T-Bay

On 09/06/2022 at 15:11, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

Google 'sarcasm'. In France it's Macron's fault, in Germany it's Scholz's fault, in Australia it's Albanese's fault. They don't blame Putin in Russia, on penalty of death or being conscripted (the same thing, actually), but the reality is that it is his fault everywhere. 😉

American thinks everything wrong in the world is down to Russia, who would have thought we would live to hear such a thing………

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

If you believe alcohol improves your playing, does it also improve your driving?

They aren’t really comparable, playing in a band is a mix of many more things than driving. For example, it would be rare for a driver to be vomit inducingly nervous before driving, but isn’t that rare with band members and isn’t linked to skill levels. One of the main reasons alcohol is so bad for driving is the increase in reaction times, unless you play some really rough pubs then a super quick reaction time isn’t a prerequisite for good performance. Alcohol is relaxant/ sedative which is seriously bad when driving, but can reduce the effects of stress and anxiety such as might be found in someone playing in a band.

I have got a Boss GX100 multi effects pedal, there are a few Facebook groups for them and I have noticed a couple of people using them for synth stuff, might be worth looking on YouTube to see if there are any videos of them. They are incredibly flexible and can be tweaked in a ridiculously wide range of ways to get the sound you want.

A pint before and one during seems to work well for me (as long as not driving obviously). Played a pub a few years ago where the landlord was a proper real ale guy and we were set up next to one side of the bar. We chatted with him before and are all beer lovers so got on great, during the gig he would send four pints over every quarter of an hour or so. We recorded the gig and I still amazed how good we sounded at the end. It was only 100yds from the guitarists house and we finished the night with a few more pints. The crowd were properly up for it as well and it’s probably the best pub gig I have ever played. I could barely find my way out the door when we left. Sadly it has now been closed and is being bulldozed for housing.

Pure energy, The sex pistols, RATM, The Idles, early Nirvana, Sugar, stuff like that

On 03/06/2022 at 07:12, Greg.Bassman said:

I had a curtain blunder once. It was the first time my band had ever had a curtain opening/reveal to start a show with. Very new to us. While we waited for the show host to finish announcing us, we decided to make hand shadows against the curtain. Of course, after the dog and the bird, we couldn't resist giving the middle finger and making ‘w*nker’ signs. The drummer, who was late to the stage, arrived and said ‘you do realise that the audience can see that on the other side, don’t you?!’. Before we could process the horror of what we had just done, the curtains opened to a rather annoyed looking first row. That first song was pretty awkward, let me tell you! 😆

 

 

Could be worse, we played a venue where they decided to use a smoke machine behind the curtain. We started playing, curtain opens, smoke rolls out in a very naff 80s way. 30 seconds later the fire alarms go off. Everything stops and we have to evacuate the building. It was a proper theatrical smoke machine so no idea what happened but didn’t help the gig!

4 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Mojo and heft. What more do you want from a cab? 😆

But all that wear will have acted to lighten it a hell of a lot, probably only weighs as much as a bull elephant now.

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Well, it won't sound any worse than any other Trace.

Brilliant then, as you were……..

It will still sound amazing though

T- Rex, 2nd chorus of 20th century boy sounds more like Robin Hood than rock and roll

RHCP - ooh aah, guess you never meant it. That took me ages to get and I still sing ooh aah, kiss your little Muntjac

As long as you don’t impoverish yourself or your family where’s the harm? Look how much some people spend on gym membership a month, or go out drinking every weekend, or smoking, or £400 a month just to have a new plate car or a million other things. Anything that enriches your life is a plus, if that thing can be sold for the same money or thereabouts if you get bored of it is a bonus.

4 hours ago, ubit said:

 

 

I love the bagpipes. They stir your soul. Men have followed them into battle being given heart by their sound. New York policemen get buried to the sound of them. They can be soulful and sad or hearty and cheery. Opinions.

To be fair, If I was in a trench and heard a bagpipe it would terrify me, you would think. if they can inflict that on their own WTF will they do to me if they catch me?

