SmokeyGhost

You may wish to try: https://www.redcross.org.au/ Oops, forgot. If you want to listen to some news then probably stream Australian Broadcasting Commission: ABC South Eastern NSW and ABC Gippsland For maps https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me http://emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/

I don't come to this or any other forums much any longer but I was curious on whether Digger was impacted by the fire. So glad to learn you and yours are safe. Very sorry to learn you lost a lot but happy your actual home is OK. Going to be tough with re-starting again. It has been awful as in effect the entire eastern seaboard of Australia from the Queensland border down and through to Victoria is ablaze. Three firefighters have died as have people who got trapped tying to defend their homes or couldn't get out in time. My area has been covered by smoke haze for about three weeks from fires down the coast. It's nothing compared with the hell those on the fire ground are going through. Especially bad here last night with visibility down to less than 100 meters and it stings the eyes if you're nutty enough to go outside. Most seem to stay indoors to try and avoid the smoke but it can be difficult to sleep at night if you like windows open. It hits people in different ways even though they are not in direct danger. A good neighbour across the road from me said she wakes at night with worry. But then both she and her husband are scientists so I guess they have an appreciation of things to a greater degree than me. Having been through the 2003 fires which hit Canberra, I am now very, very wary and have my skedaddle kit packed. Not many places to go however, so it'll be to a local sports ground which is open and pretty much away from trees not that it will help much. Canberra doesn't have many exits points as they all go into and through bush which is the potential danger. Other neighbours seem relaxed. That or they are drunk. Anyways, good to know your OK Dig. Take care.

What I've concluded form all of this is there ain't no consistency. Same applies here. Federal income tax, local State tax on homes (called rates and currently assessed on unimproved value of the land the house sits on,) stamp duty on purchase, if investor there is land tax, absentee tax, you name it tax - I don't and never have invested in residential or commercial property as there are way too many hassles . Equivalent of VAT (called Goods and Services Tax) on most but not all goods at 10%. Capital Gains Tax on sale of investments - 50% discount if held for mot than 12 months but included in your income and taxed at marginal rate. So frigging confusing I try and keep all my financial matters as simple as possible.

I don't record with an objective of distributing it proving my lack of skills but simply to listen back and attempting to improve for my benefit. I have a Shure SM57 which is fine as far as it goes but to my ears the Rode NT1-A or NT3 condensers do sound better. I use a Boss RC-30 for my purposes. All of them are a costly in comparison with other goodies but are certainly reliable and flexible.

I had to Google it to get an idea. Neat buy. If I didn't have an oversupply of guitars I'd be very, very tempted. Yes, pps, I know the formulae for the optimum number of guitars to have is n=n+1 where n has yet to be reached but I would have to dispose of at least one in order to buy another so that would breach n.

It's difficult to put into context as every country has it's own cost structures. The median house price across Australia is around $660k but obviously that doesn't tell the true story as each region is different and there are variances within each region. But that doesn't mean they are all of the same build quality though. A couple of years ago the Government statistician here released some after-tax income data. It showed the adjusted median income was $850 per week. That's not true of everyone as you know. When I see numbers as per the link Digger provided I take them with a very huge grain of salt. I don't think they are representative of any individual.

Despite having a sufficient number of guitars , including an Epi ES175, damn I am tempted to buy the Florentine just because. I shall resist.

I get out one of my guitars as the mood takes me. No special seasonal issues. My habit is to put them back into their case once finished except for an old beater I have, a Washburn F10S. Don't really need humidifiers although I do have home made ones - sponges cut into rectangles placed inside zip lock bags. They seem to work OK.

Great outcome. Congrats.

I'll second (triple) the endorsement on the Epi 339. I have the Epi 339 P90 Pro and I think it's a sweet unit. I enjoy it as much as my Gibson Les Paul Studio (2014 model).

I'm with Dub-T-123 on that issue. Enjoy both.

Don't know about ES Les Pauls but around here there are only two guitar stores after a merger. Disturbing that neither seem to stock Gibsons to any great extent; one store has three available the other four. Quite the reverse from a few years ago. Even Epiphones no longer seem to be on the list. The way it's going around this neck of the woods, if you want a new Gibby grab 'em quick or keep searching the used market.

Come Together, The Beatles

Thank goodness it finally got to you. I've been fortunate and have never had postal delays yet - touch wood - but I reckon it'd be a real bummer especially when forking out big dollars.

Interesting concept with the G7th Heritage. Rather like it. Apart from a Shrub and Kyser I went for bling at one stage and got me a Thalia. Looks damn good against the frets plus it works well, as one should expect.