Dan Dare

The way things are going, we won't have anyone left to buy stuff from...

Within reason. A speaker merely reproduces what is fed to it. A high quality cab won't sound any good if the signal is poor or inadequate.

A Rumble 112 cab isn't "crap", though. May not be state of the art, but perfectly decent.

Puzzling. The only Micheldever I know is in Hants, not far from me.

This. It's completely venue and drummer dependant. I like to try to get away with kick, snare/hat and one, possibly two overheads, but it doesn't always work. In a confined space, you can have issues with spill from drums down vocal and instrument mic's, which is a whole other can of worms.

Very true and Bill's right. Manufacturers don't help by installing those tempting threaded mounts in the tops of subs so you can mount top boxes on them easily. More often than not, I use only one sub. I'll usually reduce sub level by 2-3db, too. Two is usually overkill in moderate sized venues.

Good advice regarding any drug therapy. Although they can be pretty well instant, chemical/drug routes can come with a hidden price. They may be convenient and require little to nothing of you save swallowing a pill or two, but the old advice - "If it hurts, stop doing it" has a lot going for it. That needn't mean stopping playing. Often, it means stopping playing in a certain manner or changing your posture - how you hold/use the instrument and so on. We often develop ways of playing which can be injurious in the longer term. They may not matter that much when we are younger, fitter and more flexible, but after a few decades, they do. The claw of death plucking hand - fingers hooked round the strings, pulling upwards with considerable force - is almost guaranteed not to do you any favours. Collapsing the fingering hand wrist against the neck and straining to reach notes with the fingers, or arching the wrist steeply and placing the hand under constant tension are both routes to pain and strain. The Ramones-style long strap, with the instrument round the knees, is a sure-fire route to back issues. The extra short strap, with the instrument up under the chin makes it likely that your plucking hand wrist will give problems because of the acute angle it's forced into. Plenty more examples. A good idea to explore these first before resorting to drug/chemical options.

R&B originally stood for Rhythm and Blues. Very different animal from soul and a world apart from what R&B currently stands for.

I keep a nothing special instrument in the house to practice on and use it to break in new strings. As I do much of my practice unamplified, the clang and zing doesn't matter much. When they get nicely worn in, they are ready to go on one of my gigging instruments.

Any of the quality outdoor kit manufacturers will have suitable offerings. I'd avoid anything bearing the logo of a musical instrument or accessory supplier. There's bound to be a price mark-up over a regular backpack.

Tempting. But no.

Time to draw this to a close. Have a nice life.

Depends how tiny the chip is. As Burns-bass says, the odd mark is of no consequence. You're bound to add a few of your own pretty quickly. It's actually something of a relief to put that first scratch or chip in a shiny new toy. Saves fretting about keeping it mint.

You have edited the attached post quite heavily since it originally appeared. Wonder why? We'll have to agree to disagree about the assertions you make. As I stated previously, we do not share a common language via which we can both express ourselves fully. I appreciate that you have made the effort, though. I speak no Danish, so cannot respond in kind.

All of which demonstrates that the OP's TC head is not up to the job. TC watts are even smaller...

Difficult to know where to start, since you have missed the point so comprehensively. I appreciate that the fact that we are not conversing in your native language doesn't help. I did not state that "practicing how to improvise and write original music" is a "horrible of a thing to do". My point was that it is better to do so from a position of knowledge, rather than through trial and error. You do not either learn what others have played or learn to improvise and write original music. The smart option is to do both. Please do not put words in my mouth. It is stupid and/or arrogant to say "I am not going to learn from the great players. They have nothing to teach me. My unique and special voice gives me all I need to create the greatest music the world has ever known". Ever heard of the work of Dunning and Kruger? Remember the saying - "There is nothing new under the sun". If you are not aware of what has gone before, you are in no position to judge whether or not what you are doing is "original". Would you care to post examples of your original music so that we can all marvel at it?

Nobody suggested "just copying other people". The point is to learn what and how they did/do it incorporate that into your own knowledge and use that acquired knowledge and skill to create your own. Given that there are and have been so many great musicians to inspire and guide us, it's stupid (or arrogant) to ignore what they have done. If you don't learn from others, you have to discover everything by trial and error. Life's too short for that. As for "your own unique voice and style", there are few people who are truly unique. Plenty may believe they are, but most are deluding themselves.

Double post

I don't know whether this will be of help, but some years ago, I was having a lot of shoulder and neck pain when playing the fiddle (which used to be my main instrument). I went to an Alexander teacher, who made suggestions around improving my posture and the way I held and played the instrument. It really helped. We often get into habits that are less than kind to the body in order to get the job done. This can be especially true in the case of those who are self-taught. When we are younger, we can get away with it, but as we get older, things start coming home to roost. Worth exploring some technique lessons and experimenting with set-up of the instrument to ensure you're giving yourself the best chance?

Au contraire. If you learn how great players did/do it, you can use the knowledge and skill you acquire from studying what they did/do to develop your own lines. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.

There are always people with exceptional natural ability, but they are not typical. We ordinary mortals have to work at it. We're seeing a lot of the cliched arguments for not acquiring an understanding of music theory on this thread. I'm just waiting for someone to opine that knowing about it it will "harm their creativity"... "No amount of practice or theory can make up for a good ear"? Does that mean that those who don't have that "phenomenal ear" may as well give up and take up photography or golf? You can develop your ear's ability, in the same way as you can develop any attribute. Of course, it's important to play with others. Of course it's important to hear how music works and not just read it from the page. The point is not that one should learn solely from a book, but that one ought to do so in conjunction with playing with others, trying things out for yourself, etc, etc. It can speed up the learning process, sometimes dramatically. Would anyone recommend not learning to read or write language? There's a lot of defensiveness around this topic. Some are prone to knock it to make themselves feel better about not understanding it. If you'd rather not do it, knock yourself out. In the end, nobody else will be any the worse off.

Bill, what do you think of the Basslite drivers? They appear to offer decent value for money. I'm wondering whether to take a punt on a couple to put in an old cab I have. It's not really worth splashing out on Deltalites or similar.

If you can, visit a well-stocked shop and try stuff out, rather than buying on the basis of recommendation alone. The good news is that most gear from reputable brands is very good these days. It appears you may not be that familiar with what's about, so a fact-finding mission should be helpful. If you really aren't in reach of any shop with a decent range in stock, the suggestion above to get another Rumble cab like the one you have, plus a better head is a safe option. TC are prone to be optimistic with their claimed power outputs. Most stuff will sound good at living room volumes. It's only when you push things that any shortcomings are revealed. If you like Markbass, a used LM2 or 3 shouldn't break the bank and will certainly do the job with two Rumble cabs.

That isn't the way it is these days. You can study rock guitar at university if you want. But yeah. Sod knowing anything about what you're doing. Much better to let it all hang out and trust that good stuff will happen by accident.