flyfisher

[quote name='onemanband' timestamp='1369079636' post='2084677'] Alternatively, I've always preferred the "original" versions of the songs (and there are so many) that Lennon & McCartney just "gave away" such as The Rolling Stones version of "I Wanna Be Your Man"; (gosh, I'm showing my age) [/quote] or this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW1WkuQEI8o

Very good - liked the 'folk vibe'! I've done a similar thing for a friend who plays risque originals on a ukelele under the "George Pornby" pseudonym. He wanted to record something and I wanted the production practice so we made a CD as a bit of light relief. Mind you, it often goes down better than our 'serious' band originals. http://www.reverbnation.com/johnbell/songs (NB: 'Grace Darling' is not one of mine)

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1368870432' post='2082420'] It isn't the class, it is the presence of an output transformer that means an amp needs a speaker load. So for the most part any solid state amp you encounter will probably be fine without a speaker. Only exception I can name is the Warwick Hellborg sig power amp, which has an OT, but others exist. [/quote] That's also my understanding, but there's a lot of confusion about it - probably because hi-fi amps (mostly solid-state) always seemed to state that they should not be operated without speakers connected. So, having been brought up with such advice it just doesn't seem 'right' to me to operate any amp without the speakers connected.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1368961734' post='2083377'] They performed it live at the Abbey Road studios in 1998 with Arthur Brown doing the narration and guest guitar from Dave Gilmour. Apparently this was the only time it's ever been performed in its entirety (although when I asked singer Phil May about it recently he was quite keen about doing a tour of SF Sorrow and Parachute if he could persuade the relevant musicians to play) and was captured on the album [url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Resurrection-Pretty-Things/dp/B0002N4ZEC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_h__3]Resurrection[/url]. [/quote] Interesting - thanks for the correction. I didn't know about that, probably because I didn't discover the album until a few years after its release.

. . . plus the impedance matching of the amplifier input can make a big difference, which is (one reason) why the same instrument can sound different through different amps. Basically, the whole chain from finger to speaker is a mass of variables.

Anything by Oasis?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1368920023' post='2083128'] Before you start anything go and listen to "SF Sorrow" by The Pretty Things which is the daddy of all Rock Operas and the inspiration for Tommy. [/quote] I was going to mention SF Sorrow (I still have my vinyl copy) but didn't because I think of it more as a concept album that wasn't actually turned into a rock opera as such, i.e. a stage or film production (unless I missed it). But you're right about it being very influential.

Fair points and, of course, difficult to argue against in absolute terms. But where does all this creeping regulation and safety-consciousness stop? We're supposedly living in a free society but we are bound by an increasing number of rules and regulations and seem to need permission to do almost everything, so much so that we now have a tendency to automatically assume we need 'official' permission for stuff. Very sad but seemingly inevitable because these things creep up on us all gradually and people don't notice.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1368913802' post='2083067'] Well, good luck. I'm sure you know that you're following a path littered with failure. In fact, I can only think of one commercial success, which is "Tommy". And you could argue about how successful that really is as an opera, but we can give it the benefit of the doubt. [/quote] Would Quadrophenia not qualify as a commercial success? Also, a lot of theatre productions are pretty much 'rock operas' in the sense of being a story told in song. JC Superstar would be a good example. But I agree it's a tough genre in which to make a mark so best of luck to the OP!

Is this even open to opinion? I thought the question was settled a while back . . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2995901.stm

Read Basschat.

I'd reply that if they needed a risk assessment then it all sounds too risky to bother doing the gig in the first place.

Won't be long before we need a certificate of competence to operate a bass rig. After all, how can anyone be sure we won't crank up the amp and deafen someone? Never mind the psychological damage caused by crap playing.

