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Chances are that China now has 100,000 cases of coronavirus. The population of China is 1.4 billion. For the arithmetically challenged, that's 1,400,000,000 people. So a full month into the outbreak, one Chinese in every 14,000 has the disease. Looked at another way, out of every 14,000 Chinese there are 13,999 who don't have it. "Yet", I grant you, "Yet". Some more will get it as time goes by, but at the moment the odds are firmly in favour of humanity surviving this. Not all of those 100,000 will die, of course. The Chinese death rate (if we can believe anything their Government says) is a surprisingly high 5%-ish. Estimates for Europe are suggesting that we will see less than 2%, probably 1%. All statistics change over time. That's the nature of things. But if you were to assume, just for the sake of the argument, that one in every 14,000 Brits were to develop the disease, and that 2% of those affected were to die, it doesn't take long to work out that the extra 80 deaths - each an individual tragedy for someone - would represent two weeks' road deaths. You can't sell newspapers, or garner cheap clicks, by publishing this sort of thing. Far better to fire up the panic-stricken auto-headline generator, tell everyone that (1) we're all going to die, (2) it's all the fault of those slitty-eyed b@st@rds in Chinky-land, and (3) that this may affect property prices in the Home Counties.

Perhaps, Phil, perhaps. However, there's a very good reason why offical advice is so often met with cynicism and complacency. It's called History. And most of the comments that I suspect you perceive as negative, on this thread anyway, have nothing to do with official advice and everything to do with attempts to whip up a panic-stricken froth about this. The comment about malaria was a good example of some much needed context for this, as was my referencing the number of road deaths each week in the UK - something that we are not merely complacent about but genuinely proud of: Have you seen the equivalent figures for France or Italy or Spain or ... Coronavirus is merely the panic subject of 2020, much as previously we've had World War 3, the oil running out, everyone dying of AIDS and Herpes, a teen generation succumbing to alcopops (remember them?), the next Ice Age (long overdue), being eaten alive by Ebola, and many many more including previous Coronavirus outbreaks. Without an existential threat to prattle on about, most people don't seem to know how to live, so existential threats are discovered, or dredged up, or exaggerated out of all recognition. Meanwhile, people generally are appallingly bad at understanding statistics or at gauging risk through use of probabilities. Ask any of the 32,000,000 Brits who choose to buy a Lottery ticket regularly. Yes, you read that right. 32m Brits buy a ticket pretty much every week despite this: The chance of winning the National Lottery jackpot is 1 in 45,057,474, according to the Lotto website, while there is a 1 in 7,509,579 chance of getting five numbers plus the bonus ball. To win the Euromillions jackpot there is a one in 1 in 139,838,160 of all your numbers being drawn. People understand what a £22m Jackpot is and how it could change their lives. People don't understand what 1 in 45m really means and how ludicrously unlikely it is that they will be that one lucky person. Similarly, people understand what dying is and they're scared of it. People don't understand how massively the odds are tilted against them dying of Coronavirus, or how urgent it is that a Government as useless and mendacious as the current one must be seen as 'caring' or 'making a difference', so if you tell them that their very lives are at risk they tend to believe you uncritically, without using whatever brain cells or education they may have available. Is Coronavirus real? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Are people dying? Yes. Do I wish it wasn't happening? Yes. Is it an existential threat? No. Is it a 'game changer'? No. Will it change the way we all live in future? No. Will it get a mention in the history books that will be written in 50 years time? No, apart from a brief reference in the chapter on Panics & Scares Of The Early 21st Century. Sadly, I won't be there to read those books, and anyway I seem to have developed a nasty little cough ...

I would have thought the cough would have been the least shocking thing about this scenario 😄

My car (Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback) has plenty of room for my bass but it is awkward to load and unload due to the drop from the lip of the hatch opening to the floor. In the past I loaded the bass flat on its back onto some pillows and then turned it so it was on its side with the neck stuck through between the front seats. To make things easier I put together a frame from 11/2" PVC pipe that is level with the hatch opening and I slide the bass in on the "rails" and can guide the neck so the scroll goes between the seats easily without any contact. I put a strap over the bass and a pillow at the back where the endpin is so it can't move back and is held snugly in place when I close the hatch. Two things to note: 1)the bass is a ply bass and heavy but very strongly built 2) I checked with my luthier and he felt this would be fine for this bass, in fact that's how I took it to his shop and back home again. I have used this system a number of times now for rehearsals and gigs and it makes the loading/unloading part of the trip much easier. For clarity I did not show the quilt that I put over the frame when I actually use it. You might not want to use this system for your expensive carved bass but it works for me.

