flyfisher

"[i]I'll give you £50k for that bass" "No" "OK, I'll give you £100k for that bass" "You don't have £100k"[/i] . . . in the end he got it for nothing. So, what's a bass worth?

[quote name='KevB' post='1341791' date='Aug 16 2011, 12:41 PM']If it can happen to someone like George Harrison it can happen to any of us![/quote] I suspect it's much more likely that an established multi-millionnaire songwriter would get sued for plagiarism than any of us (no offence to all the multi-millionnaires on BC). I remember thinking at the time that poor old George was stitched up. At least he could afford it.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1341750' date='Aug 16 2011, 12:11 PM']Before McCartney recorded [i][b]Yesterday[/b][/i], he spent weeks playing it to people and asking them what song it was ... he was sure he'd accidentally copied someone else, but he hadn't.[/quote] Yep. I'm reading his biography at the moment and this is discussed in some detail. There was also a lot of wrangling about whether or not to release it as a single but they felt they couldn't issue it as a 'Beatles' song as it was just Macca (plus George martin's string arrangement of course), so they just tacked it onto the end of the Help! album.

I'm not sure there is much of a consensus emerging here. FWIW, when I started playing seriously I borrowed my BIL's American Fender P and Laney valve amp & cab (can't remember their details). He was generous enough to let me use them for a couple of years or so, though I was increasingly feeling guilty about it. When I finally decided to buy my own bass, I went to a local music shop and bought a new Fender P and a secondhand Ampeg combo. I wasn't very knowledgeable about the different versions of Fender but it looked the same as the one I had been using and it felt much the same as well. It turned out to be a MIJ. I can't remember what I paid for it but think it was about £350. I guess the modern equivalent would be more like £500-600? Not really sure. More recently I've bought additional amplification and cabs (mainly Ashdown) but I keep thinking about buying a second bass and quite fancy a Fender Jazz. I'd like an American version and would be quite happy with a second hand one. I could probably spend a bit more this time. One day perhaps.

[quote name='Beedster' post='1341247' date='Aug 15 2011, 10:11 PM']So, given I have a huge CD collection, I could either buy a quality CD player and stick to listening to music available on CD, or find the best format for copying existing CDs and running them alongside downloaded music (using a good DAC) from my computer or memory stick?[/quote] Unfortunately, the music-buying masses seemed to have voted for convenience of playback and storage over sound quality and for this reason I'm not holding my breath for anything better than the CD format. The SACD format has existed for years but never really caught on commercially, which says quite a lot really. I refuse to buy any music online; it's inferior to CD and DRM interferes with my listening choices. I've continued buying all my music in CD format since I bought my 1st generation iPod, but I no longer use a CD player. Instead, I rip the CD to a high-bitrate MP3 (320kbps VBR), although I'm considering just ripping the raw data into a wav file, which is functionally equivalent to the CD itself. As pointed out earlier, £100 buys a couple of 2TB hard drives so storage is no longer a limiting factor, though I guess it depends on the definition of 'huge music collection'. But, according to my rough calculations, a 2TB hard drive could store almost 3000 uncompressed CDs (assuming 700MB each), which is about two years of music based on one hour per CD and 6 hours listening per day. With a conservative 10-fold compression ratio, the same hard drive could provide 6 hours of music each day for about 20 years without repeating a single song! How many of us would need any more than this? We really are nearing the stage where we will be able to store more music on our PCs than we could actually listen to in our entire lifetime!

I'd suggest the poll question is too vague to be particularly useful because it doesn't take proficiency or likely use into account. It's a bit like asking how much a car costs.

Yes, good points about the total power requirements. First get the voltage and AC/DC things right - this will prevent damage to the pedals. Given the above, I'd expect a PSU for one pedal to probably be able to power two pedals because they are usually generously specified - i.e. provide more power than necessary. But it's not guaranteed and depends on the pedals in question. It's almost certain (though again not guaranteed) that a PSU for one pedal would not be able to power five pedals, even though a 5-way splitter cable would would allow them all to be connected. To be absolutely sure, add up the current requirements of each pedal and check it doesn't exceed the specification of the PSU. The pedals may have this info on a label, but should certainly have the figure in the manual. If the sum of the current requirements exceed that of the PSU then a new PSU of at least the total current capability will be required. As mentioned above, a 2A PSU (2000mA) would be a good start for a decent pedal-board.

