flyfisher

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1342315503' post='1733238'] I suppose if you're going to do one last money making tour, you should get as close to the original lineup as you can. The Quo are doing one with Alan Lancaster possibly next year, could it be their final tour? [/quote] Quo are the specialists in final tours though, aren't they?

[quote name='billyapple' timestamp='1342308478' post='1733192'] Always liked Kate Bush. Inventive, took risks, left field, but popular whilst still maintaining integrity. [/quote] Me too. Her music's not too bad either.

The artists must have know the deal - if they didn't like it they shouldn't have accepted the gig. Prima donnas!

[quote name='Wolverinebass' timestamp='1342265147' post='1732510'] I'd have no interest in paying £135 for a ticket just so that they could play for 80 minutes as they did at Hampden a few years ago. Good luck with that. Had I actually been alive, I'd much rather have seen them in 1972. [/quote] Yep, that's the thing that does it (or rather, doesn't) for me. I saw them at Wembley Stadium on the Steel Wheels tour - my first and last large stadium gig. Dreadful experience. I'd far rather go to see Bill and his Rythmn Kings in St Albans Arena where you can actually see the whites of their eyes. But, it's quite clear there's still a market for such mega-gigs so good luck to them I guess.

Interesting video. Seems like my technique of sliding up/down the neck until I find a decent sounding note is not so way out.

[quote name='Geddys nose' timestamp='1342166155' post='1730512'] +1 He's got great feel for the music and plays only what is needed, A very rare gift IMO. [/quote] Exactly. How many times have we said that the bass is there to hold things together but not hog the limelight? Sort of unnoticeable until it's not there and leaves a gaping hole? Huge bands don't carry passengers. Anyway, Bill seemed pretty good to me when I saw him a few years ago with the Rhythm Kings - a bunch of great musicians at the top of their game having a great time with some great songs. Why can't people not just revel in enjoying the music?

EPK = email with a link to the band website. Or, if you want to be really up to date, one of those Q-code thingummybobs- although everyone that I've decoded only seem to point to a website anyway.

I've always found it amusing that one of the most successful and famous bass players on the planet managed to get by with just about the cheapest bass available at the time, and stuck with it even though he could subsequently afford anything he wanted.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1342006252' post='1727819'] I always need a reason before I want to learn anything too [/quote] Yep, must be a real challenge for school teachers and also probably why I was hopeless at maths in school but soon managed to learn what I needed when I started uni and work. Thanks to Fumps for starting the topic though - I'm enjoying it too.

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1341954404' post='1727092'] ...............But is he better than Mark King [/quote] I know that was a joke but it's the sort of thing many people say. What they generally mean is that they don't happen to like the music concerned so they brand the musicians as 'crap'. It's very immature playground stuff. I mean, that Macca eh? How useless is he?

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1341932064' post='1726416'] And we laughed, and laughed and laughed at the sheer joy of making great music. [/quote] Brilliant! Don't that beat all?

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1341941409' post='1726683'] Over time the regs will just keep moving towards RCD in all cases unfortunatley the dog and duck are keen to keep using the old Wylex fuse board that was installed when the Beatles were on the bill. [/quote] Nicely put, but you're absolutely right. Thank goodness for plug-in RCDs.

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1341938970' post='1726612'] Our guitarist makes and tinkers with his own amps and ALWAYS uses an RCD . [/quote] Anyone 'tinkering' inside equipment needs to be even more careful because an RCD won't always offer any protection. For example, any current leaking to ground AFTER a mains transformer will NOT result in a Live-Neutral imbalance and an RCD on the mains side WILL NOT trip. Most of the time, this is not a big deal because A) you can't normally touch any wiring inside an amp and most amps use low voltages on the secondary side of the mains transformer. BUT, valve amps use high voltages and if you come into contact with them, then the RCD will happily keep providing mains current to the amp because it cannot 'see' anything on the other side of the mains transformer. The other instance when an RCD can offer no protection is if you inadvertantly find yourself connected between the live and neutral conductors. If all the live current flows through you and back down the Neutral conductor, the RCD will not trip and will happily pass enough current to fry you into the next world. This is not to scaremonger, but just to remind people that they don't suddenly become immortal just because their gear is plugged into an RCD.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1341937720' post='1726573'] I know what your saying Flyfisher but fuses are still the basis for Automatic Disconection of Supply that essentially the entire regs book is based on, all the calculations are based upon the [u]fuse[/u] values, The probelm is in most cases those values are hard to meet especially once your on the end of 3 50M ext reels! If we could be certain that the values were being met fuses would be OK as we cant RCD is the best bet in most cases. ie a socket circuit in a pub correctly wired on a 32A fuse or circuit breaker with a good earth loop test result will still blow in 0.4 of a second in the event of a short circuit, its not practicle or possible to know this and does not allow for faults occuring to the cables at a later date so only an RCD will do really. [/quote] But fuses are pretty crude devices. I can't remember the specs off the top of my head but they need very high currents to actually blow. Even a 13A fuse will pass 20A or more for a relatively long time - certainly long enough to see you depart this world. And, as you rightly say, it's even worse when the fault occurs a long way away from the fuse itself. I once got a graphic demonstration of this when I drilled through a wall and into the cable to a socket. When I had recovered from the bang I noticed that the 8mm drill bit had been burned right through. But the 30A fuse in the consumer unit [u]did not blow[/u], presumably because the drill bit 'blew' first. Even your less extreme example of a 32A fuse that stays intact for 0.4 seconds will will cause extreme harm if your're on the end of it! I'd far rather be on the end of an RCD-protected circuit where the current will be limited to about 30mA for about 30mS.