A friend just posted this on facebook - great 52 minute documentary free from the BFI. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-ian-dury-1983-online?fbclid=IwAR2-t1TMLoqhaR-212MHnDZPKwhWlCOCRVrwkVK45K2erF85hsfio5TLhJ0

You could very easily create a stable spacer to sit between the 2 cabs - timber 'H' shape that would separate the cabs, leaving the upper cab castors not quite touching the lower cab top. Spray black for aesthetics. EDIT: Maybe add rubber or foam to the spacer to prevent vibration / scuffing

Dudda, dudda dut, dut, "My Corona".

Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby Bill Evans -piano Scott Lafaro -bass Paul Motian - drums

There is a similar six page thread on Talk Bass. Here are their recommendations... Charlie Haden - Beyond The Missouri Sky Ron Carter - Miles Smiles, E.S.P. Ray Brown - Night Train Scott LaFaro - Sunday At The Village Vanguard Jimmy Garrison - A Love Supreme Rufus Reid - From Kirk To Nat John Patitucci - Chick Corea Akoustic Band Christian McBride - Finger Painting Marc Johnson - 2x4 Mark Dresser - Aquifer John Hebert - Renku Willie Dixon - The Big Three Edgar Meyer - Bach Suites, Uncommon Ritual Steve Swallow - Flight (Bremen) 1961 Michael Bisio - Long Night Waiting Drew Gress, - I, Claudia Scott LaFaro - The Arrival of Victor Feldman Charlie Hayden - Nightfall, Gitane, The Golden Number, Closeness, Charlie, The Shape of Jazz to Come Eddie Gomez - If Summer Had Its Ghosts Brian Bromberg - Wood Bob Magnusson with Art Pepper Larry Gray - Power Trio:Live in Chicago Alan Broadbent - Round Midnight. Paul Chambers - Miles Davis at the Blackhawk, Blue Trane Wilbur Ware - A Night at the Village Vanguard. Jimmy Blanton - Ellington Duets Scott LaFaro - Waltz for Debby, Portrait in Jazz Charlie Haden - The Shape of Jazz to Come Miroslav Vitous - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs Carlos Henriquez - The Magic Hour Larry Grenadier - Live at the Vanguard, Back at the Vanguard (Art of the Trio vol. 2 and 4) Dave Holland - Extended Play, Overtime Lynn Seaton - Puttin' On the Ritz John Patitucci - One More Angel Mingus / Ellington - Money Jungle Scott LaFaro - Sunday at the village vanguard Steve Lacy Trio - The Holy La Bill Frisell - Gone, Just Like A Train Anything by NHØP Oscar Pettiford on "Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington Paul Chambers - Blue Train Ray Brown - Night Train w/ Oscar Peterson John Clayton - When I Look In Your Eyes w/ Diana Krall Terry Plumeri - Blue and Green (Terry Plumeri) Eddie Gomez - The Mad Hatter (Chick Corea) George Mraz - Arcade (John Abercrombie) Ratzo Harris on Gimcracks and gewgaws Dwayne Dolphin - Portrait of Adrian Patitucci - Through My Eyes by Michel Camilo Sam Jones - Live At The Jazz Workshop (Barry Harris) Ron Carter - Speak Like A Child Jimmy Garrison - Puttin' It Together (Elvin) Bob Cranshaw - Our Man In Jazz (Sonny Rollins) Henry Grimes and Art Davis - McCoy Tyner's Reaching Fourth and Inception. Dave Holland - From The Soul (Joe Lovano) NHØP - The Apartment (Dexter Gordon) Oscar Pettiford - Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington Bobby Hutcherson - Oblique Ugonna Okegwo - Leon Parker’s Above and Below Stanley Cowell Trio - Illusion Suite

And me. Don't forget me. Every night on the Springsteen 1999-2000 tour I unloaded between 40 - 50 tiny glass vials each purportedly containing a dab of Mr Nils Lofgren's ejaculate to excited fans happy to pay me $100 a time for an engaging souvenir / conversation piece. Allowing for expenses, bribes, etc., I was clearing around $3,500 a night which might not sound a lot but netted me nearly half a million dollars over the tour, a handsome sum which grub-staked my first proper weapons deal.

Kind of folk jazz from the incomparable Danny Thompson: "Whatever"

I'm supposed to.be working this weekend, as I was last year, but I may be able to work something out. Seems a shame to miss it when it's only a few miles from home.

Having lived in and loved Dublin for many years of my early life I'd say leave the control plate off. Even if I hadn't got that connection I think it would be a shame to spoil the balance of the graphic. No control plate needed. It would detract from the effect of the graphic.

I like it

Saturday at The Ferry in Glasgow. 300+ punters up for a good night out. It was our rhythm guitarist's last show after ten years sterling service. The search is on for a new NoParfitt.

