The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[giantchris]

ive been experiencing wrist and forearm pain recently. it seems to be mostly at the top of the wrist and it especially hurts when I bend my wrist up or down. I know its from playing bass. I try and warm up and stretch but its weird ive had lingering pain for a few weeks now, and I really haven't played much. I feel like it got worse since the hernia surg while ive had a period of not playing much..

If you play fingerstyle and this pain is in your plucking hand this might be from bending your wrist over the top of the bass to pluck which you are not supposed to do.  If that's the case just raise the elbow and keep that wrist straight and you'll be good.  If its you're fretting hand your kinda SOL unless you are playing with your bass strung really low.

Just some thoughts.  Good luck.

[jibberish]

you just have to do like me and be: "forthed to thop ibanetheth and thtilleto'th and muthic manth thinth you have limp writhtth"

wtf you doing l ron? gtf away. it was a joke. like what do you call l ron on his skateboard? rollaids. see a joke. that is a joke right? oh FFS quit trying to spit on me.

[mortlock]

ive been experiencing wrist and forearm pain recently. it seems to be mostly at the top of the wrist and it especially hurts when I bend my wrist up or down. I know its from playing bass. I try and warm up and stretch but its weird ive had lingering pain for a few weeks now, and I really haven't played much. I feel like it got worse since the hernia surg while ive had a period of not playing much..

If you play fingerstyle and this pain is in your plucking hand this might be from bending your wrist over the top of the bass to pluck which you are not supposed to do.  If that's the case just raise the elbow and keep that wrist straight and you'll be good.  If its you're fretting hand your kinda SOL unless you are playing with your bass strung really low.

Just some thoughts.  Good luck.

its all fretting hand. I do sling the bass low, maybe time to raise the strap. could start playing death metal style with the bass in a vertical position..

[Lumpy]

Drink lots of water, that's supposed to be a factor. If I am going to play a lot, I might seriously spend an hour warming up (warming up to me means start off easy and don't play anything difficult).

[jibberish]

I sometimes warm up unil I fall out of the chair uber baked. but yeah-boy-howdy am I relaxed!

the fret hand angle thing. I watched some videos on how to fret for hi speed and classical stuff. a lot of it was that your hand should be <90 degree angle with neck.
shorter strap length and angling guitar upwards both help.

also, playing bass, which I don't do much of, but when I do, it is on a fender copy, wears my hands out.  lots of far reaching and all single finger presses basically really smokes the fret hand.   I have been casually shopping basses that I actually can play in a relaxed fashion. the standard fender template is wrong for me.
I was joking before, but have you shopped basses recently? maybe it is time for an old man stingray.

lumpy, please bring me back a genuine vinyl from nam.  I will reward you.   

[RAGER]

I hadn't talked to my old drummer in close to 2 years after splitting up our band.  The main reasons being his serious drinking problem (drinking about a half rack at practice while dealing with his 3rd dui and on antabuse then driving home) and his uber crazy ex-stripper girlfriend.  So bad that I refrained from booking tours because she would have to go along.  Fuck that.  Well I decided to check in with him and see what's up.  He kicked her out and now has a blow and go in his car.  He came over on Sunday to hang and we jammed a bit.  I never touched a guitar, it was just me in the Synth Circle and him killin it on my stripped down set.  I should have recorded it.  What a blast.  We'll reconvene in a couple weeks and see what happens.  Kinda stoked and inspired.

[Danny G]

Hope your friend is pulling thru the dark times. No substitute for chemistry \m/,

[RAGER]

I told him if he's starting to miss her just go look at the wine stains on the ceiling.

[Danny G]

I told him if he's starting to miss her just go look at the wine stains on the ceiling.

^ True friend.

[Danny G]

Update on red dirt guy/gig cancellation.

Adrian has a sub so can still do the show. I'm on for gig with red dirt guy. Charted out 90 min set, going over it at the house. Meeting up with guitar player today to run through. Rehearsal is tomorrow afternoon. Gig is in Houston.

Then the plot thickens. Turns out I double-booked myself for Saturday. Shit. Depending on who has a sub on standby, I'll either be playing on Lake Travis or a private party in Houston.

Houston party would pay much better. Lake Travis show would be easier logistically. 

If I play Houston I'd have to take my own vehicle so I'd be able to get myself/gear home, as red dirt band is traveling together then heading home next day. If I play Lake Travis, I'd ride with red dirt band.

See what happens. My bad for not staying on top of my calendar. But in my defense I'm trying to keep it full so need to accept what comes my way as gigs do fall through/plans change.

[RAGER]

Fried rice and amp repair for breakfast.

[VOLVO)))]

Broken plexi?

