Phaedrus

Yaaaay! Rehearsed 4 or 5 times with a BA115. Couldn't get any sound either I or the band liked, even when the singer, who also plays bass and owned the rehearsal rooms and all the gear, tried to help. I've been thinking that I might just go for a 2x10 combo and later on if that's not enough, add another 2x10 cab or a 1x15 cab. But I suppose then I'm back to two lifts, though a 2x10 combo + extra cab will take up pretty much the same room as a 4x10 combo, which is still less than my current two combos. I just realised today that the MarkBass CMD102P can be had for under €1200. 50% over budget, €500 dearer than the NC210, €450 dearer than the RS210, €350 dearer than the NC410 and €200 dearer than the RS410. I had been under the impression that it'd be more than double the price of even the Nemesis 4x10 combos. I guess an NC410 or RS410 would give me more simplicity, headroom & versatility for more varied situations and still be comparitively light. Could all be moot anyway. Our singer has landed a contract fitting discreet security cameras in shopping malls and will be working all over the country every night till christmas. So even if he could get back to Dublin for gigs on Fridays or Saturdays, we won't be able to rehearse midweek anymore. He'd be nuts not to try to maintain that kind of work if it's there, so I'd actually expect him to say "sorry lads, but..." in the near future. EDIT: No - not decided against 12s. Mark

Can anyone else even pretend to be interested?

My guitarist loves RHCP, specially Frusciante. He went to see them on Thursday (he lives in Dublin) and has moaned about the gig since he got back: same as OP said - no crowd interaction, Kiedis had his back to the crowd for most of the show, played obscure songs, jammed for ages. Dissapointed. But he made up for it by buying himself a new Schecter Synyster Custom. I have to ask myself sometimes - what's a millionaire (actual) doing dicking around in my half-arsed covers band? His gear value is higher than the band's whole PA system. Mark

IMO, there are so many originals bands out at this time who have made it to the "big time", but their songs are [i]pure and utter tripe[/i]. Mentioning the names of these bands would doubtless spark a big heated debate about opinions, subjectivity and the thoery of relativity, so I won't. But I bet it's safe to say everyone on here (and beyond, of course) can think of songs that they've heard on the radio and have wondered how the f*!k the band ever got their songs out of their bedrooms. But to contrast that, we'd never discover new stuff that we love if there were no originals bands, so I guess I'll just have to keep switching stations in the car every time another whiney-tripe-song comes on... Decent covers bands let punters hear their favourite songs played live on a night out at the pub. They usually provide great entertainment for weddings & functions. They offer fans of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Stone Roses, Jeff Buckley and so many others, the chance to see a full live show "by" their favourite bands, when the real bands are either never going to tour again or rarely ever if at all play in their home towns. Mark

I had a 150w Carlsobro combo with 1x15" + 1x8". I can't remember what it sounded like, but it was really heavy + big. Haven't been able to find anything on-line about it. Mark

