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We played at Artisan Tap in Stoke on Saturday. It was absolutely rammed, "sold out" and then some! Ace night with everyone singing along. We played just the acoustic songs but that was still over 1hr45. Still, the quieter sound means it's an easier gig for me on drums. At one point I noticed the gate on the acoustic guitar fluttering and had to ask the sound engineer to turn it off. To be fair he's always fantastic, but I wonder why anyone would put a gate on an acoustic guitar in a live situation? They want to strum a chord and sustain it, and a gate will always kill that.

I'm pretty sure even my privileged and well enough off self doesn't eat enough fruit.

In my experience, less is more when it comes to playing bass in a band. In most rock/pop songs the bass tone doesn't really change at all and that's OK. Personally I always stuck to the absolute minimum - an overdrive if needed and maybe (maybe!) a chorus pedal if I was feeling particularly fancy. Better to change the tone using your hands - dig in more, play somewhere else on the neck, etc - than be endlessly fiddling with stomp boxes.

I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but in my instance I would venture that people weren't wandering fast free fruit to preserve their pride or dignity. It was more because they didn't equate fresh fruit with something they would eat as a snack. Distinct groups in society have different priorities and preferences when it comes to food. It doesn't necessarily come down to money and what people can afford, either, although that's part of it. It's more about what people think is important, and why. And on the subject of charity and food banks, yes they shouldn't exist. The fact that they are increasingly necessary and have become an accepted part of normal life in this country is a phenomena I never expected to see in this day and age. It's part of a wider trend to blame poor and unfortunate people for their own predicament, and the revival of Victorian ideas distinguishing between the deserving and undeserving poor.

Harley Davidson domestic sales are down 17%, down 12% internationally. Japanese exports to US up 8.5% Funny thing is both Fender and HD are owned by Servco Pacific 🤣

I love your post, thanks for posting Ben. I did just want to draw a distinction in relation to your last sentence, however (and I suspect that distinction could be part of the reason this keeps coming up and is such a contentious issue). At least round here, there are some pubs that call bands, saying they're putting on a 'charity' gig; but very often, the identity of the charity isn't entirely clear, what happens to the proceeds isn't clear, and realistically the only person benefitting from others' charity is the landlord. It's incredibly unscrupulous but happens quite often. My view is that if the organiser can't immediately say a) who the charity is and b) if not the entirety of money made, what proportion of the money is going to charity, then it's probably one of those. I/we turn those down flat. Conversely, as you say, if it's all above board, and you want to support the charity, you do so by playing. Or not if you don't.

Very good post in every respect Ben, thanks 🙏

I've honestly never got on with any of my 'dream basses'. Custom orders have never worked out for me for some reason. I've always been a 'try before you buy' kind of player. I bought my main Status bass 19 years ago as a stock bass after buying [and selling off] two custom orders. Most other instruments I've bought second hand and some have become mainstay working basses that I wouldn't sell on, like my 2016 Elite Jazz, GB Spitfire, or my Status Stealth. I would like an Alembic Series 2, but they are all the money these days, so hardly likely. Maybe a Victor Wooten Fodera Monarch Yin-Yang, but I'm never really comfortable playing someone else's signature bass. Apart from that, I'll wait to see what takes my fancy next time... I will say that I'm really enjoying gigging my simple passive American Fenders at the moment and am looking forward to the completion of my Walnut/Graphite Jazz build.

Lourdes Knows - 2Pac

We drop the 30 second organ intro to Faith but otherwise it's exactly like the record.

and the Blue Moon guitar..

Im sure potential buyers of a $350 Harley Benton will now buy a $1500 US made Fender or Gibson. Having said that, Harley Davidson would be long dead if it weren't for tariffs on far better imported Japanese bikes.

"Ted clearly didn't listen to his bandmates even when they repeatedly told him that a rubber bass was not a good idea in hot climates..."

Here's the Strat version https://reverb.com/uk/item/7274703-very-rare-brian-eastwood-bender-distortocaster

Thats why you don't leave your P bass leaning against a radiator

Yeah they were like the icing on the cake. Looks good and sounds even better. However, the Fender flats are good but I think I'm going to try the GHS Precision flats and if they don't float my boat, my fav Dunlop flats will go on. They always make a p-bass sing in my opinion.

Saw this earlier on my feed. I’d love one but can’t imagine it’s going to cost less the £600, at the least.

I always love the wenge necks. I'm not sure they make much difference at all in tone, definitely not noticeable once you're playing live. (Not that I do lol). The Warwick does have a real meaty tone. Especially with 2 x twin J pickups and a 3 way selector switch for each pickup. The tones I can get are great. Combined with my Streamliner 900 going through a Mesa 215 cab, I can get p-bassy, jazz bass, MM bass sounds quite comfortably. Love it!

There are some intros and endings we simplify or remove entirely because they might rely on a piano riff or something studio trickery but none of the shenanigans you mention in the op. That does seem quite odd and energy that could be spent on learning whole new songs.

could anyone share the stock capacitor and potentiometer values on the bbp35 please?