flyfisher

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1354636351' post='1888477'] [i][u][b]So do we all like the sound of a single payment for a one off advert and the option of a single yearly payment?[/b][/u][/i] [/quote] Yes, sounds fair to me - good for the single/infrequent seller and good for those with tons of gear (or GAS!). Best of both worlds?

Ah well, if the dealer has already repaired one broken cab because of the faulty amp then it would be inconsistent not to repair the 210 as well. Definitely worth asking - good luck!

I thought the old marketplace was fine as it was. People who posted without stating a price seemed to generally be fairly new members and were quickly reminded about the rules by one (or more) of the regulars, so I'm surprised to hear it generated a lot of work for the mods. As for the 36 hour bump rule - would it be (easily) possible to implement a 36-hour lockout so that no posts could be added to a marketplace topic for 36 hours? This might encourage sellers to be more careful about their posting - like including their location in a 'collection only' ad, before having to be asked. A 36 hour lockout shouldn't stall any buyer iinterest because people could still send a PM to the seller. As for the subscription thing - I'd expect a marketplace annual subscription would put off a lot of people. Even £20 would be uneconomic for anyone with a single, low price item, like strings, cables and other accessories. Fine for an actual bass or some decent amplification, but overall I reckon it would do more harm than good. That's not to say some form of funding isn't perfectly reasonable, just not a relatively big annual amount.

Not the clearest explanation but he's basically saying a faulty component caused a wider problem (not uncommon) and they've replaced the entire board (not uncommon). Not really enough info there to be sure about what happened to the attached speaker. A reasonable guess might be that the failure of the output devices could have resulted in the full voltage of the power supply being sent to the speaker outputs, which might have damaged the voice coil of the speaker - but it is just a guess. Have you told them about the damage to the speakers? I doubt they'll accept responsibility, for the above reasons, but there's no harm in asking.

A perfectly sound approach. In fact, equipment manufacturers can expect nothing more from customers because they cannot rely on people understanding ohm's law or how to choose the 'correct' fuse rating? I've just been checking my Ashdown amp manual and it says nothing about the fuse in the mains lead. What it does say is that the rating for the fuse in the mains input socket on the amp itself is marked on the amp and should always be replaced with an identical fuse. So, we have a wall outlet protected by a 30/32A device in the consumer unit, which provides the correct protection for the ring main wiring. We then have a 13A mains lead plugged into that wall outlet, which is correctly protected by a 13A fuse in the mains plug. We then have an amplifier (in this case) connected to the 13A mains lead, which is protected by the appropriate fuse on the amp itself. Correct ratings for all these fuses/devices are clearly marked on the devices themselves. 30/32A in the consumer unit, 13A on the mains plug and ??A on the amplifier (or other device plugged in). In most cases, it will do no harm to use a lower rated fuse in the mains plug if the device doesn't require much power, but not doing so doesn't make things any less safe. Might as well argue that it would be safer to replace a 30A ring-main fuse in a consumer unit with a 15A fuse because hardly anyone is going to be drawing over 7kW from a typical domestic ring-main these days - but that would miss the point.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1354615091' post='1887972'] . . . . but these are public forums and the advice we give is read by hundreds of people so when safety is involved we should be at least factually accurate.. . . and you don't tell people to use the wrong fuses and expect that there will be no consequences, . . . [/quote] Can you point out where I have been 'factually inaccurate'? The correct fuse for a 13A IEC mains lead is 13A. StingrayPete has described the details very well above.

Have you seen Keef's hands? Here's a doctor's persepective on such things: http://doc2doc.bmj.com/blogs/doctorsblog/_learning-keith-richards-fingers

. . . in the real world they will have had the item independently tested and certified as being compliant with the relevant product standards. This, together with their ISO9000 manufacturing quality system, will be their defence against any negligence claims. If manufacturers were liable for consequential damages, their products would be unaffordable because they'd have to insure against potentially infinite (well, almost!) claims at an astronomical cost, making product manufacture an uneconomic proposition.

I reckon you're in goodwill territory, depending on the nature of the fault. I doubt that manufacturers have any liability for consequential damages. Imagine if a house was burned down because of, say, a faulty toaster - do we really think the toaster manufacturer would be liable?

