flyfisher

Is it possible that the flaking is related to using a pick and those without problems are only using fingers?

Isn't a cover played note-perfectly like the original more of a tribute version than a cover version? Any covers we do are most definitely our own version - there's little chance of us even being [u]able[/u] to play a tribute version - but hey, there are no real rules, right? Here's another vote for Easy All Stars, though some will no doubt regard this as musical heresy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJEZWsnIECo

Or £20 for an unlimited number of items over 12 months.

Yeah, a few. [i][color=#000000]Guinness World Records d[/color]escribed McCartney as the "most successful composer and recording artist of all time", with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles, and as the "most successful songwriter" in United Kingdom chart history[/i].

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1384692030' post='2279470'] Using a balanced line to connect your bass to the amp is potentially a great idea from the PoV of sound and also the fact that you could then use phantom power to run anything on the bass that required it - pre-amp, LEDs etc. However there is just so much equipment that simply would have to be changed for this system to have any chance of getting even a foot in the door. Effects would all have to be DI level and balanced (or run from a dedicated unbalanced loop on the amp which would't be ideal). It would require a high profile manufacturer of both basses and amps (or several manufacturers working in partnership) to start employing the system and for some time at least all the products would have to have a way of working with conventional instrument level unbalanced signals. And if you want to see just how much inertia there is in the world of musical instrument technology, just look at MIDI. A communication system that was designed to work with early 80s computer technology and was compromised from the start in order to keep costs down, and is still going today, simply because of the amount of legacy gear that uses it. There have been a couple of attempts to update or replace it, but neither have got very far. Or look at amp to speaker connections. In an ideal world they should all be made with Speakon Connectors (or at least anything capable of handling 100W and over) but we still see new amps and cabs being produced with jack connections only. I can't see balanced line and XLR connectors being used on anything other than specialised basses, and then always in conjunction with the more "conventional" unbalanced jack connectors. [/quote] All good points. Sad isn't it?

No joke. It's not a derogatory term is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crooners

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1384638116' post='2279118'] I think you missed my point. Sinatra had hundreds of songs in his repertoire and as he got older he could pick and choose the ones that suited his voice. Unfortunately Macca is stuck with the songs he wrote of which many sadly don't suit his voice any more. [/quote] I got the point, and it's a fair one, but it just highlights the difference in creative output between Sinatra (very little) and Macca (little short of astonishing). But Sinatra was just a crooner, so it's not really a fair comparison. As an aside, all the 'Beatle haters' out there might be interested in this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03h6yrv

Agreed. It is a bit chicken-and-egg, but it was sorted out for mics so why not guitars as well? Alternatively, TRS jacks could be used for mix-n-match situations.

I've often wondered why all guitar makers don't use XLRs. Who would consider an unbalanced mic for serious band use? Yet we're all happy to connect yards of unbalanced cables to our instruments and then some of us worry about noise and cavity-screening as a result. I'm sure the answer lies in history but I'm a bit surprised we haven't snapped out of it by now. One day perhaps.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1384630535' post='2278992'] Sinatra had to choose his material very carefully in his latter years but was fortunate in having more material to draw from compared with Macca. [/quote] Poor old Macca, fancy being limited to his own original and unparalleled body of globally renowned songs.

So worth watching on your side of the road then?

Really? You wouldn't spend an hour of your time in a small venue to see a musical legend? Yeah, go on then - voice gone, past his prime, Beatles were rubbish, blah blah. However, I wasn't so much thinking about a Macca gig. By "this sort of show" I actually meant this sort of small venue for an artist of this sort of international standing - could be any of a hundred or more people really, it was more the type of venue I was referring to.

Just watching it now on iPlayer. Who do you have to sell your granny to to get tickets for this sort of show?

[i]Following their Hyde Park live shows and a Glastonbury headline set this summer The Rolling Stones were named band of the year[/i] Nothing wrong with the Stones, but what a sad state of affairs for the music businesss when a 50 year old band and a bunch of OAPs are the declared best of the best.

People like fiddling with stuff. Go to a car parts store on a Sunday and there'll be a queue of people buying stuff to bling up their car. Same with PCs. Almost anything really. But my car seems to work ok without new 'rims' or an extra-noisy 'silencer', my PC is fine without having fans with LEDs and fancy internal wiring and my two basses seem to sound pretty good in their original state so I'm obviously not qualified to comment.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1384371118' post='2275896'] Interesting they get that built in the uk? [/quote] Bloody native Brits, staying over here and taking jobs from Johnny Foreigner . . . . ( © Daily Fail, Thai Edition)

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1384371191' post='2275902'] Ostensibly at least, the reason for the medical is firstly to see that you are in good shape to fulfil the contract and therefore less likely to pose any potential problems one the cruise work begins, but more importantly than that , you need to have a medical to satisfy the private medical insurance that covers the ship and its' employees. You cannot be insured for any chronic pre-existing conditions under the standard cover provided . and this is potentially very problematic if such conditions are undisclosed and become apparent once you are at sea in the employ of the cruise line , so the insurance company will want some effort at least to weed out potential liabilities. [/quote] No problem with any of that, a lot of it applies to personal private medical cover as well as company medical schemes etc. [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1384371191' post='2275902'] As for costing £500, nothing to do with private medicine is ever cheap , or indeed even reasonably priced. [/quote] Maybe, but according to the link I found above and the experiences of many BCers, £500 is looking a lot like a complete pi$$ take. Their rules though, so the OP might not have any choice. Let's hope the job pays really well to compensate.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1384365023' post='2275768'] Jacko it is what it is I suppose if you want the gig. Do you have any pre-existing conditions ?? I'm diabetic and couldn't for the life of me see this making a difference but before I chucked £500 at the medical I would be asking the question, if you see what I mean ? Les [/quote] Very good point . . . . especially with £500 at stake.

[quote name='jackotheclown' timestamp='1384362751' post='2275728'] Well they have set practices [/quote] What do you mean by 'set practices' though? I can understand they require a specific set of tests, but 'set practices' sounds a bit like a shady closed-shop type rip-off.

I suppose it depends on what sort of tests they're insisting on. I've had medicals for scuba insurance for £45 and a long time ago for a pilot licence course for not much more. Have you asked your GP if they can do the tests? You'll still have to pay but it might be cheaper. Also, have you tried to get it done in Manchester, which might be cheaper than London? This link suggests that cruise ship employment medicals are 'very extensive' but even so it states: [i]Who pays for the medical? This varies for each position some the applicant has to pay in full, some are part paid by the employer and some the employer pays for it all. The total cost can vary from £130 up to £220.[/i] http://www.cast-a-way.co.uk/faqs.php#medicals If that's correct then your quote is looking expensive.

Straplocks working loose is mostly down to the type of screws used. I bought some schaller straplocks and didn't like the look of the screws supplied with them, so I didn't use them. Instead, I used 2-inch spax screws and they show no sign of even thinking about coming loose.

I bet!

There was Elvis though.

But it's all swings and roundabouts. Do people really think it would be a good thing to go back to the 1950s?

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1384209117' post='2274135'] It's OK, she's still alive and kicking [/quote] I didn't think so - my shock was imagining what you must have been thinking before you could confirm it after seeing the news story.