BassTractor

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1444336710' post='2882448'] Instrument rigs normally use Class B or Class AB IIRC. As I said though I'm very rusty on this stuff as I haven't practised it in 25 years or more. [/quote] I'm rusty too, but: Yup! Class B or AB, with output transistors rather than output transformators. If there are output transformators in a solid state amp (but that is rare and possibly always was rare), then my rustiness is too large for me to say anything about the power consumption.

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1444323459' post='2882274'] the 'tightarse app'? [/quote] Thanks! I'll visit my nearest electric device shop tomorrow, and just ask for a hardware tightarse app. [quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1444324037' post='2882279'] You can get a free 'energy meter' from some suppliers, it didn't take long for the novelty to wear off but they are good [/quote] Thanks! I used one to monitor the waterbed's energy use, and it did eventually manage to calm down the then wife. Now though, I need one to monitor my heat pump, as, for technical reasons, it's on the mains of my ex's part of the house. She's afraid I might underpay her. Ha! Talk about one who needs a tightarse app!

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1444322400' post='2882264'] If I get a huge energy bill because of any misinformation here, you'll be hearing from me.....!! [/quote] You grossly underestimate the power of me deleting my post the very morning your energy bill comes in. BTW, allow me to abuse this thread for a question together with a hint: there exist gadgets that you plug in the mains, and in which you can plug the kettle lead for your amp. These gadgets will be able to tell you how many kWh or Wh have been consumed by the amp since the last reset. They will also be able to tell the Wattage at any given moment. That was the hint. The question is: what is such a gadget called in English?

Yup. There must be something that was lost in translation, because it was nonsense - also what your techie said. These are solid state amps with transistors, yes? In case, 600W is just the maximum it can use for some time (disregarding certain spikes). Some of the energy goes to warmth, and some goes to light and other losses. 500W is the musical output. Normally such an amp is considerably hotter when blasting than when being idle, so when you take out only 25W, chances are the amp uses no more than 30 to 50 W, though probably slightly more than the 25W amp would (I've seen both 30W and 35W on the stickers on the back panel on those). Such an amp can not deliver 500W music output and use only 300W to do it. A heat pump could do it though, but it tends to sound worse.

I love gigging, and for me it's always been about communicating with an audience. BUT since I'm a classical organist at heart, despite having gigged a lot more with jazz and rock music, it's about communicating something about the music that might be new to the audience. I have no interest whatsoever to play something and they'll know beforehand exactly how it's gonna be played. Not that I disrespect an audience that wants to listen to perfect covers of well-known stuff. They're just no my audience. I'm there for new musical experiences. It may come as no surprise then, that for me it's about the music itself, and about conveying my respect for the composer of the material. ...and since it's about the music itself, I do not [b]need[/b] to gig, but could always just play the music in my head, or make up music in my head. I just [b]prefer[/b] to gig. If others prefer to sit in the bedroom and play what they want to hear themselves, that's cool too, and it certainly does not deserve any form of disrespect.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1444283119' post='2881785'] gigging is why I`m in a band: Yes. I love rehearsing and recording, but gigging is the main thing for me. [/quote] Fixed. Hate to be a forum nazi, but you do need to take more care with your punctuation. I'm glad I was there to rescue you. Congrats, BTW.

Sickeningly large number, and really don't need them at all. I need one bass. Why this number then? Because of huge curiosity combined with the wish to learn about basses - the feel, the sound, the this, the that... When I'm done learning (insert shrewd smiley here), then I'll bring back the number to one or a few at most.

Sheesh! A whole lousy thread just because I photoshopped my avatar a bit? C'mon! My blue Daisy Rock just didn't fit with the rest of me nor with the colours in the pic. Pink is betterer!

Must say I was disappointed with the vid. Little discipline if you ask me. I mean: Richard moved his head while singing and Phil... well... Phil sometimes moved most of his upper body, and he even at some point slightly changed the angle of his guitar's neck relative to the floor. I got seasick, and hastily put on a classical church organ vid to recoup.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1443830453' post='2878096'] I'd want a new one for that kind of money. [/quote] Silly boy! The new ones are on the shelf underneath, and go for £79.99.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443454034' post='2874831'] It's the same with chord sequences. I don't find one of the examples given by BassTractor better than the other. In fact I don't really like the musicality of either of them and if I had to have a preference it would be for the second one. [/quote] Now I'm sorry I tried to keep the word count to a minimum in order to fight my natural verbosity. My example was not meant as a litteral example of how one song could start with or incorporate one certain chord sequence, in which case I-IV-V-I certainly would be more run of the mill, whilst I-IV-VII-VII might have something original and a promise of more depth. Instead I meant them as archetypes (goes without saying I mean inside traditional, tonical music). In this case, the first mentioned is the steady, dependable chord change that has all the elements of stability, power away from stability and power back to stability, whereas the last mentioned simply isn't doable within the context, as it's totaly unresolved. Governed by physics as they are, music history and music theory could never have resulted in a I-IV-VII-VII standard sequence. This is where i called I-IV-V-I, for lack of a more adequate term, "better".

