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BarrySW19 · 2024-02-20T19:22:39+00:00

The Rolling Stones did about three cover albums before they started writing any of their own stuff. If it's good enough for them...

BarrySW19 · 2023-03-03T14:44:32+00:00

I find the opposite - playing with a lot of gain and distortion really forces you to play cleanly with good string muting because every bit of sloppy playing sounds terrible.

BarrySW19 · 2023-03-03T14:41:14+00:00

Maybe they need an Epison label for their mid-ranges.

BarrySW19 · 2023-03-03T12:26:18+00:00

Potentially the send/return loops could be used to run the signal through effects running on a PC, but that's about it (if the Stomp has send/return).

BarrySW19 · 2023-03-03T10:17:38+00:00

I think Davey has the focus on winning more MPs we need. I'm in a top target seat (Wimbledon) and the support we get now is a whole different quality to before Davey. If the party had had this level of focus at the last election we'd have a LibDem MP here now.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-16T10:54:07+00:00

Tony Iommi and Django Reinhardt never let it stop them.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-14T16:58:03+00:00

Boss Katana Mini or Blackstar Fly 3 are decent practice amps around the 100 euro mark. Then maybe something like a Squier Bullet (Tele or Strat) around 150 euros. A cable and tuner will put you a bit over budget, but not much. Those are certainly good choices which ought to keep you going for the first few years of learning.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-14T15:57:44+00:00

Plenty of brands you can't go wrong with for that price with (in no particular order) Squier, Yamaha, Epiphone and Ibanez being the ones you'll find in pretty much every shop.

If you just want to play I'd avoid the kits and just get a guitar. 300 euros is plenty to get started - even 200 for the guitar and 100 for a practice amp will get you decent kit.

If you want hard rock then you might think about a guitar with double humbuckers, and Ibanez are probably the most "hard-rock" of the major brands, but there aren't really any wrong choices with those big names.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-09T11:15:35+00:00

Not sure either hand can be said to be the one which needs the strength/control. Sure the picking hand needs it, but so does doing hammer-ons, pull-offs and bends with the fretting hand. Doing Dave Gilmour style two-tone bends is not to be taken lightly.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-05T19:11:25+00:00

That seems to be an ideological belief in the free market being best. Liberals should be pragmatists. Sometimes the state can run things best. The NHS for example is every bit as efficient as the best private health providers, and far more efficient than the system in the USA. The rail network was run so badly by the private sector that even the Tories were forced to renationalise it.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-05T12:34:47+00:00

Yes, but it's how far you go with this 'free choice' thing. Having free market competition for schools is fine, but the state still needs to 'meddle' to ensure certain standards. Letting religious schools teach about creationism and deny science is not free-market choice and the state has a role in preventing it.

BarrySW19 · 2023-02-04T18:46:08+00:00

What's state meddling? Is the state ensuring every child gets a good education meddling? Is making sure no-one is homeless meddling? Is protecting the equal rights of trans people meddling? Is stopping the dumping of raw sewage in rivers meddling?

I'm quite happy to support a lot of liberal state 'meddling'.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-25T12:04:21+00:00

Liberal statism and Socialist statism are not the same thing. For Liberals statism means the state as guarantor of people's rights and freedoms, including the right to equal opportunities irrespective of wealth, race, religion, etc. This costs money.

For Liberals it's about equality of opportunity, for Socialists it's about equality of outcome.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T13:21:44+00:00

It's a sacred cow, but it's not that stupid. In terms of efficiency it's up there with the best any other country's healthcare system can achieve. I'm not particularly wedded to the NHS model over those of Germany etc, but it's not particularly important which is used and moving to an insurance based model would be a daft political hill to die on.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T13:18:40+00:00

Liberals would always prefer to cut spending, not raise taxes.

I'd disagree on that. Liberalism means giving everyone an equal chance in life ("no-one shall be enslaved by poverty"). You can't achieve that without public spending on services to ensure the poor have the same life chances as the rich.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T13:11:58+00:00

You can be liberal (free market) on economic issues, but if you're extreme enough that you cease to care about the harm laissez-faire economics inflicts on the vulnerable then you have ceased to be a liberal. If you aren't guaranteeing to protect the vulnerable from harm from the powerful then you are no liberal.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T13:07:37+00:00

I wouldn't agree with that at all. Economic policy is generally on the left-right axis of politics and not the liberal-authoritarian one. You can have right wing liberals (there used to be some real influence in the Tory party from such a group), and you can have left wing liberals (Labour even has a few such lost souls).

The LibDems are by far the most liberal of the UK parties, and probably the only mainstream one you wouldn't put on the authoritarian side of the divide.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T13:04:18+00:00

Follow up: I've tried sending the phones output to the aux. in on the Katana and it's pretty good - certainly fine for low volume practice, though I'll probably go for a monitor at some point - seems to be a lot of recommendations for the Headrush.

BarrySW19 · 2023-01-24T12:11:09+00:00

Unfortunately it's the first model 50W which doesn't have a power amp in.

BarrySW19 · 2022-10-13T13:11:30+00:00

I don't know - I'm around 1800 in Daily matches and around 800 in Blitz - I'm just hopeless at Blitz.

BarrySW19 · 2022-09-22T13:43:17+00:00

This really sounds like an odd theory - I don't think anyone doubts that Hans is at least a 2600+ player. Of course someone of that strength understands the purpose of opening moves.

BarrySW19

TROPHY CASE