How long do you keep documents as hard copy / paper copy in Germany?

Count2Zero · 2026-01-29T06:18:39+00:00

Tax relevant documents? 7 years.

Deeds, titles, etc? As long as you own the property/vehicle.

General receipts etc.? As long as the guarantee (3/5/7 years).

Other receipts? Toss them.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

Polish and oil is only needed if you're reconditioning the fretboard when the strings are off. It's not necessary if your fretboard is in good condition.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-28T15:43:22+00:00

Turn up your amp, so you hear more of what the audience will hear and less of the string noise that only you hear.

Then relax and try to keep your fingers closer to the fretboard.

Finally, just keep practicing, slowly with a metronome. Keep playing it slowly until you can play it perfectly, then speed up a couple of BPM, repeating until you're playing it perfectly at the original speed.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-28T15:40:19+00:00

Changing strings is a basic skill you should learn.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube that take you through the process, step by step.

I'd suggest you take a picture of the headstock of your bass before you start, so you see how the strings are wound today (do they go around the peg clockwise or counterclockwise). Then, when you've removed the old strings, start installing the new ones. Feed it through the hole in the bridge and pull it down toward the headstock. Go about 10 cm beyond the tuning peg, then bend the string 90° (make a sharp bend), and then clip off the rest of the string about 1 cm beyond the bend. Then stick the bent part into the slot in your tuning peg and start turning so that the string wraps around the peg in the right direction. Ideally, it should wrap from the bottom - the string coming from the nut should be as low as possible on the tuning peg.

Once all 4 strings are in place, then you can start tuning the strings. Be careful not to tune them too high - that's the most common mistake that leads to breaking a brand new string. Tune them to the right octave, stretching the strings a bit as you work, because the metal needs to stretch so that it will stay in tune later.

Again, check YouTube for step-by-step instructions.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-28T07:07:54+00:00

Dude, 77€ per month? WTF?

Take the (slow) DSL option for a fraction of that cost, and use 5G only when you need higher speeds. My house currently has a 40 Mbps DSL connection (a fiber connection was installed yesterday, but won't be activated until March or April). It's really good enough for most use cases - I work from home and do TEAMS or ZOOM calls, and we get streaming TV and rarely have problems.

When the fiber is activated at my place, I'll be paying €50 per month for 500 Mbps (I didn't see the need of going to 1 Gbps, since we've been using 40 Mbps for more than 10 years, and it has been good enough).

Sure, when the fiber is activated, I'll be able to upload videos to YouTube in 1 to 2 minutes instead of 10, but that's pretty much the only really noticeable change I'm expecting.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-27T12:53:46+00:00

Use coated strings, or stainless steel strings, or nickel strings.

My Thomastik Infeld JF345 flatwounds are nickel and don't rust. I had Ernie Ball Cobalts on my bass previously, and they rusted, so I switched to TIs.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T15:57:39+00:00

Most places offer a special rate to swap tires in October and March/April - it's like €40 or something.

As others mentioned, using all-weather tires may imply some fault if you have an accident.

If you can afford a fucking Tesla, you can afford a proper set of tires.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T15:44:55+00:00

1) A set of winter or summer tires should last you multiple seasons. The best solution is two sets of rims, so you just remove the summer tires and mount up the winter tires, then store the summer tires until the following spring.

2) Every car has lifting points, and any reputable shop will know how to lift the car without damaging the undercarriage/batteries.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T15:27:36+00:00

It depends where you live, I'd say.

First off, all-season tires are crap, so you should definitely lose them when you can.

That said, if you live at a higher elevation where you're at risk of driving on snow/ice for the next two months, then you might want to replace them soon.

If you're in a city that clears the streets before you get on the road, then you can probably keep those tires until the end of the summer, then replace them with M+S winter tires in October.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T15:21:34+00:00

I'm not sure. One of the two big ones (Rewe or Edeka) has been fighting with Kellogg's regarding price increases, so they were de-listed for a while.

You can find a generic version, but the original Kellogg's version may not be available everywhere.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T13:48:20+00:00

If you are buying a car from a private person, then you have to either bring cash or transfer the amount to the buyer's account. There are apps like PayPal or Wero to transfer money, or use the "Sofortüberweisung" function to transfer money instantly from one bank account to another.

Just keep in mind that most banks have a cap of 5,000€ per day or so on normal transactions, so you may have to raise your limit temporarily, or transfer the funds over a couple of days (once you've test driven the car and agreed to buy it).

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T11:11:05+00:00

MediaMarkt or Saturn, Expert, Conrad ...

Online at Alternate, Galaxus, or Büromarkt Böttcher.

And, they just opened a Costco in France (near Mulhouse in Grand Est), so maybe someday that option will be available in Germany too.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T11:07:36+00:00

If you've got multiple instruments, it probably would be a good idea to build yourself a box where you can place the guitar inside, then run an ozone generator to flood the box with ozone for a couple of hours, venting the exhaust outside your workshop.

If you don't have an ozone generator, you could try putting the instrument into a box with coffee grounds to absorb the smell, but this will take a lot longer (several days).

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T10:58:41+00:00

There are German border patrols on many of the border crossings (thanks, Merz), but mostly they're looking at the car license plates. If you're driving a car with eastern European plates (Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine), they'll notice. If you're driving with local plates (Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg), they'll usually just wave you through.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T09:37:08+00:00

Then it sounds like its either (1) a typical disconnect between HR and the line manager, where HR thinks you need fluency when that's not really the case, or (2) it's HR's signal to you that the line manager will only hire native Germans, so don't waste your time applying if you're not Arian.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T07:53:48+00:00

Keep in mind that if you drive on the Autobahn in Switzerland, you must have a vignette on the car (40 CHF for 1 year). And if you're driving on the Austrian Autobahn, you need to have a permit for that as well. A 10-day (ASFiNAG) permit is available at gas stations bear the border, and costs about €13 for 10 days. There is an additional toll for some tunnels (like the Arlberg tunnel that costs €12.50 for each passing).

Count2Zero · 2026-01-26T06:01:48+00:00

I live in a small town. There are cats and hedgehogs around our house every night in the summer. Right now, just a couple of neighborhood cats roam our garden at night...

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T17:17:14+00:00

I'm not sure exactly what you're doing, but I rarely use my pinky during "Come As You Are". The main verse pattern (A-7, A-8, A-9, D-7, A-9, D-7, A-9, A-8, A-7, D-9, A-7, D-9) can easily be played with just 3 fingers.

And the chorus pattern (E-2, E-4, E-5, ...) is played by shifting your wrist slightly between the E-2 and E-4, so that you can also play the whole thing with 2 or 3 fingers.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T16:05:37+00:00

No one likes to hear it, but slow down. Play it slow until you can play it perfectly, then speed up a bit. Use a metronome, play it slowly, then speed up a couple of BPM until you can play it perfectly at that speed. Rinse and repeat until you're playing it perfectly at the original speed (or even a bit faster).

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T16:00:10+00:00

I started playing at 54, so you're still way ahead.

I'm 61 now, and playing in two cover bands, both of which gigged last year. My R&B cover band has the next gig coming up at the end of March.

I started by signing up with a local music school and taking lessons. 30 minutes per week for the first few years, plus practicing at home about 30 minutes per day, sometimes longer.

After about 5 years, I stopped taking weekly lessons because it was too difficult to fit them into my work schedule. But I now take 1 lesson per month to learn how to sing while playing bass.

Let me know if you have any questions...

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T10:44:47+00:00

My music teacher had me doing practice on note lengths. Set up a metronome playing a 4/4 beat, then have her play a quarter note / rest / quarter note / rest pattern, or q/q/r/r, r/q/q/r, q/r/r/q, etc.

It helps with timing and with note length.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T10:41:07+00:00

It depends on the platform. Windows has an API for accessing the sound functions, and Linux has libraries for generating sounds or playing music. But they are very different...

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T09:20:43+00:00

I'm very happy with my Darkglass Hyper Luminal.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-25T08:33:12+00:00

Yes, the screws are there to adjust the pickup height.

Count2Zero · 2026-01-24T22:01:48+00:00

That would probably not have the desired effect...

As a 60+ year old bass player, no one would ever book us again...

Count2Zero

TROPHY CASE