I’m 43 and been learning drums for the last few years…I love it. A guy who used to teach me reconed he could get a decent second hand kit for less than £400, so you should be fine, esp. if you hook up with someone who can help you choose.

If you buy decent secondhand gear, you won’t loose much if you don’t take to it. Personally, I bought an electronic kit so I could practice at night and I like it a lot, but the sounds build into the ‘brains’ are a bit nasty, so better if you can use a software VST for the samples.

It’s a great instrument to learn, esp. if you can get some jamming going with a bass player.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ford-s-max-or-mondeo

lodious, I’m thinking of getting an smax, probs a 2L diesel (got a mondeo estate at the mo but fancy a change), what’s your opinion?

Unless you really need the space, i’d avoid!

I have the 200bhp 2.2 in an smax. It’s OK, not great on fuel (i get 42mpg drving like a granny, and more like 37mpg driving normally). It probably more power then a smax needs…might make more sense in a Mondeo as the handling is better.

Unless you really want the extra power, i’d go for the 2.0 and save some dosh.

Not heard of any reliability horror stories with them, other than the usual DMF / Injector issues.

I liked mine…worked a lot better then the Sensation which replaced it. Ran out of memory, but otherwise, it was good.

I have an S95 but don’t rate it.

Never heard anyone say that before.

To be fair, I have one, and I don’t rate it either.

emsz – lets say 5 times average earnings? thats nearly £150 000 pa. that would be enough for me. Riches I will never have.

..if you spend your life arguing on internet forums. Why don’t you do something more constructive with your time?

Never played one, but they look really nice (IMHO). :-)

Only touch the truss rod if you need to after filing. Shouldn’t be used to change action it’s just for neck relief.

I’d have to disagre with that, as changing the neck relief affects the action. Get the truss rod sorted before filing anything. Changes made to the truss rod can be undone (assuming you don’t snap it), if you go too far filing the bridge saddle, you have to get a new one.

And was Bill Ward playing drums?…i’d heard there was a falling out a few months back.

The lonestar looks really nice, do you play a Special or a Classic Chipps?

PS, after Monday, you’d be able to try it with…

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/Jeff-Tweedy-Signature-SG.aspx

:D :D :D

I borrowed a blues Junior a few years ago, I thought it sounded OK, but it burst into flames :-(. I watched the repair guy fix it, and the standard of construction on the outside is a lot better than the inside. It was really built down to a price.

I ended up with a Cornell Romany, no FX loop, but sounds good and has a useful power scaling function. The EQ bypass gives it a very different voice, which is useful when recording.

I’ve too have been after something with an FX loop….the Fender Supersonic 22 looks good, but i’ve not tried it, and I never hear it sound really good on youtube demo’s. The most interesting amp I tried of that ilk was a Bogner Duende…it was really nice, quite expensive, but a bit different to the run of the mill. The example I played was a bit tatty (it looked like it had been in the shop for ages), otherwise I’d have gone for it.

If your anywhere near the East Midlands, you’d be welcome to check out the Cornell.

Nice one Midnighthour, just when the thread looked like descending into another STW bighitter bullshit fest, you’ve come along with some good advice. 8)

The Canon basic kit lens is pretty good, and it’s so cheap, you can learn quite a lot from it. Lenses hold their value well, so if you buy at the right price, you can own them for a few years and move them on without loosing too much money. Camera bodys generally depreciate like stones :-(

Dunno if you have checked out talkphoto forum? Lots of good (and bad) advice there.

I have a 7D which I use with 17-55 f2.8 and 70-200L f4. I upgraded from a 550D. There is no difference in image quality, but once you move up from the kit lens, it feels much better to hold (IMHO) and the AF is really good. The user interface is better, which helps. I’m pleased with the upgrade, but if your sticking with the kit lens, personally, I wouldn’t bother over a 550D/600D. Micro focus adjust has also been worthwhile.

I’m not sure i’d partner it with the 18-135mm, but each to their own. Digital Rev have a decent rep, but I used HDEW and they were cheaper at the time and had good service.

There CAN’T really be justification for more than 1?

There’s a simple rule, if you know how many guitars you have got, you haven’t got enough ;-)

I’ve been with them for years, and found them OK, but I changed my phone for a HTC Sensation and it contantly drops of the network (think it’s a compatibility issue between phone and network). I’m moving to T-Mobile in a few weeks, so I’ll be in a better position to judge how good Vodafone were,

Sorry about the shamless advertising but I’m selling a GF3 w/kit zoon lens for £180 delivered. It’s basically unused, PM me if your interested.

I’m having a Paul’s Boutique moment and my little ones love it.

Digging it out right now, not heard it in years, but brings back very happy memories.

