Sean

Get some meths and a tub and they could be the last sets you ever need 😄

I spent years getting paid to "untrain" managers from using that technique. For what it's worth although too late in this case, The "sh1t sandwich" feedback method has several significant disadvantages. One major issue is that it often fails to achieve its intended purpose because of negativity bias; people are more likely to remember and focus on the negative feedback while disregarding the positive comments that frame it, rendering the praise ineffective. This can lead to recipients feeling that the positive feedback is insincere or merely a tactic to soften the blow, which undermines trust and makes the compliments seem fake. As a result, the positive feedback may be dismissed entirely, and the negative feedback may be perceived as more severe than intended. It'll be interesting to see what happens. If he's ex-military it might work.

Both sets back on now and it's magic. We'll see how long they last and whether it works a second time. So, this week I've saved 30% on strings and potentially doubled the life of them, which means an annual saving of a few bottles of wine, I suppose. Whatever, it's a win.

I’ve done the meths soak and it’s works even better than I hoped. It’s quite remarkable. I prefer them to new strings. All the zing and is back but they feel better than new! Brilliant! I wish I knew this years ago.

I wonder how’ll they’ll reposition it?

How do we feel about bands that don’t allow/like you to be in other bands? I get it but if said band does 2 gigs a month on average and one band member has “Martini Availability” ("Any time, any place, anywhere… that’s Martini”), that really puts a constraint on that member. Also hypothetically, and this is an endless debate we’ve had many time, what if said band does rather a lot of charity fundraisers without getting paid or expenses. I’ve played a lot of Charity Fundraisers in the past for the likes of British Heart Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and they pay full function band prices but what we’re talking here is 50 miles each way to play a gig for a small local cause that you’ve no connection with other than the guys in the band are connected to it in some way. IMO, this needs to be something discussed up front before accepting any offer to join.

Me too. The codes worked fine in the Players Circle.

All of this can be done as coaching conversations if needed. It's established performance improvement methodology and was developed to keep people motivated. There are classic examples of alcoholic repeat offenders who were either given negative feedback and punishment (a night in the cells) versus coaching conversations to get them to reflect on their own performance. The results are something like 5% non-offender rate with punishment and negative feedback, 40% non-offender rate with tailored coaching. Because it turns it round and makes them responsible and puts them in control of what's next. They don't go defensive because they're being attacked, they get constructive because their being supported but in a challenging way.

Off I went to Home Bargains this morning and bought 2 x 500ml bottles of meths (£2.29 ea) and a large plastic tub with a lid (£1.29) and now I have 2 sets of EXL170BT coiled and soaking. I'll get them back on ready for Friday's gig and report back.

My approach in these situations is not to give advice or comment per se but to switch to a purely coaching approach. Asking probing but open questions and getting them thinking in a reflective way. So, how do you think that went? If you were to score yourself out of 10, what number would it be? OK, so what does an 8/10 look like compared to your 6/10? Have you thought about recording the gigs and listening back to spot improvement opportunities? If you could go back in time and play "Wonderwall" again, how might you approach it differently? How have the rehearsals been? Are they as productive as you'd have hoped? How different is that from your ideal? Obviously, you can tailor the language to make it less corporate-coaching but this stuff works and gets them doing the thinking. They don't get offended (usually) and could then see you as a genuine help rather than just giving what they see as negative criticism. Coaching does need a bit of practise, though and isn't a cure-all for everyone but it's worth trying.

A slight variation tonight. GK Legacy 800 head for a slight change 😆. The Fusion 550 is off the road for a small repair. Sounded good at sound check through the LFSys. Edit: The venue was The Queen's Tap in Swindon. It's a big traditional boozer, high ceilings, wooden floors. I was really pleased with my sound but more importantly, so was the drummer. I had to sit on a stool to play yesterday (foot injury) and was right next to the cab. The sound was absolutely crystal, I could hear every nuance of my playing and gear, all the clanking, gritty sizzle of the GK/Spector combination. The sound of my rig last night was so detailed it helped my playing, gave me confidence and when we played an unplanned and unrehearsed Sweet Child 'O Mine I got goosebumps from the playing the intro. The Monaco is that good! @stevie

Is that one of the Fujigen Made in Japan ones?

On the subject of Neck Through and Korea vs Indonesia, I notice that Indonesia is producing Neck Through Schecter 12s (Stargazer) whereas Korea is doing bolt on 12s (DP-12). This tells us that there's certainly the capability and confidence in Indonesia with NT builds so that might just point toward an Indonesia-built NT Spector. The Stargazer is around £1249 and has a lot more hardware than a 4/5 string Spector would, so the £1100-1200 mark seems achievable based on my simple estimates and that would differentiate from the bolt on and the Euro. And then there's the Euro Bolt versus NT Indonesian... I'm sticking to what I like and know. EMGs, NT, Haz (or clone). An early NS5-XL next for me, enough of the complications of product differentiation 😄

Spector. Job done. Next, please!