[RAGER]

Not really. Sorry to disappoint.  i went to move it and heard some shit rattling around inside.  i thought it might be a tinnerman nut and didn't want to turn it on with it jammed inside someplace where there's 500 volts so I pulled it out and found grid resistor floating around and a leg off another.  So quick fix.  But the interesting part was this blob of solder on the back of the chassis that I don't think was there before I took it to this dude a year and a half ago to have some other shit looked at that I couldn't figure out.  What'd he do, test out his iron to see if it was hot enough for a chassis ground?  I can't find pics of the gutshots from before to prove it.  If I can Imma rattle his fucking cage about it.

[jibberish]

how come you set the soldering iron sponge on the table? heh. also, maybe i'm too much of a freak, but I tend to try and keep my food and the 60/40 lead-tin solder with its carcinogenic rosin core, and my lead covered fingers, far apart.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

so I was reading the lexicon reverb manual and it specifies to use only tip-ring-sleeve, 1/4" jacks. I always thought those "stereo" jacks fucked up in normal instrument uses.
good thing I didn't put together the set of 1/4" shorty jumper cables. I would have gotten standard tip-sleeve ends.  learn some more shit every day.

so basically, standard guitar cords are not really factory spec.   fuckin a. I used guitar chords to test the unit with the stereo out from the synth.  nooob!!!
ok, not a big deal as such, but the manual said that the unit could hang.  that beats the auxiliary smoke machine function, but could still fail a performance or recording.

quote from manual. it's like the beginning of star wars movie text. you know you are in for a great fun adventure:

Thank you for your purchase of the MPX 500 24-Bit Dual Channel Processor. Powered by Lexicon's proprietary Lexichip™, the MPX 500 has 240 presets with classic reverb programs such as Ambience, Plate, Chamber and Inverse, as well as Tremolo, Rotary, Chorus, Flange, Pitch, Detune, 5.5 second Delay and Echo. Dual-channel processing gives you two independent effects in a variety of configurations: Dual Stereo (Parallel), Cascade, Mono Split and Dual Mono. A large graphics display and dedicated Edit knobs give you instant access to each preset's parameters and an easy Learn mode allows MIDI patching of front panel controls. In addition, tempo- controlled delays and modulation rates lock to Tap or MIDI clock, and Tap tempos can be controlled by audio input, the front panel Tap button, dual footswitch, external MIDI controller or MIDI Program Change. Other features include a software-selectable MIDI OUT/THRU port, pushbutton or footswitch selection of dry or muted audio output and a built-in power supply.

edit:
Rager, see the implications of tempo controlled delays and modulation rates?  the arturia beat step or general midi clock can control the rates on the effects, like LFO synth stuff.
I might have to go meditate on the mountain for a week to really absorb the possible new things that I can do.
especially since I have 3 of these lil fuckers.

----------------------------------------------------------
edits: speaking of soldering, I have been rigging an old PC power supply(so old it has the AC mains power switch on a cable along with the PC power taps. I prefer the new ones where you jumper 2 motherboard connector pins with a SPST switch for turn on) to run music gear.  I made a CD drive power cable setup for my multitrack recorder and a car-stereo active bi-amp crossover (the 2 12V gadgets I have found so far to reduce wall wart count).
the car stereo crossover is my secret subwoofer weapon (well plus 750w/channel to spank those subs).  I have an even nicer tri-amped blaupunkt active crossover. yes my car stereo was a 14 speaker tri-amped 1200w rms freakshow. all sitting here in boxes now...sigh...

[Danny G]

Gig with red dirt guy went well considering I had one rehearsal and 2 days before that to learn the music.

Looks like ill be playing with Bleu Edmondson for a good chunk to most of 2015. See what happens.

[mortlock]

Bleu Cheese Edmondson..that would be his blues name.

[jibberish]

well shit. I had to take 2 of those lexicon reverbs back. they powered up fine, but the rotary encoders were worn and would randomly select a new patch like 5 numbers down the list, then change a couple times before settling down..nope

I bitched the guys out for not checking them out properly, heh so that they would just stfu and gimme my money back, which they did.

fuck. I was really getting stoked to whip some brutal heavy reverberations out. well one still works.   may have to use delay pedal as help.

edit: i finally replaced the 4" speaker in the greta 2watt amp with a dummy resistor. silence is golden.  i was pondering how to install a switch on and off for months, then i just thought"what if i never want to use the speaker again: just hardwire the resistor in and see how it goes" ...annnd done
the yamaha DX-7 kybd old skool mono output works nicely into greta.  greta does really nasty things to the organ sound. THEN it goes to the mixer for reverb addition.
this Mackie mixer actually has 6 aux outs. 3/4 get shifted to 5/6 with a switch for every channel. the thing is set up for 3 effects units.
and the channel lights blink with signal, regardless of where the slider is. makes it easy to find all your sources at a glance without having to bring up the level to see lights blinking

i also found out mr malekko doesn't like a TRS (stereo) 1/4" jack into its input, so i didn't even try mr pharaoh. the output was fine with TRS, which is nice to get into the rest of the signal path.
the focusright A/D is quiet, really quiet. i still haven't tried out the large condenser into the pre's
i took one look at ableton and decided i have other stuff to figure out before that. reaper sees all just fine haha. BUT there are a lot of really cool looking things to do with ableton and it looks like the drum tracks may be really handy since i am crippled regarding drums.