Most are rubbish because it's the first bit of the PA that people choose to save money on thinking that the cabs aren't as important as FoH. To produce a great sound, like front of house, they need good quality drivers and horns - and these come at a cost. Manufacturers realise there is a market for cheap speakers to use for monitors... and hence, they produce them - and people half expect monitors to be kinda rubbish but good enough to get through the gig. As for adjusting on the gig - they shouldn't be adjusted on the gig... and no sound guy would thank you for doing so. You run the risk of boosting overall volume or troublesome volumes that can cause the setup to start running into feedback. Good monitor? Yeah, one which is as good as something that you would use for front of house. There's no getting around it! (or go IEM)

Hmmmm, I may have gone and mixed up Phil Chen with Mike Porcaro ..... point still holds up, but apologies for the mix up. I will give you a nice Simmons solo to make up for the mistake....

I've got a half-size guitar and am converting it to 4 pairs of strings D,G,B,E.

So after a fair amount of faffery with GuitarGuitar (who actually have extremely good customer service!) I finally now have the full and complete matching rig in hand! And it is a MONSTER!! I've had more rigs than I can count over the years, but this thing is obscene. The volume is astonishing, I got it up to 50% volume on Thursday at Mushroom Studios and dared not go higher as I could feel the vibrations in my lungs (and I'm not joking!) The tone is simply stunning, deep and clear with crisp articulate highs. The ONLY downside is that it weighs 240lbs all in which I can forgive as the build quality is utterly flawless with no expense spared on build materials. I don't see myself moving this on ever, I wouldn't know where to start to get something better/comparable. Truly a remarkable rig, definitely need to keep up my weight training to move this one about!

Following a discussion elsewhere on the relative/non-relative descriptions of Light/Medium/Heavy when it comes to basses, what do we think? Am I being a glass-backed wuss or not? I think of Light as < 7.5lbs, Medium as 7.5 - 9.5 lbs, and Heavy as anything over 9.5 lbs. I won't buy anything over 9lbs, unless it's only going to be used sparingly (things like 8-strings and 12-strings fall into this category for me). Not whether it's an issue for you personally, but whether you'd describe your bass as one of the above, and what it actually weighs...

No one ever got rich by being a tree-hugger. Any rich tree-huggers you encounter will have been rich long before they ever started hugging trees. I was explaining this to young Greta the other day. 'There's no money in what you're doing, my little chickadee' I said. 'You need to start out by selling semi-autos to LA gang-bangers and work up to warhead deals with Kazhakstani middle-men. Then you can buy your own ocean-going yacht rather than have to borrow one from salivating libertines like Prince Pierre of Monaco'. Did I detect a momentary flicker of interest in that tiny, grave face? Perhaps she was just thinking about saving the planet from mankind but I'd swear I could see the wheels turning.

The Basslites come with spades, as do most of the price point Eminence. The higher end in-line Eminence have push terminals, but I've seen OEM Deltalites with spades.

Ah! You won me over. Had I known the amounts involved are that large, I'd never have let the virtue-signalling treehuggers' type parameter of ethical thinking allow to obfuscate the vast body of the subject matter at hand (and I don't mean Mr Lofgren's produce here). 😃

And sublimely melodic Charlie Haden playing on "Beyond the Missouri Sky" with Pat Metheny Witness:

Quite agree, in Europe you get fed, watered, and offered accommodation. Usually the food is both snacks and a hot meal. In the UK at most venues you’re lucky to get a farkoff at the end of the evening.

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!! Can't argue with that one ...

Am I the only one who was expecting a Stereophonics tribute band?

That all sounds like bad form to me, except the free drinks bit. Never been offered free drinks by a venue or promoter, and never expected them. No such thing as a free drink.

Abba bass parts turned out to be far more subtle and complex than I first imagined, the quality of musicianship is very very high. Underplaying should probably be the rule of the day, unless you have a lot of time to rehearse. And any bass with Fender on the headstock (or derivative of) will do the job, although of course the Hagstrom Super Swede is the real deal

So prototype 1 is done and - other than a bit more thought about the fixing (the block will be also the access point) - this concept would work. But @Stub Mandrel has got me thinking. I could actually mirror this to become more like a conventional strat / Ibanez, but with more body to it. So still a carved block, but incorporating the type of scoop @Stub Mandrel refers to. I'll have a play and see if I can get prototype 2 done along those lines

I play with a low action and lighter strings as a way to take stress off old tendon injuries. I also use a very light touch. Considerations of tone were secondary. Over the weekend I was rehearsing with some woodwind players in a cold room so tuning was coming in under 440. As I loosened my strings the truss rod pulled the neck even flatter so I would guess my E string was down to just over 1mm. I usually play with a tad over 1.5mm at the 12th "fret" - This is on a fretless. I was able to play by lightening my touch even more and turning the amp up. I wouldn't want it like that the whole time, but it was fine for this rehearsal.

