geoffduncan

@geoffduncan@mindly.social

Seattle-based software/music/editing/otherstuff person. Not much for social media, bad at social networking. Views expressed are my own.

#mac #guitar #bass #Seattle #MusicProduction #AudioProduction #infosec #CyberSecurity #TechPolicy #TechWriter #TechEditor

Formerly kind of somebody in the Apple universe. Once lost on Jeopardy. Have never held public office.

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eyesquash, to guitar
@eyesquash@mastodon.world avatar

So my had small . And a few pulled out a little. And I hastily filed them down.
Badly.
And took it to a place. Needs a refret now, because crowning tools have deep U-shaped teeth that can't work on small frets without gouging the fretboard on either side.
I could buy an okay guitar or a nice new neck for the price.
'stead, Bucky's getting fixed, mostly, and staying Bucky, mostly.

geoffduncan,

@eyesquash
For just a refret, or a PLEK'd refret?

geoffduncan,

@eyesquash
Yeah, that can be pricey. I've had the good fortune of knowing good people to do refrets, so when I've had it done I've always been very happy with the results. However, they've all retired (or passed on) so I'll need to find someone new eventually.

Given the level of quality or work I've seen humans produce, I've always been dubious of PLEK. But the fingerboard on the one PLEK'd instrument I use regularly is a legitimate delight.

geoffduncan,

@eyesquash
Since the original had small frets…were they both narrow and shallow? Have you thought about what new fretwire you'll go with?

geoffduncan,

@eyesquash
I'm no expert, but
0.050 is on the tall side or the market. Jumbos or "tall modern" 6105s are typically 0.055, but lose a little with crowning, etc. Medium jumbos are about 0.035. The widths vary a little: "tall modern" are fairly narrow, most other are nearly the same except for pretty-narrow 6230s found on some older instruments.

Like you, I tend to like them all. There's a bass here with worn 6230s…and I love it. But there's a rock guitar with stainless jumbos I also love.

eyesquash, to random
@eyesquash@mastodon.world avatar

If I ever have a social media app that will remember my place in the timeline and take me back to it when I reopen the app, it will probably be a stroke-induced hallucination.

geoffduncan,

@eyesquash
Ice Cubes on iOS seems to do that for Mastodon. I don’t know if it’s of any use to me personally, but…hey, a data point?

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

You have to love this when you’re starting a migration. I have 800 GB to transfer. At this rate, it would allegedly be about 17 minutes. I am not holding out for that speed.

geoffduncan,

@glennf
I feel like if I say something right now just my proximity to your Mastodon feed could jinx it.

geoffduncan,

@glennf
I'll be curious how you get on with the Studio. A couple, uh, studios I work with have them and some of the experiences have been less-than-exceptionally-good.

davemark, to random
@davemark@mastodon.social avatar

If you could go back in time for just a day, relive any day in YOUR LIFE:

  • Would you do it?
  • What day would you revisit?
geoffduncan,

@davemark
It would hinge on whether I'm merely re-living it, or whether I can change anything.

collin, to guitar
@collin@ruby.social avatar

The Fender Jaguar must be a lot less popular than the other models. You currently can't buy a made in America Jaguar other than the Johnny Marr signature.

geoffduncan,

@collin
Fender might be having its lunch eaten a bit by the Squier Classic Vibe series, but I'm pretty sure there are several current Vintera and Player Jags.

geoffduncan,

@collin
I saw a "new" Player Jag toward the end of summer that had a non-maple fingerboard (pau ferro, I guess). But, again, Mexico.

geoffduncan, to Sony

So, I know my opinion counts for nothing, but dismissing Mayim Bialik as a co-host of is a serious error.

I have no issue with Ken Jennings. But if Jeopardy—and trivia/quizzing in general—wants a future, it needs to build a bigger tent. Mayim Bialik's presence was a very visible step in that direction. Dismissing her is a step backward.

geoffduncan, to bass

Just got a compliment from a recording engineer for the "monstrous, thundering" bass tone on a rock-and-roll recording I did last summer.

I don't know if I have the heart to tell him it's a Bass VI through a tiny guitar amp. Those things really are secret weapons.

geoffduncan,

@billyjoebowers
The mini Ampeg stacks are like the Micro CL with the 2x10? I've almost no hands-on with those.

You'll laugh: my preferred live rig is still an tank of an SWR 2x10 combo I bought in the 90s, sold, then bought back. I could do with it were about 30lbs lighter. Sometimes I pair it with a second 2x10.

Rehearsals etc.? Baby Class D amp and a 2x10.

