Should I and Or Why Upgrade to X3?

Only you can answer that.
 
I just took a chance as a last-ditch effort and really believed
I'd be moving along...fooled me. X3 is not the same as X2 IMO.
 
 
 
 

That is really profund and deep, thought personally if it was me which it was not I would have and you could have but chose not to have signed it with HTMH, HTPH or HTNH as indeed I am not sure that a HTH should or would have aptly described the contents therein without a qualifying adjective
 
or not.
 

WoW !! JUST WoW !! I couldn't have said that better myself

My nurse needs upgrading...

If $150 isn't too painful to drop and you kind of sort of liked the concept of X2 but were annoyed with the execution and half bakedness of the program then it seems worth it. I've found something else to use for the things X2 is being a jag off about and don't seem to have been fixed in X3. $150 is too much for what would amount to a patch for me and the money is better spent elsewhere. X2 is fine for mixing so I'll use it for that. I'll take my editing business elsewhere... for now.
 
and something about munkees... or becan... wouldn't want to go off topic.

"Oil painting"  Hehe...

Hi, Spacey. I've noticed you are quite a bit happier with your new setup which is great. I've only had a chance to listen to one of your songs over on the song forum but you are quite the talent and the world is better off with you being able to create unhindered by misbehaving doodads. Looking forward to hearing anything new you come up with.
 
As for me... I occasionally think I may have made an error by investing in upgrading all my gear due to the cost. In reality though it was either that or spend the rest of my life rotting away sitting on my butt going insane while being a drain on society. Can't have that. I'm too young and driven and it would be a terrible disappointment to all those who care about me and those who looked up to me when I was still a strong man. Life ain't nothin' without hope, purpose and at least a little bit of joy, all of which my music has and continues to provide.
 
Not to lay a sob story (self pity is useless and not really my thing) but I've met some incredible challenges to get to this point. I lost my big boy career(s) due to a freak, previously undiagnosed genetic illness so all my income vanished. It was too expensive to stay in the city so I sold everything, paid off my debts, said goodbye to all my friends and made a goal to rebuild smarter and better. I was owed a significant chunk of money that I was hoping would help me coast through until I could get myself set up with some help and whatever was leftover would go towards building up a more modern studio set up (my old rig was dying and horribly outdated). People have bought my music in the past and paid me to teach lessons so instead of wasting time doing lengthy courses to try and get an education for new joyless jobs that may or may not exist or I may not even be physically able to do by the time I'm finished I figured I stick with what I know, love and has worked before. Music. Added benefit was I could do it all from home on my own schedule which is necessary as I never know when my body is going to screw up. The people who owed me the money decided to rip me off. That screwed everything up but I couldn't do anything about it and frankly was so mad I just had to let it go because it was making my health worse. I secured my meager pension, paid off any new debts and started researching/buying what I needed. I get about $1000 a month which well over 2/3rds of has gone to rent. I've had to move twice in the past year both of which moves cost me over $700 each. Somehow... and really when I crunch the numbers I really do not know how I did it, over the course of the past year and a half I've invested over $3000 into my studio. Keep in mind this is not a luxury or a hobby for me. I intend to pull myself out of poverty with it. Even a couple extra hundred bucks a month to me would make an enormous difference in my lifestyle but ideally I want to become completely self sufficient again. I despise being a leech (even though I probably haven't come close to soaking up what I've paid in various taxes over the years... but that's not the point).
 
So the thing that gets me is after all that Cakewalk can't even be arsed to patch X2 opting instead to raise their upgrade price. X3 does sound like it's worth the money with all the extra doohickeys but I don't need that stuff. They also didn't fix the things that have been giving me problems and now that people have been sitting on it for a while I'm starting to see the bug reports trickling in. So being completely financially exhausted, still needing a couple more key components for my set up and literally hungry $150 for something that probably won't do what I need it to just... well I'll say it... it pisses me off. Not sure how often you wander upstairs but I generally try to remain upbeat and cheerful. Even in light of this I praise what I feel are positive things Cakewalk has done with X3 and I don't even think this is their fault (I blame corporate shenanigans in the background). It's a business and they gotta make their dough. As a customer though and someone trying to set up a business myself I can't get caught up in the hype or emotion lest I make a mistake. There is absolutely no room for mistakes in my world. $150 would take me several months to pay off and currently what I desperately need is a VRM box ($100). Then I really need to start saving money so I can afford stuff like getting into the songwriters guild, SOCAN and whatever other royalty collection/musicians collectives/advocate groups that might help me along. Then there is the matter of manufacturing and distribution which I'll have to do myself at first and since I'll be putting together some books there is copyright and publishing costs. I've even considered patenting my methods which is BIG bucks. So the struggle is far from over and I was hoping my hardware/software stuff would be dealt with by now.
 
