Stylon Pilson

It is done. After missing eachothers calls a couple of times, I finally got through to the band leader and told him. He was very reasonable about it, so there's no hard feelings there. I then phoned the other two band members, but got through to voicemail on both counts. Having already had the talk with the band leader, it felt like leaving a message was the right thing to do, so I did. To both I extended the invitation to phone me for a chat, but in the light of the fact that we've never really socialised much, I'm not expecting them to call. Hopefully no hard feelings though, because you never know when paths might cross again. Edit: drummer sent a text message very soon after. We've exchanged a couple to the tune that we've enjoyed playing together and we'll keep each other in mind for future projects. I'm certainly sincere - apart from his tendency to not come to rehearsals, he's been a good drummer* - and I reckon that he is sincere too. The other band member also phoned me for a quick chat, and I think things are probably cool there too.** S.P. * I know, I know, what's the point in a drummer who never comes to rehearsals? I agree, but I'm willing to entertain the possibility that maybe he's been as dissatisified with this project as I am, and maybe in a band that he was more excited about, he'd turn up to rehearsals without fail. ** Peculiarly, she's sent me an email offering to leave in my place. Something's given her the impression that my departure is fuelled entirely by her continued presence. A certain Carly Simon song springs to mind.

Little update - phoned the band leader this morning, went to voicemail. I said "I need to talk to you about something, give me a call." This is probably the best of both worlds, as it gives him an inkling that it's coming, so he won't be caught off guard, but it still enables me to give him the news in a synchronous manner. S.P.

[quote name='chris_b' post='721410' date='Jan 22 2010, 05:11 PM']But surely whether they sink or swim is not your problem?[/quote] Indeed, it isn't. But it might be a problem for the band leader, he might be upset about it, and I want to exercise a little sensitivity to that. S.P.

[quote name='WWRRSS' post='721360' date='Jan 22 2010, 04:08 PM']I told them all in the pub, and in drunken stupor I actually ended up challenging them to carry on, without me booking all the gigs, rehearsals etc. they split up.[/quote] Well, this is one of my concerns. I think there's a very good chance that they'll struggle to find a replacement for me. Which is why, if my departure is going to spell the death knell for the band, I want to do it in as decent a manner as possible. S.P.

[quote name='RhysP' post='721303' date='Jan 22 2010, 03:27 PM']What is your usual main method of communication with them? Just use whatever that is, be it phone call, text, email, pigeon or whatever.[/quote] That's a very good point. Usual method of communication is email. Right now I'm favouring a series of phone calls. I'll probably wait until tomorrow morning so that I'm not calling them when they're at work. S.P.

Of course, there's always option 5, which is to remove my name from the "band members" list on our website, and wait for them to notice. S.P.

I toyed with resurrecting [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=30501"]this old thread[/url] but I've decided to post a new one. I've decided to leave a band. I had my straw/camel moment halfway through the second set of our gig last night. I was going to announce my departure to the rest of the band after the gig (and had been considering doing so for a few weeks) but then realised that there'd be an awkward "sooooo... now that I've said that, could you look after my gear while I go and fetch my car" moment, and bottled out. The consensus reached in the previous thread was that the ideal way to do it is to get everyone in the pub for a beer and then announce it. In my case, I think I'd have no problem corralling the band leader for this, but the other two band members are a bit more busy/distant. As a band, we never socialise other than gigs and rehearsals. Other options discussed in the other thread was doing it at the start of rehearsal. This could work, but the problem here is that the drummer doesn't attend most rehearsals, so I would either have to speak to him separately, or I could be waiting for weeks and weeks until all of us are in the same room at the same time. It's looking like my options are either: 1. Three separate phone calls, informing people of the deal. 2. Get the band leader to the pub for a beer, tell him, and then afterwards phone the other two and tell them. 3. Wait until we're next all together for a rehearsal 4. Do it at the next rehearsal, and contact the drummer separately. I'm inclined towards 1 or 2 because I want to get this done sooner rather than later. Any other suggestions? S.P. [i]UPDATE: It is done. Chose number 1.[/i]

I had a pretty poor experience in Music Room in Lincoln last week. First bass I played was a MIM Precision with a visibly high action, but I kinda had to play it just to verify if it was as unplayable as it looked. I expressed my concerns to the assistant, who tried to upsell me by using the old "you can't get a low action with those, try this MIA over here" trick. Second bass I tried was a Vigier Excess which didn't really do the price tag justice, IMO. The thing is, I'd already expressed an interest in the Vigier before I picked up the Precision, so I think that the salesman was trying to steer me away from the £425 Fender and towards the £1400 Vigier, to make sure that I didn't walk out of the shop with the cheaper item. Well, he certainly ensured that. S.P.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='680452' date='Dec 10 2009, 05:48 PM']Or should I just write this on my website, you can all read it, and then you can agree or disagree without having an online argument about it?[/quote] Therein lies the rub. If you publish it as a thread on a discussion forum, then that suggests that you're inviting debate. If you didn't want to hear dissenting opinions then yes, you should publish it somewhere that doesn't allow people to post comments without vetting. S.P.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28057"]This thread might be relevant to your interests.[/url] S.P.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='679136' date='Dec 9 2009, 03:02 PM']And we all know that the published fuel consumption is a load of BS.[/quote] Is it? I know that they tend to involve certain simplifications, but that's just to ensure that the test is repeatable and hence fair. If you take two cars which have had their fuel consumptions tested under identical circumstances, and one returns 40mpg and the other returns 30mpg, then it's safe to assume that under most conditions, the 40mpg car will produce better fuel consumption than the 30mpg car in a like-for-like test. S.P.

