TimR

My old band made some printed lightweight material covers that sat over the 15" tops.

Vinyl looks to be about 2mx2m. Held up by photography backdrop stand and cable ties through reinforced rings. Think I'm going to get some black bungee ball toggles as the cable ties are a pain to deal with. https://www.diy.com/departments/4-ball-bungee-range-of-pack-size-loop-bungee-cords-tie-downs-for-tarpaulins-pack-of-10-/5056596110727_BQ.prd

Technically, if you're distance buying, you're trying before you're buying. You still have the option to return it if you don't like it. 🤔 There is no substitute to going to a shop with a wide range of instruments though.

If you just want to tidy up loads of cables then get a couple of rolls of velcro tape. https://www.screwfix.com/p/velcro-brand-black-self-gripping-ties-5m-x-30mm/74887

If you want to reduce cable mess to the mixer buy a snake/stagebox. Not too expensive vs the same number of XLR cables. And can use at a gig as its not installed as fixed wiring in your studio. https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Omnitronic-MUS-810-8-Channel-Stagebox/3ODK

That's some expensive speakers. 🤣 Not doing gigs is a bugbear of mine. Especially when the band is insisting on practices.

Yes. Sunk cost. Although it depends how many gigs you've done when you leave as to whether you think you've had your money's worth.

The problem with 'items' of equipment, is they're just that. They don't really have an intrinsic worth without the rest of the equipment. You would be doing just that (holding it to ransom). And if the band is still going, you end up with the same problem of discussing what it is worth. If the band dig their heels in and buy a new sub somewhere else out of principle, you're left with an item of equipment to try and sell. I also have a PA. I've tried selling it recently but no one is interested at the price I think it's worth. Problem is you can now get a pair of active speakers for under £500 new. So a pair of passive speakers and a power amp are going to be worth less than £200 if you can find anyone interested

That's frustrating. Hopefully the gear is getting a good workout now.

@Silvia Bluejay move to PA section?

There's a whole thread on shared ownership. You've done extremely well out of the deal if they've returned what you've paid out with no depreciation factored in. My take has always been: someone owns the PA and they get an extra "PA cut" for maintaining, storing and transporting the PA.

Valuing the present gear is the key. You're not going to get back 'your share of the cost'. So you first need to get a decent valuation and then you'll have to negotiate.

I was there. It was a job just to stay on your feet when a band came on and the weight of several thousand people pushes you forward. The mud didn't help. I don't think anyone thinks about it seriously until you're actually being crushed and can't breathe. Up to then it's all a bit of a laugh.

Yes. That's what I said in the 1st paragraph. Seems a bit odd to me that people make music and being in bands like some kind of 'team' activity. I'm just upfront. When I joined the first band I was in another band (I could see the writing was on the wall and was just hanibging around waiting for it to peter out). I told them so they all knew, and they didn't have a problem. Usually it's the other guys that can't make the gigs anyway.

I think moving on and then poaching other musicians isn't really a good look. Probably not helped when musicians feel they can only be in one band or the band thinks musicians should only be in one band. I'm playing in 3 bands at the moment. No one seems to be that worried. It's not like its a full time job. I've not had a practice with any of them in over a month.

I think moving on and then poaching other musicians isn't really a good look. Probably not helped when musicians feel they can only be in one band or the band thinks musicians should only be in one band. I'm playing in 3 bands at the moment. No one seems to be that worried. It's not like its a full time job. I've not had a practice with any of them in over a month.

Have you been invited to play in Band C?

If you deregister you are supposed to account for any VAT on stock and pay any output tax.

That's not how it works.

You've lost me. Why would you pay VAT on a second hand item?

It's not intelligent. All it can do is copy and follow instructions given to it by a programmer. So far AI just uses algorythms and a massive memory archive (glorified programmable search engine). It doesn't know what is good and bad. Humans don't actually know where intelligence comes from but it's characterised by an ability to solve novel problems that the entity hasn't been told how to solve. Animals also exhibit this behavior, right down to bees, so the question is: to what level are animals conscious? When we take exams we are usually mainly tested on our memory. We are given problems to solve that we have already been taught what methods to use. In the old days of A-levels (I don't know if it still happens), there would be a final part to each question which was designed to test the students reasoning skills on an area of the subject that hadn't been taught. So we use a mixture of emotion, memory, intelligence, and unconscious reactions to carry out everyday tasks. So until the machines become sentient, they'll always be our slaves. There then becomes the question of whether we should be using machines to be intelligent when humans are faster and more efficient at it than machines, and just leave the machines as AI memory aids. The humans can then take the output and apply intelligence to it. The above is paraphrased from this podcast: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/06/24/280-francois-chollet-on-deep-learning-and-the-meaning-of-intelligence/

Yes. They usually get 200 on a Thursday but in London Thursday is the new Friday and on Monday the city is deserted. The last gig I did with my main band we had 2 people watching plus the 3 'fans' that follow us everywhere.

A perfect example of why AI is not intelligent at all. It has no concept of what you actually asked for. What it is good for is to work as a very good search engine. The results of which can then be intelligently reworked by a human being. I certainly don't see these AI tools as being able to produce something without a lot of very careful instruction and all it will return will be a bunch of stuff that it's copied from somewhere and rearranged.

I rescind my offer. I was after a vintage relic, you've knocked thousands off its value by restoring it.