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Once, a long time ago, in the late 90s/early 200s, I went to see Monaco play at the Manchester Uni Student Union. Earlier I'd bought a 12" of Blue Monday. My girlfriend of the time and I went to the pub across from the venue, and we noticed Hooky and the rest of the band, and his kids (the lad I then saw playing bass for Smashing Pumpkins a few years ago, but he was just a boy then), sat at a table. My girlfriend went to say hello and get the 12" signed, and Hooky invited us to sit with them - Which we did for hours, chatting. The band went off for soundcheck leaving us with their very Manc roadie telling us stories about him stealing generators from the Buzzcocks and lots about Joy Division (I was a very big fan at the time). They put us on the guest list (probably saving us about £13) and at the end of the gig the drummer and keyboardist carried on playing and Hooky came and stood with us at the front of the gig. On the way out Mark E Smith told me to f*** off. Sorry to go off on a tangent, I'd completely forgotten about that, but this picture triggered the memory. He was a very down to earth guy who just wanted to tell funny stories and play his gig.

The USA Stingrays that is. Cheers.

It was a bit nice…. Missus insisted I’d have to sell the Lionel or EBMM shorty to buy it though and I just couldn’t do it.

The Boy with the Gun - David Sylvian

https://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/basses-2026.html A few available on a workshop tidy up!

s/gilter/filter/g Yes I can't speal

For me it's still "Tuesday Night Music Club" and a few individual songs. Have never followed her career, but plan to do so retrospectively after having watched the documentary a good number of times. Must admit my perspective on her is influenced negatively by Kevin Gilbert's story about the mentioned album and its aftermath, in which Kevin painted her in a dim light.

Wasn’t me, did keep looking at it tho

Thanks everyone. Looks like there's no chance of getting a single machine Head. I have contacted Fender but no joy. So, looks like I'll just have to buy a set, replace the originals and keep them safe (or sell to some other unfortunate who needs one!) . Tempted to go for the Gotoh (Resolites) GBR 640 in XN, but might just have to go for stock Fender Pure Vintage, to keep the guitar as (on spec) as possible.

I’ve found that as a pick player and using shape ON ( awesome) it sounds better with compressor OFF I noticed more bass with it OFF even with the low control at minimum setting

I'm flattered, but I'm probably not the best to advise on this one. The Aria TSB550 is probably fitted with a single-action trussrod and the best way to refit another single action rod varies depending on the make...and I've done loads of stuff on Arias (and LOVE them!), but never a truss-rod replacement. You can, of course, replace a single action trussrod with a modern dual action one - but Arias, in my view, are a bit too special for that. I'm sure some folks better experienced than me will mosey along soon...

Hey! Thanks for bringing this up. Ideally, the dry signal should flow through until the pedal is engaged and freezes whatever was being played. I am using a multi-amp setup and having the dry signal at the same time as the "frozen" one would cause a bit of a mushy mess.

That about sums it up for me. 👌 Dave

I have Nordstrand NJ4SE's in a jazz bass, when i bypass the east eq they sound lovely passive. No hum, nice sound Highly recommend. You haven't mentioned them but i have set of Lindy Fralin's Split P and hum cancelling J at the bridge in my PJ, they are fantastic. I wouldn't hesitate at either Lindy fralins or Nordstrands. Dont think you'll go far wrong with either of those. Jonny

I've just ordered another set of hot Toltec pickups for my 70's Vintera Jazz. They're that good. I've also a Fender AM Standard Jazz that was far too boomy with Toneriders, so these UK made Toltec pickups came recommended from another user on here. They absolutely transformed the Standard with some really lovely mid focused pickups. Lee at Toltec will make whatever you want to your specification, so for me it was a no brainer. All of my Jazzes are shielded to death, so I never have noise issues. I cannot wait to swap out the Fender pickups in the Vintera !

Bought a Mustang off Clarky. Great transaction.....went perfect. Great comms....great Basschatter

Paul bought a CIJ Mustang bass off me. Perfect deal, great comms, prompt payment and all conducted in a friendly spirit. Recommended!

Unfortunately that beautiful black soft aged shortscale Cali TT at Guitar Village has now been sold......it's saved my bank balance getting a battering though. Did someone on here snaffle it?

Yeah, I am firmly in the don’t be stupid camp this afternoon, defretting would take a lot of value off it and they are getting very expensive now, especially from Yamaha London, it’s just a shame I don’t play it since getting my fretless and I used to play it every day, it was my main bass. Think I will put some Cobalt Flats on it, I have those on my fretless and half the problem is I dont like the feel of roundwounds now, the cobalts have a very bright tone just like rounds but for me anyway are much nicer to play. If I change my mind and get it done I will post it here. thanks everyone

Just reading the comments regarding the quality of old vinyl pressings... I've pretty much given up on new vinyl as I had a horrible run of really noisy, clicky records straight out of the shrinkwrap. Maybe things are better now but certainly around three years ago I got the impression that the records were very much being banged out safe in the knowledge that most of them were being framed rather than listened to. A Facebook reminder popped up this week: 9 years ago I apparently paid £25 on Gumtree for a stack of records that included Generation Terrorists, Last Splash, The Hounds of Love, Never For Ever, The Sensual World, Graceland, the Best of Smokey Robinson, Gold Mother, Stutter, REM's Out of Time, London 0 Hull 4, a Northside LP and a 12" of Voodoo Ray among a few other things. The last two nearly went straight to the charity shop but are apparently each worth twice what I paid for the whole lot. All in, probably one of my best buys ever and I can't imagine ever finding a similarly well-priced stash. But maybe those three original Nick Drake LPs are out there waiting for me in someone's sideboard. This has made me think of some of the best bargains I've had over the years - I really got into vinyl at the right time when the pressings were still pretty good and shops were selling off old and new stuff for pennies. I got to listen to so much music I wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford. Still haunted by some of the ones I didn't nab when I had the chance.

TC Spark Booster is great!

Hey! Before sending it off to a modder, you might want to confirm whether you want the dry signal permanently disabled when the pedal is active, or switchable. That’ll affect how invasive the mod needs to be. If you’re not DIY-inclined, I’d reach out to smaller boutique modders rather than the big brands — they’re usually more open to custom work. A local amp/pedal tech could also handle it if you provide a clear description of what you want.