The daisy chain cable simply allows one PSU to be connected to multiple pedals. Because it is basically just a piece of wire, whatever you put into one end will come out of the other, AC or DC. What you need to be careful about is whether ALL your pedals are compatible with the SAME power supply unit.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1340085' date='Aug 14 2011, 09:45 PM']Result.[/quote] It certainly sounds like it. I'm impressed . . . . and a little bit jealous. Enjoy!

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1338205' date='Aug 12 2011, 09:32 PM']Nice and warm is good, especially in February. Bear in mind that I am NOT trying to soundproof the garage ... just to reduce the volume to the point where the neighbours neither notice nor care.[/quote] Fair point. [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1338205' date='Aug 12 2011, 09:32 PM']Retrofitting a a large window into a concrete wall - I don't think so. [/quote] Ah, I missed that bit - thought it was the stud wall you built. [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1338205' date='Aug 12 2011, 09:32 PM']Anyway, it's not a recording studio, it's a music room and rehearsal space.[/quote] Well, it might be at the moment but wait until the recording bug bites . . .

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1337394' date='Aug 12 2011, 11:09 AM']I don't think rockwool gives you a huge amount of NR. It's really just to stop sound from reverberating around empty cavity spaces. What you need is high density acoustic matting for proper noise reduction.[/quote] I agree. High-density stuff is required for effective acoustic attenuation - or a vacuum of course . But this studio is certainly going to be nice and warm. I might have been tempted to fit a large quad-glazed window between the two 'rooms' though, which would lay the basis for a nice recording studio layout. But I guess such a thing would be fairly easy to retrofit.

Let us know if it works out. Good luck!

I can't see any problems with magnets and digital circuits - as already mentioned, they coexist well enough in hard drives. But this all sounds like trying to build a better moustrap really. I'm sure it's possible, but what's the point when velcro is already a pretty good 'mousetrap'?

In transit, the pedals could be held in place by the foam padding of the pedal board lid. But I agree with your basic point about strong enough magnets weighing a tonne - well, half a tonne maybe.

An interesting idea. I doubt that the magnets would affect the pedals or the sound. A varying magnetic field would be more worrying but I can't really see a static magnetic field causing problems for the type of electronics in the average effects pedal. But. I'm not sure what you mean by 'magnetic paint' though I suspect that such a thin coating of material would not provide adequate magnetic attraction to keep a pedal in place, especially when knocked about in the heat of a gig. Also, the stick-on magnetic strips that I think you're referring to (like fridge magnets?) are not that strong anyway. A steel-boxed pedal could probably be held in place with a suitably strong magnet, though things could get heavy, bulky or expensive depending on the types of magnets used. So, all in all, I think I'd stick to velcro. However, many an invention is the result of people rejecting the conventional and I doubt you'll do any damage to your pedals so it could be worth experimenting a bit - though I wouldn't recommend going to all the trouble of building a nice pedal board/case first. A bit of scrap wood would be a good starting point to test the concept.

My point about PAT certs was in the context of the OP being asked to provide costly things (such as PLI) even though they were not being paid for the gig. I'd say that if a band is willing to perform for free then it's a bit rich to start insisting on various costly (to them) conditions. Of course, everything is negotiable and the venue/promoter is at liberty to insist on all sorts of conditions . . . but the band is also perfectly entitled to tell them where to shove their conditions.

Yep, that makes sense to me. So, such stands are only really useful in conjunction with a full PA.

[quote name='Dubs' post='1329632' date='Aug 6 2011, 09:45 AM']If you're not being paid then I don't think you should be putting yourself out of pocket. Ask the promoter if they can arrange it - they should already have PL insurance anyway that you'll be covered under.[/quote] +1 What next? PAT certificates for all your equipment?

