flyfisher

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1348745362' post='1817602'] Of the first ever single by The Beatles - 'Love Me Do' And here comes the Anniversary Edition!! [url="http://wogew.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/love-me-do-anniversary-single.html"]http://wogew.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/love-me-do-anniversary-single.html[/url] [/quote] That means we only have 8 years before Macca can perform the 50th anniversary of Hey Jude . . . . .

A photo might help. I've always thought the metric version of a 1/4 inch jack was a 6.35mm jack - I.e. you can't really metricate an internationally established standard product, only change it's description, e.g. 19-inch rack equipment.

Simply breaking the connection from the pre-amp output and the jack socket with a switch will certainly mute the bass and do no harm, after all it's effectively the same as just unplugging the jack lead - but therein lies the (possible) problem. What happens when you unplug your lead? Crackle/pop from the amp? Hum from the amp due to a long length of unbalanced cable attached to it? I think I'd wire in some sort of change-over switch such that it switches the bass jack between the pre-amp output and a resistor connected to ground. A make-before-break type switch should also eliminate any disconnection 'pops'. I can't see that such a switch would affect your tone.

Toys R Us used to sell large packs of batteries pretty cheaply . . . . but it's been a long time since I've been in one of their stores.

Mostly thumb-on-pickup for me. I've watched some video tutorials on the floating thumb technique and can understand its merits, but although I practice it occasionally I still automatically revert to thumb-on-pickup in the heat of the moment.

I think the issue is something about 'passing off' a product in such a way as it would confuse the average public (whatever that means). So, if I built, say, an "Ampog" combo and made it physically look very similar to an Ampeg combo then I could reasonably be challenged as 'passing off' my combo for an Ampeg one - i.e. confusing the public. But if I built an amp sim in, say, a pedal box and it sounded EXACTLY like an Ampeg combo then it would be hard for Ampeg to claim the product would cause confusion, even if the two things sounded the same.

iPad on a stick plus a suitable app?

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1348328307' post='1812403'] ...if I only had the money, I'd buy that in a heartbeat... ...wonder could I sell a kidney... ...lovely bass, but times are tight at the moment... ...I'd sell my granny to get this... ...blah... ...blah... Is it just me who rolls his eyes when stuff like this gets posted so mind-numbingly predictably? [/quote] Probably not, but it might be just you who posts an inane thread about it.

Crackling is suggestive of an intermittent contact somewhere. Could be that the conductors were OK when tested but become intermittent when the cable is used in a different position and moving about. Alternatively, could be a poor/dirty contact within the bass and/or amp sockets. Sometimes the socket contacts that press against the jack contacts lose their 'spring' and make a loose connection and/or don't rub off any tarnishing on the plug contacts when inserted. This can also cause a poor, crackly connection. Might be worth giving the jack plugs a good clean with a clean cloth. Have you tried a different cable?

This is the sort of thing you need: http://www.maplin.co.uk/metal-1-4-mono-coupler-44076

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348311221' post='1812142'] Why do people always think that any kind of style must be detracting from the substance? Surely style and substance should be equal? [/quote] Depends. I'm a 'music-first' sort of chap whereas I reckon a lot of 'pop' is more about the fashion. But each to their own, which is why I posted my comment as a question. But considering how most music is 'consumed' via recordings, I can't see that things like strap-height makes any difference.

There's no formula for 'cool' and even if here was it would change over time. Flares and platform shoes were pretty cool once upon a time.

I can also confirm the above. The speaker in my Ampeg combo plugs into the rear of the amp with a 1/4inch jack, so the amp and speaker can be completely disconnected. In such cases, both the amp and the speaker can be used completely independently - albeit both in the same box - though, as pointed out above, a suitable adapter/cable would be required. But, if a combo doesn't have this sort of arrangement, trying to use it as an extension cab could end up with the the outputs of both amplifiers being connected together, which is generally a bad thing and would probably lead to damaged amps (unless specifically designed for such applications, which a combo amp almost certainly won't be). Certainly not a daft question.

Style over substance?

That's a £500 night out for me and Mrs FF. Ridiculous. Clapton tickets were on sale this week for his 2013 Royal Albert Hall gigs . . . £95 each. That's a £300 night out for both of us and equally ridiculous. Of course, all these gigs will sell out so the demand is obviously there - just not from me. Might buy the DVD instead.

This is a great thread and, for me, 4Strings has summed up this whole bass-playing malarkey perfectly: [quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348131719' post='1809629'] It never gets easy but does get less hard. [/quote]

I can make up and hum a bassline to myself but I can't just play it straight away, I have to work it out on the fretboard first and then learn it. I could never do that 'two soloists' thing where a guitarist plays a line and then the other copies it (unless it was completely rehearsed) because I'm just not quick enough to play what I can hear - there's always a learn/rehearse stage for me. That doesn't mean that I can't jam, but I am then limited to a few chops and I generally get frustrated that I don't have more. More work needed I guess!

