nekomatic

Lucas Santanna at Band on the Wall, on a mate’s suggestion. Brazilian trio playing sort of groovy er, Brazilian music with clear reggae/ska influences. Enjoyable if woefully under-attended - only about fifty people in the venue. Manchester’s Brazilian massive must have been otherwise engaged tonight. Those who did show up made up for short numbers with enthusiasm though.

Might have measured 78 V open circuit, but been much less under load? Disappointing customer service though.

The most obvious (to me) reason for doing this is so you can have positive, ground and negative power rails for your circuit without needing an odd custom 3-pin connector. Without knowing the exact details of the pedal, and taking on trust what it says on the label you’ve posted, any 12 volt AC/AC adapter rated 400 mA or more should do the job. If the power rails are regulated inside the pedal then choosing a 15 volt adapter will make no difference.

A music shop opened in my suburb about a year ago and I've dropped in a couple of times and chatted with the owner. I think he's retired from whatever it is he used to do and he told me he actually owns the building it's in, so his costs are low. He's got a fair selection of guitars, amps, pedals, some basses, various other instruments, and accessory bits and bobs… but the honest truth is that while I would be willing to pay a bit extra to buy something there rather than order it, I don't spend much money on gear and what I would be interested in is stuff he hasn't got. Last time I went in I bought a secondhand strap for eight quid and asked about a GK MB200 he had in, which I don't need nearly enough to buy one. So, you know, it's nice to have a local music shop and good luck to him but it's not going to survive on the custom of people like me.

My wife knows someone who has this, for music. The bizarre thing is that the reason my wife knows her is that she is a very good classical violinist, who my wife has often booked for gigs and played alongside. She only realised that she had this condition, and other people didn't, as an adult, and was apparently quite thrown by the discovery.

Well this thread doesn’t seem to have gained the popularity that the last gig and last rehearsal ones have, but anyway: Royal Oak Mellor jazz jam was great again last night, and just what my playing needs at the moment - a moderate workout and incentive to get practicing for next month. Got sandbagged on a trio number again though - next time I’m going prepared, with a tune to call that I actually know!

It feels as though a smaller rack standard for amplification kit is long overdue, because the advantages in robustness and transport convenience must still apply in these days of more compact Class D power amps and narrower speaker cabs. The 19 inch rack is somewhere between 90 and 102 years old! I guess there is absolutely no chance of this happening though, as most of the other domains where racks are used are probably still happy with their 19 inches.

Now we’re getting down to the real crimes against customer service!

In a market economy, we must conclude that that’s the price at which the demand for Marcus Miller matches the supply of Marcus Miller.

Wait, you can get pink Fender bass cases? Nobody told me this!

Thanks for the replies (and apols for not searching for the Markbass ones). Sounds like I should take a deep breath and try some Elixirs next time I feel rich.

I haven’t a clue! I kind of know their first album a bit but that’s about all. I’m aware this is a gaping hole in my musical education so I’m starting at the opposite end and will maybe fill in the middle bit over time…

Soft Machine at Band on the Wall next Monday for some jazz-prog head nodding.

I see that Bass Direct list Mark Bass 'LongEvo' coated strings in stainless steel or nickel, and Ernie Ball also have coated strings although I can only see those in nickel - all at a little bit cheaper than Elixirs. Can anyone comment on any of those?

What @Phil Starr said, but just for reference since this was discussed: any capacitor you do connect across the mains should be a ‘Class X’ type, which is rated for that purpose, not just any old cap. You can get the cap+resistor combo in one package, sometimes called a ‘snubber’, e.g. https://cpc.farnell.com/ampohm-wound-products/fe-sp-cr23-100-100/contact-suppressor-0-1uf-100r/dp/FT00711

That's a fair point, as making a design change inevitably results in unexpected further difficulties, time and effort. Unfortunately in my experience, so does keeping the design the same…

17 and 14, and it seems like about half an hour ago that the big hairy 17yo was a sweet little 9yo. Pause. Santa: 'What colour unicorn?'

Arduino-compatibles are cheap, aren't they? Get a second one, have the first one shoot the data you want displayed to the second one over a serial connection or something which will take a millisecond, let the second one write it to the LCD in its own sweet time. Maybe there's a neater way of doing it with interrupts, or with the second core on a Pi Pico or something (I dunno, I never got into Arduino as it looked too much like C) but you can save that for the second revision!

Capacitors in parallel behave like the sum of their values so I guess you wouldn't even have needed to remove the original cap, just solder an extra one across it with the capacitance value you wanted to add.

So I did go, and… it was brilliant. I'm still buzzing! Superb house band, it would have been worth the trek out just to listen to them; everyone really friendly, including house bassist Gavin, and well organised; really good players getting up, including rhythm section - so I felt stretched, but in a good way, and some people even said nice things about my playing which I'm sure weren't completely deserved but I'll take them! Only really came off the rails on one tune but nobody minded and (as per @Geek99's thread) that's how we learn. The only thing wrong with it is that I have to wait a month for the next one!

Getting your behind kicked at a jam is never fun - been there! - but it teaches you ten times as much as bashing through an easy tune with no upsets, and infinity times as much as not getting up and putting your behind on the line in the first place, so good on you. You'll be back. Carving out the time to play when you've got responsibilities at home can also be a tough one. I'm only just managing it now the kids are teenage!

Which? have a detailed article about your rights as a consumer, based on which: As a consumer your rights are against the retailer that sold you the item, rather than the manufacturer You have a right to a repair or replacement, or a refund if that can't be provided, if the item was faulty at the time you bought it In the first six months it is up to the retailer to prove that it wasn't faulty, and they can't reduce the value of a refund for fair wear and tear After six months it's up to you to prove that it was faulty when you bought it, and the retailer can deduct something for wear and tear You have up to six years from when you bought it to make a claim. Warranties or guarantees are something the manufacturer or retailer may offer on top of your rights, but if a warranty is specified when you buy something then it is part of your contract and you have a right to enforce it against the party that offered it. That's my summary of the Which? piece anyway, any lawyers please correct if necessary…

Is it just me or does the Press Pass pretty much do nothing whatever you do with the knobs?

I’ve never used one but should the Fishman Platinum Pro be on the list? I don’t think it has aux in or headphone out, but it looks like it does the other stuff, and people seem to rate them.

Sympathy, and take all the time you need. The internet will wait.