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Took both my USA Lakies for a swing last weekend with my ABBA tribute. Still can't get over how incredible these two basses are.

Hils have said I can order a black pickguard for the HNB5 through Anderton's so it will be interesting to see how much it costs. There are some good YouTube vids of somebody changing pickups on a HNB3-they even put jazz pickups in it !

We organised a 4 band gig at Whiskers in Newquay on Halloween. It was a bit of a shambles, but turned out alright in the end. First up, the sound guy was meant to arrive at 5. He showed up at 7. We were expecting the first band to go on at 7:30... Everyone says that this guy does this all the time and it's to be expected. He runs on "Cornish time" 🙃 This doesn't happen in Bristol! Punters were leaving because it hadn't started. The first band finally started at 8:20. Then, you know, we're alll running late, you'd think the bands would try to keep to time, right? Nope, the first two over-ran by about 10/15 minutes. Changeovers were SO SLOW. I never understand why it takes some people so long to get off stage. Everyone says it's "Cornish time", we call it unprofessional. It was just as well that the venue had a 2am licence. We had planned that we'd be on at 10:10. Didn't end up going on till 11:45, finishing at 12:40. To their credit, a fair number of (very drunk by now) punters did stick it out and seemed to really enjoy our set. We even had our first mosh pit! I did struggle a bit with fret markers while wearing sunglasses for my costume though. I used to find it alright in the hip-hop covers band. There were also a few mistakes, but I'm putting that down to tiredness. I'd had a few late nights trying to finish mixing our new EP and then early mornings because I have a 3 year old! Gear was Dingwall Combustion -> Boss GX-100 -> Laney Digbeth DB-500H -> borrowed Vanderkley 210. Got some shonky phone videos too. WhatsApp Video 2025-11-01 at 11.21.17.mp4

What was skipped? (for those of us that can't get more than 2 seconds through a Sapko youtube!)

Sire U5 probably a better fit. Squier Mustang classic vibe is another option.

If I brought a motorbike in and dismantled it on the kitchen table, I suspect parts of my anatomy may be dismantled as well and distributed far and wide. The ply is nice ply (in my limited experience), the two things I've done differently are: Buying a guide rail for the circular saw. Massive change in cutting wood and it's now simple. Buying an 80 tooth circular saw blade and putting it in the right way. You can actually burn your way through plywood with it the wrong way, so I'm told. I of course didn't do that at all. Nope not me. Also moving the saw blade up so it's only cutting 12.5mm makes it a little friendlier and I can use some old wood as a base rather than my 40 year old Workbench. The second cab will be better again. Also the weather forecast is for six days of constant rain 🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️ so this is likely to be the only can this week Rob

I guess Fender decided it was more cost effective to chuck the stuff they had no intention of using rather than pay to store it while it could be sold off? I can kind of see the logic for the bridges and pick ups which probably have limited demand and might take a long time to sell on if they had a lot of stock but you'd think they could shift the pedals and other electronic items fairly quickly in a fire sale scenario.

Popped out to see some old friends at a new venue - the Millhouse in Thatcham (near Newbury). Jam night, up for three songs including Let’s Dance / David Bowie. I love playing that song. Enough to make a howler happen at the start of the second verse haha I think I got too into the vocals 😂

Hi, I am repairing/ restoring a peavey T20 that I have just bought (previous owner attempted to reshape the guitar body so currently looks odd). wondered if somebody could draw/ template around there t20 guitar body (ideally guitar shape on pieces of a4 paper so it can be scanned hopefully with key dimensions I.e. measurement from bridge to bottom of bass etc.). I am keen to resurrect this bass.

Pleasure and Pain - Divinyls

Now about half way through. Holes and battens done. I've glued two sides and the bottom. Its now clamped very tightly. These are clamps I use from making the guitars, never thought I'd use them for real wood working. The only reason for stopping was the temperature was falling rapidly and the glue was thickening. So took the whole unit inside the house overnight. Not allowed to do things like this inside the house. Somewhat surprisingly most of the panels seem to fit. Not sure what happened there, normally I'd be out by 10mm or more Its pouring with rain here, enough for waterproof trousers, so I can build and glue in the garage (assuming it's above 5C) but that's it.

LFYS Monaco problem sorted !

Hils HNB3.. am considering one for myself, saving up towards one...

IMO until there is a massive change in ideology and policy regarding the financial system ideas like universal basic income will never happen. Without sound money and affordable accommodation our purchasing power will continue to collapse. This doesn’t lend itself towards an altruistic society. If we add polarisation and the demise of truth, discussion and ideas into the mix then things look even more bleak. Click bait or mathematics and reality? I have tried and failed but when I watch the news most of my concerns are slowly leaking into the mainstream.

The Masochism Tango - Tom Lehrer

Sire v7 ? It’s long scale though