But joking aside, the bravery to go over the top with bagpipes, knowing the positive difference it will make, and knowing you will be target number 1 is beyond belief. I could never have enough respect for those brave lads who did that.

6 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

It's early daze yet. Give AI a bit more time to factor in the 'live' mosh pit and measure the applause and we'll see how 'interactive' it can become. Maybe voting with an App during the performance as an interim measure..? You read it here first. 

The idea of a mosh pit at an ABBA gig has made me laugh out loud, I would genuinely love to see that.

As for the App, whilst a great idea it would need to work alongside recording the show in dodgy video, mostly of the back of someone’s head with awful sound just to ensure you have a memory of event you barely remember because you were too busy recording it.

6 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Again, I'm not suggesting you should like them, but 'mediocre middle of the road generic formulaic pop pap' says a lot.

The ability to admire the quality in something you don't necessarily like is a virtue. I'd never buy a Ferrari (for various genuine reasons), but man they are sweet!

I appreciate all sorts of music that I wouldn’t listen but that doesn’t mean I have to agree that something is good purely because it is popular or because you (or anyone else) like it. Similar to Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s output many years later, ABBA signify all that is wrong in the music industry to me. Generic pap to appeal to un-discerning public. Others, like yourself, disagree but that does not make my opinion any less valid.

I wouldn’t go and see ABBA in any case, but nor would I go and see an avatar version of bands I love. It just seems utterly pointless, if I am making the effort to see a live event I want to see a live event not a fancy film that is the same every time with no interaction. It just smells of dumbing down the whole live music experience to me. It just has no soul.

2 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

It seems to be roughly the equivalent of seeing a play in a theatre, compared to a seeing a film in a cinema. One has 'live' actors (usually...), the other living or long-dead actors projected onto a screen. There will come a time in the near future when the 'live' theatre performance will become holographic, too; the differences become blurred, the screen becomes the thin air on the stage. It could well become available for domestic showing, too, so one could have a 'live' holographic concert streamed onto your coffee table. You read it here first. 

Help me Obe Wan, you’re my only hope………

21 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

You don’t have to like them, but the songwriting and construction is a thing of beauty and some of those bass lines are so good to play.

To you, but certainly not to me. Mediocre middle of the road generic formulaic pop pap imho. Each to their own and all that.

Technically amazing but utterly soulless. It’s just like a fancy 3D tv at great expense. But if people are crazy enough to pay the prices it will carry on. Not for me, but then I can’t stand ABBA so wouldn’t go if they were all playing live at the end of my drive, except to tell them to get lost.

4 hours ago, Bigwan said:

Any idea what it's based on and what the half pint/full pint switch actually does?

No idea unfortunately, the switch ‘fattens’ the sound and adds a bit of drive

2 hours ago, Rob Bisby said:

How's the landlord cheeky pint?

Great for a low cost pedal. It isn’t as transparent as the spectracomp I have but works really well. Very pleased with it.

I have a Fender Ultra, and a cheap Squier I bought for £60. I have also had MiM in the past. The ultra is quite simply the best I have ever played. No one thing jumps out but everything is better and the sum of those parts just make it a delight to play. Is it 30x better than the Squier? That would be hard to argue. Do I regret splashing out on it? Nope, not even for a second. I tried American Pros at the same time and they were very nice as well but the ultra had the edge as you would hope.

If you buy second hand it’s not even much of a risk as they hold their value well. If you can afford it without going into debt I would go for it.

Not in a million years, but I could sort them one that would do the job that I am not precious about.

13 hours ago, MELLOW said:

Marks on Strat are in another place.

They are well hidden then as I looked very closely and buggered if I can find any.

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Hang on. Are you asking me if I’m a mason? Didn’t think that was the protocol. 🤝

 

 

Knowing that ‘on the level’ is relating to Freemasons is a sure admittance that you are one surely?

As is pointing this out?…………

I have a 79 Strat in natural and it doesn’t have marks like that.

I haven’t finished connecting all the cables up but have done a rearrange on my new (home made) board to fit the GX-100 in. I will lose the separate tuner at some point. Pleased with it so far but may swap the GX to the lower tier.