Well, my initial order was for 2 silver grilled Traditional cabs, GG then called me to say one had a black grill, they gave me a little incentive to take it so I did... when it arrived it had slightly different corner protectors as well as the different grill, after a bit of tooing and froing GG took back the silver one and sent me another black one, which has again different corner protectors that either the silver or the black one and has a different back panel... so it seems to me that Mesa built iut the last remaining Traditional series cabs with whatever they had left (which doesn't impede the quality at all) and then Westside Distribution (UK Mesa distributors) sold them to GG at a discount price as they were end of line. That's my theory anyway! Still, my new full rig has an RRP of £6200, I paid £2600 in total and it's all new (well, new old stock I suppose!) so I'm not complaining!!

Blimey, this has moved on! Interesting to see the neck stamps & the 69 being a date is persuasive up to a point, considering the era of the bass. However, I mentioned having had a few Taiwanese Kays, and I do still have the Strat copy, in bits. It's a K-32, and these are cosmetically accurate copies. The heel stamp's just about legible, where it matters: So, 67, or at a push 87 or G7. Either way, it's not a date. In 1967 absolutely nothing that looked as much like a Strat as this was made outside of Fullerton, and by '87 Kay had pretty much disappeared, manfacture having moved from Taiwan to Cort in Korea in the mid/late 70s. Regarding the neck construction, it's definitely ply (or strip mahogany, as the more sniffy MIJ geeks insist) and apart from the K-30 LP copy, all the Taiwanese Kays I've seen have this neck construction. This was a common build technique on 60s MIJ guitars, as much because it was cheap, as because it was stiffer & more resistant to warping than the poorly-seasoned woods used on earlier guitars. It was probably adopted in the Taiwanese factory for the same reason. Interesting that a lot of mahogany's used in these Kays - the Strat, P and LP copies all have solid pancake mahogany bodies, I assume because it's what was locally available.

Here's my G string (not the first time I've said that online)

Very elegant solution Mr Teebs.

New record fair in Kingston, friend of mine is organising it, £1 on the door. 9.30 - 4pm Richard Mayo Centre, Eden St, KT1 1HZ (see flyer & map attched) Saturdays - 7 March, 4 April, 2 May, 13 June, 4 July 2020 Mostly vinyl but cds & other items!

Hi Ian, I’ll post a few pics later when I get home, you can’t really see on this one, but when I had this made I asked holger at Sandberg for a low action, it came at 1.25 mm with no buzz

.

That's jazz, man. ...

I don't get your point. Every malaria death is a personal tragedy leaving children without parents and families and friends losing people they love, the economic costs are huge and some parts of the world are held in poverty just by this disease. Some of those deaths are preventable and that is a disgrace. In countries where it is endemic it affects the daily lives of everyone. The research efforts could still be better and so could public health measures in many countries but this is an entirely different disease. If we did nothing it would kill more than this and if we do more we can reduce that toll. That is true about Coronavirus. Our responses in this country will be in part shaped by public opinion and understanding. There's a lot of nonsense out there on social media but I think people need to know that this is probably coming and it is probably going to be serious but there are things we can do to mitigate. If official advice is just met with cynicism and complacency it is going to be worse for all of us. I'm trying to be as accurate as I can and some of this is potentially not too good.

I liked Steve Hillage back in the day when I was a hippy, but that was a long time ago. But my sister gave me a copy of Trick of the Tail* in 1977, when I was 12, and it literally changed my musical direction from then. * because it was scratched so she bought a new one, and I still sing the jump.

Close enough? Might need some EQing.

@Hellzero I will have your cats ground down into a fine paste and fed to the closest dog!

I'm going to write about yesterday's gig then call it a day unless anything of interest crops up. Swansea Sin City. We arrived and our first impressions were 'what a bloody awful load in'. Fortunately there were staff there to help us load in and out but what a bloody palaver. Limited parking and outside steps up three or four floors (hard to tell). This gig was spoiled really by the sound engineer who obviously knew his stuff, but made everything seem like it was too much trouble for him, huffing and puffing his way through the process. Diplomacy was not his strong point and it's really much better if we all treat each other with respect and try to get the best out of people rather than acting like a primadonna - that's our job!! Anyway - one of the monitor amps went tits up during the support band's set - he tried to repatch stuff but consequently both The Groundhogs and us had shite monitor mixes. Other than that we went down well. We drove back straight after the gig - I was first drop off getting in around 0430. Got to say, I'm officially broken! Absolutely exhausting. Just a quick mention for the support band - Bigfeat - really nice sounding five piece with 3/4 part vocals, two guitars and a keys player - kind of a southern rock laid back groove - really enjoyed them. We've only got two gigs next week - Thekla Bristol on Thursday and The Craufurd in MK on Friday - our home gig. Five the week after, all out and back on the day including The Garage in London, then the following week we're staying away for four gigs oop North. Really enjoying the experience so far but looking forward to a decent night's sleep in my own bed!