Correction, it's the second thing they learn. The first thing is to learn how to carry a cable and to run after a cameraman and/or similar stupid jobs.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 19:05:25 -0500, Brett McCoy wrote: They don't use amplifiers for the guitar anymore, they are using one of those "perfect" amp and speaker simulations that are even able to compensate bad pre-amps (that likely is the reason that those "perfect" amp and speaker simulations only can be used with noise gates ;).

On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 7:12 PM, Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf(a)alice-dsl.net> wrote: "They"? Who is "they"? Some of us use real amps, with tubes in them, even :-) -- Brett W. McCoy -- http://www.brettwmccoy.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "In the rhythm of music a secret is hidden; If I were to divulge it, it would overturn the world." -- Jelaleddin Rumi

On Saturday 17 January 2015 19:36:09 Ralf Mardorf did opine And Gene did reply: Yup, I grew up with tubes, some of which in the later years were quite novel. And not all of them work by modulating the current through the tube. In the high power world of UHF broadcast, the final stage was, back in the 70's, a klystron. And high power is not an exaggeration since it takes at least 130KWH to run just one of them. Not many left today as newer, more efficient technology is in use. At the peak of their use in the mid-70's, I was probably one of perhaps 30 men in the country who could uncrate one of them after Varian had collected their $130K and shiped, remove it and hang it up by a chain hoist, fit all the resonant cavities to it along with its cooling water (70 GPM) set it in the dolly, center it in the magnets or center the magnet wobble plates on it, bring it up at very low power & tune and adjust the magnets, raising the power, step and repeat until it was at full power. Mind you this was a device that a wrong magnet setting would cause it to self destruct in 10 milliseconds. If that happens, then you pick up the phone and call the governor & tell him to get a quorum together so they can authorize another $130K expenditure. I never had to make that phone call. There are some choices today, that are at times even better because the pickup coils are velocity sensitive, which isn't entirely suitable for a bass axe. I have in recent years seen several different kinds of microphones used as git fiddle and axe pickups, including one guy who adapted a PZM (electret condenser at its heart) to his acoustic axe and it sounded pretty darned good. When he gave the big string a pull, that whole barn made into a theater breathed well enough you could feel the breeze in an open window. Cheers, Gene Heskett -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> US V Castleman, SCOTUS, Mar 2014 is grounds for Impeaching SCOTUS

On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 6:39 PM, Ralf Mardorf &lt;ralf.mardorf(a)alice-dsl.net&gt; wrote: Can I mention the piezo pickups I installed in my accordion. Gawd they sounded awful :) (Accordion wasn't bad back then when I actually knew how to play one). -- **** Listen to my FREE CD at http://www.mellowood.ca/music/cedars **** Bob van der Poel ** Wynndel, British Columbia, CANADA ** EMAIL: bob(a)mellowood.ca WWW: http://www.mellowood.ca

On Sun, 18 Jan 2015 03:44:14 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote: JFTR, IOW a piezo pickup is the better choice compared to a coil. Using the correct directionality by a capacitor mic, even for live usage might be the much better choice for recording an accordion ;).

On Sun, 18 Jan 2015, Ralf Mardorf wrote: The wulitzer reed organ my parents had used capacitive pickups. This was back in tube days and the back plate was elevated to 400v... maybe not something to use in a handheld reed machine. The speakers used a field coil instead of permanent magnets which also acted as power supply chokes. (yes I got stung by the pick power at least once) -- Len Ovens www.ovenwerks.net

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 19:10:18 -0800 (PST), Len Ovens wrote: Parents should use isolating transformer/galvanic isolation in every room ;). When I was a child drawers and pillboxes were not childproof, nobody I know ever was hurt by a drawer or pill, but we all were electroshocked when we were young.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 20:42:32 -0700, Bob van der Poel wrote: and still ok for this purpose, but we were talking about guitars and coils and not about piezos for other instruments. At what position should be a piezo be useful, when using it for a _solid body_ guitar?

