Stub Mandrel

The smaller Altos are another 'affordable' brand. Our club uses bigger Alto powered speakers andcthey sound find and have proven vastly more reliable than HH. Last night we had a drum machine and then a guitar through them without backline no problems (except the guitar turned up far too loud).

Well... First, the chaos of setting up three bands well (solo singer plus band) using the same mixer with two guitars using the desk, a drum machine and an electronic kit. Somehow it worked, but the second band's guitarists did the "crank after soundcheck" thing which scared off a few punters and did their sound no favours. Their bass player (also the organiser) used my kit. Our set was as interesting as promised, despite Fritz doing his back in which made it a little tamer. In my labcoat I wheeled in the patient (we skipped the straitjacket). He shambled to the mic as Nigel the specialist delivered the narration. I handed Fritz an acoustic guitar so he could start his 'creative therapy'. He played the Fractured Persona song with us backing quietly. The first four songs I went fretless Maya P. As it cranked up the fourth song was pretty punky so over to fretted P and plectrum. Then back to fingers except for Kill the Klown, which featured a sledgehammer clown attack on our singer who reponded by chainsawing the clowns head off. The prop chainsaw was wirelessly miked up too We ended up doing our encore, largely without our rhythm guitarist who truned the volume down on his guitar and forgot. We knew some of the songs were memorable and it was surprising to see people joining in some of the choruses, so comfortable we weren't just a novelty show. Lots of decent feedback despite obvious first gig hiccups. Memorable for us and the audience.

Spival tap Private Walker's band

A bit of a bugger to get right.

Surely.

Spinal Tad (Very small band in proportion to an 18" Stonehenge).

Not at all... photoflame doesn't change when you move the bass in the light. It's not AAAAA on the Harley but definitely real flamed maple.

Not all of us can afford or justify expensive PA speakers/monitors, so I thought I'd share my experience of the cheap Thomann 'Fun Generation' powered speakers and invite anyone else to share info on other low-cost options. This is the 15" option, they also do 12" and passive versions of both. https://www.thomann.co.uk/fun_generation_pl_115_a.htm With refreshing honesty they rate them 600W peak/140W rms. I bought two 15" powered ones as cheap monitors. I regularly use one as a monitor and aside from not being suitable for putting my foot on, it's always delivered without fuss in many different situations. Thrre are two 'mic' channels with xlr and jack inputs. Annoyingly, line in uses phono sockets, but I just use the mic channels with the gain down (never had distortion issues). There's basic bass/treble eq, 90% of the time I leave these at 12 o'clock. I discovered the back plates with the amp, inputs and bt functionality are interchangeable between 15 and 12, passive and active. Just rewire the connections to the crossover. I swapped one over to make a 15 active and a 12 passive. That gives me the flexibility to use 2x12, 2x15, or one or two 12+15 pairs. I have used an active/passive 12" pair as PA for lectures with ease, and once or twice as a small pub-size vocal PA when our vocalist's Mackie powered speakers weren't available. It's not clear what the real world power of a single cab is - do you need the extension cab to achieve 140W or does that deliver a bit more? They are loud enough and the audio quality is good enough to be usable in everyday applications. I think the audio is at least as good as my 8" HH monitor. I would invest more if looking fo a small full-time PA, however. Despite the 'fun generation' name they are a different league to the cheap but similar looking 'party speakers'. I suspect they are sold with other name badges. Importantly they are robust, reasonably light and easy to use. Two powered 12s or even one powered, one passive would meet the basic monitoring needs of many bands for under £200, and they could save a small gig if your main pa goes down.

I'd say that one is bookmatched... it's just the peculiarities of how the wood has taken stain/reflects the light. But I agree, if you can get a bookmatch on a Sire or even a sub-£200 Harley Benton, PRS should be able to manage it.

A friend recorded what was more or less a solo album 20 years ago, with a stong mental health theme. Under the name Fractured Persona several gigs were one to promote it, and it got a decent reception, if not huge sales. The band has been completely 'rebuilt' around Fritz, who started writing new songs with a guitarist, drum machine and bandcamp. There's now six of us and we've got nine songs ready for a first gig today, three from the album. Lots of creative freedom. The gig will include some 'interesting' theatrics! Vety different from my other bands!

Those look good.

No different from seeing yourself in a photo, rather than a mirror, all the asymmetries are exaggerated as you see them doubled.

Good point. I was taught a martial art by a Malaysian Master and his student. It has Chinese, Korean, Okinawan and Japanese roots (see here https://tangsoudao.com/history-and-background/) but the style was actually developed in the UK. Read that link, it's a massive history of cultural appropriation in the Far East, if you want to take it that way.

Given that George Harrison sought the tutelage of Ravi Shankar, I don't think anyone could call it appropriation, it was more of a gift to him

And yet... it does.

YungBlod

I can't think of many songs more relevant to what is currently happening in the USA and UK...

That's büggered up the plans for a lot of Nativity plays this Christmas. But seriously... that begs the question, should Jews play Christians? Can a Muslim play a Hindu? Is it a matter of faith or origin? If your mother was an aethist and your father followed Shinto, can you play either, both or just the mixture? All these 'rules' sound like special pleading once you start to look at the underlying logic. Where do you draw the lines? Can anyone portray a fictional character or sing a figurative song as there's no real lived experience?

Nan Gilllan

I would say no... unless you feel West Indians shouldn't play punk or heavy metal. But the lyrics do some dodgy stereotyping. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/23/10ccs-graham-gouldman-every-west-indian-person-ive-spoken-to-loves-dreadlock-holiday-but-i-wouldnt-write-certain-lines-now

Not doing the gig until Friday but I think this will amuse you guys...

That's put me right off!

I have my own take on this. If, through a song, I can feel a connection to the original composer/performer, surely that's exactly what the music was for. I am not American (or Canadian) but I can appreciate the sentiments expressed in 'Ohio' and feel no guilt playing it. Should I feel uncomfortable singing "(Something Inside) So Strong" by Labi Siffre? I appreciate the sentiment just as much and I have no more connection to Stephen Stills and Neil Young other than my skin colour. I think most 'cultural appropriation' is righteous indignation. The real problems are misusing culturally significant things out of context (e.g. using holy symbols as trendy decorations) or pretending to be what you are not. I recall someone being slated for wearing a Japanese wedding dress. When Japanese people were asked their views, they thought it was wonderful a westerner appreciated their traditional clothing.

I used to take a bass and a 50W combo on the bus to rehearsals... before I passed my test.

Done. Incidentally as my problems are chiefly arthritic, they improve with playing. I didn't mention an issue I used to suffer... numbness in my right hand a hangover ftom mostly resolved carpal tunnel syndrome caused by my right wrist rubbing on the edge of my desk when using a mouse. A supportive mouse pad now prevents issues. They can return with extended bass playing, but a wristband prevents this.