Mottlefeeder

Unless he changes his mind, Mr Foxen is taking all of it. Thanks for your interest.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='353289' date='Dec 13 2008, 12:27 AM']Interested in this. Gotta be ok for recording practice right? Oli[/quote] OK, Oli was first, so he has first refusal. The minidisk recorder comes with a mini (mono) microphone, built into a 3.5 mm jack plug. With that, you can use the recorder set to record in mono for twice the time of a standard minidisk, so you have 144 minutes per disk. It runs on AA batteries, or a Sony walkman 4.5 V wallwart. Our band rehearses in an L shape, with the drums in the corner and the microphone picks up everyone, just sitting on the edge of my music stand. Alternatively it will take a stereo mic, or a stereo feed from the desk. Unless you want to build up an archive, you probably won't need 50 disks, but you have first call if you think you will.

I am about to move from Minidisk to solid state WAV/MP3 recording, so my old gear will be sitting around doing nothing from Christmas onwards. I have a Sony MZ-R37 portable minidisk recorder, in working order, and just over 50 minidisks. If anyone wants either, or both, for the cost of the postage, please let me know. David

[quote name='Dan_Nailed' post='351245' date='Dec 10 2008, 09:24 PM'] Just got this from Ebay as a replacement for a worn out jack, turned up and has 4 connectors. I'm only used to seeing 3 connector versions, what's the best way to wire this? Obviously the ground is the same but it's the other 3 that I'm unsure on! Cheers, Dan[/quote] Assuming it is a quarter inch jack socket, it is unusual. I would suggest getting a battery, wire and torchbulb and a three pole jack plug, and checking what connects to what before and after plugging them together. You could have a mono change-over switch + earth. If it is an 1/8 inch (3.5mm) jack socket, they make a four pole version for video cameras.

[quote name='bigthumb' post='337566' date='Nov 26 2008, 06:50 PM']Can anybody point me in the right direction as to where I can get some replacement crossover fuses for a Eden Metro? Ta![/quote] Eden? If you can find out what kind of fuse you need - current rating, slo-blow or fast-blow etc, then CPC or RS would be a good starting point. Alternatively, pick an amp-tech and hope that their mark-up is not enormous - some want to help, some want to make money.

[quote name='the funk man' post='337023' date='Nov 26 2008, 09:58 AM']well 2 be quite honest i would rather put in the time money and effort to build my own coz it wold probaly make me feel better that going and payin a sh*t load of money to get a half desent amp that i figure i dnt like after a week[/quote] The chances are that you are more likely to dislike an amp you have built than to dislike an amp you auditioned in the shop before you bought it. Think about hum, hiss, distortion, crap front panels etc. Fixing those kinds of problems takes time. Also, an amp you bought can be sold on - an amp you built can only be sold with difficulty. I used to built stuff until my wife pointed out that everything I built I was dissatisfied with, and usually ended up replacing with a commercial item, so only build stuff that - a) you cannot live without, and cannot find to buy, or b) is cheap and basic and you learn from the process.

If you haven't picked it up already, the WD in WD40 stands for water repellant or something similar. It isn't a cleaner and it isn't a lubricant. You need to get a can of something that says it is an electrical switch or contact cleaner.

Thank you all - some useful stuff here. David

[quote name='steve-norris' post='308847' date='Oct 17 2008, 06:42 PM'][color="#FF0000"][size=4]No one mentioned martindale ring testers, they cost a few quid basically you plug it in to the socket and it tests the wiring is ok. Stops you plugging into a badly wired socket in the first place! [/size][/color] [url="http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/socket1.htm"]http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/socket1.htm[/url][/quote] The earth connection to the equipment is there to make sure that if there is a fault, the fault current will be high, and will blow the fuse quickly, which disconnects it. A plug-in tester is fine, provided you know what it is testing. The ones that have three lights on them will confirm that you have an earth connection, but will not tell you whether it is the last strand of a frayed cable (no use at all) or a thick cable with good connections at both ends. When you turn up at a venue, any test device that does not measure how good the earth is (earth fault loop impedance) is probably no help to you at all. Granted, it will tell you if there is no earth at all, but then so will your plug-in RCD which will not latch in.