Indeed. Most things on ebay are unbelievable bargains when there is still over 12 hours to go.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1368733252' post='2080932'] My turntable is not linked up to anything at the moment. Come to think of it, I'm using my Mac mini or ipad through monitors , and am listening to Canadian radio at home quite a lot . I was just wondering if I really need to buy the downloads or just link up the hifi again. Does anybody else have this kind of dilemma? [/quote] Not since I converted all my vinyl. Only you can really decide but I'd recommend conversion on the basis that I listen to my old vinyl stuff far, far more since I digitised it all. I guess the choice is either to spnd the time on doing the conversion or spend the money on buying digital versions (which I wouldn't recommend because of the compression issues etc). Go on, go along the conversion route - at the very least it'll force youto listen to all your old favourites at least one more time!

Shame that the letter appears to be anonymous, otherwise you could have sent a reply along the lines of this: http://www.jockular.com/14263/lawyer-letter-cleveland-brown

45p per mile is what HMRC allow as the cost of running a car (for the first 10,000 miles), so that would seem a reasonable starting point. Hard to argue with HMRC http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/travel.htm

A sort of related example would be the 'sound mirrors' built to detect enemy aircraft in the days before radar. Examples are still dotted around the south coast of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_mirror

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368450227' post='2077163'] Course they will. And then they'll celebrate with a KFC and spill a load of that horrible sauce on their Primark shirt from Bangladesh. Most people don't give a flying sh*t about ethical purchasing if they can save a few bob or a few minutes. [/quote] "Ethical purchasing" can be a funny thing, depending on where it's viewed from. Eg - food miles. It's widely assumed to be 'a good thing' to buy local produce . . . but what if the local tomatoes have been grown in local heated glasshouses instead of in a naturally hot climate and flown here instead. Are low food miles still ethical if the embedded energy content is higher than the equivalent item flown in from abroad? Is it 'ethical' to actually eat anything that can't be grown locally? But where would that leave us in the UK regarding citrus fruits, for example? Eg - cheap clothing. It's widely assumed to be 'a bad thing' to buy cheap clothes made by 14 year olds halfway around the world. But again, the carbon footprint of those cheap clothes - even allowing for transportation - is going to be far lower than expansive clothes made in the west but highly paid (in comparison) workers who drive to work in modern factories and go home to centrally heated homes with all the lastest high-embedded energy 'lifestyle' applicances we all love in the west. Eg - loads of similar examples borne out of the fact that we're all living the high-energy good life at the expense of poorer regions of the world, yet there isn't enough wealth (=energy) to provide 7 billion people with our luxurious lifestyle.

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1368055652' post='2072759'] The real difference in using decent cables is their longevity though. I've always used the shortest cables I can get away with, so I have a few different length ones - no point in having a 30ft cable lying around getting stamped all over when you can't move further than 3ft from your amp on a tiny stage. [/quote] Yep, always worth paying a bit more for better [u]made[/u] cables with quality connectors. Expect the extra money to be converted into longevity and reliability rather than a 'better' sound.

I thought it was more of an Austrian thing.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1367941752' post='2071299'] (yes he did, no he didn't, yes he did, IBTL, I've got pix, no, those are Fruitloops, f**k off you c**t, etc) [/quote] A succinct summary of many BC discussions I've never been particularly interested in the gear of people/bands I really like. if it turns out they're using the same gear as me (a rare event) then it usually just depresses me that they can make it sound so much better than I can - though I don't think it's anything to do the gear itself or the settings (well maybe 5%) and all to do with the playing (95%). I've got some reasonable gear, but I'd bet a great player would make it sound great. I like getting new gear as much as anyone but, if I'm really honest with myself, more practice (or more talent) is what I really need.

+1 Nice one Guy. Thanks for staying around these here parts.

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1367529970' post='2066661'] Seem like very troublesome amps these BH250's. [/quote] Hmm. I'd want a somewhat larger sample before coming to that conclusion. How many people post about all the gigs where all their gear worked perfectly? FWIW, I gigged my BH250 last Sunday and lent it to two other bands on the bill. It was fine.

Well, the specs look OK and I'd be surprised if your wireless unit requires more than 1.5A, so it'll be interesting to hear how this works out. Might be worth thinking about a heatsink though, depending on the wireless unit power requirements.