Recording? Anything goes, although I do a lot of direct and a lot of SansAmp.

geoffduncan,

@billyjoebowers
Haven't played those. Aside from a 360 (and, yes, why wouldn't it be in a bathroom?) my only real experience with Acoustic is a fairly recent 1x12 cab a collegue brings to rehearsals (and I borrowed for one gig). Sounds pretty good, and it is amazingly lightweight and easy to schlep around.

geoffduncan,

@billyjoebowers
What's your take on why the small guitar amp thing works? For a few years I've thought it was a peculiarity of the way I mic mine up (not exotic: SM57 or E906 on center, back a little from the grille, open back amp square to a moderately reflective wall), but hearing from other people there seems to be some other mojo going on.

I always take a dry safety with a DI so I have options, but I don't think I've ever used the DI track when recording the Bass VI like that.

geoffduncan, to Musicproduction

That feeling when a client urges you to finish a job ahead of an already-aggressive deadline, so you ask for more money. To your shock, they actually pay it, so you do all the work and turn in the deliverables… and a day later they kill the whole project. What a waste of time.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
@rjblaskiewicz@mstdn.social avatar

I don't know if my bandmates are just being nice...it's sort of hard to take myself seriously as a guitarist most days, but I've been working on the solo for Another Brick in the Wall, pt. 2, and after practice I told them I was likely not going to be ready with it for the next gig (a Christmas party for science hippies). And they were like, "what? that sounded fine." And I was like:

geoffduncan,

@rjblaskiewicz
Yep. First rule of iconic guitar parts is that only other guitarists notice. "In the ballpark" is close enough for most of the people most of the time.

geoffduncan,

@rjblaskiewicz
I’m glad it’s working out well!

I’ve been fortunate in that most bands I’ve played with that do covers have had a “we’ll do it our way” policy so, most of the time, establishing a few landmarks was enough.

A friend played in one of those flashy commercial bands that do covers as close to the originals as possible and it drove her nuts. She could do it, just didn’t enjoy it past the pay.

geoffduncan,

@rjblaskiewicz
That’s the solo where I first learned “big bends” and peeled my fingers away from my nails. :)

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

Retail theft went down and the national retailers federation had to admit 5% not 50% of theft was from criminal gangs. This whole panic was concocted to close underperforming and unionized stores and the media bought it. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ek0.cMux.iabRLNkE-vqu&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

geoffduncan,

@glennf
Do you have any sense of how reliable the "actual stats from the police" are? The phrase makes me wonder about a who-watches-the-watchers situation.

geoffduncan,

@glennf
Gotcha—thanks for the context.

My experience is (obviously) hyper-local and anecdotal to a few business owners I've spoken with. One comment that stuck with me was along the lines of "We no longer report anything unless insurance requires a police report," but that business is in a fairly chancy location: I wouldn't generalize from any of it.

geoffduncan,

@glennf
Agreed. Examples like these don't seem hard to find, but translating from them to broader trends is a difficult job, and by their nature those even the most rigorously analyzed trends won't precisely reflect on-the-ground reality at a location, well, anywhere. Such are stats.

collin, to guitar
@collin@ruby.social avatar

I love the way old guitars that have been played look, but I have not, and never will, understand the appeal of pre-aged guitars like these $5000+ Fender custom shop guitars. They look cool because they've been played hard for years and there's a history to it.

If it just looks that way because someone took sandpaper to it in the factory, what is the point? It's not like you can't find actual vintage guitars for that much money.

Relic Stratocaster

geoffduncan,

@bradexample @collin
I dunno if "reclicing" is comparable to ripped jeans: relicing started in the mid-90s and seems to be picking up steam (Murphy Lab, etc.), where ripped jeans have appeared and gone away a few times in that span.

Relicing is not for me, but a lot of what makes a guitar special to a player is how we feel when playing it. If a reclic'd instrument lets someone get into a headspace that produces better music, then I'm not opposed.

Theblueone, to random
@Theblueone@mastodon.social avatar

As for buying/selling music gear on line I've given up on Reverb.com... I've had to deal with three scammers in my last four uses of the site on both the buying and selling side. One sale that was almost $3k. It's a cesspool now, like anything else on the internet now - grifters and no accountability corporate ownership.

geoffduncan,

@Theblueone
What are you using instead?

I hear the same from several colleagues, although my limited personal experience with Reverb remains relatively good. Many scammy contacts when selling, but they were easy to ignore. The handful of purchases I've made were smooth and as-promised. My main hesitation with Reverb is Plaid.

Around here, Craigslist still does pretty well. Scammers and questionable things there too, but the "genuine ratio" is still workable.

geoffduncan,

@Theblueone
Interesting. I haven't done a transaction through the Sweetwater Gear Exchange yet. I've glanced from time to time when chasing particular things for someone, but so far none have turned up.

I think if you want a payout, they go through HyperWallet. The only client I had who used HyperWallet left in 2018(?) when they were acquired by PayPal; I don't know the specifics behind that.

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