"My" TNT150BW is actually my Dad's amp and he said last night that I can do what I want with it - sell it, trade it in or keep it. As alluded to in other threads, it's great - versatile (specially paired with my drummer's TE BLX80) and solid, but that solidity comes at the cost of weight. I'm tired of carrying two heavy combos around. The TE isn't actually far off the weight of the TNT, believe it or not, and they take up a fair bit of space in the van. We're attempting to streamline our gear (aiming for one pre-connected PA amp rack; smaller, lighter personal gear), and lower our on-stage volume to allow better FOH sound from our PA. My personal effort toward this is replacing the two heavy combos with one smaller, lighter combo. We play mainly rock covers - Killers, Green Day, U2, Limp Bizkit, RATM, Velvet Revolver, AC/DC, Hendrix, Pearl Jam, RHCP, Snow Patrol, Foo Fighters, etc. We mostly play pubs & clubs to anything from 100 to maybe 300 (maybe more - who does a head-count at their gigs?). We have been talking recently about also nailing a setlist that we could play at parties, functions or even weddings. We have a 4300w PA with two Yamaha P5000S amps powering four 1x18" JBL JRX118S subs (1x18" each) and a JBL MPA750 amp powreing two JBL JRX125 mains (2x15" + horn each). We use four HK Audio Powerworks 120w 1x12 + horn active monitors through which we put just vocals and the small bit of keyboards that we use. Drummer uses an acoustic 5-piece Sonor kit. We'll be putting a DDrums trigger on the kick from now on and put just the electronic kick through the PA and rely on the acoustic kick for on-stage feel for the band. We tried the full electronic kit before but there was no on-stage feel from the drums. Guitarist has been using a Peavey XXX 120w valve head into a Peavey 4x12" cab, but has started to see the light that lower volume on stage will result in better quality sound from the PA. He's moving back to his Marshall Valvestste 100w 2x12" combo. That's still really loud, but it can still get good tone at lower volumes cos it's not a valve amp. I'm looking for a new set up that will tick these boxes: Versatility of tone Reasonably light & portable Ability to cut through the band even when volume does creep up (relying on headroom, not on some mid-boosting) Can be used with no PA support in rehearsals Under €800. The farther under that, the better Combo would be much preferred, but not essential My current combo shortlist is: Eden Nemesis NC210 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=k_PVqHzmkekAAAETSNo9M2Mr&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Eden Nemesis RS210 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=fyzVqHzmwmwAAAETXYo9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] G-K Backline 210 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=HO_VqHzmfjUAAAET.RE9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Laney RB7 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=N3_VqHzmM9kAAAETNL49M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Warwick CCL210 ND Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=qCzVqHzmsJsAAAETujc9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Eden Nemesis NC410 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=TCvVqHzmQmQAAAETTto9M2Mr&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Eden Nemesis RS410 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=vf3VqHzmhGEAAAETbYo9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Eden Nemesis NC212 Combo [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=pZ7VqHzmcPEAAAETc4o9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Separates shortlist is: Warwick ProFet 3.2 Head [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=H0nVqHzmIeMAAAET7jQ9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=tz3VqHzmB2IAAAERQpsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] with either Warwick W411 Pro 410 cab [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=TLrVqHzmDy8AAAETVM89M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=ZW7VqHzmCJYAAAEROpsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] or Warwick W112 ND 210 cab [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=eG7VqHzmbl0AAAETP2A9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=ZW7VqHzmCJYAAAEROpsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] The Peavey Tour 450 + TVX410 4ohm cab would also be in the running if it weren't so heavy (over 7 stone!) Either of the 4x10 Nemesis combos would be great, but they're out of my budget, [i]UNLESS[/i] I get advice that one would be a great option. I'm probably leaning towards one of the 2x10 combos. I already have a combo amp stand, which will point it up to me. I aim to have the on-stage volumes just right for the band, but not interfering with the FOH sound from the PA. The low end punch & balls will come from the PA, not the onstage instrument amps. We've got 2400w into four 18" subs to look after that. I know there's a similar thread recently, but I'm trying to include all my specifics here so that some of the gang out there can best advise me. Stretching to €1000 isn't really a runner, but even if it was, keeping it small & light as possible is important. Money no option? Why the [b]Mark[/b]Bass CMD102P of course ! [url="http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS8fSZObR0000000000000000Sm5UIpDe?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=d6HVqHzmkz4AAAETLUE9M2Mt&CatalogCategoryID=LBnVqHzm6ccAAAERPZsvKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList"]http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/is-bin/INTER...umpTo=OfferList[/url] Thanks for any replies, Mark

I thought I heared that each of the supremely talented songstresses are likely to net £4m rather than £1m over the course of their tour (short, IIRC - less than 10 gigs in all)? If the bass player was getting £100,000 it would seem just a tad disproportrionate to me. And to avoid the "Hey! He's getting paid more than me!" whinges from the ukelele and kazoo players, the whole band would have to be paid at least similarly, no? Mark

