WalMan

Ah well never mind Nik. Here's hoping for a good one - and The Tubes in London tomorrow night so it's shaping up for a good week. The pint's a definite. Must get that sorted

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='500117' date='May 28 2009, 06:13 PM']I wanna put a new set of strings on my Cort Artisan B5. It's bog standard with 2 x Bartolini Mk1 soapbars. I'm happy with the thumping bottom end and don't want to lose any of that, but I'd like a bit more mid growl and a bit more top end "zing". I'm comfortable with the tension and overall feel of standard 45, 65, 85, 105, 125, and definitely don't want to go any lighter than that, but would be happy to try a heavier gauge. I like the sound ([i]sic[/i]) of coated strings from a maintenance point of view, but does the coating dull the sound? Now, bear in mind that I haven't changed the strings on this instrument in 2 years, and I haven't changed the strings on any instrument I've owned in over 20 years, where should I start? I have no idea what's on it at the moment - it's whatever it was supplied with. So, will I get what I'm looking for with pretty much any new strings, or is there anything to particularly consider or avoid? As always, thanks for any advice/suggestions. [/quote] As ever in a strings thread I will recommend Elixir Nanoweb's 45-130 (you have to buy a 4 string set and a separate B but no great problem). I did try different brand coated set once a couple of years back and they did affect the sound and dull it (sorry I can't remember what, they were sh1te so did not stay on long), [u]but I have never had that problem with the Elixirs[/u]. They are good for at least 6 months of rehearsal and an average of a gig a week. I have always found them to have a good balanced sound across the neck with a good fundamental and a nice zing that sound great in a rock covers environment on my L2500. They go on and sound great from the get go without any initial breaking in, and then go on & on. I can't remember when I put the last set on but it's been a while and they were still sounding good last night - though I probably do need to think about changing them soon now. If you use a pick (as I do) and dig in you will end up with some coating "dandruff". They are a bit more expensive - though not too bad if you shop around - but the extra life more than makes up for that

Back to Cheers next Friday

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='500628' date='May 29 2009, 09:58 AM']Hadn't gigged for a month before a jazz trio gig I did last night. Sounded like it [/quote] Summed up mine to a degree. Good to be back at it but my partner in the rhythm section had a number of alien abduction moments, especially at the end of a few numbers WPOD he doubled the length of the fill into the final section so we had a false start at it, then a "don't worry we'll find it / catch you up" bit then it went OK - got my ticket for the Brixton O2 for Tuesday night to see it done properly woohoo!! First set opener was a new song and a cover of a virtually unknown (I suspect looking at their MySpace) Canadian band called Daylight for Deadeyes. Oddly the first set, which has felt like it lagged a bit previously (though it has been tweaked), went really well, and the second fell a bit flat. Boiling hot night (I wish I had gone for the shorts) and a couple of litres of water so I must have been working fairly hard. Still onwards & upwards to one a little nearer home next Friday

[quote name='Musicman20' post='501558' date='May 30 2009, 12:45 PM']Thanks for the good advice. I worked out a rough estimate if the VAT was at the 'lower end' of the products value....and I didnt realise there was an import duty as well. If I add that on, we are talking a saving of maybe £20. Not only that, they could add all sorts of charges, and then Id have to pay for the bank transfer itself (around £20).[/quote] Indeed, you need to add on around £10 - £20 "handling" charge by the courier for dealing with Customs, and bang goes anything you might have saved

If that's all your saving I should stick with a UK dealer. If there are any problems it will be far easier to fix though a UK distributor than having to go back to the States. Last year when the $:£ rate was so good I did buy quite a bits of music software. Some got taxed on the way in some may not have been Getting a low value reported can be a false economy (and is fraud anyway) as if there is a problem shipping the reported value will probably be your insured value. That and HMRC are not fools. There are guys in Customs who are aware of the different values of Fenders from different origin (for example) so if it were opened and found to be falsely declared you could end up with it confiscated

Thread Resurrection Alert!!! Anyone care to comment further on the Mackie Onyx. Looks ideal for what I need (see below) and a good price from Thomann I am searching for an interface USB or Firewire to use with a Powermac G5 2.5 dual running OSX 10.5.6 I don't need a huge number of inputs as band recordings are done to an ADAT HD24R and then transferred as individual audio files. For stuff I do on my own at home it is either softsynths fired by a USB keyboard, or Bass / guitar into the machine, possibly through a POD/BOD but straight in to use the PodFarm VST without having to switch POD/BOD sources would be good. That and I need to feed the powered monitors and it would be nice to have a spare stereo input to run in music stored on the PC (that I do not want to move to the and clog up the Mac) for playback on the monitors. Thoughts, comments, updates on possibilities up to around £200 appreciated

The next lot of gigs starts this Friday at the [url="http://www.multimap.com/p/browse.cgi?pc=PO28DH&GridE=&GridN=&scale=10000&title=The+Admiral+Drake,+North+End,+Portsmouth&cat=mv"]Admiral Drake[/url] in Portsmouth. A slightly later start (9:30) and end as I recall

I have used Liquid Skin in the past, but it was not great in a gig situation, particularly on the plucking hand as it wore off quite quickly. Also it stings like hell putting it onto a cut such as yours so don't do it around children because YOU WILL SWEAR!!