Sad news. Thanks for sharing the link Higgo….class

The disadvantage with tethering is the both dongle / mobile phone hotspots have (IME) pretty poor battery life, and it’s another lump to carry around. My HTC Sensation will only do a couple of hours w/wifi hotspot enabled, then you loose both phone and ipad. It’s OK if your using it at home or office, but when mobile, I much prefer built in 3G. I guess it depends on how you use it, but I still see a strong argument for built in 3G.

I bought one from this shop, very good to deal with, i’d recommend them.

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON11F000067

There are some great deals on GF3’s at the moment (£199 inc. kit zoom lens after rebate)

If you havent already, I’d look at grey importers like Kerso or HDEW Camera’s first…big savings compared to UK stock.

Bloke at work brought round a HTC One today….looked very nice. Screen is amazing. I like ;-)

Chili Peppers on the Mothers Milk tour were fantastic, a real breath of fresh air.

Best:
Bob Calvert supported by Inner City Unit
Neko Case
Gil Scott Heron
John Scofield w/Dennis Chambers on Drums.

Worst:

Level 42 (used my last money for a month to go an see Allan Holdsworth play with them and left after 10mins…total shite).

Stone Temple Pilots…boring, boring, boring.

In the mentime if you change supplier they will simply operate your meter as if it was dumb, ie read or estimated quaterly.

Nope, that’s not true. BG don’t have a clue what to do with a smart meter that’s not been fitted by them. Coincidentally, i’ve been trying to submit meter readings this morning….

We’re sorry but there is a problem with some of the information you have submitted.
Account number 8500454xxxxx: Due to the meter type of your account, we are unable to accept your meter read online. Please call us on 0800 048 0505

BG has given us £100 to apologise for the smart meter support being so poor, as they promised it would be OK before we signed up.

worst case is that the new supplier wont be able to support it at all or offer you their standard tariffs

No, the worst case is that they will offer you standard tariff’s, and you will only be able to submit reads by phoning up and speaking to a person, no automated systems will work as their databases legally have to show your meters as ‘smart’.

Personally, until they make them interoperable between energy suppliers, i’d avoid like the plague. We had them installed by First Utility last year, no other energy supplier can read the data, British Gas won’t let us submit reads using smartphone apps or internet or automated phone, as they are “smart meters”. We are now stuck in limbo, we can either go back to First Utility (who were were bad beyond beleif) or suffer with worse service than pretty much anybody else in the country because we have a smart meter

It has been a total nightmare from start to finish…wish i’d never touched them. I’d wait until they goverment gets it’s shit together and until then submit regular reads using a smartphone / use an external energy monitor.

Cool, checked for system software update and it’s downloading now (Sensation on Vodafone) :-)

oh the irony…showed up on the bank statement as ‘Adobe Systems London’ 8O

Sounds like your spot on Druidh….

http://forums.adobe.com/message/2956554

Check out Adobe TV…loads of tutorials. I’ve watched the Julieanne Kost on Lightroom and they are really good. I think she does PS videos too.

http://tv.adobe.com

I’ve had a series of Mondeos and now have an Smax. If I didn’t have 3 kids, i’d stick to Mondeos, the advantages are…

Cheaper
Stereo sounds better ;-)
Cheaper to run
easier to get bikes on the roof
much smaller blind spot from the A pillars
Arrangement for getting roofbars fitted is better on Mondeo…it’s horrible on the smax
Stuff rolls out of the boot of the smax if the two rear seats are down
Heated front screen works quicker on the Mondeo (smaller area to heat)
Mondeo suffers less buffeting in high winds
Mondeo drives better

The smax has a lot more space (more than I realised as the 2nd row of seats slide forward) With all seats down, it’s a flat area and it’s massive. The back two seats are not supposed to be removed (although they can be taken out with a torx wrench, i’ve not tried it, and it’s not a Ford approved mod (might affect insurance as no. of seats is on the registration document?))

My mondeos all had spare wheels, the smax does not (has can of goo). Dunno if new mondeos still have a spare.

Dispite all of the above, I like the SMax, but if you don’t need the space, I would choose a Mondeo (or something else). The space for 3 kids in the middle row of seats is great for them, and they really like it.

Dunno about tyres, all tyres are expensive these days, I don’t think the speed rating can be much higher than a Mondeo, they were rated at something stupid like 140mph. Run flats are on option…not standard fitment.

The Philips Ultrasonic ones are better at cleaning (IMHO) than the OralB ones, but they are a bit more tickly on the teeth. Both much better than conventional toothbrush.

I live south Notts, there is some riding in the valve of Belvoir, but if it’s been raining anything offroad is pretty much impossible as you end up with two mud donuts for tyres.

Can’t really recommend it, as I haven’t used it in anger yet, but I bought a Fuji XR20 from Jessops for £79 at the weekend…

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/80300/show.html

Image quality is OK, not great. Not tried dunking it yet though.