On Sun, 18 Jan 2015, Ralf Mardorf wrote: Under the bridge saddles, where they are on my Ibanez SRF705 Bass: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eb_page14.php?year=2014&cat_id=2&… Sounds fantastic. Gives the closest to upright I could get from an electric. I just wanted a "real" fretless to replace the bargain squire I ripped the frets out of years ago. I think I used too soft of an epoxy to fill the fret slots and/or the fretboard was to soft to begin with. Anyway, I had lots of fun using the squire and (because I carry wieght on my shoulders all week at work) it was 3 pounds lighter than the RIC I normally used. So the squire became my gig bass... didn't like some lights and had other issues. The Ibanez is so much more playable, no buzz/hum, nice long neck (2.5 octaves). The piezo pu when I bought it was just a frill I thought I wouldn't use... but I have ended up using it the most. I mix in some neck to bring out the B string, but that is about it. I think a piezo PU could work well on a 6 string as well with minimal effects. -- Len Ovens www.ovenwerks.net

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 21:05:07 -0800 (PST), Len Ovens wrote: Do you know any hard rock guitarist playing a solid body 6 string guitar using a piezo? Do you know any company selling a solid body 6 string guitar with a piezo? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_%28music_technology%29#Piezoelectric_p… On Sun, 18 Jan 2015 03:56:08 -0500, Gene Heskett wrote: in Germany it was named Tandy, but they sold the same brands as Radio Shack did, such as Realistic. Some of the products were made for Realistic, others were 1:1 copies and others were weak fakes. I own a Realistic Concertmate-200, it's a 1:1 copy of the original Casio http://www.crumblenet.co.uk/keyb/vl-1.html . I also own a Realistic SM 58S fake, it's a cheap fake that has absolutely nothing to do with a real SM 58S, http://www.kellaninc.com/ProductImages/02-18-13DSCN6071_1633x1225.jpg OTOH while the sound quality is less good as that of a real Sure, it is as more or less robust as the real Sure. My one is over 30 years old. Including a switch to a microphone is idiotic, I wonder why they faked the version with the switch instead the version without a switch. The first synth we had, for our first band was the http://www.vintagesynth.com/moog/mg1.php owned by Dirk Brauner, the guy who nowadays builds and sells overpriced microphones. It was a special edition build for Tandy. Tandy also sold semiconductor for much too much money, as Conrad in Germany does nowadays. In Germany Tandy was a shop for beginners (children) without experiences, no professional bought something from Tandy. It's similar for Conrad nowadays, just sometimes we buy something from Conrad. I got a cheap laboratory power supply, since it was an end-of-range model and even it's casing alone usually would cost more than the complete power supply did cost. Anyway, in general I dislike to buy from shops such as Radio Shack and Conrad. The tend to rip off the customers.

On Sun, 18 Jan 2015 11:18:30 +0000, Fons Adriaensen wrote: Hi Fons, that is a smart question and the answer depends on how far away from your home the next Conrad store is. If you have good luck there's a small repair shop that in addition sells electronic components for a fair price. Unfortunately there aren't that many shops anymore, most were closed within the 90s. I order from Reichelt [1]. If just a single exotic resistor for e.g. a switching power supply is needed and I wouldn't know a friend who usually is able to help me, I would consider to pay for a public transport tickets from Oberhausen to Essen, were Conrad is (or was?) and back to my hometown and pay too much money for this single exotic resistor. OTOH it just takes 24 hours to get it ordered from Reichelt and the minimum order value does cost less than the public transport tickets do cost. Buying from Conrad instead of ordering from Reichelt seldom makes sense, assumed Conrad isn't next door to you and you really just want to buy in very small quantities. Regards, Ralf [1] http://www.reichelt.de/

On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 12:37:49PM +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote: One U-Bahn stop, and I can easily walk there if not in a hurry :-) Thanks for the Reichelt pointer, I downloaded their catalog and they seem to have all a need. Tschuss, -- FA A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia. It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)

On 18/01/15 18:18, Fons Adriaensen wrote: Assuming you don't mind ordering online and receiving in the mail Farnell have outlets in many countries across Europe and beyond. Germany: http://de.farnell.com/ A bit more expensive than RS or some of the cheaper sources here in the UK but usually better prices and selection than any walk in hobby/electronic shops... Although it seems RS have a Germany store too: http://de.rs-online.com/web/ Often there are trade counters in large cities where you can go and collect as well. Dale.

On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 07:18:34 +0000, Will Godfrey wrote: In Germany Reichelt seems to be the best source. If you need something exotic, e.g. Amphenol Tuchel, then you need to order from RS.