Probably going up on Sunday with a couple of drummers - hope we don't get too lost Tickets are £10 on the door with an MU card apparently. Probably give the Steve Vai masterclass a miss at £180/ticket!!! mind they are nearly all sold out anyway [quote]neither are dean / bill lewington[/quote] - they appear to be on the list now

Had my PowerMac off me yesterday (via a drop off to jmesa). Both top blokes IMO

[quote name='JPAC' post='487932' date='May 14 2009, 02:23 PM']Do strings need some use to flex a little to reach optimum sound? I read that they 'go off' after much use, dirt in the windings? true/false? Also, when pressing on the strings near the fret, does the string actually touch the fretboard? TIA, John.[/quote] I have found that non coated strings take a little time to bed in to a sound I like and lose the initial over brightness and then can go off quickly (if you beat the hell out of them like I do ) I've used coated Elixir Nanowounds that normally have a good bright (but not over bright) sound from the start and then last foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr! The set I have on at the mo could easily have been on 6 months + and still sound great to me. Have a look at the [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:strings"]BC Wiki on strings[/url] if you haven't already. Lots of good stuff there

Considering we have just had six weeks off and not got together in the meantime - so the evening started with "Hello. I'm Alan. Who are you?" etc. - it was a good night. The regulars all buggered off on a Wild West night before we had even started , but we had a good crowd who come to see us regularly so not an awful band outnumbering the crowd night. Drummer & I get very twitchy not playing on a long lay off, but sometimes it is nice because everything is fresh when we get back. A few alien abduction moments but generally it went well and was tight, possibly not as a gnats chuff, but close. That despite my promises to myself to play along to the multitracks from the last gig with the bass muted so I remembered everything and then completely failing to do so. Shame it was the last of two gigs I got at a new place so I shall have to wait 'tilSeptember to try to book something for next year. Realised it was a full moon on the way home last night, so I should have been howling, but actually after a good night back I went home with a happy buzz....................which was nice

The OP sounds like my lot at times, but theres no way I would be getting there before 7 (what we normally aim for) and its then about 1 1/2 hours to get the PA ready - everyone sorts their own gear and leaves the PA to the vocalist, soundguy & part time PA roadie Perhaps you have to do what our drummer does & hide round the corner until the PA's all been carried in - at least that's what I reckon he does. [quote name='51m0n' post='479710' date='May 5 2009, 09:51 AM']Soundcheck is a luxury we never seem to get to, which annoys me, since usually we dont get a soundcheck as we end up waiting for someone to turn up who wasnt involved with the heavy gear. On the other hand if I'm depping I can be there from car to stage and ready to go in 10 to 15 minutes tops...[/quote] + 1 to both of those. The only good thing is the soundguy has a Yamaha digital desk so the basic settings are stored for the regular gigs and for those of us using IEM's we deal with our own stage mixes. Did have to have a sit down with the sound guy a few months back as the rig seemed to be expanding & changing all the time. Following that it has pretty much stopped and we had a big technical rehearsal with the PA to set & store a basic sound set for everyone [quote name='gary mac' post='479810' date='May 5 2009, 12:31 PM']Then for the last set a drunken trout from the audience was invited up to provide backing vocals. Of course we could hear her perfectly, the problem being, that although she thought she was a star, she actually made a noise like a cat having it's tail nailed to a tree. Oh joy.[/quote] The joy of the toneless drunken bint where the only pluss might be a nice @rse to get distracted by Thankfully with the sound guy he can mute such problems and we then just have split the view between watching the writhing, and him listening to gher soloed on 'phones & p155ing himself laughing. As for 4 hours.I rather think not, though sometimes it can get tight to start time with the PA and certain member dream of a vocal PA on a couple ot tripods set up in 0 sec flat

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere (it didn't apparently come up in a search) but I found the software on the DVD for MusicTech mag and you can get it as a free download. Gives you a load of drum styles in "song" setups with sampled kits to play along with. [url="http://www.meldaproduction.com/mdrummer/"]Melda MDrummer Virtual Drummer[/url] And the best bit is there is a cut down FREE version that still has quite a bit of functionality.

