Monkey Steve

16 minutes ago, ubit said:

We were supposed to see Saxon first when Biff had his heart problems. Then the rescheduled gig was rescheduled and now there s a chance that won't happen either. I think we are destined to never see Saxon again ☹️

me too, and Saxon were also due to play Bloodstock as well...

Now that Bloodstock's officially been cancelled that's a full house for me

now the wait to see if the first of my rearranged gigs (Saxon at the start of September) is pulled

cheers everyone.  I'm a very happy boy

A week on and I've played it every day since it arrived.  The only tweak I've made is to lower the pickups a bit - purely because I hit the strings pretty hard, and all my basses have fairly low p/u heights to stop them distorting

it's fair enough to expect delay in getting stuff delivered, but this is where good companies can get massive bonus points for excellent customer service in managing expectations.

I placed an order with Strings Direct and they immediately e-mailed me to explain that there might be a delay in getting the order out (and then actually dispatched it the same day, although it then took a week to arrive). 

Andertons did something similar, not so much for Covid-19 reasons, but simply because I'd ordered a couple of items that the website showed were not currently in stock, but expected in soon.  They explained that in the current circumstances they can't be as sure on delivery dates as usual. And again, the items were actually dispatched quite quickly.

They aren't the only ones that have risen to the challenge, and used it as an opportunity to demonstrate how well they treat their customers.  It doesn't cost much to send a quick, standard e-mail to explain to customers what's going on

41 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Looks like "social distancing" will be the last thing to be relaxed. F1 and other sports want to start early and run behind closed doors. Can't see that working on a gig, so I'd be surprised to see any events involving audiences happening before Christmas, or more likely sometime in 2021.

yeah, that seems to be the case. 

The only thing I have tickets for which hasn't been called off is the Bloodstock festival in August, and I know they are still hoping it will be allowed to happen because they  are a small independent festival and cancelling will have a big impact...but all the noise seems to be saying that even if we're back at work and allowed to go shopping again, social gatherings aren't likely to be allowed for a long time

2 hours ago, ubit said:

In light of the recent situation the "who are you seeing next?" thread has become somewhat redundant. I just thought I might ask who you would have seen if the lockdown hadn't stopped all forms of musical enjoyment.

Personally we have missed Saxon- Was looking forward to this as they were the first band I ever saw live.

Saxon for me too - Hammersmith in March, rearranged from last year when Biff had a little medical difficulty, and with the same support

Already rescheduled for September, but we'll have to see if social distancing is still in place then

Nothing much different to this really - a couple of forums where people agree that EMGs run with out batteries, but with low output and none of the usual EMG sound, and a couple of YouTube videos proving the point and showing what they sound like

the difference seems to be whether you can bypass the active eq section.  It’s very rare to have this on a guitar, so the pickups still have some output and that gets to the jack.  Where there is an active eq, as is more typical on basses, then the signal will not get through that without a battery.

Warwicks let you bypass the active eq, so I assume that’s why you can still play without a battery. Do you only get a signal with the active eq bypassed?

On 26/04/2020 at 11:51, Doctor J said:

It's fine. Your pickup functions as a magnetic pickup in the normal way all the time, they just usually have a lot less coils than passive pickups and are far less prone to picking up background noise as a result. It contains an active pre-amp which boosts the output level to roughly what we accept as a standard. When the battery is flat or disconnected, it's only the pre-amp which stops working. A vibrating string over magnet and coils will still generate a quiet signal and that's what you're experiencing.

Edit -> Think of them as really, really low output pickups with an active circuit used to bring them up to an acceptable output level.

yes this

I also only discovered this quite recently - one of my guitars has EMGs and because I don't play it plugged in very often I'd removed the battery a while ago.  I plugged it in to a tuner a week or so ago, tuned up...and then thought to myself "hang on, that shouldn't work".  Google then explained it to me

30 minutes ago, CamdenRob said:

Look at that 😍

Bet it sounds the business too 🙂

I was surprised at how thin from to back the necks on my recent build Wals were, but as you say they are very comfortable.

Bet the balance is spot on as well? 

End of a loooooong wait which will be completely forgotten by next week 🙂

yeah, balance is spot on.  Feels a touch lighter than my memory of the previous Wals too (but I may be wrong)

On comparing the neck, it's a touch wider than my Warwick Stage 1 and feels a little flatter, but if anything is a bit speedier to get round

The feel of the wood is much better than previously - the other ones looked fantastic but had a slightly plastic-y feel to them.  The finish on this one feels much thinner and silkier

arrived this morning.  Birdseye maple facings, ebony fingerboard

I've had a couple of Wal's before (one second hand from the mid '80's, one that was new but not my custom order from the late '90's)  and those never quite felt like they were "mine".  Also, necks a bit on the chunky side.  This one is most definitely mine, and the neck is unbelievably slim and fast.  Plus, you know, it sounds like a Wal.  Just all round gorgeous - now that I have it the two year wait seems completely worth it.  Another reason to hope for the end of the lockdown so I can take it to a studio and play it through a cranked up amp

And Paul and Philip at Wal were excellent to deal with - top marks all round.

