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Harsh, but very fair 😊

History Never Repeats - Split Enz

I've just had a reply to my email to Thomann, they are sending me the missing item so it is getting sorted. I wonder whether their picking system is at fault somehow resulting in small items going into the wrong box? A few orders ago I found a pack of six harley benton pleckies I hadn't ordered with my stuff — presumably someone else was missing these.

Not any more sadly. Don’t dabble with this wood. Cheap for a reason

As I seem to be the only one who is willing to do anything I end up having a major say in most things.

I would suggest they are 99% production line basses, as are all other non-boutique basses.

If we play in any band we have to do better than "surviving the night". The "practice till you can't get it wrong" approach has to come into play for every gig we do. We are only playing songs with repeated sections joined together by bridges. It's all about patterns, and rhythms. For bad memories or not being given enough notice, chart everything. I don't know about 50% of @kiat 's set list, but it's not rocket science. I've taken a copy and my challenge to myself is to play every song on that list by the end of the month.

Yes, I have been reading her book, which is scientifically researched and all makes very good sense. She is even generous enough to provide a free PDF with all of her advice from the chapters.

I think the same can be said of every courier service in the UK. What's the viable alternative?

I'm going to start gigging this one soon. I haven't done yet, even though it's been around for a while, and there have been a few reasons for that, not least having a hernia! But I got that sorted in July and I feel sufficiently recovered to start carrying this around. I spent a few hours yesterday trying different pre-amp valves in it. Martin Garton had put a Mullard ECC81 in the V1 position when he built it, he said he did this to keep it clean. However, having spent some time swapping things around, I've settled on an RCA 7025 in V1 now, and the amp is much more immediate and responsive, as well as being louder. It hasn't really affected how soon it breaks up either. I also worked my way through the rest of the pre-amp, and I think I've settled on the best set of valves which are all good vintage RCA, Amperex, Mullard and Philips. The other key element I have added is an HPF. The one I'm using is a Rafferty clone of the Fdeck HPF. I'm rolling off everything below about 60hz I think (there are no markings on the knob!), which really tightens the whole thing up. Without it, the amp tends to be over bassy and flubby, and lacks the punch I would like. The HPF totally transforms the amp in a very good way. I now just have to overcome my aversion to amp head overhang, which is proving a little difficult. Rob

Played Crazy at a jam then at a dep and it just felt awkward ascthe drummers didn't leave any space. Felt so good when back with a drummer playing it properly.

Two carbon strips and just one truss rod would not be enough to withstand the string pull. You really need two truss rods and one carbon strip to compensate the enormous pull of the 12 strings.

With my main duo, I am very heavily involved, from booking / organising through to choosing the majority of covers and co-writing music together. I think all the lead tracks / singles have started from me. Aside suggesting lyrical themes, I let Nick do the lyrics as it's definitely his area. I think we both acknowledge that it is all very much a partnership. I think we both bring something to the band that the other one can't and are hugely respectful of one another. Oh, and I run the social media too. My other band, I co-produced the debut record but now we're on album #2, I just write my bass parts and show up when asked. I practice my parts prior to getting together but my involvement is a fraction of what it is for my main venture. I think we value everyone's contribution and I have worked with them since 2016.

I was trying to figure out what swear word g**t*r was, and thinking what's wrong with greater gear? But then spotted you only had the same number of letters as strings!

Most of the time its about surviving the night with as few screw ups as possible.

*Laughs in EMG* (Sorry. Had to do it!)

I'd measure the entire instrument rather than relying on scale length alone. Some headstocks are surprisingly long to the point that a shortie with a big headstock could have a total length more than a Medium scale with a smaller headstock. Bridge placement varies a bit too with some designs having their bridges away from the edge of the bass so they are actually longer. In the photo on the left is a Jim Deacon shortie P bass. 30 inch scale. On the right is an Ibanez Mezzo SRMD200 32 inch Medium scale (this one is for sale! It's in the classifieds). The bottom of the basses are both in my bass stand. When they are on the floor standing up the shortie is actually a tiny bit taller than the medium. The little Jim Deacon P basses are cheap used if you can find one but will need some upgrades. The stock pickup is very poor and the controls are really on/off with nothing happening in the middle. They are also quite neck divey. I have 2 as after upgrades to a good pickup and loom and lightweight tuners they are fantastic little basses. The one in the photo hasn't had the tuner upgrade yet. I have them here already but I've been really lazy!

Loving your work. Is there any specific benefit from having two truss rods, as opposed to one truss rod and two carbon strips? Do you need the ability to fine-tune relief on the bass and treble sides independently because of the string tension?

Looks like a fun setlist - good luck with it. One thing to watch out for - with all those key changes I'd hazard a guess that the guitarist(s) is/are using a drop pedal/key change function on Kemper - from my experience they use the wrong preset, or forget to switch tuning at least once per gig - sometimes they realise and correct it, other times they don't - if they don't (if it's just one guitarist with no other melodic instruments to indicate he's in the wrong key) you might have to transpose on the fly.

Actually in a way it is Thomann's fault as they continue to use DHL for deliveries in the UK, and while they may be giving an excellent service on mainland Europe, here they are mostly a bunch of useless muppets.

Boss pedals might be possible, without them losing out on sales. The Anagram has/will have plugin support, and Boss already have a plugin suite of their most popular pedals available to purchase. There may eventually be a way that a user can purchase the Boss plugin to run on the Anagram, or they can work together to integrate it as a paid addon.

IME playing along to the recorded version always gives you a false sense of ability as the original part is there in the background as an unconscious safety net. Also the songs are EXACTLY the same every time, and while that should be what the band as a whole is aiming for, the reality is often a quite a bit different. In the days when I was playing covers, no matter how well I thought I'd nailed the bass line when practicing at home, in the rehearsal room with the rest of the band it would become rapidly obvious that there was still some way to go.