I agree it's not simple. That's my point. Germany might well have a 'better' attitude towards the environment and recycling than the UK, but the fact remains that they have one of the highest standards of living in the word - a standard of living sustained by a massive consumption of energy from fossil fuels and for which there is no sustainable alternative. And that's just Germany - imagine the energy requirements of 6 billion people (10 billion by 2050) living a similarly luxurious lifestyle. It's simply not sustainable. It's also not a question of choosing between art or medicine - we can't sustain either. These sorts of debates often get bogged down by the details of recycling and tree-planting, but zoom out a bit and consider the entire picture - 6+ billion people all striving to lead the luxurious lifestyle that we're privileged to enjoy but without the energy resources to sustain it. THAT'S the real issue, not how 'green' our basses might be.

[blush] Just trying to give back a little in return for all the stuff I've learned from BC, but thanks for the kind words.

Anyone truly serious about adjusting their lifestyle to live within the average means of the planet would probably find it necessary to give up expensive toys altogether. Spending 9.9x more than your income might be better than spending 10x more than your income, but it's not actually going to make much differences to the practical consequences . . . . in which case we might as well party-on and enjoy ourselves while we can, which seems to be the vast majority's approach to environmental issues.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1347809958' post='1805277'] In our home we have the wifes grandma's bedroom furniture set, including the bed, all of our wardrobes and draws are old, we have original flooring in this Victorian house and our dining room furniture is all recycled, from family of other sources. [/quote] Quite right too. All the best people inherit their furniture.

[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1347805687' post='1805195'] Complicated I'm sure by a prior claim by Massey-Ferguson [/quote] Really? I've got an old MF135 tractor but I didn't know the engine noise was protected. Good excuse for this (although not a MF tractor): [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDHzK3Xe7Yw[/media]

Sure, it helps, but only a teeny weeny tiny little bit and certainly nowhere near in proportion to all the marketing claims generally made about such things.

Yes. Probably. A 13A socket can provide, er, 13 amps at 240 volts (it varies a bit, but that'll do for this example). Multiply those two numbers together and you get 3120, which is also the number of watts of energy available. Looking at the PA example, you have 1500 watts of amplification. This is the OUTPUT power of the amplifiers. If the amplifiers were 100% efficient at turning the mains input power into output power then they would also consume 1500W from the mains socket - which is well within the 3120 watts available. But amplifiers (or anything else) are not 100% efficient when converting one form of energy (e.g. electricity) into another form of energy (e.g. sound) and the wasted energy usually ends up as heat, meaning that MORE energy goes INTO the amplifier that comes OUT of it. So, the amplifiers will require MORE that 1500 watts from the mains socket. The key question is how much more? This is determined by the efficiency of the amplifier, which is an unknown (at this stage anyway). But, let's be pessimistic and assume that the amplifiers are only 50% efficient. This means they'll only turn HALF of the mains power into sound power. We know they produce 1500W of sound power, so if that is only HALF of the mains power it means that they would need 3000 watts of mains power. 3000 watts is still less than the 3120 watts that the mains socket can provide so a single plug will be adequate. Hence my first answer of 'yes'. My second answer of 'probably' is because I don't know the efficiency of the amplifier for certain so I'm making a guess. There are other considerations such as the volume levels involved, but the above numbers assume the worst case (except the amplifier efficiency guess). If you really want to be sure then you could buy a power consumption meter from the likes of Maplin ([url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/plug-in-mains-power-and-energy-monitor-38343"]http://www.maplin.co...y-monitor-38343[/url]) and check the actual power consumption (from which you could then work out the amplifier efficiency if you were geeky enough ). Otherwise, just plug them in and give it a go. The worst that will happen is a blown fuse - assuming that everything is correctly fused in the first place! Edit: just noticed I've only allowed for the amplifiers and not the mixers etc. These require relatively little power but they are likely to be a bit over the 120 watts that are remaining after my 50% amplifier efficiency example. However, 50% efficiency is pretty low and I'd expect it to be higher than this so I'll stick by my 'yes, probably' answer. If you're really worried about a fuse blowing mid-gig then I'd recommend the power meter to check what sort of 'headroom' you have in terms of mains power consumption. Otherwise, it is always a good idea to split such loads across more than one mains socket - even if they are on the same circuit, because the mains circuit will be able to supply 30 amps or 7200 watts.

I've never had a Warwick bass but I'm quite prepared to believe they are wonderful things. However, I really don't buy the "sustainability" thing. Sustainability isn't really about planting a new tree to replace a bit of wood, it's fundamentally about energy and the fact that our lifestyles are seriously in the red as far as energy is concerned. For the time being we're living the high-life by spending our 'fossil fuel savings', but we know it can't last. It's simply not sustainable. The amount of energy we use is proportional to the amount of money involved. The more money involved, the more energy is used. These are high-priced luxury items and people have to earn a lot of money to pay for them. Earning that money involves using a lot of energy and spending that money sustains a lot of other people in their similarly high-energy lifestyles. So, yes, the wood involved may be 'green' and the low-energy lightbulbs and solar cells used in their factory may be 'green' (although are you aware of the energy-intensive manufacturing processes involved in both those items?), but that's a long way from being truly sustainable. Just a bit more 'greenwash' marketing, I'm sorry to say.