Isn't the real point of the show to find someone with the "X" factor? Given that this is (I believe) undefined then it's in the hands of the judges to, er, judge (and mentor) whoever is likely to be able to make it in show business. We all know that raw musical talent is no judge of music industry success, so perhaps the elusive "X" factor is a reasonable thing to seek out? Anyway, going back to the OPs point, perhaps the jusdges absolutely heard a bit of off-key singing but quickly figured that this could be easily fixed with a bit of 'autotune' in the studio. Meanwhile, they continued looking for the "X" factor potential. The ironic thing about this sort of programme is that even the haters help to make it successful by fuelling the newsworthiness of the thing. Same as Strictly . . and I'm A Celebrity . . . - all over the country and the internet there are heated discussions going on about these programmes, all of which helps to keep them in the public consciousness and makes them the huge success they undoubtedly are. Cowell knows all this, of course, which is why he's so successful at what he does.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1354533014' post='1886962'] Personally I wouldn't skip using the right fuse, . . . . [/quote] Nor would I, but the 'right fuse' will already be present inside the amp because the manufacturer cannot rely on what lay-people put in an external mains lead and, as already discussed, it's quite legitimate for a non-fused mains lead to be used in some countries, so clearly a fuse in the mains lead is not an all-important safety consideration. On that basis, it's quite legitimate for a 13 amp mains lead to be fitted with a 13A fuse, whatever the type of equipment it's plugged into (appliances with a fixed mains cable are a different case). [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1354533014' post='1886962'] If the fuse in the plug blows first then it can save you the problem of finding an internal blown fuse or replacing a much harder to source fuse on the back of your gear. [/quote] Equipment fuses are only slightly harder to source. They are usually standard 20mm fuses and are widely available from pretty much any electrical shop. If the equipment fuse(s) are externally accessible then it's well worth carrying spares in the gig bag. [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1354533014' post='1886962'] Gear without the right fuse is less safe, Given the amount of gear from the seventies still about and the mods that people carry out over the years you have no guarantee that a lot of gear is wired to modern standards and is safe without a fuse. [/quote] Yes, but how many people get secondhand gear fully checked by a qualified person before using it? Even PAT testing is mostly about earth leakage type testing and certainly won't tell you if the internal fuse has been replaced with a bolt or if the circuitry has been modified. But, again, a fuse in the mains plug doesn't magically make things much safer - or are you suggesting that all our European and American members are at greater risk than UK members? [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1354533014' post='1886962'] Use the smallest fuse possible, as a rule use 1A for every 200W of power, so for anything below 500W use a 3A fuse and a 5A fuse for 1000W with 13A for anything over 1000W . [/quote] Yes, that will do no harm. However, I'd advise carrying a lot of spare fuses unless you can be sure to always match the "correctly" fused mains leads in the same equipment everytime you put all your band gear together. My experience is that mains leads have a habit of finding their way into a big box and people just grab them as needed while putting everything together. This is fine if all the (13amp) leads are (correctly) fitted with 13A fuses but if you have a mixture of 3A, 5A and 13A fused leads then it'll be quite common for the 'wrong' lead to be fitted to the 'wrong' piece of gear and fuses will inevitably blow. What's more, they may not blow immediately because of the way fuses work. Thus, for example, a PA amp with 5A fused mains lead may work fine during a short sound check (depending on its power of course), but if the full-on power consumption is slightly over the mains plug fuse rating then the fuse could blow some minutes into the first set.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1354533243' post='1886964'] Used a mains lead that iuse for most of my amp stuff with a new amp and it promptly blew the fuse. Put 13A in and all well. The power up is known to be huge on this amp..and this has fixed it. [/quote] Depends on the type of amp but, yes, they can have very large surge currents when switched on as big capacitors charge etc. In such cases, the internal fuses will almost certainly be "slow-blow" types. Again, the amp designer will have built-in the appropriate safety protection devices so that there is no reliance on an external mains lead over which the manufacturer has no control.

it wouldn't, but that wasn't my point - which was that equipment with IEC mains connectors is designed to be used with mains leads that might not be fused. Yes, UK plugs have fuses but European (and USA) ones don't. In other words, the equipment in question does not reply on a fuse in the mains lead for safe operation. Bill_Posters is right that few pieces of band equipment will draw 3A (though some PA amps might), so 3A fuse will probably be OK, but it just isn't that important. if it was, do you really think that UK electrical regulations would allow Joe Public to choose their own fuses?

Bandmates eh? Who'd 'av 'em. I work on the principle that people are who they are (generally) and nothing is really going to change them. You can have 'have words' in all sorts of ways but, generally, people are not going to fundamentally change. So it's usually a case of deciding if you can put up with them. As has been mentioned, there are many successful bands in which the members don't like each other. i recall hearing a programme about the Police reunion gigs and how they all had separate hotels, cars and dressing rooms and hardly saw each other except on stage. You can try to change someone, of course, but it'll probably not work and will likely exacerbate the problem by bringing the discontent out into the open, which sort of makes the "you go or I go" showdown an inevitability. But if you're ready for that eventuality then you have nothing to lose.

