Yeah I did some driving tonight in my t shirt. It was odd, with people having their houses fully decked in the newest space aged Christmas lighting.

I mean it'd be nice if Christmas were white?

I wonder if by this time next-next year I'll even remember that it was so warm for Christmas.

I wonder if it won't seem unusual?

It could be worse. I remember last year having to shovel out chest-high snow from around a furnace vent in November. The snow reeked of gas, and as I stood there, shovel (a proper shovel, not a plastic snow removal thing) in hand, in a freezing, gas-smelling trench, I thought "this is some World War I shit".

Well they're saying it's El Nino and we should have a more typical performance next year.

That sounds rough. But the roleplay aspect had to have been a little entertaining...?

I have to say, i am holding out for a very abnormally warm winter this year.

A week or two ago i totally fucking broke my right arm carrying something i shouldn't have been carrying with one hand. Just a wee little hairliney stress fracture sort of deal, but if i have to shovel in the next four weeks, it will never fucking heal.

I have been real bad about not using the thing as it is. It is like subconsciously i do not believe it is broken enough or something.

At least playing guitar doesn't hurt it... too much.

Merry xmas bitches.

Wow look at you joining the club of brokeness. I think I had another small break on the other leg after dropping the Bogner on it. Kept me out of fighting a few weeks, well actually a week, bit this was a few months ago and it still bothers me. Tired of the pains though. Hope you mend up quick.

Thanks T, you too.

I have been hammering the vitamin D and calcium pills i picked up, for the last week or so.

I do NOT want this shit to drag on longer than it absolutely needs to. If i can stop re-fucking it, four weeks should hopefully be all it takes.

I have historically been not-great at NOT re-injuring shit though, so i think it might take a little luck too.

Bought a DAC for the hifi today. Holy fuckshit.

Finally got the money off my mate for my bass so I'm about to order a new one this week I'm going to a Squier Jaguar short scale I think. Looks very cool in silver. I'm also considering getting an Orange Micro Dark as a practice amp. I never get to crank my Laney any more and the Orange sounds very good for the money. Gonna try and find one to play in person soon.

Chris, how is the arm?

Well, it seems like it is just about 100% now. It has been about two weeks since i started using it for more like normal tasks more often.

It helped that pretty much all of the snowstorms missed us here so i never really was forced to do shit with it it couldn't do when it was bad.

Now i am basically just using it like nothing happened though, and it just feels normal, not even sore or anything. And i have been using it a lot at work lately too, so that is a good sign.

Imma keep taking those calcium/vitD jobbers though, probably just forever now. Can't hurt, especially now that i pretty much never drink milk anymore.

yes, probably a good idea. I never take supplements and I know I should.

Good news to hear though.

Been playing guitar a lot recently and experimenting with different things, still have a love/hate relationship with my Laney sometimes. Have you guys had any experience with weber beam blockers? I like the off axis sound of my amp but straight on it can sound quite harsh and fizzy. Do the beam blockers do anything that some card and gaffer tape can't achieve? I'm gonna experiment with that on my next day off. If it does nothing I may consider swapping out the g12h30s for some CL80s.

Personally, i wouldn't expect massive differences with the beam blocker(though you should definitely try it out for yourself with the tape and card, as that is basically all the things are). I always sort of considered the beam blocker to be a bit more of a type of thing like a guitar cab with a bass port, where it makes the amp seem different in a room, but isn't going to make a pile of difference on a recording. A gobo on the mic should have the same sort of result though. I don't think it is likely to make the G12H30 seem very much less fizzy though.

What is your cab? 2x12 or 4x12? Or some other?

The one G12H30 that i have is definitely a fizzy beast. I find that the louder it can be played the less it fizzes though. That said, i have really been happy with the speaker mix that i am currently running which is the G12H30 on one side and a V30 on the other. It is the combo that later Matchless cabs went with, and i find it very pleasant. Together, you get a nice mix of highs, lows, and mids with nothing sore-thumbing its way to the top. If i mic each separately the g12H30 still sounds fizzy, and if anything, the V30 alone is kind of too much on the dark and middsy end of the spectrum. Put the mic in between the two though, and back a little bit, and it sounds just right to me.

Yup I'm thinking maybe a speaker swap is needed. I found some comparison clips of a few and the CL80 actually sounds best to me. G12h30 sounds fizzy and the v30 nasal. I've heard the v30/h30 combo works well and have been meaning to try it for ages (my cab is a 2x12) but never seem to be able to find speakers for decent prices, I swear they've gone up loads since I first bought mine at £60 each afaik.

If you can, buy them used. In addition to paying less for them, you also will be getting someone else to do at least a bit of the breaking in on them.

Also, that is largely considered to be a problem with the H30s, that they have a long and brutal break-in time, which really needs to be done at a high volume to get them properly moving and loose. They supposedly get a fair bit nicer sounding after a pile of hours of violence through them. The one i have, i don't know how much use is on it. But it is still pretty fizzily at this point.

Also, the V30 that i bought from Cam here actually doesn't sound too nasally at all to me. The main thing i notice is that it almost completely lacks that crispy top end thing(i.e. the thing that the H30 has too much of). All by itself, i actually kind of really like the V30, but it does feel a lot of times like it needs to be just a little brighter than it is. The combo of those two speakers is swell.

My own personal experience of the CL80 is more limited, but i always felt that it sounded a bit off for the type of crunch sounds i like. Kind of scoopy mids ish. A bit too smoove.

Yeah I heard that about the h30s. I've had them for years and gigged with them so I'd hope they've broken in by now! I don't mind the tone some times but other times I really hate it haha, it's been on and off like this forever. The reason I was looking at the CL80 is because it seems a bit smoother which should work well in theory with my Laney, it's quite a bright and middy amp.

I suppose there's a reason Matchless, Dr. Z, et al. pair the H30 and V30? Now, re: the V30 itself, concurred on the lack of fizzy top. I always found them dark, and wasn't sure what people who complained about their brightness were on about? Forged in Midrange Hell, to be sure, which may or may not play nice with a given amp, but bright? Paired with the wrong amp, I can see them giving an upper-mid uppercut right to the face, though.

Re: the CL80, I can only speak for variants with any serious knowledge- the Mesa C90 and the older Celestion G1280 (which predates the CL80)- and while those seem balanced and smooth to me, not particularly scooped, their owner pairs them with a Mark III and a Diezel Herbert, which are not exactly lacking in the midrange department.

I have been playing a few songs with some friends each time they play out, mostly open tuning stuff which I love, so Saturday I brought 3 guitars, one open E, one open G, and one open D. and borrowed a standard tuning for another song. Fun stuff and these guys have played in some great bands. guitarist is from Riot and bass player is from Billy Idol and Joan Jett. just very casual gig small venue. just for enjoyment.

The Jaguar has arrived, I love the shorter scale. It looks like a bit of a toy but it's so much comfier for me to play. Sounds good plugged in as well, not a huge difference from the P-bass after tweaking the controls a bit. Good enough for my amateur recording at any rate. Plus it looks cool as f