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Diesel

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Posts posted by Diesel

  3. The Car Thread, Yay!! (No bus users allowed)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Since Bradley Wiggins won Tour de France and Chris Hoy won some medals I've noticed a fair increase in the amount of lycra clad cyclists out here in Banffshire. In fact the cycle club that started here last summer now has over 60 members.They all go out for a cycle run on Saturday morning, altogether and at the same time. Makes getting to work such a nightmare that I actually use a different, longer route. I don't mind cyclists at all but the cycle club are the worst type of pricks. I'm part of group that organises fundraising for local groups and we are having a cycle race challange (you are not allowed to encourage racing..) and the amount of Health and safety stuff we've had to organise and put in place to be allowed to have 100 cyclists go around a fairly rural and quiet route is staggering. The cycle club dinna give a fuck about that though. Blasting down the main road all over the place like sperm headed for a round about shaped egg and not a proper roundabout at that. One of those painted ovals in the middle of the road that no one seems to know how to work properly.

    Carnage. Lycra based madness.

    Kill them with magnets!

    Lycra Clad Cyclists are cunts ... all of them.

  6. Last film you watched?

    in Movies & TV

    Posted · Edited by Diesel

    I haven't posted on this thread in ages and have seen a fair amount of movies since then.

     

    Some recent ones...

     

    Place Beyond The Pines

    Excellent 3-part character study on actions and their far-reaching consequences. Top cast. 8.5/10

     

    Oblivion

    Good-looking fluff, starring a woefully miscast Cruiser. Great visuals, lame story, with a "twist" that you'll see coming a light year away. 6/10

     

    The Hobbit

    Drawn out and disappointing, this movie was ruined for me by Martin Freeman's inept turn as Bilbo Baggins. Even when faced with mortal danger, he had some stupid whimsical crack to make and it ruined any suspense or sense of real danger. The "diswashing scene" was particularly toe-curling. 3/10

     

    Star Trek : Into Darkness

    Exciting sci-fi action with the "new" cast settling nicely into their roles. Even ginger cunt Pegg and his shameful take on Scotty didn't ruin this one. My only criticism is the same one I've levelled at every action movie over the last 10 years or so - the fact that the protagonists seem to be able to absorb unlimited physical punishment and get back up again, even when hurtled 100 feet, full force, to the ground. Spock kicks serious ass in this one. 8.5/10

     

    The Evil Dead

    This one gets a point for the great opening - and fuck-all else. Dreadful. Watch the original instead. 1/10

     

    Dark Skies

    Uneventful alien abduction movie. Pretty uninvolving. 5/10

     

    The Last Stand

    A grizzled Anholt still manages to fill the screen as a local sherriff facing a High Noon scenario with some nasty drug dealers who are heading towards his small border town. 30+ years in Hollywood and he still can't pronounce 85% of his dialogue :)  6/10

     

    A Serbian Film (Uncut)

    Holy Mother of God!  - I wouldn't even attempt to rate this mind fuck (pun intended - if you've seen the movie).

  10. Tube Vs Solid State/hybrid (Opinion)

    in Musicians' Corner

    Posted

    I agree with Joda Serk's comments, especially around wattage.

     

    My Mesa Lonestar runs at 5, 15 or 30 watts and on the 15 watt setting actually murdered my 50w Cornford the other night in a live situation (2 x guitar, bass, drums, vox) when my mate was using the latter. Both of us were using Strats and were playing at similar volumes

     

    The clarity of tone on the Mesa, which like the Cornford run EL34's, lead to better cut-through.

  11. Tube Vs Solid State/hybrid (Opinion)

    in Musicians' Corner

    Posted · Edited by Diesel

    Personally, I prefer valve amps for the natural sound and the hitting power. I used my Cornford at last weekend gig and the guest guitarist used a Valvestate 250. He got completely lost in the mix and I was only running at 1/2 gain and 1/3 volume in a biggish hall.

     

    It was the opposite in a previous band where I used a Spider Valve 100 and the other guitarist had a DSL50. You just couldn't heard me at all until I was turned up way too loud.

     

    It's a matter of personal preference, and some great tones can be got out of those AVT's, but for me, there's no substitute for a valve or (tube) amp.

     

    As for maintenance, I'd contend that if a solid state amp goes "pop" circuit-wise, there's very little the Average Joe could do to fix it. Valves you can change yourself for the most part. Also, if you want to change the colour of your tone, it's not too difficult with a valve amp, some amps even let you change valve types (e.g from EL34 (British Marshall sound) to 6L6 (Fender blues sound) ) without the need for rebiasing.

     

    Solid states amps have their advantages too - they tend to be more relaible, quieter and are usually much lighter. Some of the newer ones  have a wide range of tone options via amp modelling - e.g Line 6 Spider and Flextone.

     

    As for hybrids, I've played through and owned a few and none of them really cut it for me. I owned a Bogner Alchemist and a Hughes & Kettner Switchblade, both of which had onboard effects - if that puts them in hybrid territory. Both were very good amps.

     

    Having said all that, I know a few guys who gig regularly with AVT's and are more than happy with them.

  15. Ever Feel Like Jacking It All In ?

    in Musicians' Corner

    Posted

    Folks,

     

    Did you ever feel like just chucking the playing side music altogether?

     

    Lately, I've not been enjoying my sessions with either of the bands I'm involved with.

     

    I have a May Weekend gig with the 3-piece I'm in and the usual pre-gig excitement has been replaced with a blend of dread and CBA.

     

    This isn't a new thing - I was a motorbike freak from age 8, through to my first bike at 14 (rode it to school illegally) and apart from a few financially-imposed breaks, I pretty much owned a bike right up until about 4 years ago, when I opened the garage door, took one look at my Fireblade and thought "Nup, I'm done with all this". I've never had more than a slight inkling to get another since.

     

    Now that same feeling is creeping in with guitars. I can't be arsed practicing, I put very little effort into last night's pre-gig practice session. I couldn't be bothered dialing in a decent tone on my amp and played the same E-minor solo in just about every song (regardless of key).

     

    Probably classic mid-life crisis, eh?  :)

     

    I just never thought it would happen with guitars.

     

    Does/Has anyone else - regardless of age - ever felt the same way?

     

    Thanks for reading.

     

     

  22. Effects Pedal Power Recommendations?

    in Musicians' Corner

    Posted

    I'm using a T-Rex Fuel tank Junior. I use individual isolated sockets to power my 3 dirt pedals as well as my tremolo as it's used as a sort of gain pedal too. All the modulation pedals (and there are many) are on a daisy chain from the tuner. It's pretty buzz free, all things considered.

     

    I have the T.Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon and it's great, though the noise levels from my Morley Bad Horsie do depend on the distance between it and the PSU (the farther away the better). All pedals - dirt (it changes on a weekly basis :)  ), tuner, wah and delay - are connected individually to the PSU.

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