All the best chap. As I recall the gist of a comment my old vocalist made during our last gig about 18 years ago (well what I consider the last gig & still brings a lump to my throat when I listen to the tape) you'll be spending all day eating lamb sandwiches and polishing your shoes with a bit of Kiwiboot polish

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='476998' date='May 1 2009, 01:36 PM']Maybe I'm being useless but (having followed the instructions to the letter) I find them irritating. You effectively can't tune your E string quickly between songs. As, inevitably, flicking the detuner up and down results in a sharp E-string. If you have time to fiddle you *can* get it spot on but it's no use for those "oh cr*p, I'm out of tune moments".[/quote] I changed the nut to a graphite one, but frankly I don't think that makes a any difference [quote name='thumbo' post='477000' date='May 1 2009, 01:37 PM']+1. I've got one on my Streamer Stage 1 and its worked a treat. I just check it's in tune for standard and drop-d once at the beginning of a gig or rehearsal and I don't need to check it again, I play about 50/50 in standard/dropped.[/quote]Yup pretty much the same for me. Check the E through the gig, particularly after a song with a lot of flicking down and back up again. The drop shouldn't change, or again only by cents so I might check it, but if its close enough...........

[quote name='Paul S' post='476210' date='Apr 30 2009, 05:28 PM']How good are the hipshot detuners for this?[/quote] [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='476218' date='Apr 30 2009, 05:47 PM']They're sh*t but slightly better than not having them. Whatever their website says, it's very tricky to get the E string to stay in tune and the adjustment for the 'drop' is way too fine. I still use one though. I would maintain that drop-D is not the same thing as playing a 5 string. I play some songs in drop-D on a four string and some using low-D on a five string. Quite different.[/quote] Or for an alternate view.....They're great. Put one on my Wal years ago and love it for the ability to quickly drop down and back up even when you are playing. Always comes back in tune within a few cents, and setting the drop only takes me a few back & forth checks. I always leave it switched down in the case to prevent the thumb wheel that sets the drop getting knocked in transit.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='475618' date='Apr 29 2009, 11:51 PM']There's a thread about one aspect of this on Statii.com at the moment. Nathan King (guitarist from Level 42 & brother of Mark) is playing bass for them at the moment on tour.[/quote] Thought it was [url="http://www.itbites.com/leepomeroy.html"]Lee Pomeroy[/url] with his bizarre left handed upside down playing style? Still says so on the current site. Oops! hang on I mised the [url="http://www.itbites.com/news.html"]News page[/url] - forget that! Love the new album, where all the bass was John Mitchell or John Beck I believe

Perhaps I shall give some thought to some general notes for the wiki sometime this week

[quote name='jbwaddy' post='471701' date='Apr 24 2009, 04:54 PM']my old head of department at perth college once claimed for a cassette radio for her car as she argued that in order to get through all the assesments on time she had to listen to them in the car. she said she wouldnt normally have a cassette radio in the car as she deemed them to be dangerous(a bit of a lie) and wouldnt normally have one for that reason. outcome from the tax man? yes thats fine you can claim the full amount of your in car stereo!! amazing what you can get away with isnt it.[/quote] I doubt she'd get away with it now, but with some of the muppets left on the darkside nothing would surprise me.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='471691' date='Apr 24 2009, 04:47 PM']I could be out of date but as far as I know, as of 6th April 2008, businesses have an Annual Investment Allowance, meaning they can take 100% allowance for the first £50,000 of assets purchased in the financial year. I'm not sure what the caveats are in the AIA scheme, but I think instruments, amps, IEMs and the like should be allowable -- as long as they're solely for business purposes, of course! So in terms of profit and income tax, it doesn't make any difference if you claim them as an expense or as a capital investment. Either way, the whole amount's tax deductible! I've noticed that HMRC don't seem to have made a song and dance about the AIA, to the extent that some accountants are still unaware of it![/quote] No your not so for most capital out lay (amps basses etc) you can get a full deduction for the outlay. Bear in mind that when you sell you will have a tax hit for the sale proceeds as a balancing charge, so for a bass that holds its value you will get a hit in due course it is only a timing saving. Be prepared for that. Earplugs for IEM's I would say are almost a consumable as they could well not last more than a couple of years with gigging wear & tear. Custom moulded ear defenders are just that, moulded to your ears so no use to anyone else and whilst they might just be argued to be capital should easily fall within the AIA so be fully deductible. Computers, you would need to make an adjustment for private use, same for cars & telephone calls. I too am amazed that some accountants seem to be unaware of the AIA. It's been coming for a while & if they are keeping up with their CPD they really ought to know.