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Maybe I don’t push things hard enough ?

Concrete and Clay - Mental As Anything

I prefer to get into bands on the quality of my playing. Which is why I've been bandless for almost two years.

50 years old

Who told you about my impending infractions I wouldn’t even class MIDI as an instrument and tbh it sounds like hard work 😂

I have this morning ordered a Raspberry Pi kit, https://kitronik.co.uk/products/5325-the-kitronik-discovery-kit-for-raspberry-pi-pico-included along with other bits (add-ons, jumper cables, break-out kits, expansion boxes). So far, not a fail. However, my plan is to learn how to use the Raspberry Pi architecture and develop a device that can detect 13 different switches. I will then combine it with a 13-note organ-style pedal board (purchased in 2025) and a kit that uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to generate MIDI note signals. https://midimuso.co.uk/index.php/pico-midi/ I will then plug it into a EMU Classic Keys synth rack unit, via MIDI, and pretend that I have a Moog Taurus. However, I will have made the instrument myself, out of bits that are not primarily musical gear (apart from 4 MIDI connectors, and the EMU) So, is a DIY instrument a fail? Is this the same as a luthier making a bass guitar out of some bits of timber? Or the equivalent of making a Bitsa bass, and pretending that none of the bits are fails... In summary, I purchased a non-midi pedalboard, and some electronics, with the intention of creating and then having a midi pedalboard in 2026. Have I failed Tier 2, or will it only be a fail once it works?

What a lovely thing, really nostalgic looking but hopefully with more modern playability. If you ever wanted to do a Thamesmen tribute band it would fit right in as well.

Right. Confession time. Final clear coats on today. Gloss looking glorious. Standing there thinking, “That is absolutely spot on. I am a finishing god!” Then… during clean up… yes, during clean up… when the gun was down, the spraying was finished, and I was basically doing a slow-motion victory lap around the workshop… a rogue flick of thinner somehow produced a bubble right on the edge. Not mid-coat. Not during a risky pass. Not because I rushed it. During. Clean. Up. Which means lacquer doesn’t fight you while you’re working — it waits until you relax. Several entirely new swear words were invented. The sort that would make a seasoned fishwife blush and quietly reassess her life choices. So the body is now quarantined in a warm room while the clear cures properly. I’ll sort the area the right way and then lay down a final couple of refinement coats to unify everything. No panic. No bodges. Just patience, sanding blocks, and a reminder that the last 2% of a build is where character (and vocabulary) is developed. Still massively happy with how it’s come together — just slightly p***ed off by the timing. Made to play. Built to last. Occasionally built to test the limits of polite language. 😅

Eich BC112Pro. It does everything - and if you need more, the DI is great.

They're great, but at a price, as you say. I thought hard about getting them and decided in the end to bite the bullet. I'd taken early retirement from my job when I decided to upgrade my PA, so was able to spend some of my pay-off on them. Haven't regretted it so far. If you own a quality PA, people suddenly want you in their band, which is nice.

It was the original Odeon Cinema that opened in 1937. I used to go to Saturday morning pictures there as a kid in the 1960’s, it was 6 old pence downstairs and 9 old pence upstairs. The developers have done a superb job whilst retaining the Art Deco features.

Lovely looking thing, that!

Setting Sons - The Jam