tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) I'm effectively being paid to NOT play my bass. No, I'm not so terrible at bass playing that folks are paying me to put my instrument down (put perhaps that day is not too far off!). We have Octopus as an energy supplier and have been joining their winter "saving sessions" where we're paid to NOT use electricity (e.g., between the hours of 17:30 and 18:30 on a given day, announced in advance). So, when I would normally come home from work, fire up the amp and start jamming away... I just keep everything turned off. So far I've been paid a whopping £1.09. Edited November 28, 2023 by tvickey typo 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Wow. If I did that for a month that'd be the best paying gig I never played ! 1 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 You still play your bass, just not with the amp switched on. I do nearly all my practice with the bass unplugged, and only have it plugged in when I am sorting out the sounds on my Helix that I am going to use for a song. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Or you could use a battery-operated headphone amp, or indeed, you may NEED to buy yourself a lovely acoustic bass guitar... 😉😎 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Epiphone Jack Casady FTW - the lazy boy's bass. Makes more than enough sound acoustically for solo practice vs. laptop speakers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 4 hours ago, tvickey said: I'm effectively being paid to NOT play my bass. No, I'm not so terrible at bass playing that folks are paying me to put my instrument down (put perhaps that day is not too far off!). We have Octopus as an energy supplier and have been joining their winter "saving sessions" where we're paid to NOT use electricity (e.g., between the hours of 17:30 and 18:30 on a given day, announced in advance). So, when I would normally come home from work, fire up the amp and start jamming away... I just keep everything turned off. So far I've been paid a whopping £1.09. Also, we saved £1.53 during our saving session. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Silvia Bluejay said: Or you could use a battery-operated headphone amp, or indeed, you may NEED to buy yourself a lovely acoustic bass guitar... 😉😎 I've sat through several power cuts with a bass, a Nux Mighty Plug and my phone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Silvia Bluejay said: Or you could use a battery-operated headphone amp, or indeed, you may NEED to buy yourself a lovely acoustic bass guitar... 😉😎 See, this is the attitude we like to see ! Head to toe...pure player Edited November 28, 2023 by ahpook 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 I think the OP is joking and probably understands the various no-amp practice methods out there. I used to get paid a mileage allowance to cycle to different NHS work bases and considered myself (for that travel time) to be a pro cyclist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switch625 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 So do you have to turn off your fridge, internet router etc too? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 So could you install solar panels, a wind generator and a battery bank, then book out 24/7 no electricity use sessions? In theory, obviously... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Switch625 said: So do you have to turn off your fridge, internet router etc too? This kind of scheme usually asks that you don't run anything high power things like tumble-dryers, heaters or experimental fusion reactors. Edited November 28, 2023 by ahpook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Thinking it through, you could get meters installed for ten imaginary flats (7a, 7b etc) and get an Octopus account on each of them, book out 24 slots a day for each of them while you live off grid, and retire? It vaguely reminds me of the time when Tesco offered so many clubcard points on baked beans that one guy bought literally thousands of tins and made a pile of money out of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 It's usually peak time only - they want to avoid buying energy when it's most in demand, so they reward customers who don't, for example, join the tea-time power spike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 I hope they've done the sums - 27 years ago, Hoover offered two free international flights with any £100 purchase. Today, it’s remembered as the worst sales promotion in history. 😎 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, ahpook said: or experimental fusion reactors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 5 hours ago, BigRedX said: You still play your bass, just not with the amp switched on. I do nearly all my practice with the bass unplugged, and only have it plugged in when I am sorting out the sounds on my Helix that I am going to use for a song. Good point! Yes, I do occasionally grab my bass and noodle around unplugged (usually when there is an idea in my head that I want to try out quickly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 2 hours ago, neepheid said: Also, we saved £1.53 during our saving session. You really made me smile... I just watched that recently (but obviously NOT during the saving session!). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Switch625 said: So do you have to turn off your fridge, internet router etc too? No... I leave some of the 'vampire' stuff on... I just don't use lights, oven, bass amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, JoeEvans said: So could you install solar panels, a wind generator and a battery bank, then book out 24/7 no electricity use sessions? In theory, obviously... I do already have solar panels installed... and I have had many 'solar powered' bass sessions. I thought about getting a Tesla Powerwall, but if you do the math it's not really worthwhile. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 hour ago, JoeEvans said: Thinking it through, you could get meters installed for ten imaginary flats (7a, 7b etc) and get an Octopus account on each of them, book out 24 slots a day for each of them while you live off grid, and retire? It vaguely reminds me of the time when Tesco offered so many clubcard points on baked beans that one guy bought literally thousands of tins and made a pile of money out of it. What they pay you is relative to your average use during that hour. So even if I had 26 imaginary flats, if my deviation from the 'average' use is still the same then there wouldn't be an advantage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 2 hours ago, neepheid said: Epiphone Jack Casady FTW - the lazy boy's bass. Makes more than enough sound acoustically for solo practice vs. laptop speakers. And there just happens to be an unplayed, Sparkling Burgundy one on eBay for a monkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilorius Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 7 hours ago, tvickey said: I'm effectively being paid to NOT play my bass. No, I'm not so terrible at bass playing that folks are paying me to put my instrument down (put perhaps that day is not too far off!). We have Octopus as an energy supplier and have been joining their winter "saving sessions" where we're paid to NOT use electricity (e.g., between the hours of 17:30 and 18:30 on a given day, announced in advance). So, when I would normally come home from work, fire up the amp and start jamming away... I just keep everything turned off. So far I've been paid a whopping £1.09. Lucky You ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Edge Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 British Gas here. They have a deal whereby any Electricity used between 11 am and 4 pm on a Sunday is effectively half price via a refund to the account. My wife now calls herself the Sunday washer woman as the washing machine and tumble dryer get a good workout, along with whatever is used to cook dinner. My practice sessions don’t use much if any power as I use a laptop and a Focusrite with IEM’s so guilt free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 9 hours ago, tvickey said: What they pay you is relative to your average use during that hour. So even if I had 26 imaginary flats, if my deviation from the 'average' use is still the same then there wouldn't be an advantage. So you're saying that if I fire up the fusion reactor for few days first, that should do it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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