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443437439' post='2874581'] Other than convention give me a good reason why tapping/clapping on beats 1 and 3 is wrong. [/quote] You might as well ask "other than convention give me a good reason why I-IV-V-I is better than I-IV-VII-VII". This stuff has to do with how human musicality has developed over centuries, governed by physics. There are several conventions. Clapping on 1 and 3 is one of them. The fact that clapping on 2 and 4 has become a more popular convention, I feel is due to people's notion that clapping on 1 and 3 is overtly square, is not very alive and does not add any drive to the feel of the meter. I think it's the less musical choice. AFAIK, musical children will change their clapping accordingly at some point in their development, not driven by convention but driven by their own feel. I for one did, even though convention in my conservative protestant circles in the early sixties dictated clapping on 1 and 3.

A saxophone player dies, and this time things are normal and he's sent directly to Hull. There seems to be a golden rim to the dark cloud though, as he's admitted to the Hull Big Band. The charts are dense though, and being in the saxophone row is unbelievably hard work, so he turns to the next guy to whisper: - "When do the solos start?", upon which his neigbour replies: - "No solos."

I think I may have told this in the Bad Jokes thread already, and it's probably not exactly what you're after, but what the Heaven: A saxophonist dies, and for some reason unbeknownst to man, he's accepted in Heaven. St. Peter takes him to the Heavenly Big Band where he gets to play with some of the greats. Satchmo's there. Bird's there. They're all there! At some point he hears a solo from a stopped trumpet, but initially can't see the trumpet player. After some time though, he realises the trumpet player is the guy standing on the side of the band, dressed in an expensive Italian suit, and having his back turned to the audience. Our guy asks who the Hull that is, and the guy next to him answers: - "Him? Oh, that's just God. He thinks he's Miles Davis!"

Boy am I glad I finally opened this thread anyway. That was fantastic! Thanks for posting.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1442910791' post='2870354'] Yes, I,m a Fender fanboy but I have no intention of shoving it down peoples' throats. [/quote] You know, at this point I'm just sorry you aren't on a mobile platform that posts the same thing four or five times. It would have been more fun.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1442910680' post='2870353'] If Howe plays anything 'fast', it generally sounds scrappy as f***. It has it's own personality, though, whereas Al Di Meola can sound overly clinical. [/quote] Fully agree. There's a good example with Steve Morse playing one of Howe's acoustical songs to perfection, and it lacks the character, IMO of course. I disliked Howe's timing before hearing the Morse version, but don't do that anymore, even though it often makes me cringe.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1442751354' post='2869188'] If you want a Porsche buy something other than a Fender. [/quote] More specifically: if you want a Porsche, buy a Bongo. Personally, and I'm not giving an opinion here but just an observation, I know myself to not be able to enter a studio with a Fender without feelings of shame. The sheer "you-have-to-have-a-Fender" tendency in this world is sooo mindnumbingly unintelligent and uninformed that if I ever buy a Fender, it will be after a long stern look at myself and in the secure knowledge that I bought it despite - not because of - what idiots say. FWIW, I own two '51 Ps and a 60s J, all three of them with a proud "Squier" on the headstock.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1442508433' post='2867467'] If so I wonder what the cut off point is where the cable is no longer an improvement over the standard but just becomes a status symbol purchase? [/quote] Listen to Nordost g'demmit! They make the stuff. They should know! Here's what they say: - "The V2 cable is state of the art, bettered only by the mighty Odin", so if my experienced sound quality radar is correct, this means that the mighty Odin contain tons of heavy-duty lightweight balsa tree, which is documented to interline the frequency response phase shift to its very limits. But to answer in a more serious fashion, I do not know, and from my experience it will be very hard to get [b]any[/b] group of people to agree even when they agree with your point itself. Technical tests have had a sad tendency to quantify one parameter or very few parameters only, with limited scope, which IMO is a serious drawback, whilst groups of Hi-Fi listeners are all completely right (in their own heads) whilst at the same time all having heard something different. I'm not even talking about the Hi-Fi nuts here. (I've told it before, but I gave up working in Hi-Fi after a large blinded test my firm organised (equipment behind thin veil plus lighting that made any view on the equipment impossible) and that of course went awry.)

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1442489404' post='2867287'] Tonight's the night. Even gives me the chance to use the tram for the first time. [/quote] Have fun then! You're in for a treat. If the forefront of art ever meets the more mundane needs of the general audience, it's here. I also hope you'll like the KC concert.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1442329725' post='2866085'] It has arrived! [/quote] Wow! I never trusted these Nigerian e-mails before, but now I must say they're starting to gain my respect, them sending you a whole bass 'n' stuff. Just to be on the safe side though, best to open the control cavity and look for a Trojan horse or two. One never knows! Congrats again!

Thanks for sharing! This sounds luvverly. I'll have to investigate further who these guys are and what they've released before. An extra plus for them touring with Sally Minnear (Gentle Giant's keyboardist Kerry Minnear's daughter). She seems to have a great voice indeed.

Can't offer an explanation either, but I've long wondered about a similar thing when playing music on my Android phone using Bluetooth headphones. Have no idea whether it's - a technical issue (I can imagine several possible causes, like the lack of a synch clock in hardware that has too little processing power for the data stream at hand when it's preoccupied with other OS jobs for example), - a psychoacoustical issue (cahnges in frequency response or dynamics incl. compression being heard as pitch change) or even - a psychological issue (I'm nuts and distrust my cheap headphones), but it's detracting from the joy of listening.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1442137616' post='2864551'] MMmmm Mmmm Mmm - Crash Test Dummies [/quote] Oh! Great call! Fantastic song. I've also heard Focus' "Hocus Pocus" being called a novelty song several times. Don't really know what constitutes a novelty song, but here it is: http://youtu.be/NGaVUApDVuY