4 Strings

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1354389797' post='1885538'] We get annoyed with kids because they are not as 'appreciative' of technology as we are, but technology will move on regardless of whether your kids like it or not. I am amazed at the graphic quality on some modern computer games, if I said that to a 14yr old boy he would think I was mad! [/quote] I remember when I was a kid (which is an unnervingly long time ago) adults marvelling at the toys I had. Never had that sort of thing when they were a kid. Called progress. People are already fondly remembering Space Invaders.

Who cares?

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1354370653' post='1885279'] Amen, Brother! G. [/quote] Yep, amen. Irritating that I see so many young bands who are actually talented and with some imagination but these are on Jools

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1354292707' post='1884579'] 'Nobody in the audience ever notices' is an easy trap/bad habit to fall into. Have ot admit to developing that attitude at one time when I was playing in a covers band that was made up mostly of drunkards. although I really used to enjoy the gigs. Experience of playng with the same people for a while helps you to cover both your own and other peoples cock ups, Personally I get as much of a kick from getting out of trouble as I do from playing a number perfectly. As has been said, the trik is to not let the audience know about it by giving each other dirty looks etc. [/quote] We all know this one; http://youtu.be/SVoEb5Rm5eo

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1354309837' post='1884790'] I don't play wrong notes, I play alternative notes! [/quote] Or, of course, all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1354346364' post='1885001'] Does forgetting my trousers count? [/quote] Yes, but, presumably, that counts as one per gig.

Friday programme about to start, looking forward to it.

Can I throw in a couple more? What is a slim neck? Is it slim top to bottom (ie shorter frets) or front to back? Also, which is 'C' and 'D' shape? Is a C rounded and a D more square, flatter at the back? I've always thought slim was front to back and thin shorter frets (like Jazz). Am I right?

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1354293932' post='1884593'] Thats got to be the best bit of audiophile bullshyte I've ever heard. And I've heard a fair bit.. [/quote] Haha, I know, cost me £18 too! I thought the best were the gold plated mains plug pins until I came across these; http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/fuses/322-silver-plated-bussmann-fuses.html They certainly make something prominent, probably not sound though.

[quote name='andyjingram' timestamp='1354293277' post='1884585'] A forced break-in is exactly the same effect, just outside of a playing situation. [/quote] Isn't that when you lose you speaker altogether?

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1354286544' post='1884480'[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1354286544' post='1884480'] Expectation bias is a very strange thing. I remember being convinced of the superiority of my £100 interconnect cables until I recommended them to a friend and we compared them with the free ones that came with his amplifier. Of course, in those days when you got a new item of hi-fi equipment the first thing you did was to bin the free cables supplied and replace them with a pair from a boutique maker made from 99.999 percent oxygen-free silver-plated copper. [/quote] Yep, been there, although they were 'only' £18. Had to connect them the right way round too, the electrons would alternating back and forth better if the blue end was plugged in the amp and red in the source!

1. If breaking a speaker in makes a difference, why is it always a difference for the better? Bit like the difference in the performance of an engine as it heats up, why is it better? Its because that's the way its been designed, to run warm. Just like breaking in the shoes. They weren't designed to be stiff and make your feet sore. The speakers have been designed with a certain compliance of suspension, that compliance isn't reached in brand new speakers until they've been loosened up a bit. 2. For all the people who claim to hear a difference in their speakers after break-in (where there is no measurable difference in the system frequency response) why doesn’t anyone notice a difference in their speakers after they’ve been playing them for a while? After all, driver parameters change as the voice coil gets hot and this has a very real effect on frequency response that you can in fact measure. If a hot coil makes this sort of difference, maybe we do hear the difference. Maybe the sound we get settled with during a gig or rehearsal isn't just our ears and our playing warming up but also the voice coil warming up. I'll have a better listen next time I'm out playing - tonight, tomorrow, three times on Sunday! I have no measuring equipment (due to no interest in making any measurements) but those who do tell you about the difference in results. Of course it could be me just getting used to the sound of the new speakers, but the difference is far more marked. As I said, I was unhappy, planning on sending my Midget and Compact back to Alex as I was definitely unconvinced and their high cost left me deeply unsatisfied. Now I can't help but recommend them. I have no reason for loyalty, I paid very good money for the cabs, they needed to be good and have been worth the perseverance. Maybe the long coil movement means the suspension compliance has a more noted effect on the speakers Alex (and Maurice) use. Don't know. Was unhappy, tried the advice, it worked, speakers have been getting better since.