A helpful forum member saw where my concerns were and PMd for more details (as I was specifically trying not to take a dump in the punchbowl) and showed me how one of the competitors deals with a few of the functions I've been having problems with. It's looks way better and more importantly is supposed to work as advertised. This is a much smaller investment than the upgrade to X3 Pro so although I am loathe to learn another platform just to do a few processes I just need to get the work done. X2 will be used for its strengths which for me is mixing. Perhaps if X3 turns into the powerhouse X2 should have been and I have the money then I'll upgrade because there are a few things I would like access to but really they are not crucial to accomplish my specific goals.
 
tl;dr... I'm broke, tired and cranky. ;-)
 
Anyway, I hope you've been well and I'm looking forward to hearing some more of your musical creations. Cheers.

Beepster I know what it's like to start from scratch. I had to in 1990. Fortunately I
had my health...that and determination...maybe more of instinct to survive.
 
My music is nothing more than a hobby although before 1986 I was
a serious musician making a very nice supplement income. As I previously mentioned I
know it's not cheap even for the hobbyist.
 
I know that it is important for one to prioritize even when funds aren't tight and it
is very upsetting when one faces a set-back when a purchase fails, for any reason.
Not receiving satisfactory resolution is salt to the cut. The depth of the cut is what we
each evaluate and respond to.
 
I can see where my advice, although it worked for myself as a hobbyist, does not help you.
What I hope helps you is that you knowing that there are people that do understand, care and
hope you get the tools to continue and succeed.
 
I just built a lap-steel. I think it's a nice one. If it will help I'll mail it to you and you can sell it
here, there or anywhere. PM me where you'd like it to go and receive it with my best wishes Beepster.
 
 
 
 
 

bayoubill
Thanks for all the input my fellow Becaneers! Due to sudden updates and status of and on the state of the VA, my retirement check, and where I live I may be forced to relocate. I suppose I will wait and see before I upgrade.

 
 

what happened ,, did the van get towed????
 
 

Geeze Beepster!
I didn't feel sorry for you..........but that was before I learned you were in Canada!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You knows I'm kiddin'..
It wasn't charity...musicians help one another, that's all.
 
Personally I would have taken the offer and dumped the sucker for
whatever it would turn.
Sleep on it. :)

Yanno, Spacey. There is one thing that you actually could help me with that would save me some money and/or fix a problem I've been having. I have various guitars with nut issues. Some have been dropped and the nuts have been partially broken (but still usable) and my newer ones have good nuts but the slots are too deep and create buzzing despite me going through proper set up procedures.
 
I've been wanting to get the nuts replaced professionally but am hesitant to bring them into the shop to let some unknown entity mess with them (I have bad experience with repair guys before) and considering it multiple guitars it's just another chunk of money to drop on something I think I could fix myself.
 
Seeing as how they are not guitar models that have readily available precut nuts for sale (like Strats or Gibsons tend to) and that I don't have the tools or skills to cut my own I don't think full on replacements are a good idea.
 
Recently I read somewhere that fixing/raising nuts can be achieved by mixing a combination of crazy glue and baking soda, applying it in various ways for specific tasks then sanding it down to reform the nut. Have you ever done this and do you think it is a viable solution?
 
The newer guitars with the low slots merely need the nut removed, the paste applied to the bottom, dried and sanded then reglued (with wood glue of course... not the crazy glue).
 
The one older guitar however has the corner of the nut chipped off so the high E slot has been compromised so the string can slide out of the slot rather easily and the slot itself was slightly lower (I've been just putting a small piece of glossy cardboard under the string to raise it up but that deadens the string a little). I was thinking I could rebuild the chipped area by applying layers of the crazy glue/baking soda compound until it is high enough to keep the string in place while slightly raising the slot to where it should be. I do have a cheap set of chinese needle files I bought for this type of work and although they aren't actually luthier tools they work pretty well. Once I get the nut reformed I'd just use those to make sure the slot is smoothed out at the right height.
 
So basically... is this a decent plan or am I following "old wives tales for guitarists" type advice from the internet?
 
PS: I am very good with my hands for fine work like this so physical skill nor lack of patience are a problem.
 
Cheers.

I'll apologize for hyjacking too.....
 
Well Beep let me see...
To answer your question; No I've never repaired a nut, only made them.
 
If I were to improvise then I would find some bone. Seems like that wouldn't be so hard
to find.
I would make one from antler before I'd try patching one.
 
The right tools make it nice but I imagine I could make one with antler, a hacksaw, finger nail file, knife,
and a small piece of fine sanding paper.
 
You have those mooses up there don't ya?....man there's enough in one of those to supply Gibson lol.
Moosehead nuts....Bapu could really do up a t-shirt for that!

Years ago I drank so much of that they gave me a t-shirt.

Time....yes it is key. It takes me hours to build a nut but it's something
I wanted to get very good at. I imagine I will always be trying to get there.
 
If I were to attempt repair I too would use bone dust and superglue.
 
Material is choice Beep but I sure like bone. I would sure run a free ad asking
for some deer antlers...somebody will come through and just one set will keep
you busy a long time.