My boss thinks I'm working this afternoon. My boss is wrong

another vote for an old 4001.  Mine's a 1975 - very shallow neck

I see it's Post A Picture Of Your Acoustic That You Forgot Day today, so here's m,y Lowden O22c that I mentioned on my previous post but forgot to include a picture.  Lovely guitar

I used to play guitar in a band, so all but one of these electrics have been gigged:

2004 Les Paul Standard - 60's neck, root beer finish on flamed top, one of the earliest runs with Burstbuckers Pros, and one of the last years before weight relief made them too light for my taste

2001 (I think) Les Paul Standard Raw Power - 50's neck, EMGs replaced by Burstbuckers.  Quite fancy putting a Bigsby on this one.  Also massively heavy - don't know about the weight relief, but certainly a very dense bit of mahogany

2005 Les Paul DC Special - P90's slim neck, gorgeous - my favourite sounding guitar...now looks like a teenager's first guitar due to the over application of stickers...

2000 Fender Telecaster USA Traditional - dirt cheap limited run that came with USA neck and body & (cheap end) Japanese hardware, pickups replaced with Lindy Fralins, new scratchplate, probably my favourite neck

7 string Gibson Explorer - I really wanted a 7 string after playing a mate's Ibanez, and these were cheap because they'ws been newly discontinued as nobody bought them.  Been playing it a lot during lockdown, to get more used to the low B...not sure I like the EMGs, and Bare Knuckle does a 7 string P90, but I'm extremely unlikely to play it outside of my front room so there's no hurry

The guitar I play most is my Lowden O22c acoustic

I see myself as a bass player, but I currently own more guitars than basses, and I have played guitar in bands before.  Having some ability on the guitar can help with understanding the role of the bass and writing bass lines, and it definitely helps with writing songs as a whole.

I'm definitely a better bass player than I am a guitarist (my test for auditioning guitarists is that if they are no better than I am then they're not good enough to be in my band), but I do find that guitars are better as solo instruments, whereas bass is usually better in a band context (YMMV)

This may not help your self control - 20% off everything in stock:

https://guitarvillage.co.uk/

that said, not much for bass players (they make a token effort, but it's really a shop for guitarists)

12 hours ago, Skybone said:

Just wondering what's happening with the delivery services, Post Office, couriers, etc.?

Are they classed as 'Key Workers'?

If you buy stuff online, you may well be waiting an age for them to come to your door.

And yes, I do have something on order... 

as far as I'm aware they are still OK to work - perhaps it's a little foggy under the earlier announcement about staying at home unless your job is "vital" but that seems to have softened to be more about staying at home if you can work from there, but go to work if you can avoid public transport

However, I have had an e-mail from one company that I placed an order with (not bass related) saying that because of where they are based (central London) they don't have any staff coming in to be able to send out the orders at the moment.  I think we might see things taking a bit longer to get to us over the next few weeks...

I was discussing this with a mate last night - his band usually have a very busy summer festival season, and typically play a few shows across Europe, but fortunately for them they played Portugal a few weeks ago when it was only seen as an issue in Italy, and don't now have another trip lined up until October.  Good for him, but they have no idea what to expect for the rest of the period in between

I think it's worth keeping in mind that the current advice isn't aimed to stop us all getting the virus, but to delay when we all get it.  Most people won't have much beyond minor symptoms, and I suspect that some of us have it at the moment but assume it's the usual seasonal sniffles.  If everybody with a good immune system could get it as soon as possible then that would suit everybody, but unfortunately there's no way to ring fence them without also infecting those who are genuinely at risk of more serious consequences

like @phil.c60 says, the idea is to push it back until the NHS has dealt with the usual winter demand, with the summer being seen as a "better" time for vulnerable people to get it.  This might mean that things are relaxed in a couple of months, when we actively want as many people as possible to get it and develop a herd immunity

Obviously no consolation for those that have lost earnings in the meantime.

Back to the OP's question, and keeping in mind that I don't have any gigs in the diary at the moment, I think it would depend on whether I or a band mate has a compromised immune system (in fact I do, and I've probably been more cavalier about this than I should have been over the last week or so, certainly as regards public transport) or has close contact with somebody who does

had a similar situation once, but we put up with it  because we knew it ahead of starting the band (he wasn't wilfully unemployed, more that his work meant that he lived pretty hand to mouth at times) plus the rest of us were all working and a couple of us had pretty good jobs, so subbing him once in a while was OK.  To his credit, he never complained about the costs, or made it an issue up front like we had to pay for the pleasure of him being there, more that once in a while he's tell us that he didn't have any spare cash that week and could we sub him?  When we recorded a demo he made sure that he had his share of the costs

Plus he was an excellent singer

That was far preferable to one former band mate who never stopped complaining about how much rehearsals were, in a tone like he was doing us all a favour being there, as though we weren't also paying for the studio.  Either be in a band or don't be in a band.  Don't make it an ongoing whinge

18 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Under normal circumstances I'd agree with you.