Just to back up Alex, I had a bit of a problem accepting my BF cabs to start with, frankly disappointed. Lots of email exchange with Alex, I eventually followed his instructions, left the 25Hz on for around 5 hours with the resulting nausia for the inhabitants in our part of the road (I placed the cabs face down to reduce this especially unpleasant effect). This and lots of use anyway (could be either or a combination) and the cabs are much warmer and cleaner sounding. Of course I have no measurements etc but they have settled down to now be my essential equipment. I would go so far as to say transformed, bass control now more likely to face 10 rather than 2 O'Clock. Loosening (as opposed to 'running in' which implies going easy on it) is definitely recommended, if the use of the 25Hz signal speeds this then, great. Running in of a car has to do with machined surfaces being (microscopically) rough and thousands of microscopic welds joining and being ripped open every second as the peaks in the surfaces rub against each other. The wear effect of this can be reduced by offering only light loads to the rubbing parts until they have more gently worn away the peaks. (Modern machining and oils has made this process practically redundant, but its still worth not thrashing a new or even cold engine.) There is no such rubbing in a speaker with the moving parts magnetically suspended. As mentioned, its to do with speeding the loosening of the cone suspension.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1354202928' post='1883541'] I'm not keen on this. IME the majority of mistakes that don't result in the song coming to a halt go completely unnoticed by most of the audience. As a punter often the only confirmation that things haven't gone as planned on stage are the expressions on the musicians' faces. When I'm playing I've schooled myself to keep my reactions to others musical errors as invisible as possible. If some one has messed up really badly we might have a quick discussion about it at the next rehearsal, but never give anything away while you are playing. [/quote] I suppose the other way of looking at it is there's clearly been a clanger from someone, wouldn't want the audience thinking it went unnoticed by the band and we were that poor. We're a lighthearted lot and normally I get a smirk back from the offendee. Mistakes do get noticed (not by all, of course) and, over the years I've had (literally) one or two comments back about it, mainly joining in the fun of having noticed and feeling included. Neither do I sign up to the 'repeating a mistake in the hope the audience think its intentional', just makes them think you can't get it right, (that's the way I would think) or worse still, think we believe the song should go like that intentionally. Anyway, I'm the bass player, everyone's looking at the girls singing and I don't want the band to think they can get away with it - even if I do! If the audience is that involved to notice my raised eyebrow they will have definitely noticed the mistake.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1354203336' post='1883549'] It was a borrowed Avon for me too, awful just like the real versions! [/quote] I think overcoming those wretched devices makes you and I among the most dedicated bass players on the planet.

Both, really. I was rhythm, singer played bass and we had an incredible lead guitarist in my school band. Singer wanted to sing only, didn't take much encouragement for me to play his (totally dreadful) Avon EB0 bass. Dropped using pick a few years later. Rarely play guitar now, see the guitar as a related but completely different instrument. Never looked back. I love the role of the bass player and playing bass and feel fully a bass citizen.

I find how loud the keyboard player is has way more effect on my sound than what wood is used to support the magnetic pickup and on which the bridge is mounted. Our basses are not acoustic instruments. I know I've said this before but why isn't there the same mystique about what wood is used to hold up the pickups and support the tone wheels on a Hammond? Or in the wood used for speaker cabinets.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1354048146' post='1881468'] I don't understand this starting a song in the wrong key. Surely you learn it in the right key for your singer and stick with it? Also the one time I've changed the key of a song to suit a singer it opened up a whole load of new possibilities for the guitar part which meant I ended up playing something entirely different to the part I'd originally written with no chance of getting the two confused. [/quote] Best Of My Love by the Emotions, great bass part, played really well on the original, lends itself to the key. But its painfully high for the singers, down a minor third and its horrible to play. Hipshot value rises.

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1354015054' post='1880746'] I usually f*** up on every track but nobody notices or gives a sh*t [/quote] Yep, my experience. I dish out raised eyebrows left right and centre to the others though.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1354123412' post='1882399'] That's a fair enough opinion, but let's not forget who is actually responsible for the demise of local shop . . . their customers, or rather their non-customers. Big businesses can't force people to spend their money with them. People choose to do so, presumably because they are happy to do so for all sorts of reasons - able to do all their shopping in one store instead of carting their shopping from store to store in the rain, easy and free parking, etc etc. I'm not even sure price is at the top of the list. Anyway, I wouldn't buy a pint of milk at Tesco's either - but that's because I'm helping to keep our local milkman in a job. [/quote] Yep, you're right, which is why most opposition to another new Tesco shop fails. Unfortunate but its true. Bit like The Sun being by far the most popular newspaper. We are keeping our milkman too!

[quote name='Joker2807' timestamp='1354044520' post='1881413'] hes got feedback of 18 ... i wouldnt buy anything of that value from anyone with under 50 [/quote] Why not? How about 49?

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1354056421' post='1881610'] OK then , someone had to do it ....... [/quote] Missed the word 'poor'.

I wouldn't buy a pint of milk from Tescos. I hate their aggressive expansion at the cost of local shops, I hate their deception and running roughshod over planners and councils and I certainly will not encourage them to sell musical instruments at the cost of local music shops. (They often come out 2nd most expensive to Waitrose - who sell nice food - if you do the on-line receipt comparison thing too.)

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1354011921' post='1880691'] Yes, I would buy gear from/via Tesco if it was financially advantageous for me to do so. In the traditional music shops up here bass is treated at best as an afterthought and at worst like the guitar's big, inept cousin and because of this it wouldn't negatively impact my life if they went belly up. [/quote] So you think a bass will be one of the major things on sale at Tescos?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1354010072' post='1880649'] I wonder if we can persuade him to go into partnership with this chap: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-Made-Bass-Guitar-/221156570287?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item337df574af [/quote] Looks great, but neck dive?