4stringslow

Times change - and a good thing too. If they didn't, we'd still be living in caves. Lusting after a past that has long gone is a sure way to waste your life. Standing on the shoulders of giants is the way forward.

Just remove one of the standard 91g tuners and see if you can notice any difference.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1460808768' post='3028955'] Get some big screens and the band could play remotely so they wouldn't even have to travel to the gig. [/quote] It's called 'event cinema'. Seemingly more popular for theatre and opera but I notice KISS in Las Vegas are on this list as well: http://www.odeon.co.uk/eventcinema/

Another thought. Could the problem be a misinterpretation of 'for the band'? Yes, it could mean 'this is a collection that will be given to the band' and thus give rise to bad feelings when it wasn't, but OTOH it could mean 'for the band that I have arranged for your entertainment'. If the latter, then the landlord would seem to be behaving quite reasonably. It's his venue, he's organised the band, he's agreed a fee with them, he's paid them the agreed fee, and he's passed the hat around his customers for their appreciation of his choice of band. Obviously, without hearing the landlord's side of things we'll never know.

Perhaps this is a reaction to gigs that are so loud they force people to stay away. I recall it was 'Disaster Area' that were the greatest exponents of this approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty0TaNGLmIs

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1460806317' post='3028923'] But if that's the only way of answering the question, instead of wishy-washy shilly-shally a*sing around, what then..? It's all very fine asking these pompous existentialist riddles; 'What if' this, 'Supposing' that, but it's a bit more to the point and actually moves things forward to open the blasted box and see in what state the cat is, in reality. Messing about with hypothetical suppositions is for the dogs. Open the box, open the box, open the box... (Signed...) Pandora [/quote] Trouble is, you open Pandora's box and out jumps a Trojan Horse. Money has a tendency to spoil everything, doesn't it? Sounds like a good night out spoiled. We mostly play for free or for beer. We enjoy it, the audience seems to enjoy it and the venue presumably enjoys it as we are often asked back. Sure, the venue makes money from it all but if they didn't then it wouldn't exist and that would be one less place to play and one less place for the audience to have a night out.

Embarrassing.

A classic example of the difference between playing along to a record and playing together (or not) with other musicians

I get that the best equipment is best for the actual recording process, I guess I was thinking more about the final mastering stage. In fact, I'm beginning to think that mastering is a trickier process than recording and mixing.

That's all very well, but surely the point of a good production is for the music to sound good on the sorts of systems that people will be using to listen, and isn't this the biggest challenge about the whole process?

Hot wax was frequently used to fix wires and some components in place so I don't see any problem using hot glue. Just be careful not to overdo it and end up insulating components so much that they could overheat. Not very likely with capacitors though.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1460206340' post='3023618'] Setlist with the first chord or note by each song can be a life-saver. [/quote] Absolutely! We have one newish original song that I can play perfectly but really struggle to remember how to start. The drummer starts it with a classic 1-2-3-4 on the sticks so we all have to come in together. That's easy enough as I know the first note but I struggle to get the rest of the bassline into my head until the first couple of bars and then I'm away with no problems at all. What's that all about?! Incompetence probably

[quote name='jammys' timestamp='1460202115' post='3023529'] Just to revive this thread. Most of the decent "silent" fans I can find have 3 wires. Would soldering the + & - still allow the fan to operate correctly? [/quote] Modern PC fans have a 'control' wire as well as the two power ones so that the PC can vary the fan speed depending on how hard the CPU is working. This is all part of a PC's definition of a 'silent' fan, I.e. Run it as slowly as absolutely necessary. As the original Ashdown fan is just two wires I'd assume the amp has no way (or need) to vary the fan speed. I don't know the precise connection details but there is probably info on the web. My guess would be just leave the control wire unconnected, but it is just a guess.

Anyone been watching 'Better Call Saul' on Netflix (a spin off from Breaking Bad)? The outro theme music has a nifty little groove to it . . . [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erUQeGmiDxM"]https://www.youtube....h?v=erUQeGmiDxM[/url]

I guess it's that cheap violin bass that has limited Macca's playing career

Yep, there's a lot to be said for being happy with our lot - whatever it may be.

Very fortunate indeed, but think of all the other experiences you're missing out on. Quite a dilemma really; focus on one thing all our lives and hopefully excel at it or aim for a broad range of interests and experiences but probably not have time to excel in any of them?

[quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1459930294' post='3020847'] Surely noone buys a £2k bass to play Crazy Little Thing Called Love for the rest of their lives? [/quote] Why on earth not? People buy £5000 watches to tell the time and £75000 cars to drive the kids to school, etc, etc. Where are these 'rules' that you seem to think exist for 'hi end' basses actually written down? It's all just snobbery isn't it?

Yes, fair point, they need to be 'decent' monitors but after that the law of diminishing returns probably kicks in fairly quickly.

I'm beginning to think that the monitors themselves are less important than listening to lots of commercially recorded stuff through them (a tip someone here told me). Find recordings with a mix you really like and listen to them lots through your monitors so that you get a feel for what sound to aim for. It's working for me

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1459707215' post='3018816'] Composers, arrangers, producers, and probably several others, might well play a musical instrument and not want to perform in front of people. This will not be the case for all of those but there really is no reason why it shouldn't be so sometimes. [/quote] Indeed. I don't recall George Martin being much of a performer . . . what a sad old git eh?

I also enjoy every second I play and perform, perhaps because I'm fortunate enough to have enough money that it's not a job. I play and perform for my own pleasure and on my own terms. Seems to me that there's an underlying resentment of anyone who plays simply for pleasure by musicians who have to play to earn a living. Perhaps it's their way of justifying their hand-to-mouth existence playing the same old small time gigs after failing to break into the big time like all their musical heroes. But I could be wrong.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1459312584' post='3015328'] I've invested a life time to this and I'm not giving it away. [/quote] While I appreciate that dedicating a lifetime to one thing would enable one to excel, it's a big wide world out there and I couldn't bear the thought of limiting myself to just one thing. I love music, I love playing in a band, I love a crowd enjoying our original songs, but it's not my whole life. In fact, if I had to give it all up tomorrow I really don't think I'd be too bothered - I'd just find something else to do. New things, new places, new people, new challenges . . . .

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1459075885' post='3013276'] The football, the boxing. . . everything stops for bloody TV. [/quote] True, which is why hard-pressed pubs use it to make an 'event' of big fixtures to pull in the punters and presumably the landlord knew ( or at least thought) that the footy would bring in more than a band. Can't really blame them for that as they've a business to run. Very bad form to cancel at such short notice without some form of compensation though, but without a contract what can be done?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1458949395' post='3012442'] It's all jealousy. Say what you want, but none of the bands the younger generations like will have a catalog of work like McCartney or The Stones nor will they be selling out 45 thousand seat venues in their 70s. [/quote] While I agree with all that, I do wonder if it's because they just happened to be the first to occupy that 'niche'? Any other bands would find it hard or impossible to compete so they are pretty much forced to find something else and - as history has shown - nothing else is quite so popular and enduring. In other words, if we hadn't had the Fabs and the Stones we'd still have bands like them right up there. Mind you, while it's fun to speculate and pontificate (or even academically study!) such things, the best thing IMO is to just enjoy their music!