My current rig is a TNT150BW combo + a TE BLX80 combo. The TNT is actually my dad's. He bought it maybe 15 years ago and spent 4 years doing weddings, functions and occasional pub gigs every weekend. It lay in his darkroom till my current band got going two years ago and I've been using it for all my pub/club gigs since starting that. [b]PROS:[/b] Rock solid. 100% reliable. Never needed any repair for anything, with the exception of my then 2 year-old daughter connecting the pre-amp output to its own power output (or something similar). Really versatile. I'm able to get many fine sounds out of it without the BLX connected. [b]CONS:[/b] F*!king heavy! Not at all cool. Really heavy. Bottom-end dominated sound, though this isn't cos it's a Peavey - it's cos it's a 1x15" combo. This is why I also use the BLX. It's really heavy. I had been hankering after a Tour 450 head & TVX410 4ohm cab for a while. The versatility and reliability is what's drawing me. But I've recently been getting very interested and active/vocal about calming down our on-stage volume at gigs and streamlining our personal gear & the PA & lighting stuff too. A 4x10 weighing 102lbs (over 7 stone FFS!) doesn't fit into that direction. Our guitarist has just agreed to revert back (from his 120w Peavy XXX valve head & 4x12" cab + separate Boss pedals) to using his Marshall 100w 2x12" Valvestate & his Digitech GNX4 multi-FX in support of my determination to streamline everything, so it'd be against where I want us to go if I opted to go for a 7 stone cab. So it looks like I'll be aiming for something like an Eden Nemesis NC210 or RS210. If the TVX wasn't so heavy, that would be my first choice. Mark

My Hohner B2A. I got a Westbury Track 4 to replace it and I still have that. Old Horse Murphy - great avatar. The Incredibles is my fave modern kids movie. Mark

This is a topic close to my heart. I make mistakes every gig. Some gigs, I make mistakes in in most songs. Usually it's small - fretting one fret down and sliding up to the right fret, accidentally damping one note, etc, but sometimes it's big. We played Kaiser Chief's Ruby at a multi-band gig recently. We were first band on. I started it in C, guitarist started it in A#, where it's supposed to be. Not my amp, nerves, whatever. As has been said already, it's how you recover and what you do about it that's more important, unless you keep making the same mistake over and over. But it's also important how the rest of the band react. Our singer used to be a complete twat - turning round with a big grimace on his face when someone made a mistake and apologising to the crowd afterwards. We put him straight quick rapid. Do your best to sing through the mistake, trust that the band will sort it out. But DO NOT highlight any mistakes to the punters. Some will notice, most won't, so what's the advantage or gain in bring it to your attention? "Hey, for those of you that didn't notice, we're crap!" If the clanger is big enough, you won't need to point it out and all you can do is laugh and get the punters in on it with humour - they will realise you are all only people. But IMO, this attitude can really only apply to pub/club bands - wedding & functions bands really should be more professional than this. They get paid a lot more and more is expected from them. We played a gig in a golf club recently - to celebrate the handing over of the annual Wednesday captaincy. We play hard rock - RATM, Limp Bizkit, Velvet Revolver, AC/DC, but also Killers, U2, Green Day, Snow Patrol, etc. When we were asked, we pointed this out and were told it was going to be a young crowd, not just the golfers, so we'd go down well. But sure enough, we arrive to set up among 50 and 60 year old trousers & tank-top men, asking if all our gear is for The Rolling Stones in Slane next month. Ha Ha. Yeah, real funny. Set up, eliminated the heavier songs from our set, add in a few lighter ones that we had previously dropped, ready to go. Nervous, contemtuous crowd, jibes about dress code (we wear shorts, drummer has long hair), not looking forward to playing at all. Guitarist played Stereophonics' Dakota and Snow Patrol's You Are All That I Have with his low E somehow tuned to F. The full songs. I thought it was me after Dakota and checked my tuning - bang on. I asked him to check his tuning and was told he was ok. We went straight into Snow Patrol and that sounded just as bad - singer hunting for his notes, me wondering if it was me playing wrong - couldn't work it out. The bass drops out in the middle of that song and I had a moment to realise he was playing a note sharp (god knows what else was wrong, but the dominantly wrong note from him was F), so I just played the rest of the song one fret up and when we were done, I called over to him to check his tuning. He realised it was him and that somehow his €2000 Ibanez Joe Satriani's tuning had taken on a mind of its own. He hadn't noticed his tuning was AWOL for TWO WHOLE SONGS! But a few punters had danced the whole way through the songs - WTF?! Incidentally, also at that gig, we played Foo Fighters' Times Like These. What fun we had as we watched the gentlefolk of the golf club struggle to dance to the 7/8 sections... Mistakes? The pros make them, so so can I. What I do about them immediately and longer term is what matters. Mark EDIT: Even if you don't know It Bites, you'll probably enjoy these. The music is actually okay, IMO, but the singing is ... well just have a look: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mYVNOMoFcA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mYVNOMoFcA[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu3Y8wZ738M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu3Y8wZ738M[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5v5Q7J8rFk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5v5Q7J8rFk[/url]

