Dankology

I didn't pick up on any issues ahead of ordering (apart from a thread here that seemed to be about an admittedly minor finish issue) - I'd be interested to know what sort of problems other people have been having. There was no offer of paying for return postage and my last query regarding what insurance cover he used/recommended has gone unanswered.

Ahh, this is turning into something of a headache. I thought the bass had a couple of issues - the tone controls appeared to do nothing and I was fairly certain I could hear a truss rod rattle on certain notes. Exchanged messages (sloooowly) with the maker who suggested that the best solution was to post it back so he could have a look. I'm not mad keen to spend a further £50 (plus however much more for questionable insurance) to achieve this so took it to a local guitar tech to have a look. He felt that the tone controls were authentically unresponsive and that the truss rod was fine - simply suggesting putting a new set of strings on. I picked up some 120s - went heavier than usual as applying a bit of forward pressure on the neck had seemed to address the rattle I'd been hearing. Then found that I couldn't thread the E through the tailpiece without removing the strings and tailpiece - and then, having done this, found the string was too thick to pass through the tailpiece as far as the ball end. Will pick up some more slender strings this week but any pleasure I had at finally owning one of these has pretty much evaporated.

Another speedy and enjoyable transaction. Thanks for another great book!

A couple of minor niggles to sort but I'm otherwise very happy to own something very close to one of my favourite designs. First rehearsal with it tonight and hopefully it'll be out for our next gig on the 22nd 😀😀😀😀

I think my inherent stinginess had meant I'd expected an even heftier discount. Bodes well for secondhand prices though 😁😁😁

The XR18 is definitely worth the extra money - as well as the ins and outs you have the ability to record everything multitrack to a laptop via USB. I would definitely get an external router if you'll be using it at gigs - the internal one hasn't got fantastic range and only runs on the 2.4 GHz band which tends to get crowded and lead to connection problems. We grabbed a £20 secondhand one on Ebay and I better there are flashier ones available for less nowadays. I keep hearing tales of Behringer digital mixers being heavily discounted in the US due to an imminent range overhaul but I've yet to see it happen here. Will be treating myself to a X32 rack if and when that does hit over here...

Could something like this be pressed into use? https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/pp002080/battery-holder-pp3-pcb/dp/BT06531?st=dmx controller Doesn't look massively bigger than a 9v itself. The photo doesn't really show how easily/securely it could be soldered though.

You really shouldn't. Even with my relatively modest population of c9500 patients, I can see hundreds benefiting (to various degrees) from GP contact, in-practice mental heath workers, crisis teams, A&E liaison teams, community mental health teams, health coaches, care coordinators, drug & alcohol services, in-patient wards etc etc etc - this really does not equate to not bring able to access support and you do hard working staff a serious disservice by parroting this reductive (and really quite inaccurate line).

Again, I think we need to be careful about stating what "isn't available" vs what a system isn't currently able to supply. People in crisis/at high risk have to be prioritised, of course, and the system as it stands is saturated. Add to this the number of people who are referred for psychological and talking therapies who subsequently fail to engage fully/at all, people who don't take medication consistently/for long enough to be effective, the influence of coexisting drug and alcohol issues, people who are unable to distinguish between mental health problems and social/financial issues and an ongoing push to limit funding and you have a system primed for someone to say "this isn't working" and thus pave the way for a private provider to promise the earth - with all the inevitable consequences that brings. I'm not arguing that the system is perfect or even working anything like it should but I am very wary of blanket statements such as " one cannot access NHS mental health support" when there is a whole silo of vested interests who want people to buy into that mindset rather than the infinitely more nuanced real-life situation.

Without wanting to get further into semantics: it isn't so much that one cannot access NHS mental health support but rather that so many people are currently accessing it that wait times are ever increasing. An important distinction, I think.

This sounds uncannily similar. I have a certain amount of sympathy with people who have to be narcissistic enough to front a band and who were probably blindsided by initial success and its trappings, never fully maturing into a properly functional human being. In fact, the one question I was asked at every single gig (either by punters, venue staff of other members of the band) was "how/why do you put up with him?" - and my answer always was "because the music is better than the man" - and I truly felt a responsibility to the body of work that outweighed the various torments. Until it didn't!

I have to say that, on balance, my general feeling is one of relief - as great as the gigs looked, the stresses of actually getting to them, getting set up and getting out again would have really taken the shine off them. Swings and roundabouts...

Aw, you're a good man 😀 As it happens, you're on my list of people to contact this week re 2025 gigs - cannot wait to see your lot again 😍😍😍