I don't have an EUB yet - but there are a lot more posts on that topic. I couldn't find any threads just about bows. I am assuming that the same rules apply here as apply to HiFI and many other things - at the bottom of the price range, a small increase in price gives major improvements in performance, but at the top of the price range, a large difference in price gives an improvement so subtle it would probably be wasted on me. One suggestion I heard was that a bow should cost about 25% to 33% of the cost of the DB, but does this still hold good for an EUB with less range of tone and subtlety? Another suggestion was that carbon fibre sounds as good as wood that is twice the price - is that a point that is generally agreed, or only agree above a certain price point, or just plain wrong? I suppose the answer I want is that for an EUB starter, with a new budget EUB, or s/h mid-priced EUB, reasonable bows start at £x, and the law of diminishing returns starts at £y.

[quote name='Toasted' post='307688' date='Oct 16 2008, 10:16 AM']Glad you're still with us!! Would you guys use an RCD on each wall outlet your using, or just one for the amp?[/quote] Ideally, you make sure that everything is powered through an RCD, either by having one upstream of your distribution board, or having one per socket in use. The problem with just having one for your gear is that if the house PA is faulty, and makes the microphone casing live, your RCD will not trip when you touch the microphone and your earthed bass strings, because your amp is still working correctly. The RCD has to be upstream of the equipment that develops the fault if it is to detect that fault. This guidance may help - [url="http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg247.pdf"]http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg247.pdf[/url]

Working with any group of people can be a pain, but if it's what you want to do, hang on to the thought that you will do it all again, but better, because of this experience. [quote name='Galilee' post='298346' date='Oct 3 2008, 09:49 AM']I would sympathise, but I don't understand your second paragraph at all, even after reading it three times. [/quote] I think cytania is comparing being a solo player, and having folders full of music you like, with being in a band, where you end up with folders of stuff you may or may not like, but you worked on it for other people.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' post='296045' date='Sep 30 2008, 11:37 PM']That's a really nice looking bass, but what is the rationale for the strange jack mounting bit?[/quote] It's a neutric locking jack socket by the looks of it - they come on a rectangular backing plate like an XLR socket.

A couple of comments on previous posts - My first rig was a fender 1 by 15 combo, and I built a tilt-back stand for it. It was designed to fold flat, like a deck chair, and to fit within the grill recess of the cab, so with a strap round the cab, it added protection to the cab front, and it was not an extra item to carry. As alexcaber suggested, don't support the front edge, put something behind it to stop it falling over. My frame formed a capital L with a diagonal so the cab could sit on the frame and lean back against it. I'll try and sketch it out if anyone wants further information. With regard to the BFM Wedgehorn 10, when tilted back, it sits as tall and as wide as a 1 by 15 cab. Great on a big stage, but probably too big for smaller venues.

I played a BEAD fretless Warwick for several years, and the only problems I had were with my bass teacher - speaking about 5-string notes while looking at a 4-string gave him problems. I upgraded to a fretless 5 so that both my fretted and fretless basses had the same fingering for the same notes. For strings, I bought sets of 5-strings, which was more expensive, but gave you access to a much bigger range of strings.

I'd like to add my comments to those already 'on file'. I managed one lesson with Nick before I became housebound for about six weeks. Since we knew it was coming, Nick was able to pick things that I could work on without being face to face, and we discussed my progress by phone. I am now back in the saddle, and recently other members of the band have commented that my playing is becoming more fluid. I can also vouch for Nick's eye for detail, in hand positions etc. - not in the sense of producing clones, but more about seeing where the problems are, and helping you work towards the optimum for you. David Wilson Mottlefeeder