It's great. it's bigger than our old room, it has a fridge right outside the door full of Fink Brau, it has a 10-inch-thick wall with layer upon layer of soundproof plasterboard & carpet underlay and the ceiling is covered with sound deadening-material. We're all excited & enthusiastic again! Mark

Went to play the keyboard bit in the middle of the Killers' When You Were Young (at a packed pub gig). Hadn't un-muted the keys channel on the mixer (€100 Yamaha home keyboard hums a lot). Played the first chord - silence. Remembered the mute button and pressed it. Turned back to the keyboard but got confused about what chord to play. Tried one and got it wrong, tried another, wrong again. Got the last one right and only then noticed the cheers and applause. Big hole. Swallow me, please. Mark

Some favourite bands, not necessarily because of their bass players: Pearl Jam - Jeff Ament Crowded House - Nick Seymour Jellyfish - bass by either Andy Sturmer or Roger Manning Rush - Geddy Lee Yes - Chris Squire Genesis - Mike Rutherford Led Zeppelin - John Paul Jones Rage Against The Machine - Tim Commerford It Bites - Dick Nolan Peter Frampton - Stanley Sheldon There are of course many, many more bands and artists I love. Mark

Talk about [i][b]PUNCH![/b][/i] And power! Both in so much abundance. It was a real surprise how much power & punch that compact rigs gan deliver. It was a multi-band benefit gig and the PA was a hired Dynacord Cobra rig. Again gazillions of power, punch, headroom & clarity. Guitarist had a Mesa pre/power rack & what looked like a 4x10, rather than a 4x12. The backline belonged to a cand called The Great Escape, bar the drums. When I say the cab could have been a 1x15, I guess it could equally have been a 2x10, or even a 2x12 - it was a smallish single cab, tucked away in a dark corner and I didn't really get a chance to have a good look. The bass player used a black carbon fibre Status 5-string. And he could PLAY! I plugged into the EBS to give the sound guy my signal and instantly LOVED the tone the owner already had set up. Once the gig started (we were first up ), the bass tone turned to mush. I could feel & hear plenty of bass, but bugger all clarity. The bass & guitar were both coming back through a single front monitor and one beside the drummer, so maybe that coloured what I was hearing somehow. In honesty, although we know that sound from FOH was fantastic, the on-stage sound was quite bad - definitely worse than when we use our own gear. Anyway, it was a great night and it was great to see so many local musicians out together on the same night, all playing songs and supporting each other. Mark

I had a Stagg BC300FL. Initially I liked it, but I knew nothing. The pickups were noisy, tuning stability wasn't great ([i]NOT [/i]good on a fretless!), and there wasn't a lot of variation in tone no matter what I did with any of the controls. I did like playing it and I actually used it live twice to play Pearl Jam's Alive, and pulled it off quite convincingly, but that was more down to the tweaking of the sound with the BP200 I had then. Even as a toe-in-the-water fretless, I don't recommend it. I know Stewblack got a Jack & Danny 2200A 5-string fretless and he has posted quite positively on that, so maybe J&D's other fretless offerings might be worth looking at? Mark