. . . and if it has a fuse at all. OK, I jest, because I'm guessing the OP is asking about a UK mains lead, but it's a serious point really because such mains leads are also available with non-fused European mains plugs, for when the amp (or whatever) is sold in Europe. And because the manufacturer must allow for an unfused mains lead, they will have fitted some form of internal over-current protection to their equipment. This is usually just an internal fuse, though not always. So basically, a UK mains lead can be fitted with any fuse, providing it will supply enough current to the connected device. In practice, most people will fit a 13A fuse - after all, the UK uses mains plugs rated for 13A and because no-one knows what the mains lead might be connected to, the cable itself will be rated to carry 13A. The fact that the amp (or whatever) is highly likely to draw less current than 13A doesn't really matter because of it's own internal over-current protection. In other words, it's a 13 amp mains lead so fit a 13 amp fuse. I know this is a long-winded answer, but I'm hoping it will help people to understand what's actually going on rather than just say '13A'.

Thing is, an 'amp big enough to gig with' depends a lot on the venues. Once you get into 'playing through the PA' territory then your own amp power becomes less important. I first bought an Ampeg 70W combo and mainly use it at home, though I have used it for a few gigs where there was a PA as well. Later, I bought a 300W Ashdown amp and 210 & 115 cabs (and later added another 210) when I started gigging on a semi-regular basis (about one per month), which has been enough for most pub-sized gigs without a PA.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1354358451' post='1885102'] ...I told him I'm too old and fed up with it(soon to be 50) [/quote] Too old is a poor excuse, fed up with it is not. Just do what ever YOU want to do, not what other people think you should do. But I reckon you already know that.

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1354270922' post='1884238'] White horse Harborne, Brum tomorrow if anyone is free . . . [/quote] Bit of a cheek expecting people to come along for free . . . even worse expecting them to pay for the privilege.

[quote name='merlin' timestamp='1354215032' post='1883787'] has to be said..too small.I would like more for the dosh. [/quote] Or similar for something more realistic, but then you'd have to move further out to the sticks.

Good work. Loved the Gordon Brown clip at 2:40. Talk about gross stupidity - he must have known PMQs is among the most widely broadcast political set pieces and he's sitting right beside the PM!

Hate the bar.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1354184874' post='1883122'] I've been considering getting either another Bongo or a new Fender, but after waiting almost 6 months for the current Bongo I have incoming, Im sure I dare lay down half the money in this economy. If a store was to go down, with your deposit, do you get it back if you've put it on a credit card? [/quote] I would hope so. My understanding is that your contract would be with the credit card company so if the goods are not supplied then they'll give you a full refund (for items over £100 anyway). Not entirely sure how this works with deposits though.

[quote name='Kongo' timestamp='1354147780' post='1882888'] ...I'm should stay out of this one. Sub-genres can be a right headache, but they allow for easier categorisation. For DJing it helps to know...The whole "Core" thing has taken it too far though...everything has "core" on the end. [/quote] A sort of 'CoreGate' thing then.

[quote name='Floyd' timestamp='1354175862' post='1882963'] Digital Village hasn't been good for me. I bought a Gibson guitar off them a couple of years ago. All the Gibson security seals on the box were broken. I always suspected that guitar was a returned item but you can't prove anything. This year I bought a Gibson SG bass........ I know, I know, but that's what I wanted. I made a big deal of wanting one that had never been out of the Gibson packing and DV couldn't do it. They told me they had to take them all out to check them and that they might need to be in the showroom I even talked to Gibson to try to make it happen. In the end I went to Music Store in Germany www.musicstore.de I explained exactly what I wanted and why and that's exactly what I got. A perfect Gibby in the original box. They now advertise......... in original packaging! and no I have no commercial interests in this company. They just gave me what I wanted and I'm a happy bunny. [/quote] Interesting story, but I have to ask what's the dealer adding to the sale process if someone insists on buying an unopened product? They can't open it to check for any faults or transit damage. They can't open it to do a set-up. And if it is returned because of a fault, they can't be sure that the customer didn't do the damage because they've never seen it before. I take the point about not wanting to buy a returned product, but in this case the dealer is just acting as a box shifter - in which case why not just buy online from the cheapest source? Possibly even the manufacturer themselves, if such a customer trend became really popular. PS: That adverts states "in original packaging" - it doesn't state "in original unopened packaging"