to support this statement. I would genuinely be interested in knowing how many manufacturing plants there are and who makes what.

Julian Mullen. He's in Reading. Top man.

Look, enough of this bickering. Yes, I know I'm a Tech21 slut, but that unit sounded the dogs from the very first time I heard it. Just tweak your settings kids...I'm sure that once you get your mitts on this, you'll forget about all these worries about what it will and won't do. Much as I loved my GT2 and other stuff and I still love my BDDI and GED, this baby is going to blow those out of the water. I'm excited as a fat kid waiting for his birthday cake.

I broke a D'Addario once about 18 months ago, during a rehearsal. The set had been on for about a week. The inner core broke where it went through the coloured ball-end. I was able to tie it off and continue. Reported it, nothing. Meh.

There's a later 'fix' that doesn't require doing anything with the jumpers internally. On the rear facia, you can run a patch cable from the deep channel into the return on the effects loop. Then just depress the 'Mix 50/50'button and hey presto, mono output. The front panel knobs work much the same, except the Deep channel output is combined with the Drive channel and the Drive Level One knob on the Drive channel works as an overall output control.

You don't need to open the unit up...

I just figured the BB2 would sound nicer (or more expansive) if I were to use that side for an overdriven channel, given the tweeter would handle a slightly extended hi-range.

Does anyone here own both of these and pair/daisychain them? Occasionally, I want to carry less gear, sometimes I want to run a dual channel set up, sometimes I want to run a bridged mono set up. A 2x12 isn't really an option. Cheers

Ooh, good subject. The Dags: This is what Australian shepherds call the poop that sticks to the wool round a sheeps a-hole. The Irvines Are Back: This was a bit of graffiti written high up on the wall in the queuing area at Universal Studios 'Kongfrontation' ride. Nancy Johnson: From a photograph at the Gregory Crewdson 'Beneath The Roses' exhibition (I can't post it here as it's NSFW). 96 Decibels: Mott The Hoople, innit? Pink Eye: Because it's funny. There was a local band who had a band called Brother Toboggan which was 100% genius.

I don't see any significance in a 50th birthday being a reason to buy something! If you want it and can finance it, go for it. Don't wait just because there's a birthday coming up.

Well, raffle ticket in hand for four hours and with scant whiff of whether my desired purchase was still available (as it happened, not), it was heartening to check eBay once in a while and see the album I wanted being sold in copious quantities at increasingly expensive values. It really does make the whole RSD experience somewhat farcical, seeing individuals leaving the store with carrier bags full of stuff; there are always people out there looking to turn a fast profit, be it today's stuff, concert tickets or Tower Of London poppies. It just depresses me. As my purchase wasn't available and as I'd met up with some friends by chance, I got their stuff for them (Carter USM and The Cure) to save them waiting another two hours before they could gain entry to the shop, so I did feel a little positive. I'll stay in bed next year.