DT-10. Rock solid. Quick sensing the notes and the LED readout reacts quickly to turning the machine head. I leave mine in-line, using a Uniross cheapo PSU and output from the normal output rather than the bypass output, with no loss of tone or signal aparrent to my ears. I like to check my tuning every few songs without being heard. Bass -> DT-10 -> ME-50B (tuner has too few LEDs to be useful onstage in a hurry) -> Hartke VXL -> amp & PA. Mark

Good honest topic. I agree that the most primitive need of a bass player, both from his own and the band's POV, is not to screw it up. We (at least I, and I suspect others too) like to think we do have that need sorted, that we are good enough to get up and lay it down with a band with enough skill to pull off the performance and to entertain an audience. After we assume that basic need is sorted, we start to aspire to getting better at our fills/runs, mastering a new style or technique, improving our thoery understanding. But now and again I'm reminded that I don't always have the basic need sorted - I slip out of the groove, I get lost in a section where the bassline might be simple 8th on the root - lots of basic stuff just dissolves on me. There's a section in the back pages of one of the US bass mags where famous or professional players muse about bass playing. SOAD's Shavo Odajian said something that really hit me in his page - the player you should always be trying to better is yourself. That makes real sense. If you compare your playing to others you may end up frustrated and demotivated (though equally, you may find yourself inspired to achieve that level, and if you have the will & opportunity to work toward that, then great), so improving on your own playing compared to earlier efforts is the only real measure of improvement. I do find it extremely gratifying to hear punters at our gigs come up & say "man, you guys are [i]really[/i] tight!". In fact, after one gig, one guy came over as he & his wife were leaving and singled out me & the drummer and said "it's obvious that it's you guy's band: you two are really tight." Both of us were really stoked with that. It's not actually our band, but I guess if this incarnation were to dissolve, any future band would involve at least the two of us rather than, say me & the singer or the drummer & the guitarist. I'm rarely, if ever told I'm a great player,That said, we do play some songs that I think have interesting & challenging basslines, or at least sections or runs/fill that are challenging: pedalling 16ths fingerstyle for Limp Bizkit's Take A Look Around took me a while to become comfortable enough with to gig. My Way by the same band is always nice to play as well. The little fill at the end of the choruses in RHCP's Hump De Bump is tricky too. I'm satisfied with the level I'm at, given my opportunity to better my playing. My will to improve is there, motivation to improve is there, but the opportunity to improve in any dramatic way is not there - work, 3 kids, home life, etc. I'm as good as I can be given my opportunity. And that's good enough for my band to be gigging with some regularity and good enough for me to walk away satisfied that I did my best and that I had fun. Playing bass in a band fits into my life - for some, their lives fit around playing their bass. And that's fine. So Homer, IMO good is good enough when you can walk away knowing that given all your circumstances, you played the best you could and you enjoyed it. Elom: just returned from a supervisory management course? Mark

Wouldn't completely banning smoking de facto be some sort of infringement of freedoms or rights or something? I was unfortunate enough to see that movie Thank You For Smoking recently. Utter tripe and not entertaining, but it does display the tobacco industry's position quiet well. MEGA bucks are being made from the sale of cigarettes. MEGA MEGA bucks. That's a lot of persuasive power when it comes to banning & stuff like that. The owners of the tobacco companies are worth many times more, financially, than the characters that head up the governments. Money has much more clout than morals. In a parallel, it's just like in Ireland where the property developers are worth so much more, financially, than the politicians - a hefty brown envelope was/is all it takes to have a plot of land redesignated "residential" rather than "agricultural". Mark

Ususally D'Addario Pro Steels on both my 5s, but I've taken a chance on Galli Magic Sound stainless steels - €10 cheaper. Ain't fitted em yet, but I'll report when I've formed an opinion. Mark

Where do we post about strings, straps, cases, picks, leads, yoghurts, etc.... I bought a set of Galli Magic Sound strings in my local shop on Saturday. I hadn't enough on me to get my usual D'Addario Pro Steels (€39), so I thought I'd try these stainless steels out. They cost €29. If they work out okay, I'll be happy. Anyone heard of them? My set is MSR51 ("regular guage, long scale"): 40-60-80-100-120. I'll be putting them on either tonight or tomorrow. Mark

