Stub Mandrel

The first band I was in, about 86-88, - Drastic Action - the BL was obsessed by Dire Steaits although he thought he was Guitar George... do we did several Dire Straits covers with no lead guitar! Testament to how good the songs are of themselves. As well as Sultans we did Six Blade Knife, wild west end and Down to the Waterline.

Remembering back to the 80s/90s when I used to have to push everything to get an adequate sound, I enjoy having plenty more power than I need so I never have to worry and know my rig is well away from its limit.

What was the year you bought it?

Originals rehearsal tonight. One new song refined considerably, with some nice dynamics including an Iron Maiden style gallop. We worked out some neat stops too. Also tidied up our re-interpretation of a song from the original album. Didn't originally have bass but came up with a 'classically inspired' bassline to bring along that's a sort of counterpoint melody. Very chuffed with myself. Plus added a little bass trill in the chorus that made the lead guitarist and drummer smile.

Pleased to report my last two rehearsals were at very civilised levels. No ear protection needed. Inuse Alpines for gigs, waiting for my ACS moulds to arrive... quite excited!

As always good design and honest specifications trump all else.

My Orange Terror is rated 500W. The power consumption is given as 650W. This is unusual (although @agedhorse explained that most amps typically quote a value based on an assumed duty cycle). I also respect Vox; they understate their amp power. The AC30 is comparable to a Marshall 100W. My Vox Valvestate 20 is a 30W amp.

I got 3/32" dots cut from high strength vinyl on a Cricut machine. Very durable... the ones on the 'busy' parts of the neck last a long time.

Isn't voltage headroom more important, as when it counts is driving transients into largely inductive loads?

Do you believe in fairies and a flat earth? 😁

In practice a 4 ohm cab means you turn down a little and get a bit more headroom.

That can be virtually nothing or the difference between acceptable and unbearable, depending on the amp!

I've never had a problem playing with a ring on.

Learning the bits is done. Working on the timing. Not sure I'll ever get the 'touch'.

I'm gettiing there... SLOWLY!

We had a good one tonight, focused on new additions to the set for our big gig at the Earl Haig on Sunday. Edit: it's very odd being under blue lights for three hours!

I went up to half on mine at rehearsal once. Nearly had a brown trouser moment.

This is a classic! We farted around over and again to come up with an ending for Bkack Night. In the end, I saw them in Birmingham and came back and said "they did something like this so that will for us!" But yep, fade out songs always cause issues. For the originals band I'm in, last week we worked out two endings for a song: A crisp one for the planned album and a flexible one that reprises the verse so there's enough time to chainsaw a clown's head off...

I use a 50W head through a small, inefficient but quality cab for home and a 500W head through a very efficient cab for live. The frustration is it's easier to push the little rig into gorgeous overdrive. I play live with a lot if gain so I can dig in and get overdrive, but that means my master settings are down low and fiddly to get right. If I go past 10 o'clock plants die and I get told off... Up to 30 years ago I was gigging with a mere 150W head (the same type Krist Novoselick used).

I'm picking up a hard case for £30 of eBay later. Does this ount as a teir 2 fail? It's utterly essential as (1) it seems sensible to use a case to take my Sire to gigs and (2) if I don't get one for it I would have to take another bass out of its case.

I've been a 'start flat' eq guy for the last four or five years, but I've started boosting my mids a bit. It's brought positive comments.

Should turn the light out but need to chill for a bit with a JD. Just got back from Llandovery, about 1hr 45 minute drive, mercifully the vocalist has a new van and felt guilty as I've been driving him for months. Our gig got switched to another pub because of a wake. Limited space but we were a man down and managed to fit. Just. Staff were great. 45 minute first set went ok. Locals friendly but not very engaged at first. Second set people warmed up, especially after some Manic Street Preachers. Lots of positive reactions, handshaking etc. and I even got bought a beer (nice bring the one who isn't driving). Yes we had a few minor fumbles, but we haven't played without our rhythm guitarist for a long time and we did some long forgotten and ungigged songs. Had to compromise on tone as electrical noise meant I had to keep both pups on full (Flea Jazz). Affected guitarist too when he used his strat instead of LP. I got told to turn up! We have a rehearsal on Monday to polish up with our full lineup. A big gig on Sunday, our first in the big room at the Earl Haig (my favourite place to play - see previous post) proper stage & lights 🙂

Only if it's not pretending to be real. I use AI from time to time for posters. A pretty obvious one: