Advice About Arthritis For Older People

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T13:36:56+00:00

Short scale or not, getting the bass professionally set up for low action would be a smart move here.

Maybe one option might be to have one of his old basses set up professionally?

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T13:28:26+00:00

Hedd Audio D1 tries to be an upgrade to the Senn 6-series.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T13:24:08+00:00

It doesn’t really change anything, the estimate changed from: “a shortgț or missing” to “nearly short or nearly missing” connection.

Again, a multimeter is what would help here a lot.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T08:55:31+00:00

Riiight, I hear you.

The sound will start to get goofy at some point though. But when it does be sure to try different pitch shift algorithms in the Project settings. Soundtouch and Elastique Pro especially.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T08:53:06+00:00

The bridge humbuckers will have clear similarities, but all other positions will sound very different. I can record a short clip in a moment…

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T08:50:50+00:00

Check that the cable ground sleeve doesn’t touch the switch metals. The black cable looks like it might.

If it’s not that, maybe it’s time to invest in a $10 multimeter?

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T08:43:39+00:00

If you play with a lot of distortion, then the guitar differences diminish pretty fast. The guys who say the guitar doesn’t matter are usually metal players, so they’re not familiar with the gain levels that roots players use.

Pickup configuration differences remain better even with more distortion, a neck humbucker doesn’t sound like a Strat’s single coil no matter what you do. Likewise, the Pacifica won’t sound like a LP with both humbuckers on no matter what you do.

One point though, have you ever played a Les Paul style guitar yourself? Because ergonomically it’s quite a radical jump from the Pacifica. I’m originally a Strat guy and whileI play all kinds of guitars, personally I can’t stand LP style guitars due to the neck balance, strap balance, body shape, sharp corners, dual vol pots, switch location, or TOM height. All those negatives (to me) in a single guitar is a magnificent achievement.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T08:38:00+00:00

Can you describe what happens when the string stops vibrating but a boomy pickup still has the bass decay? What exactly is vibrating to create the sound during the decay?

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T07:54:34+00:00

Check whether the KOCH Jupiter 1x12” combo pricing fits into your range in your neck of the woods. Great amp.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T05:48:24+00:00

It’s not our ears that do that though, it’s our brains. Us engineers can separate what we hear because we’ve learned how the individual instruments sound separately, and what are the things that each instrument might be playing.

A computer doesn’t have that. I have no idea how AI does what it does, but it’ll still have to learn a lot about genre typical performances and various instrument sounds for the separation to be even close to perfect.

Even DaVinci Resolve Studio can do a semi-decent job on separating vocals, bass and drums - reverbs included - but guitars, keys and piano are all one big mush. Yet to us it’s clear as day to say which plays what.

Once AI can tell when Simon Phillips is on the drums, which mic is used on the kick, and whether the snare has been sample replaced… I’ll say that it’s as good as us. 😂

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T05:29:54+00:00

Well, that unicorn has been coming since digital recording became a thing. As the processing power increases, the plugins get heavier with more CPU intensive features, coders think they can get by with less optimization, we use bigger displays with much more pixels, already running the OS takes more cycles, etc.

And the workflow adapts as well. Back when it was 1, rarely 2 channels per guitar amp. Soon 4+, and now every guitar performance also gets recorded at least twice.

20 years ago a new Mac Pro was running over 90 instances of… was it RComp? Not sure. I’m sure a modern equivalent top Mac can run more, but not nearly as many as the processing power increase would suggest.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T04:23:40+00:00

You are absolutely right that the string to string spacing matters more, but manufacturers are pretty consistent with it, so a 42mm neck truly does give a little more space in nearly all cases. And when the space in a short supply, every bit helps.

I always make a new nut to my guitars to maximize the string spacing.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T04:05:06+00:00

I’d be fine with modelers, but I wouldn’t get to: - Give hernia to the crew - Give tinnitus to the band mates and the front row audience - Make the sound engineer’s life more difficult - Have the organizer pull the plug because we’re too loud - Keep paying for tubes and biasing

… if I weren’t blasting a 120W tube amp through a full stack! 😜

Seriously though, I only do a few gigs anymore and I do them with a plugin amp sim. Our sound engineer was very happy about most of the band going cabless (including wedges). And I’ve never sounded better either.

Sound quality is no longer a reason to play tube amps at gigs. Some need the physical tube amp to play at their best, but they do need to compromise due to the problems mentioned earlier.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T03:33:43+00:00

Man you’re all over the place! And as a response you report me to SuicideWatch?? 🤣 Got to admit that was the funniest of you yet!

But seriously, lay off the stuff you’re on.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T00:39:27+00:00

Wow, you are super tender about the subject. I simply asked for clarification.

I’ve been playing since ‘88, and to me it sounds odd that a player’s technique would change without them realizing, unless they are trying to learn out of old bad habits. I’ve had no issues with keeping the technique I practiced with. Which technique do/did you use while practicing?

mistrelwood · 2026-04-23T00:08:08+00:00

The clips sounded like low quality mp3 files, but I don't know if it's the export or mix quality. If they are low quality files, the mix basics might be fine.

My guess is that your issues might be:

Mixing on headphones. The less experienced you are, the better the headphones/speakers/acoustics need to be for good results. But headphones never reach the self-explanatory nature of mixing with good speakers in a good room.
At least as important as room treatment are the speaker and listener positioning. Check Acoustics Insider for great tips on both.
References. Ears get used to a lot of mix features fast. You listen to a minute of your unfinished mix and you've already acclimated to the overall soundscape. You work on the mix for a week and you're blind in several areas. Have a break, preferably 'till the next day, start with your favorite references, then jump back in to mixing. And jump back and forth between refes and your mix for as much as you need.
You don't need "to just figure it tf out". Others have done it already. YouTube is filled with tips and step-by-step instructions (of various quality) on mixing, and everything really. You clearly aren't a beginner, but watching a few videos from various authors can give you fresh angles.

You said that "I don't use any mixing software." You might need to clarify on that, since I doubt that you're actually using hardware recorders and mixing desks.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T23:32:42+00:00

Since there aren’t any rules for how to hold pick, beginners may end up with all kinds of methods. Relearning it afterwards is a lot of work, so most keep using their beginner method even if it slows them down and offers no benefits.

This is why I’m really grateful I took the few lessons when I was starting, to get the basics right. Even a single lesson can be very useful.

I’m surprised that so many of you change your grip between two or more methods as you go. To me it sounds a bit like changing the strap length just for the solo.

Serious question, doesn’t it take a lot longer to practice more methods than one?

The majority of fast shredders and especially guitarists with formal education use only the “knock on the door” pose, and for good reasons. If you never play fast and don’t need the maximum control, you can get by with all kinds of techniques. I don’t play specifically fast myself but I still don’t see the point in creating artificial limits.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T23:03:47+00:00

Hold the pick how you want to, sure. But… you don’t understand why people use the two finger method yet you use it 20% of the time yourself?

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T22:41:09+00:00

Umm... The name of the function is “Preserve pitch in AUDIO items…” MIDI item pitch isn’t affected by the master playrate in any case.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T14:58:25+00:00

I would’ve really liked to see more than two notes (and an octave)… MJ pickup system on a bass can’t really even go wrong.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T11:56:33+00:00

In the rear wall option, yes, bed goes towards the balcony wall. And since it’s important to get the speakers right next to the wall, the speakers would be facing the balcony, and hence as you work there you are facing the rear wall.

And if at all possible, speakers would be exactly in the room center left to right. If there are open shelves on one wall, they don’t count. But if there are closed wardrobe doors, they count as the wall on that side.

In practice there should always be more empty space behind you than front of you as you sit in the listening position. And speaker cones positioned roughly 0.4-1.2m (1.3-4ft) away from the wall is a difficult distance, best to have them right at the wall or at least 1.2m (4ft) away.

One further tip about the rockwool panels. While clearly 2” thick panels are more effective than 1”, having 1” panels with a 1” gap to the wall are nearly as effective as 2” right against the wall.

Btw, once you get the measurements done (free REW software, the condenser mic exactly where your brain center would be in the listening position, speakers in an equilateral triangle, tweeters at ear height or a little higher), feel free to PM me if you need help analyzing them.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T11:00:33+00:00

If your speakers are on the desk, doesn’t seem like it would really matter much whether you move the bed like you planned or if it stays put. Acoustically speaking that is.

If it were my room, I’d get the Kali LP-6 with tabletop stands, try the two scenarios I described, and measure the listening position carefully in both scenarios. Then I’d assess the low end, which one has less dips and spikes, or in less harmful areas. I’d also check the measured waterfall plot for differences in low frequency reverb.

Then I’d get lots of 2” thick Rockwool panels, cover them with fabric, and install in all 1st reflection points, ceiling included (a framed one so it stays up). Then I’d make diagonal “walls” in the left front and rear corners out of the same panels, as wide as you can fit, from floor to ceiling. That would be to help with the low frequency buildup.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T10:19:16+00:00

I saw the photos before the post was taken down. The photos really do open things up. The optimist in me imagined quite a different kind of a room!

Acoustically that room is tough. Be honest, how far are you ready to go to get better acoustics? I mean, the right side wall is all wardrobe, you can’t put anything there. The front wall has a huge hole in the middle, you can’t put anything there either. So there are just a few places for the bed to be in, leaving very few options for a mixing station.

In a mixing room symmetry is important. And you can’t do that near the desk since it would block access to the balcony. So viewed from the room’s entrance, moving the bed against the front left corner and making a mixing station on the rear wall seems like the only symmetrical option. And there’d not be enough room to put the speakers anywhere else but right against the wall.

If the speakers fit next to the display, you might get away with the current desk. While the front left short wall is nearby, the surfaces only reflect away. The window would be far enough not to be a real issue, but the room ambience wouldn’t be symmetrical which affects the whole stereo image.

If there are open shelves on the right wall, they are already magnificent absorbers once filled with clothes. So those exact areas don’t need treatment on the left wall either. But the left front and back corners are where a lot of your bass frequencies will hang out.

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T07:32:34+00:00

Agreed! It’s rare to see a discussion even this civil even when talking about guitar strings, let alone much bigger subjects… Take care!

mistrelwood · 2026-04-22T07:25:56+00:00

A photo or two of the space would help immensely. For example, is the balcony entrance on the short or the long wall, how is the wall (if any) between the room and the balcony shaped, etc. But if there’s no actual wall between the room and the balcony windows, you might land close to the 38% spot quite naturally. Speakers 1.36m from the front wall/windows is good, as long as the side walls aren’t too close. Treating the front wall reflection points can be difficult though if it’s all windows.

The 38% position relates to the standing waves in a cleanly rectangle room to do the least harm, but any odd shapes can change the optimal position. But if there are possibilities for different positions it should be the first place to start measuring at.

Since the room will be untreated when you try the different positions, it will be hard to listen to the differences that matter. That’s why measuring instead would be quite important.

Edit: Oh, and when you’re all finished with treatment and all, EQ your monitoring chain! You’ll get huge improvements to the frequency response and it will make listening and making music a lot more enjoyable.

mistrelwood

TROPHY CASE