Recent content by thedonal

  1. thedonal

    Portnoy is back in Dream Theater

    I'd jump on the Great News!, BUT (and this is not to take away from MP, DT or MM), I wonder how much will change on the balance of songwriting- having been out of the band for such a long time, I can't see him being quite so in the driving seat as before. JP and JR have sat at the top of the...
  2. thedonal

    Dream Theater

    My first listen the other day (asides from the 1st two "singles" on YouTube). It's really DT by numbers. Some good moments, some awful. The Alien sounded better second time round, but Invisible Monster was way worse- some really bad note choices in there for the vocals. I enjoyed Awaken The...
  3. thedonal

    Keep it going...

    Slept in my Smashing Pumpkins T-Shirt, had a Siamese Dream
  4. thedonal

    Dream Theater

    Quite liking the new song, but it sounds to me that DT have been getting more formulaic for a few of their albums now- always at least a track where the vocal melody doesn't really do anything that the 'single' on the last album did. All that said, I loved the last album- their best for me...
  5. thedonal

    Locking tuners for $28, can they be any good?

    I would avoid and get a decent brand. I entertained a set of Chinese copies for an old Fender acoustic I have- went with a set of Wilkinson tuners that were a bit more, but still pretty cheap- no locking screw, but two holes in the post at 90 degrees- they turned out pretty good.
  6. thedonal

    Spot Levelling Frets

    The action and sound below 12th fret is generally fine. But it has a rising action that is quite high from 12th fret upwards. I tend to play and noodle all over the fretboard. I currently have the action as low as possible without notes choking out on the high frets- but there is a rather...
  7. thedonal

    Spot Levelling Frets

    Blinding- thanks for the help!
  8. thedonal

    Spot Levelling Frets

    Cheers- I don't have the means to make a straight edge right now (living in a flat without access to the tools/workshop etc). Funds are a touch limited for getting the straight edge. levelling beam/stone and crowning/finishing at the moment. For the purpose of slightly tweaking a few frets...
  9. thedonal

    Spot Levelling Frets

    Gentle bump gang- can anyone provide some experience/wisdom on this? Ta Me
  10. thedonal

    Spot Levelling Frets

    Hey folks, Hope you're all good- been a long time since I've been around. I've got a Sire V7, 1st Gen bass that needs some TLC and a bit of work to lower the action at the dusty end of the neck. I've had to sand the neck pocket before as it was really uneven, with a curve up at the end of...
  11. thedonal

    New Joe Satriani

    I think I've only listened to Shockwave and What Happens Next once. Maybe twice. They didn't grab me at the time but I might find- as I did when catching up with the few before- that there's stuff I really like. I do agree that much of his recent stuff has missed the strong melodic edge on the...
  12. thedonal

    John Myung speaking on camera

    He's a fantastic bassist, no doubt and seeing him tap away in Metropolis Pt.1 when I first saw them dropped my jaw for a long time. But he is often buried in the mix and as he is often doubling the rhythm guitar, it's harder to make him out. Now I'm playing bass in a metal band, I understand...
  13. thedonal

    Behringer's Such a Shitty Company

    Haha! Yeah. My fretless 5 is about a year old and I reckon those flatwounds will last a while- £60+ for another set so they'd bloody better!!!! Although I'm putting strings against costs now, it's still a lot to fork out in one go!
  14. thedonal

    Behringer's Such a Shitty Company

    I'm playing more bass than guitar at the mo- so buying strings is my fear!!
  15. thedonal

    Behringer's Such a Shitty Company

    I think this is where opinion splits. Behringer have a long history of making cheaper versions of other gear and have been sued (not always successfully) for doing so. Their earlier legacy pointed at lower reliability and poor build quality (though this is not always the case). They do seem to...
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