These are not normal circumstances. I am of course aware that forcing insurers to pay out everything would just move the job losses to the insurance industry away from the arts, but there has to be a middle ground somewhere that allows people to eat and heat our homes.

forcing insurers to pay out for a risk that they did not insure simply won't happen, nor should it.  If you chose to insure your car for third party only you wouldn't expect to get a pay out if somebody stole it, and it is exactly the same position for this

There is a very good argument for affected businesses to be helped out, and the position seems to be evolving from what the Chancellor said yesterday, but it's not insurers who should be footing the bill for businesses who chose not to cover this

Keep in mind that investments in large insurers will be part of most of our pensions, so it is in all of our interests for insurers to only pay out what they have actually insured

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

Basically - if the business didn't tick the box for the add-on that said "Government shutdown" then there is no cover. I can't imagine many businesses bought that extra bit.

then it's a bit much to expect the insurers to be paying out for cover that the businesses were offered and chose not to take out

Just been told to stop coming in to the office until further notice

Given that it's however many weeks with nothing better to do than practice (OK, technically I will be "working from home" but even stopping the travel to work gives me an extra four hours per day...admittedly at least half of those will be spent asleep) it's a good opportunity to give some time to something new.  So despite the fact that I am expecting a new bass in the next few weeks, what I should be trying to prioritise is playing my seven string Explorer (I'm OK on it, but really need to give it time to get properly comfortable with the extra string) or my eight string mandolin (the tuning fries my brain every time, so I learn to play stuff by rote, rather than by intuitively knowing where the next note is)

However, in practice it'll all be about the new bass as soon as that arrives

just got the new Therapy? album - Greatest Hits (Abbey Road Sessions)

They've re-recorded all the singles from when they used to be well known to the general public (so, finishing on their last A&M album from 1998) - fair play, they've stuck to "greatest hits" rather than trying to slip in anything from a later period.  It's not bad, but missing some of the p#ss and vinegar of the original recordings, and certainly missing the snare drum crack of Fyfe Ewings' original drums.  It's a good exercise and well done for not simply re-releasing the old tracks, but in all honesty I can't see myself choosing to listen to those versions over the originals.  And perhaps a shame that they haven't put out a new album of originals given how excellent their recent output has been.

Of more interest is the Unofficial Bootleg bonus CD, a collection of live recordings of more obscure tracks from assorted dates and of assorted qualify from the length of their career.  I think that one will get played more frequently

I have similar thoughts about the pedals - I have a set up that I really like, but have actually used live twice in the last five years (and only then because I did a couple of gigs that had proper transport).  I've mostly played with the bass, a tuner and, for gigs without my SVT (which has been most of them) a Tech 21 pedal pretending to be an SVT.

Is there anything you'd find it hard to re-buy if you change your mind in six months?  Any special editions or discontinued products that have a function that you used a lot when you have used the kit, and wouldn't be easy to replicate if you found yourself needing to use it again?

If it's all stuff that you could easily replace then sell.  Doesn't really matter if you then change your mind

purely for home use, I got one of these for a small 5w Marshall amp:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitar-accessories/electric-guitar-hangers-stands/quiklok-bs317-amp-stand

works an absolute treat, although very much based on being a good fit for the dimensions of my amp.  Admittedly mine's a combo, so I didn't have to worry about the head

I'm pretty good at moving stuff on that I buy and then don't like/use, but I have a few bits and pieces that I needed at the time but haven't used for some years because that need passed.  Most expensive is probably a Marshall 2 x 12 guitar cab that I wanted for a band I was playing guitar in...but haven't gigged for at least five years and I probably didn't gig with it more than half a dozen times

However, I am currently storing some guitars for a mate who moved to a smaller flat and under strict instructions from his girlfriend had to thin down his collection to the ones he thought he would actually be playing on a regular basis.  the longer version is that he is a terrible guitarist, but loves convincing himself that he needs to acquire new stuff, and having acquired it then struggles to play his new toys and leaves them in as new, untouched condition.  Based on how zingy the strings were when he dropped them off I can guarantee that he didn't spend more than a week trying to play:

a 7 string Schecter (bought because I'd got a 7 string Explorer and he convinced himself that he also needed an extra string...the fact that he can't play 6 string guitars didn't bother him)

a 12 string acoustic (no idea why he ended up with that - probably just because he didn't have one)

a Gibson Les Paul (I feel slightly bad about this one - I was chatting to a girl that we know and he fancied at a festival, and she was showing a lot of interest in me having a Les Paul, so he loudly announced that he has loads of guitars but a LP was missing from his collection.  I goaded him into buying one, and explained that he needed heavier strings because of the shorter scale length, and gave him a set of the strings that I use - 12's.  He then couldn't play even to his appalling standard on 12's, and rather than changing them to a lighter gauge, he left the guitar alone for a few years.  I have sent it on loan to a friend who is learning to play, and she has sensibly put lighter stings on it)

A Marshall 50w acoustic guitar amp (because he has a Parker Nitefly, which has both electric and pietzo pickups.  Despite him never actually playing his guitars outside of his front room, he had to get a proper amp set up for it)