chris_b

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441407662' post='2858769'] I'm under no obligation to accept your ideas as correct, pal. [/quote] Pal? Oooo!! You don't have to but you aren't even accepting that others can have valid opinions that are right for them even though they are different from yours. I play the Dog and Duck and the Albert Hall with the same approach and attitude. I give my best, always use the best gear I can find and afford and sound as good as I can. If the audience doesn't appreciate my efforts then I know the band will. So might the guy who's standing at the bar and looking for his next bass player. You don't play for the people who aren't interested in listening, you play for the people who are. I actually picked up a great gig when a guy saw me playing my guts out with a crappy band in a crappy bar in central London. That you can't accept or understand that view doesn't matter but to repeatedly tell me that my view makes no sense. . . is just underlining an issue you have.

We're telling you but you're not listening!!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1441193502' post='2856782'] .... when people want to 'have a go' and reproduce the hits of the day, the sounds being made are unattainable.... .... all but impossible for a four or five piece band to even begin to approach the feel of the original.... [/quote] At the end of the day they are only songs and if you can carry the song you've done your job. I know a one_man_show_with_backing_tracks who is so good you could close your eyes and be listening to the original artist. I know another great player who plays with one acoustic guitar and voice and every song sounds like him. They are both fantastic players and because they play the songs as well as they do it doesn't matter how they play them. The only problem here is inexperience, trying to take on too much and failing.

The benefits of a modular rig. The components can be used in different playing situations. I can play through a Berg 112 at home and I used to put the 210 on top for gigs. The 112 sounded better at home than many of the practice amps I've heard.

My flats are about 3 years old. They are just coming into their prime.

I think the point about Alex's cabs is that they are not [i]just an xxx (put your config here)[/i]. Is £299 good for a 210? That's the comparison you should be making.

They are currently rehearsing. After they rehearse the band they move up to a venue and rehearse the lighting crew, FOH and stage sound crews. Professionalism on a level you wouldn't believe.

Didn't this start out as the Retro One 10?

Didn't he come up to the required standard then.

Strings wear out and can lose their intonation.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1441033437' post='2855503'] Surely you mean 1+ and 1- ? [/quote] Throw em all away and get OBBM to make you a new set.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441313907' post='2857922'] I find this "I sound great, therefore I play better" attitude quite hard to understand. [/quote] I don't understand why you can't understand. I guess you need to try harder.

Do your cables get stood/walked on, or does anyone else put them away? That could be the reason for the twist between the inner core and outer layers.

So theory gets in the way of creativity? it's a good job no one told Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Firstly, I don't think anything in the classical world is at all unclear. It is a very focussed world for one good reason, they take musical excellence to levels we can never understand. Secondly, I think we have to allow "weekend warriors" to make their own choices. Some of which might look strange but no worse than my old next door neighbour taking the kids to school and then doing the Tesco run in her husbands brand new 911. I don't think she ever got out of second gear. I would be very interested to see how raids on gigs to enforce a musical equivalent of the Sumptuary laws would pan out.

An [i]artiste[/i] wouldn't be asking this question. I've never had a lesson and I do reasonably well. Would I have done even better after some lessons? Of course. I know I would have done a [u]lot[/u] better as a player if I knew more. No question about that.

Nice stuff makes me play better. Sounding better than the next guy is part of the competition and the striving for success that is making music and playing to an audience. Sounding good increases you confidence, which improves your groove and note choices. Now that really [i]does[/i] matter to others. Who are you going to offer the gig to, a guy who sounds crap and plays well or a guy who sounds good and plays better?

I agree. And the real stinger is that Aguilar amps will be discounted and Mesa amps won't. So you're looking at £739 compared to £629. There are people who will always buy a name or the latest fad, but my £110 has to buy that amount of better tone.

The list price for my Aguilar TH500 is £749. I fail to see what the issue is if the list price for the Subway turns out to be £739. Never mind rip off Britain. . . glass half full Britain more like.

Mesa have their pricing structure and it has always been high in comparison to the competition. Nothing new there. In this country we are regularly ripped off over prices and services. Nothing new there either. As long as our choices of leader are always between the likes of Cameron and Corbyn there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. Anyway. . . . I'm wondering if it sounds better than the amps I currently use.

All I can say is always have a good supply of batteries and a lead laid out as a backup.

Like Bergantino, Mesa tightly manage their RRP in all countries, ie discounts have to be run by them first. I can't see Westside having any say in that. The final price is made up of many components some of which are not under Mesa's control. As no one here knows any of the details involved in the manufacture, distribution and tax and regulation regimes involved, comparing prices around the world is a wast of time. If this thing sounds good then you decide if it's worth it or not.

There might not be many of them about, but a good teacher is worth their weight in gold. The OP has been playing for 5 months and knows what he "wants" and "doesn't think he's getting much from lessons". I'd suggest that's the problem right there. After 5 months you know what you [i]want[/i] but don't know what you [i]need[/i]. Find a good teacher who is following one of the recognised teaching plans and have faith in him to be teaching you what [i]need[/i] to know.