Jakester

Thanks for your views, very interesting. Just to put some meat on the bone: The chap in question is very nice but this is still essentially a startup, so I don’t know any of them very well. It wasn’t just the jamming he struggled with: we’d agreed a list of four tunes to run through at our first meeting; he warned us in advance that he’d only done three owing to work pressures (which is fine - real life takes precedence!) but even two of those were a bit ropy. It’s purely covers at the moment, so there’s no writing etc involved. Although this sounds very harsh as I type it, I don’t have the time to help develop someone - I play in two other bands (and there’s another one ‘on hiatus’) and work full time so I barely have enough time to sort myself out, let alone anyone else. Interestingly this has happened in another of my bands with our singer - we all felt he wasn’t cutting the mustard despite repeated chances, and so we auditioned someone else last night and she blew us away. It showed how we as a collective were being held back by the one individual.

May I prevail on the wisdom of the collective for a moment with this quandary? I’m in the process of putting together a new band. I thought we had the nucleus of something and we had a first jam this week. Everyone was very keen, and talked a good talk. Unfortunately one of the players simply wasn’t good enough - he was a lovely guy, but seemed to struggle to master even the basics of his instrument. He said he’d been playing for years, but ‘had had a little time away’. He managed to get through the first couple of tunes by playing his part rote with no alterations, but when we moved to jam a couple of tunes that we were all less sure on, he really struggled. Even suggesting the chords and then actual notes to him didn’t work. Having chatted it over with the others, we concluded he was lovely but just didn’t have the ability. It’s down to me to break it to him, and I’m in two minds. Do I: a) tell him thanks, but we’ve gone with someone else, (we haven’t yet) b) just tell him nicely but outright that he wasn’t good enough or c) have another jam with more difficult songs and tell him when he inevitably struggles?

I always thought this was what extension cabs were for...

I saw Herbie Hancock do this with his keys/synth rig! Played the first couple of tunes quite happily with ‘just’ the standard piano sound through his keyboard, before realising and switching it on mid-song, so it happens to the best of us!

I had this a few years ago with some custom drums I spotted in Cash Converters in Brum - contacted the maker and he had the owner‘a details and they were reunited.

I think that’s the key point - waiting with bated breath to see how much they go for!

Could be their power at home? I have found with mine that it can break up into a sort of bitcrush-y sort of sound if all of the effects are driven heavily - could it be that?

Yep, it works a treat!

I did check to see whether it could do it - apparently from the Behringer forums there was a suggestion they’d been working on it, but nothing more since.

Well, there we go - racked in with the feedback destroyer for the singer's wedge monitor (which I think I got from you, Happy Jack!) and a random rack effects unit which was lying around looking lonely. This rack case came with a nifty net over the rear cover with a zip in the middle, so til I get a rack PSU all the plugs etc can be stashed in there - genius! Got a couple of old routers kicking around so I"ll see if any of those work and velcro one to the inside too.

I have a Boss FT-2, which is small and can be suitably squishy.

I’ll be honest, that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped...

Well, that was an anticlimax...

? <edit - nearly worked. Dammit.>

Glad to have been of assistance! I’m loving it - some proper cheese there (I could do without ‘Hey Jude’ sang in Japanese) but there are a couple of tracks which really groove.

I picked up an album on a whim at the weekend: ‘Back to Rhythm’ by Akira Ishikawa https://www.mrbongo.com/products/akira-ishikawa-back-to-rhythm-vinyl-lp-cd It has some awesome grooves: Let’s Start is fab: Well worth a listen!

Nope, wasn’t me, but I have been camping there and it’s a lively part of the world!

I have to say, I have considers this. The seller is clearly a business but operating as a private seller, so I did consider a second a/c doing a BIN on every item and then not paying... 😈

Well, I managed to get some sort of answer anyway - I was able to speak with someone and they advised that the “reason” the feedback had been removed was that it referenced a ‘dispute’, which is apparently a breach of feedback policies (though when I asked how I could find that policy, they couldn’t point me to it). However, they also reviewed the email correspondence exchange and agreed the seller’s tone was inappropriate and threatening, so advised they would put the account under review for sanctioning. As others have said, it seems entirely pointless to have a system that can be so easily manipulated, but at least I was able to get an answer relatively quickly. To be honest, I’ve been using eBay pretty much since it started properly on and off - and yes, it is full of Richards, scammers etc but it does provide incomparable exposure for sellers and a broad range of choice for buyers. I think you just have to factor in the aforementioned Richard factor.

A very random question here - I've just had a rather unpleasant experience with a seller on eBay. It was a poor transaction - he ignored messages asking about dispatch and then got all huffy when I opened a dispute. Anyway, I've just had some messages from him demanding I remove the negative (but factually accurate) feedback. I declined - as it was factually accurate! Anyway, it's now gone - I received a message from eBay asking me to amend it, but I declined - I ticked the box saying it was accurate. Can you appeal against the removal of that feedback? It was entirely valid, I can show the emails and the dispute evidence etc. <rhetorical> What's the point of a feedback system that can be arbitrarily amended if one party doesn't like it? </rhetorical>

Thanks very much, some great tips there.

I have just taken delivery of a Behringer XR18. Aside from getting an external router if I want to use the WiFi at a venue, what else is essential for me to know? I’m planning on using it as a recording interface into Reaper, and for live use. I’ve downloaded the x-air app on my MacBook to set it up - any great sources of tips, tricks etc? It’s going to be flightcased with a feedback destroyer for the times we use floor monitors in a couple of dodgy venues (hoping to persuade everyone to go to IEMs but early days so far).

Buy it a drink first?

I did exactly this the week before last. Met up with three other randoms with a view to jamming together. As it transpired, the jam revealed that they were looking to go down an originals route rather than covers as I was. However, it was worthwhile not least because I got out and played stuff I wouldn’t normally have done (though the 10 minute jam on blues in C wasn’t my highlight of the evening!) but also it helped me focus on what I did want to be playing. I politely messaged them afterwards to explain and we all parted amicably. I was introduced to some music I’d never heard before, got to play with new people and (largely) had fun. What’s not to like?