[liquidsmoke]

Selling cabs and gear I don't use anymore and bass gear to upgrade to new/better/louder bass gear. The rig is taking shape.

Hooked a friend up with a SS half stack for super cheap. He isn't so great at writing songs but when he plays guitar it's like metal/punk meets jazz and he needs to form a band ASAP. I hope he finds a good drummer and gets something going.

[everdrone]

what bass gear are you saving up for?  are you planning on being in two bands then; joining another band to play bass?

[jibberish]

I think I may have heard an EHX B9 pedal on a black keys song
at 20 sec and again at 2:40
pretty cool tune too. home boys did good.

[mortlock]

paging jib..and anyone else who feels like chiming in..
so I got the sundown tracer 150. I feel like theres some serious potential with this thing. I need to know..can I connect my ampeg 410/200 watts/8 ohm cab to this thing and use it in place of my head and a single 1x15 cab?? also whats the point of an outlet on the back of the head?? this thing says 500 watts / 4 ohm min load..

[mortlock]

[liquidsmoke]

what bass gear are you saving up for?  are you planning on being in two bands then; joining another band to play bass?

Two 1x15s with monster Eminence speakers and probably a Crown XLS1000. Orogen is currently only a studio band and the new one is a 2 piece.

[jibberish]

liquid, keep watching craigslist for amps. disenchanted DJ's dump their setups all the time around here.
you can score something huge for <$200.   I know I sound like a broken record, but look for something way overpowered.
When an amp is idling and playing quietly it is putting out 10mW. this could be your 50mW clock radio amp or your 2000w/ch PA amp

but when you hit it, reserve power keeps the sound way full instead of strangling out.
seriously. I was first scared of my 750w/ch crown when I got it.  I never owned anything over 100watts/ch before. but now that I have had these power amps around here for a while, they are all the same. it depends on where the gains are set. not scary. I can play stuff quietly(not really because of the fans) if I want to and they are all still the same.

i got my big crown for $250 and the other 3 amps(crown power-tech2 and 2 QSC rmx series) all for $150 each. the QSC RMX-1450 was a steal for $150 heh. i wish i just had 4 of those, but i am not crying, and i got 1 yr warranties on those other 3 amps, so they were each $180 out the door. i bought like 2000watts/ch for $800 out the door at the end of the day all with 1 yr warranty. the big crown was off the floor so it had new warranty.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

that bass combo looked cool. cool you snagged it.  first off, the 500w max by the ac plug means ac power, not amp output power. power=amps x volts. so rule of thumb is 100volts uses 1 amp to make 100 watts.   so quick math says keep current draw below 5 amps for anything you plug into there. basically and you wont use more than 500 watts of juice.
you can size up loads on powerstrips like that. add up all the current draws and multiply by 100 to get the total power. same thing, if all the devices say "max power consumption 200watts" you can rule of thumb that is a 2 amp draw

ok, my best guess is that the amp out is line level for driving a slave or effects. but maybe it is a volume control pre out. i would google the user manual to get all the details.
you have external speaker jacks. they say anything 4 ohms or greater (ie 8 ohms) is cool. they don't want you to go below 4 ohms so you don't melt the SS outputs with too much current.

the AC power plug on the back is something that was very common on stereo receivers. in the day, you basically knew you would have a receiver, a turntable and a cassette deck in your little stereo setup. crap like a cassette deck uses basically no power, so it was really convenient to just add the "power strip" to the back of the receiver to keep it neat and clean.

some were "switched" and some were"unswitched" outlets. the unswitched were paralleled right to the incoming mains AC, maybe it was fused IDK, but it stated a max draw.
the switched outlets were controlled by the main power switch on the receiver and those had specific current limitations since it was all going thru the power switch.

basically you don't want to run power amps out of extra AC plugs on the back of gear. what you could do however is run your pedal power supply or rack effects or a multitrack recorder, wireless mic box, little lights, yada yada or anything else low power use and save an extension cord.

they are handy. i have a light and my phone charger in 2 of the outlets on the back of the receiver right next to me heh. i never turn it off, so idc which switched or un switched outlet i'm using

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if i win the lottery, i'm buying everyone a malekko delay and a super pharaoh. once in a while i get something right. this combo is right as a mutherfucker.

[mortlock]

so..the short answer is 'yes, I can hook my ampeg 410 up with the sundown without problems.'  

right??
im pretty sure that's what you were saying..