Ian Savage

If no-one else here is in for it, I'm signed up to what looks to be a rock-based 'talent show' thing, which hopefully won't be as tacky or exploitative as the usual Simon Cowell crap. It launches to the public tomorrow, in the meantime if anyone uses the dreaded FaceBook and wouldn't mind signing up to my group to show support I'd really appreciate it! [url="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=131598776857614"]http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=131598776857614[/url] [url="http://live.rockcontrol.com/"]http://live.rockcontrol.com/[/url] Thanks in advance to anyone who does! Ian

[quote name='Paul S' post='851641' date='May 30 2010, 09:38 AM']Ashdown stuff is good value also - it often gets bad mouthed for 'wooliness' and so has a poor resale value but for £300 you should be able to pick up a 300W ABM combo - the ABM range is significantly better than the MAG (which I had )[/quote] Indeed - I picked up an ABM300 head from these parts for a couple of hundred quid, very happy with it.

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='846122' date='May 23 2010, 10:43 PM']Then, get a used SM57...[/quote] Mmmm....my two problems with that would be a/ he's already got an SM58, which to all intents and purposes is the same mic, and b/ there's NO point in buying secondhand Shures these days, especially via eBay, as there's too many rubbish Chinese fakes out there. I was stung on a secondhand SM57, which looked legit but on taking it apart (and I'm SO glad I did before I gigged with it) there was a big lump of resin where the transformer should have been and the thing was operating totally unbalanced. Hence, if I'd plugged it into a mixer which had phantom power applied (which I do at least 50% of the time live), it would have fried the phantom circuit on the desk. I'll say again, for the sake of it - DON'T but secondhand Shures unless you absolutely trust the seller!

[quote name='discreet' post='849410' date='May 27 2010, 02:01 PM']So I Googled 'T13A fuse' of which this link is an example: [url="http://www.analogueseduction.net/product/Furutech_T13A_Mains_Fuse_FURU-13"]http://www.analogueseduction.net/product/F...ns_Fuse_FURU-13[/url] FIFTY-FOUR POUNDS NINETY FIVE???!!! What's going on there, then? It must be the 'increased power, dynamics and resolution' that you get from this fuse! Now we're well into Hi-Fi fantasy land! [/quote] The '13A' bit is self-explanatory, the 'T' simply stands for 'Time Delay' (it's actually something elese in German or something originally, but we English-speakers have substituted it), as opposed to 'F' for 'Fast-blow'. That kind of audiotardary beggars belief - IT'S A TINY BIT OF WIRE, FFS!

You're right in saying that the Europeans (and indeed our colonial cousins) don't fuse the plug, but that's because they don't have an earth connection in the plug, so it'd be pointless. The fuse within the amp is the one there to protect the amp from power spikes and suchlike, the one in the plug is designed to blow should the amp develop a fault and start dumping unusual amounts of current to ground. This shuts the whole thing off and prevents you from getting a shock should you touch exposed metal on a faulty unit; it's actually worth finding out exactly what you should be using from the manufacturer IMO, just for that extra bit of safety, but with Warwick being European themselves they might not be totally au fait with it.

[quote name='Sibob' post='848691' date='May 26 2010, 05:08 PM']I'm guessing my lack of understanding will be my downfall, are all bass cabs full range?[/quote] I think if something's referred to as 'full range' the only real prerequisite is a tweeter.

Whereabouts are you Pheonix? I'm currently selling an eminently giggable Laney/Marshall half-stack, which I'm willing to let go for comparative peanuts as 1/ I need it out of the living room, and 2/ I've damaged the sodding tolex on the Marshall cab a bit so now can't sell it as 'excellent condition' (which it previously was) even though I can easily patch it up

Not our best song (or the best video ), but back in the day at the Bulldog Bash...brings back memories!

[quote name='OldGit' post='847746' date='May 25 2010, 06:00 PM']Alright Now's fun you get to sit out the verses and only play in the chorus and solo. Easy![/quote] It's also really good fun to drum, MORE COWBELL! And the guitar part's a nice one to play...might be one of those songs that makes the set list as much for the bands' benefit as the crowds'...

[quote name='El Bajo' post='847339' date='May 25 2010, 11:41 AM']Cheers guys, at least I may not be going insane.[/quote] We just THINK that because you're frowning all the time.