[quote name='stewblack' post='7728' date='May 27 2007, 06:10 PM']Speaking as a publican it's simply because I would have to alienate an enormous - and I mean overwhelming - percentage of my customers, [i][b]for the comfort of a tiny minority[/b][/i]. The non smokers drink less too. Don't ask me why. Just to avoid any confusion I reiterate I do support the ban (turkeys voting for christmas I know) but am simply pointing out the facts from a business point of view. There simply isn't a huge mass of people waiting to flood the pubs, who currently stay away because of the smoke.[/quote] "comfort"? Surely avoiding breathing in multiple stranger's used, exhaled smoke is a bit more than a comfort? AFAIK, it's been proved that second-hand smoke is a health risk, hasn't it? I've never smoked. I don't know anyone personally or third party who's reached my age (38) and hasn't even tried smoking. And yet, when I was having my chest X-rayed (to confirm two broken ribs after a nasty kicking one night from 4 nackers), the doctor was aghast at my lymph nodes (IIRC) in the centre of my chest in the X-ray. They were 3 or 4 times the size of a non-smoker's and he told me I'd have to quit smoking or my lymph nodes would eventually fail in their function, which according to him, is the expunging of toxins from the lungs. I told him that I'd never smoked in my life and he asked if my parents did. Oh yeah. My father, birth mother, step-mother, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. - everyone in every house I frequented growing up - all smoked all through my childhood. Thankfully I can still scuba and play tennis and ride horses and had the largest lung capacity in my class when we did an experiment in science class (550ml, IIRC). I don't actually play tennis. And I rarely ride horses. But I could . . . Go ahead and smoke all you want, but isn't it unfair to make other people smoke? A smoking ban is a good thing. Shouldn't it also be banned around anyone else who hasn't consciously elected to smoke themselves? Like your own children? Mark

Best current snap (in rehearsal room last night) . . . Hankering after a Peavey Tour 450 + TVX 410 4ohm cab lately. Damn you poverty! Haha! Luke - that Yamaha keyboard looks identical to the one I play our piano/organ bits on. Even in gigs. I got it (in Argos! ) for my wife to mess around with, but now my band has comissioned it. Lidl were doing it for €100 last year! No-one has yet laughed at it, which continues to bewilder me. Such a non-professional keyboard to gig with. Still, it does the job. Mark

Pub attendance was on the decline before the smoking ban came in over here. Greedy pub owners knew young bucks & hussies would pay through the nose just for the chance of getting some action, and that was topped by the greedy "government" ploping HUGE tax on booze. Some pubs were charging well over €5 for a pint of Bud or Heineken or whatever. Now there are pubs charging just €3 for a pint any day of the week, incl weekends. So the smoking ban was touted as the last nail in the coffin by pub owners, claiming that their livlihood was on its way down the swanee. There were representations & demonstrations of protest, which all quitened down when the commuter-time current affairs radio shows & newspapers lit up on the fact that a HUGE amount of these disgruntled pub owners were actually "government" TDs & counsellors. Hah! But now maybe two years later, every pub we play in (except the one that we baled out of recently cos it serves nackers cos they have to get cash in the till somehow) is thronging and booxe is flowing. Basically the same as it used to be, but now with cheaper booze an no smoke in the air. Winner! Mark

[quote name='Merton' post='1557' date='May 18 2007, 05:30 PM']Why not just add a speaker cab, then you'll be using your amps full power and moving more air?[/quote] Careful there - Eden's Nemesis combos put out their full power before an extension cab is hooked up. Their outputs are actually lower when an extension cab is hooked up. I'm not aware of any other amps that are wired like this, but there could be. Mark

You can. I do. In this pic (old), bass goes into Peavey, out of Peavey pre-out into TE and out of Peavey into its own power amp. The Peavey has acrossover to dictate which combo handles which bands of frequencies. But I now go bass into the TE, out of the TE line out into the Peavey input. The crossover isn't used in this set-up. Mark