Al Krow

Good shout, but if @Beedster is looking for something relatively simple wondering if the TR-6S might be a good option?

Completely agree with the above comments about the Alesis SR16 / 18 models being atrocious to program!! So whatever you get you're likely to find life easier on that score. See my short review (Feb 7th 2020) above of the RD-8 and this is indeed a Roland TR 808 clone.

@Beedster - what do you think of Behringer RD-8 that a couple of us have picked up on this thread? I previously had the SR-18 and can vouch for the fact that the RD-8 is a step up from that in terms of ease of programming your own drum lines - just based on my initial getting to grips with it. It's on my 2021 "to do" to be spending a bit more time with it, but I've found my little Zoom B1-4 actually has a pretty decent set of presets for practising along at home to which has kinda taken away a bit of the incentive on the RD-8 front! Worth noting that the RD-8 is a fair bit bigger than the SR-18.

Picking up a 5 string bass has easily been the best bass thing that's happened to me since, well, err...first picking up a 4 string bass 😁

Ah yes...very poorly compared to NZ. In fact most European nations are doing abysmally compared to NZ. So the better question is surely this - is the NZ solution one that Europe can easily and readily apply, given its geography and population size as compared to NZ?

Not even close to a NZ solution though is it and lasted a few days. How is France doing compared to NZ?

I don't think any European state (let alone ones that have 10x the population of NZ) has come close to applying a NZ solution. Please correct me if I am wrong and name them? Seriously if it was / is that easy to do why isn't it being done right now by the UK or the EU? How long has NZ put the rest of the world in quarantine? What is the longest any European nation has done the same? Tbh you wouldn't get any objections from me to putting the rest of the planet in quarantine, if it were feasible and worked. - Not sure how any air-travel abroad can currently really be described as "essential" other than to be returning to / from home countries on a long term basis. - But you then have the issue of trade and road hauliers etc.

£20 for the Mod 3?!! I thought it was usually nearer £70 - no wonder you snapped that up! Tres3.1 board and softcase currently £80 inc P&P which is pretty much exactly the same as the PT Classic Jr.

And it's really good to have your wisdom on board for sure, chappie. Don't think we have too much in the way of that level of bass playing expertise EBS although there are a few medics (including Cuzzie) and others who are very involved with the NHS (e.g. my missus is having to deal with massive fall-out from Covid as a child psychiatrist).

You raise an interesting and very good point. Be good to remind us exactly what NZ did to deliver their success? It's definitely a nice soundbite, but is it practically do-able? In particular I wonder whether it would have been possible to do the same here and in mainland Europe, bearing in mind (i) that NZ is literally the last stop on journeys as opposed to being a through-fare and (ii) that NZ has just 1% of the population of the UK and EU combined which together were covered by the freedom of movement rules until 31 Dec. Obviously the UK is no longer constrained by the FoM rules post 1 Jan 2021 so potentially has more ability to implement a NZ style solution, but the UK is still part of the common travel area with Eire (which interestingly has the approx. same population as NZ but has also not adopted the NZ solution) and we are therefore indirectly part of the wider EU travel area still. Just wondering if theirs was such an easy and obvious solution why has no one here (or in the EU) still thought about adopting the NZ model?

I'll pm you. Allegedly.

Currently have a Metro 24 and wishing that it had just a bit more clearance to fit anything but the flattest of power units underneath. Saw @Kev's Warwick RockboardTres3.1 recently and thought it looked really good - although not sure I would want to fork out for the Mod 3 unit and it might look a little odd without it in place. What else is out there that folk are using and can highly recommend that have moved things on from the PT Classic Jr rail format?

It's about as much fun as you can legally have with a Boss sized pedal. Allegedly.

From detailed analysis of ONS figures: Looking at 2nd wave deaths in the UK (taking week 45 = Nov 2nd as approximate base line): 85.1% of deaths have occurred in the 70+ age group. Lockdown 1 without a vaccine took 3.5 months from March 23rd to July 4th to get the rolling average weekly death rate from Covid-19 to around 50 or less. Most of the 70+ age group should be vaccinated over the next 3 to 4 months, if not sooner, and combined with current lockdown measures and moving out of winter should, together, make a very big difference. Whilst it's anecdotal / "best guess" territory, folk who have to put substantial sums of their savings on the line and will have done a fair bit of homework, are not shying away from investing in pubs right now. Check the Mitchells & Butlers' share price since the beginning of Nov if you're interested. The above is the basis for my optimism / "educated best guess" (which I will happily admit it obviously can't be anything more than, at this stage) for the end of May pub / live music reopening. Let's hope for the sake of the music and hospitality industry, both of which I am very much deeply involved in, that optimism proves to be nearer the mark than some of the doom on this thread. Time will, of course, tell.

Calling @Woodinblack...

Yeah thanks - it's that sort of comment by manufacturers (who should know their onions, provided it's not just marketing spin!) that I have had at the back of mind.

But that's still tiny compared to 240v mains. This is where my lack of engineering nous on valves and voltage starts to show though!

Agreed with first two points. But not sure about the your final one about it being a winner. For a start exactly what sound would it be delivering with a D class power amp and how would it differ from other already established products with loyal followers? Peavey will have done their market research and almost certainly have a better clue about this than most of us.

Having mastered AFAIK, IBTL, IMO, IMHO and even TLDR, I was definitely stumped by AIUI and had to look that one up! Ah well that's my new thing for today... Now is someone going to explain valves and voltage to me please? 😁

Demographic change can happen quite quickly as has been shown by Indonesia already. Have you checked the forward growth projections? It was the link you made between being a "Muslim" country and high birth rates that we should tread very carefully on. Poverty and lack of women's education seem to be much bigger factors in this and Bangladesh would be another good example of a Muslim majority country where fertility rates have dropped considerably over recent decades. The highest population growth is actually predicted to be in Africa not Asia.

Interesting point. If it's done by diodes, what's the valve actually doing? My skepticism about valves in pedals is whether sufficient voltage is available to really drive them?I think purists / experts would say that even with the 240v in an amp, preamp valves are not going to provide the same tonal impact as power amp valves. I don't have the engineering nous to expand on this, though.

Cheers Martin - and it was a very good Lockdown #1 demo video, if I might say so! Is the "thru" output in effect a "DI pre" output then and the "DI" a "DI post" output then. I think I read on your other thread not to use quality headphones with the unit though? 😁

Congrats mate, be interested in getting your thoughts on this one. Ignoring my slight disappointment that "Showtime" = mute button and not some mega fuzz option to overlay the drive of the valve, from what I've been able to gather it provides: - a 5 band EQ (including 3 mids) i.e. comparable to what you would find on a decent amp or EQ pedal; - a preset shape button, which I think delivers a slight mid-scoop; - its magic sauce of the valve drive which kicks in at 0.40 on this clip: Ashdown Engineering OriginAL preamp pedal demo - YouTube My question is to what extent that valve sound differs to a mild fuzz setting on a decent fuzz pedal or what you would be able to get from something like your Paradriver v2, which I know you're a big fan of? Look forward to your feedback once you've had a chance to put it through its paces.

Really?? What data have you got to back up such a statement? Declining fertility rates are generally considered to be correlated to economic improvement and women's educational opportunities. Specifically Indonesia's birth rate has fallen from 5.7 in 1960 to below 2.3 today so it has clearly fallen a lot in that time contrary to your statement. Bear in mind a replacement birth rate is around 2.1

Not sure whether anyone's posted about the SolidGold Funkzilla on this thread (11.40 onwards in Zac's review):