[quote name='pst62' timestamp='1341923631' post='1726220'] Thanks again for all your advice fella's. Mission accomplished, the mole grips worked a treat. [/quote] Hurrah!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1341930382' post='1726384'] There are different types of RCD. Some fitted to the supply, some are plug adapters you plug your kit into, after plugging the adapter into the wall supply which protect you from your own gear, or prtect the gear itself. They won't stop you getting a shock but they minimise the effects of the shock.[b] They are not a substitute for correct fuses.[/b] [/quote] Fuses really only protect the wiring. They limit the maximum current and thus prevent overheating and, possibly, a fire. An incorrect fuse might be dangerous as far as the building safety is concerned, but I'd suggest it makes little difference to any shock hazard. An RCD (as most will know, but maybe not all) works by detecting an imbalance between the current flowing in the Live and Neutral conductors. In proper operation, all the current flowing down the live conduction will return via the neutral conductor (OK, not quite accurate with AC, but a good enough analogy for this discussion). Thus, if the neutral current does not equal the live current it means that some current is going somewhere else. Usually it will be "leaking" to earth somewhere because of a fault of some description. That fault might be your finger on the live conductor, or your lips on a microphone. Either way, it shouldn't be happening and the RCD will detect the problem and trip. An RCD might not prevent you getting a shock in the technical sense (because it cannot trip until there is a fault current) but it will trip so quickly and at such a low current (usually below 30mA) that you're unlikely to feel anything and even if you do it will be be well below the fatal curve of time/current for the vast majority of people. The bottom line is that I don't really care if the pub I'm playing in has the correct fuses or not, I'm still going to use an RCD to protect me from a shock - whether the fuseboard has the correct fuse or a nut&bolt in the consumer unit!

Blimey!! There endeth the lesson.

Yes, the UK tax/duty on most US electronics is pretty outrageous really, not to mention the importer's mark-up, making many things getting on for twice as expensive in the UK. Dealers will, of course, try to scare people off by talking about grey imports and no warranties etc, but most stuff is pretty reliable these days. Besides, buying secondhand has no warranties so given a choice between brand new or secondhand with an unknown history then brand new looks pretty good. Having said all that, this form of tax avoidance is actually somewhat less legal than Jimmy Carr's little scheme that we all got so irate about. Just saying.

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1341917113' post='1726030'] It's a great idea to have an 'always-on' safety checker. On the front panel of the amp. Hmmm... I don't see why you'd need to unplug everything else. Anyone? [/quote] Can't see why this wouldn't work. The unit I have has three LEDs - if they are all on then the socket is wired OK. Other combinations indicate various problems such as no earth, reversed L & N, etc so it's a very quick and simple visual check. I suppose there's a remote possibility that a fault might occur in one of the sockets that the tester is not plugged into, but that seems no more likely than testing first and then unplugging the tester, so a tester plugged into a socket strip would be a good indication of the continued good condition of the main socket that the socket strip is plugged into.

Nurse! Nigel's forgotten to take his medication gain.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1341907249' post='1725792'] I'd second the mole grips idea, don't be tempted to 'wiggle' them out though, as you'll probably damage the holes in the neck. [/quote] Just to clarify, my 'back-and-forth' comment was meant to be along the axis of the screw, i.e. small anti-clockwise/clockwise movements. I entirely agree about not 'wiggling' the screws from side to side in some way, because of the risk of damaging the holes as paul_5 rightly mentioned.

How come the band hasn't got all the necessary gear to play a wedding gig? I'd prefer the band to be responsible for sorting out their requirements. Providing the music should mean providing everything to do with the music and the customer should not really be expected to deal with such things - especially as a newbie to such things. If anything goes wrong, it'll all just descend in to arguments over whose fault it is. Also, as it's your wedding, you'll have loads of other things to worry about and I wouldn't recommend taking on the PA responsibility if you're not experienced about such things. Sorry if this seems a bit pessimistic, but a wedding is not really the best sort of event to start learning about such things - you need someone experienced enough to make sure it all goes smoothly.

Use the mole grips sideways, so that the teeth dig in to the screws, and adjust them to be as tight as possible. AFter the first 'squeeze', unlock the mole grips and re-tighten before locking again (because the teeth pushing into the screw threads will loosen the grip. The length of the mole grips should provide more than enough leverage to remove the screws, but be careful not to shear them off again, leaving them even shorter than before! Try small back-and-forth movements on the mole grips first, to try to loosen the grip of the wood on the screws. Good luck.

Bit hard to make out the problem - I presume the screws have sheared off? If so, the fact that they are still sticking out of the wood should make it easy to remove them. Mole grips should do it.

I'm sure we all know about this stuff, but we can't be reminded enough! I carry one of these in my gig bag and use it before plugging into unfamiliar mains sockets: http://www.maplin.co.uk/mains-socket-tester-9800 I also also plug in all my gear via a plug-in RCD - something like this: http://www.maplin.co.uk/safety-breaker-29769