[quote name='JackLondon' post='845365' date='May 22 2010, 09:31 PM']Hi Chaps, I'm in need of advice again and this time it's on microphones. Bascially I've got the Boss BR900CD and today I've got a brand new SM58 in a trade. Will this be good for micing up guitar and bass cabs and quite possibly acoustic/classical guitars or would you recommend something else? Ideally I don't want to spend more than £50-70 second hand but I'm just wondering what is out there. The mic does not have to be high quality, just enough for home recording to see what's what! Any advice appreciated! Cheers Jack[/quote] Guitar amps absolutely fine, it's pretty much the standard (all but identical sound-wise to the industry-standard SM57); for acoustic guitars and bass amps you might want to combine it with a large-diaphagm condenser mic for a more 'full' sound (SM58s are standard for vocals and guitar amps because they're more focused in the mid-range, condensers will get more of the high and low end). You might get a secondhand Rode NT1 for that kind of money, great mics in my experience; there's also Red 5 at the budget end which get some very good reviews from those 'in the know'. I also had a Behringer B1, which did me fine for a while (dirt-cheap, especially secondhand) but I was staggered by the improvement when I switched to a Rode - it's worth spending a bit more IME, even for home recording.

[quote name='discreet' post='843731' date='May 21 2010, 12:29 AM']Already swiftly coming to this conclusion. Very good advice! [/quote] I wish more musicians had come to that conclusion already Personally when doing live sound I have a toolbox containing EVERYTHING that might be needed to keep the gig going (fuses, screwdrivers, guitar strings, full soldering setup, spare cables and adaptors of all varieties, batteries, Allen keys, drum key, even a spare guitar strap - the works!) but I know that the majority of sound guys don't...

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='843535' date='May 20 2010, 08:46 PM']That sounds like a horrendously stupid and pointless idea to me. Which i suppose makes it entirely within the realms of the EU directive.[/quote] It wouldn't surprise me if it were an EU regulation, but having had a hunt around the net I can't be sure that it IS a directive; what I can say for sure is that the stuff I'm coming across for repair and in my line of work (physics teacher/audio technician) is becoming increasingly either 3A or 13A. As I say, I haven't seen a 7A cable in a long while, still come across 5A and 10A sometimes (which for professional audio gear are the two you're most likely to want - 5A for things like amps and low-powered active speakers, 10A for LOUD stuff); everything just seems to be 13A. The cynical side of me says that it's to get people who don't realise their amp has internal fuses (or fuses in the IEC connector) to return it to the manufacturer for repair should one of these fuses go; it's just an extension of making most plugs 'moulded' to the lead so you can't do any wiring yourself. Any technician worth their salt will be able to do the maths and work out what you need cable-wise; the problem is that if you accidentally hook up your gear with the wrong mains cable and there IS a problem (which with the antiquated wiring in some venues is more than possible) you've got to strip your amp down to replace fuses rather than just replace the IEC lead. For anyone confused, have a look at the back of your amp - there should be a figure for power usage (NOT power output) or suchlike in Watts. Since we have a supply that's around 230-240V in the UK, divide that figure by 240 - that'll give you the power handling of the cable you need, and just go ABOVE that (so, for arguments sake, if your amp uses 1000W, the current draw approximately is 1000/240 = 4.2-ish, so you want a 5A cable and fuse). And always carry an appropriate spare mains cable, and/or a spare fuse or two, ALWAYS. It's worth looking at what kind of glass fuses are inside the IEC connector on the amp also, and just sellotape four spare fuses (two of each, plug and internal) somewhere inside the amp/flightcase/head/whatever. Sorry to be so Nazi about this, but I spent a good while doing live sound and trying to sort out players who blew fuses and had no idea why, and trying to simultaniously fix the problem and explain to them how to stop it occuring again...

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='843476' date='May 20 2010, 07:55 PM']My understanding was it is an EU directive to get rid of all fuses except 3A and 13A. Although arguably safer in your case, you may struggle to find them at all from "buy new" shops, including those mentioned above. I'm sure there must be a spark on here who can confirm.[/quote] 7A is hardly ever used, 3A and 13A are indeed the 'preferred option' these days, 5A and 10A are available but you might have to hunt a bit. Although *hang on*...yep, I've got a spare 10A kicking around if you want it discreet?

Boss TU15 for my money, I love mine. Well, 'love' is a bit strong, but it's a really good, accurate tuner.

I find I don't tend to play behind or ahead for a whole song (then again, I do play rock and/or blues almost exclusively) but find myself playing on the beat and sort of 'pushing into' or 'hanging back from' particular chords for an effect. Of course, at least one other person in the band's got to be with you on that

Presonus Bluetube's quite a nice preamp, and I've got a stereo rackmount ART pre which I love, they might do one in single-preamp size...