I've wondered about those stands. While I can understand that it's good to get a small cab/combo above stage level, is it such a good thing to tilt it upwards? Would be fine of the player but not so good for the audience. Or are we also assuming a line into the PA - in which case it's really only acting as a stage monitor?

[quote name='DirkThrust' post='1328235' date='Aug 5 2011, 08:27 AM']We could always do what the guy on Talkbass did. Went to his local Home Depot (B&Q to you and me), bought a plank of wood, mounted the neck, pickups, bridge and all the rest of the hardware from his fancy bass made of "Tonewoods" onto the plank. Then he recorded some sound samples and offered them up on the forum for a blind listening test and guess what... No-one could tell the difference.[/quote] Reminds me of something I read in a hi-fi magazine many years ago (decades actually ) where someone had arranged a blind audition of two classical music set-ups for a bunch of hi-fi critics. The gist of the article was that the results were pretty much unanimous and the assembled experts in high-fidelity musical reproduction systems had preferred a recording played through a mid-range hi-fi system over a live string quartet. The trouble with music is that it's very much an emotional thing, so knowledge and context can make a big difference. If you really think that the 'best' sound can only be achieved by using exotic woods, hand-wired valve amps and fancy cabs then it will almost certainly affect your listening experience. But take away the context and knowledge of how the music is being made so that the music itself is the only thing to judge and it's a different matter. Why else do bedroom players the world over spend vast amounts of money on boutique equipment while globally revered musicians like Macca manage to 'get by' with instruments costing a small fraction of the money? Talent makes great music, not expensive equipment.

Of all the natural resources we're plundering and in danger of running out of, I suspect that 'guitar wood' is going to be pretty much right at the bottom of the priority list. More likely to run out of (= become unaffordable) things like rare earth metals for our fancy amps and speakers first.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' post='1326280' date='Aug 3 2011, 11:01 PM']I should be taking delivery of a shiny new (well, new to me) bass next week. Its active and I've only ever played passive basses---so I have some stupid questions. Try not to laugh...[/quote] Sadly, I'm not awaiting delivery of a new bass, but I've also only ever played passives. May I add my own stupid questions? 1. Why an active bass at all? 2. What can an active do that can't be achieved with amp eq and/or pedals? 3. Is it worth all the battery hassles that are regularly posted here?

I've bought a couple of things here 'remotely', though neither were particularly pricey so not a great risk. I also paid by bank transfer, which is effectively instant and anyone trying it on is unlikely to want to give out their full name and bank account details. Both transactions were fine and the items arrived within a few days, well packaged and in good condition. For everything else, I've collected in person and paid cash. Not much risk that way. I couldn't imagine buying a bass unseen though. I'd want to handle it and check how it feels to me.

I wouldn't worry about it. How about asking people how long it takes to get back up to speed after a year of not playing bass? My bet is that it would be a few weeks at most, but it would be interesting to hear other views. Then, you could just settle into the trip of a lifetime and get the absolute most out of it without worrying about your bass-playing skills ebbing away. Have a great trip!

[quote name='davebass66' post='1322890' date='Aug 1 2011, 11:25 AM']Last week I spent £50 sending it to a tech to get the bass fully copper shielded and have the wiring checked. This did not fix the problem. Having spoken to him again today he has basically said he can't do anything else but is happy to keep my money having not fixed the problem (he will remain nameless) So this morning I called someone else, who will be named. Ray Cooper was one of the least helpful and un polite people I have ever had the displeasure to speak to. I asked him if I could bring the bass in for him to have a look at and he simply said he wasn't interested and no, I couldn't come in. (he is a professional guitar tech apparently). No 'sorry I don't think I can help' just 'I'm not interested'.[/quote] Hmm. You won't name the guy who took your money but failed to fix the problem, but you named Ray Cooper who was honest enough to tell you up-front that he couldn't help with the problem. I'd suggest that the first guy is the one to avoid in future and that Ray Cooper sounds like he's honest and straightforward enough to say if he can help with a problem - up-front and for free.