NancyJohnson

I honestly had no recollection of posting this previously! To answer the questions, the interface is powered by a USB cable from the OC and the Palmer is passive/unpowered. Cabling is (standard?) off the shelf stuff; everything has been used in other applications previously. The power cables to the monitors are the same ones that were in the box when I bought them new. I've tried all manner of problem solving, but just couldn't resolve the crackling/static issue. I reached the passive DI solution after turning up a video by a sound engineer on You Tube...it resolved the issue immediately, but introduced another in the guise of reduced speaker volume/output.

Hopefully someone will have a solution for this. I use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface for recording and audio playback; this feeds a pair of M-Audio BX5 powered monitors. When I changed computers a couple of years ago, the audio became very noisy (electric static) but there wasn't any issue with the volume of the monitors, just the crackling. There wasn't an issue with recordings when I used the interface, everything was clean. (The signal path was simple, USB to the interface, 1/4" jacks from the interface direct into the monitors. The interface is 1/4" jack output only.) The monitors were set to about 50% and the interface output to about 20-25%; even at this it would get too loud at times. To resolve the static issue, I bought a Palmer dual channel/stereo passive DI box, ran 1/4" jacks to that and then XLRs to the monitors. The electrostatic crackling stopped (woop), but there's been a noticeable drop in volume from the monitors, so much so that I now run the monitors at 100% and the interface at about 50%. There's no way to tweak the interface up and there's nothing on the Palmer aside from a 0/-30db button (I'm running the DI at 0db). PC output is at 100%. I know this is a first world problem; but I'm just trying to get to the bottom of why everything has gone a bit quiet.

I think part of the joy is that it's an instrument I wanted to be able to play and in general, I've achieved that. I'm never going to be brilliant on it, but I feel I have the confidence to be able to play it anywhere if prompted.

Congratulations on the acquisition! It's been an odd year since I got mine! Put in a lot of hours initially, then we had a couple of months of building work, swiftly followed by a torn meniscus and knee surgery (which made standing a bit painful for long periods). I've been back on it recently, still enjoy it immensely. I'm unsure whether I'd ever be able to integrate it into any band tbh but it's hugely enjoyable to just noodle on it.

Sometimes the threads here kill me. Just buy a pair of wirecutters that look like the photo @Bigguy2017 posted. B&Q £5.00. They're perfectly fit for purpose. My nephew (8) showed some interest while I was changing some strings and I let him cut them to length, even the B-string. He then busied himself cutting the old strings into lengths of a few inches. If these don't work, well frankly there's no hope.

My wife likes them, I find them a bit hard going, somewhat up and down. I like most of the singles, although this is more about familiarity than anything else, plus a clutch of album tracks. It worries me when someone says they're interested in getting into <insert band name here>, more so where a band like The Cure are concerned, their back catalogue is just vast - despite there only being 13 studio albums in over 40 years (which isn't a spectacular return, albeit the last one coming out 15 years ago, so 25 years), you'd also have to factor in stuff like Join The Dots (70 tracks), the live albums and the reissues (which contain 150+ extra tracks/versions). Good luck!

I've had Fender Jazz basses and ran a '79 Precision bass for too long. Overall preference would be the Jazz. Tend to prefer two pickup basses with everything on 10, so the Jazz just gave a little more rumble and ponk out of the case. I have a 70s Aria Primary/Precision; ultimately it does what a Fender would do except it has Aria on the headstock. I'd describe it as 'gnarly' from a tone perspective. It's definitely a keeper.

I remember seeing an auction on the Gardner Holgate site a few years ago where someone paid £400 for some wood shavings from a guitar. People are stupid. People with deep pockets will buy anything. If baked beans were £500 a can, people would be eating them with toothpicks and saying how delightful they are and how they pop. https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/sale/166/551/Jimi-Hendrix--wood-shavings-from-the-Zemaitis-twelve-string-acoustic-guitar-played-by-Jimi-Hendrix-in-1967-framed-with-presentation-plaque-21-x-17--From-the-collection-of-Keith-Smart-chair-of-the-Zemaitis-Owners-Club-When-a-club-member-restored-the-guitar-he-sent-Keith-some-shavings-Keith-donated-some-to-the-Boat-Project-charity-some-to-the-Zemaitis-museum-and-framed-a-number-up-for-himself-This-is-the-last-frame-that-was-in-his-study-at-his-home-and-comes-complete-with-various-copies-of-newspaper-cuttings-and-a-reference-DVD-containing-news-reports

Crikey, his Hamer Cruisebass went for $26k. I have little respect for provenance and even in times like these, there's too many people with very deep pockets that can afford to buy these things ne'er to see the light of day again.

I'm old enough to remember the old OLP Stingrays. A mate had one; QC on delivery was horrific, but after a bit of jiggery-pokery it played really nicely.

All me own work, guv! I should be working in design. I have another one on my PC.

Wonderful Christmastime by Macca/Wings makes me feel very warm and fuzzy any time I hear it. My dad loved Christmas. Little kid joy. I just remember him, 7.00am Christmas morning, opening my bedroom door, cup of tea for me in one hand, a little Hitachi radio-cassette player in the other, Wonderful Christmastime blaring, and him shouting, 'Come on boy! Time for the up! It's Christmaaaaaaas!'.

I just did a little bit of sick.

I'm not really a Beatles/McCartney fan as such, but I do have a soft spot for Wings, so that's it for today. Red Rose Speedway, Band On the Run, Venus & Mars, At The Speed Of Sound, Wings Across America.

I worked for a watch company a few years back; the whole black Friday thing is a bit odd and somewhat of a con. Tons of our dead stock/undersales would go out to the bigger stores, overpriced for a while and then miraculously slashed by £££ to clear. It was all horribly manipulative; there were no real bargains. I'm assuming the same applies in every sector.

I'd just take Obscure Alternatives by Japan, the book John Dies At the End by David Wong and some decent nail clippers.

Always felt a bit underwhelmed with Fenders. Owned three or four in the hope that they'd simply fit in, but nah. Just on the subject of Jaguars, the ones with all the switching options, reckon we're all of the belief that we'll be flipping the switches with authoritative command mid-song and dialling up these fantastic new sounds; truth is we'll find the sweet-spot and rarely move away from that setting, thus rendering the options redundant. Personally, if you have a desire for a Fender, buy used or better still buy a Lakland or a Sandberg. These are way better instruments.

Shudder To Think. What a band they were.

I do find gear with provenance to be a bit of a weird thing. The sadness is that many fans will not have deep enough pockets for (most of) this stuff and inevitably they'll end up in the hands of the Hard Rock Cafe or as vanity purchases by people who have little or no intention of ever playing them. I'd put my hat on most of this stuff never seeing a live stage again. Shame.

I suspect he's not particularly concerned what the woods are, so long as it's stable and straight. I can set up/level etc. without too much issue.

I'm curious, has anyone bought one of those Chinese sub-£100 Fender-styled necks off eBay? I have a project incoming from a mate and have been asked to source an inexpensive neck ("not a maple board").