When you buy a car, you want to know, among other things, what fuel consumption it will get. S.P.

[quote name='Beedster' post='677968' date='Dec 8 2009, 02:42 PM']Thanks guys. Buzz, point taken, and I've always used small pics, but sometimes only big pics will do.....[/quote] True, but bear in mind that most people's screens only run at 1280x1024 so there's really no benefit to uploading a picture at a resolution higher than this. By which I mean, it's annoying, please don't do it. S.P.

Buy your power amp back. S.P.

[quote name='Buzz' post='677646' date='Dec 8 2009, 11:06 AM']Personally, I'd rather have the thumbnails and have to click-for-bigger rather than have massive pictures take up all room in the thread. Especially if there's lots of pictures, and doubly so if people are having a thick moment and quote the bloody pictures.[/quote] When the thumbnail is only 100x75px and the full-size image is 23098098x10923840px, neither is really satisfactory. I feel like, by default, all uploaded image should be limited to 1280px on their longest side, and thumbnails should be perhaps a little bigger than they are right now. S.P.

I like my Pitchblack. S.P.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='676916' date='Dec 7 2009, 05:43 PM']Well it's the wrong way round IMO and they look so much better under natural light rather than with a flash (perils of a gloss finish) but here it is.[/quote] That's... bonkers. I mean, yes it's bonkers because it's the wrong way round, but still, knowing what those two cabs are capable of (approximately - haven't heard the tmidge myself), it's filling me with a certain... joy. S.P.

Cancel your order. That's the most effective and direct way of showing your displeasure. S.P.

[quote name='waylander' post='672984' date='Dec 3 2009, 11:19 AM']thanks for the advice, i havent been playin bass long, and this is first musical intrument i have owned so im still adjusting to it all n kinda took wat my teacher said on face value[/quote] One little test that you could do for us right now - with your left hand, hold down a string (any string really) at the first fret. With your right elbow, hold the same string down at the top of the fretboard (so the 20th fret or whatever). Look closely at the spacing between the string and the frets. Is the string touching any of the frets (you can use the fingers on your right hand to push the string down and see if it moves)? Ideally, there should be a slight curve in the neck so that the string isn't touching any of the frets, but sufficiently slight that the gap is no more than a millimetre or two. I hope this makes sense. S.P.

[quote name='waylander' post='672953' date='Dec 3 2009, 10:47 AM']i took it to a place called project music in exeter where they did the work and kinda did spend some money lol[/quote] If you went in there and said "please lower the action" then they did what you told them to. I suggest you go back, grovel profusely, and say "sorry, I asked for the wrong thing, I didn't want the action lowered, I wanted the fret buzz curing". If you're lucky, they'll take pity on you. However, if you initially asked them to cure the fret buzz, then you're within your rights to demand a full refund. S.P.

[quote name='waylander' post='672933' date='Dec 3 2009, 10:29 AM']my bass teacher suggested i got the action lowered as it was quite high and he thought that might reduce the buzz.[/quote] Get a better bass teacher. Seriously though, it sounds like your bass needs looking at by someone who knows how to do a setup. If you're getting a lot of buzz in the first 5 frets then it sounds like the neck has got a backbow on it. If you're getting "on and off" behaviour above that, then it sounds like the frets are uneven. Take it to a pro who knows what they are doing. Be prepared to spend a bit of money to get it playable. S.P.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='672258' date='Dec 2 2009, 05:00 PM']From experience, it just might pop a fuse if you crank it. Plus if you want to run a 4 ohm cab, easy enough to disconnect the internal speaker so it jsut reuns the 4 ohm one.[/quote] Yeah, true. I was elaborating for the purposes of drama. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='672258' date='Dec 2 2009, 05:00 PM']I quite like them as practice amps.[/quote] Yes, I still use mine around the house too. Haven't taken it out since I got the LH500 and Compact though. S.P.

You have been told lies. They run at 180W at 4 ohm, and about 130W at 8 ohm. The internal speaker is 8 ohm. So if you were to hook up an external 8 ohm cab, you'd get the full 180W. (If you were to hook up an external 4 ohm cab, you'd get a small explosion and subsequent repair bill.) S.P.

[quote name='mrcrow' post='671104' date='Dec 1 2009, 02:20 PM']when you get this out i would really be interested in the actual failure...the rod...its anchorages in steel or its anchorages in the wood.[/quote] I thought anchorage was in Alaska? S.P.