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I’m bothered by the animus in the title. It’s like (there I go now) a command or it might be a plea. There’s no emoticon to lead me on either direction if you’d phrased it as “what do you think of… “ or “constructive criticism please..” I think have got a more positive response

This was a little new black left handed short scale £85 Harley Benton which is going to be my 6yr old nephew’s birthday present. The only problem is his mum wants it in green and you cannot get a left handed short scale in green for less than £500 new and none second hand. Good old uncle Silky is in the process of a nitro refinish in Emerald Green. I have also levelled the frets, rolled the fretboard edges, dressed and polished (it is an £85 bass after all so what can you expect from new). It is turning out rather well!

Yeah, I feel like the Bristol one has really gone downhill. The rooms all used to have decent enough gear. A rootmaster head and a 210/410 cab, a 412 and head plus a 212 combo for the guitarists. Now you're lucky to get a 100w Orange combo and one Boss Katana combo. But wait, "we have two guitarists" I hear you say? Tough sh!t. I really don't quite understand how everything gets so broken unless people are intentionally breaking it. Like, a 412? Are people intentionally trashing that? Or was the quality insufficient for the amount of use it gets and the budget not allocated for good replacements? Or perhaps they can just get away with cheap gear so they do. We use the live room of a studio most of the time and it's so much better. No noise from other bands because there aren't any within in the building. I get an 810, both guitarists have 412s and the drum kit is decent.

And here, a young Hadrien proudly posing with my former Leduc MNV6 fretless that I sold him.

To be honest, I didn’t look at the first one. If you need to come online for validation of your artistic endeavours you need to reflect on yourself. I tried to put it in the nicest way I could.

Odd. I've always had friendly, helpful service there. Mark drove me to the station on one occasion with my purchase (which wasn't large) when I didn't take the car.

I have had a few really frustrating experiences with pirate, I can’t deny. But the last 4 or 5 have been fine so I’ll keep with them for the time being. If they get go downhill I’ll look elsewhere. Also, me and my band mates almost always use public transport to get to practicing which has a big impact in location. Pirate has chosen really convenient locations in London, fair play.

You didn't look at the content of his other vids, then?

It’s not Pink Floyd, Rush, Genesis or Jaco so unlikely to get much support here. If you enjoy doing it, keep doing it. Dont worry about anyone else. Best thing about music is that no matter how bonkers it is, someone will love it. Play music for you not anyone else.

I really like my TE Elf 1x10 combo. Great on its own for rehearsal or small gig, run DI from the back into PA for bigger gig to maintain a familiar tone. I might get a 1x10 cab to make a mini stack at some point but might not bother, bigger gigs always have good PAs these days...

Yes I get that. In Bristol most of the rehearsal rooms have similar systems. The convenience of Pirate is great, but we’ve stopped using the place as it’s just pretty horrid. Equipment is junk and it’s just a poor experience. I did a jazz session in a rehearsal room Saturday and it was about £5 more expensive but light years better in terms of quality.

Surely the sensible thing to do would be to ring 999 and let them decide what to do?

As in your other thread, an unknown newbie posting a link is not going to get much of a response. David

The Fender Rumble gets very good reviews so I don’t think it’s a bad choice

It’s not just the price it’s the booking system. Being able to see availability for different locations and times is critical when I’m coordinating a practise. I don’t have time to phone around different rehearsal spaces, then check with band members, then phone around again, then message on Whasapp… pirate has invested in a really good booking system and with a large range of locations and rooms it’s meant I can live a life, work a full time job AND organise band rehearsals.

The gig on Saturday was a dep for a blues / americana (sort of) band at Diseworth Village Hall. A bit different setting to the last gig I did two weeks ago, a slightly dodgy rock club in a rundown part of inner-city Hull, this was a small village hall in a well to do part of rural England, just off the M1 a short distance away from East Midlands Airport. A lovely and rather picturesque little village, complete with signs on lampposts rallying locals to protest at any possible industrial development in the area (as well as discouraging strangers from parking up there for a fortnight to avoid using the nearby airport car parks)! The people promoting the gig were super friendly and helpful (as they were in the club in Hull), decent PA, free food, having to keep turning down free beers, etc. Not a bad payer either! I say it was a dep gig, but I was in an earlier version of the band and have done a couple of deps since I left. Basically, when I’m playing, it’s the Zep tribute band with a female singer-songwriter (the guitarist’s girlfriend), so we all know each and are used to playing together. Not exactly the most rock'n'roll crowd, but nice people and a very good audience reaction, so generally a great night. The usual motorway closure on the two hour drive home, but this one wasn’t too bad – M1 closed, diverted onto the M18 to the A1(M) and then picking the M62 up just a little further out, maybe 15 minutes added to the drive. One day I will start a thread on motorway closures driving back from gigs at night! Gear was, as ever, the 70s P bass into a Handbox R-400 amp / Berg CN212 cab. Footwear was the usual grey suede Vans hi-tops! I’m a bit worried that they are starting to wear out and I might have start wearing in a new pair for gigs (darker grey pigskin Vans)!