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I've told this in another thread before on here, but it fits well in this one, so apologies. When I played the fiddle, I used to do a lot of ceilidhs and barn dances. One night, I was booked as part of the band for a Burns supper. It was quite a smart affair - chaps in DJs and kilts, ladies in ball gowns, etc. The usual format for such occasions is that the band provides background music during dinner and then plays for dancing. It's a tradition at a Burns Supper that the haggis is brought into the dining room at the start of the dinner itself, accompanied by a bagpiper. It is placed on the top table and the MC recites Burns's Ode to a Haggis. Bagpipers are very busy on Burns night and good ones are not to be found on every street corner. As a result, they can play many jobs during the evening. They go to a venue, pipe in the haggis, collect their money, accept a dram or two and head off to the next one. It was obvious, when the piper arrived, that he had done quite a few jobs already that night and had accepted a generous dram at every one of them. He was plastered. However, he was still able to walk in a straight line and play, so all was good. The chef carried the the haggis into the room on a silver salver, accompanied by the piper. The procession made its way to the stage, where the haggis was placed on a table placed at the front of it. The MC stepped forward and began his recitation, whilst the piper stood to one side, playing and marking time on the spot. The effort of blowing into the instrument, combined with the skin full he had imbibed, caused the piper to lose control of his bowels for a moment. As he was wearing his kilt in the traditional manner, there was nothing to catch the product of his lapse, which plopped down on the stage between his feet. This wouldn't have been so bad - the height of the stage made it unlikely that anyone could see the offending item. However, whilst marching on the spot, he stepped in it and slipped. His boot flew up, propelling bits of it into the audience. The band hastily vacated the stage and howled with laughter in the dressing room. The piper was ejected and the mess was cleared up, but the evening never really recovered.

Funny feeling, after more than 20 years of owning at any one time between one (rare), several (often) and at the most seven (madness), I've just sold my last electric bass, with the aim of focussing on upright from here on. It's part financial with a house move coming up, part technical in that I want to really focus on DB, and part organic in that I've found it harder and harder to play electric bass as I get more into upright. I think I'm going to miss the tinkering, setting up, swapping out components, building bitsas etc as much as the playing to be honest, but it's gonna save me a fortune But man, when I look back at some of those basses; all original LPB '64 Precision (i blamed @Happy Jack for that particular purchase, and @Clarkyfor a significant percentage of the remainder), '97 Modulus Flea (played itself), a Modulus Sonic Hammer (a Rottweiler in bass clothing), a '69 Jazz FL (made me feel like Jaco for a while), Takamine TB-10 (best looking bass ever), several 70's Precisions, pre-EB 'rays, numerous Rics, a couple of Sadowskys.... Man, I was lucky enough to own some awesome instruments, the sort of thing I could only dream of when I was growing up with my Satellite Bass in the late 70's. And don't get me started on some of the rigs I've owned........ Anyway, as you were, just thought I'd mention it

Not a gig, but related. I had a solo open mic spot about 8 years ago. I felt I hadn't practised the vocals at full volume enough (I can't do it much at home) so decided I would stop off in the car park of a disused sports centre in Luton and have a run through in the car. So I parked up, got the acoustic out of the boot and got in the back seat. I played though the songs a few times, when I became aware that there was now a police car parked on the other side of the car park… and that they seemed to be observing me. I carried on, thinking best to act innocent. The male officer started to walk over . I carried on playing. He had a real serious look on his face until he got a few feet from the car, then he started kind-of laughing. He was laughing because he could see the guitar. It transpired that up to now they could only see the movement of my strumming arm, and thought I was entertaining myself in quite a different way. I'm assuming they had some kind of tip-off as it would be too much co-incidence otherwise. Anyway I did the open mic… went pretty well and I had a good "Something funny happened on my way here" anecdote to tell.

Groom played by James Fleet. Bride by Katie Price. Groom's family by the Crawleys out of Downton Abbey. Bride's family by the cast of Shameless. Meat 'chefs' by Cheech and Chong. Band by Steel Panther.

OK. Gap Year. Stick with it. It's good. This was a memorable gig for all the most cringe of reasons. So... this was down in Cornwall on a massive private estate in the middle of nowhere. It turned out to be for the wedding of the son of a Lord (I won't divulge names as he's quite trackable). Working through some of the events of the day - 1. We were asked to get changed in the servants quarters in the house. We were told that "Tarquin" would let us in and show us to the room where we can get changed. As the good lord told us - "Tarquin. Philippino bloke... but awfully nice. He'll show you the way." I don't think Tarquin was Tarquin's real name - and I don't know why a he would be anything but awfully nice... but there you go. 2. We went off to get changed and whilst in the toilets, a tin box was noticed on top of the back of the toilet cistern. It was inscribed with William and Cathrine. After some keen googling, I found out that it was a cake tin from the Royal Wedding. That was the first indication that these folks were connected as up until this name, we only had the name of the events organiser. For anybody interested, the tin looked like this: 3. We went through the hallway (on the way to our holding room with the hired help) and the place was full of the family with their more famous family members... including one who probably wasn't sweating in the photograph and a picture of the lord with Charlie boy. As the evening progressed, we realised that we were in the company of some quite notable people... and our "warm up" act (who was providing the music during pre dinner drinks) would appear to be somebody of pop royalty (I'm shocked that they didn't just get her band to play). Anyway, that's probably a story for another day... Carrying on... 4. The marquee was built onto a hillside - a platform had been built on stilts to have the marquee on the level - but give the infinity views out the side of the marquee. Pretty impressive stuff. This marquee was absolutely massive - with large lounging areas, separate bars, the main eating area, indoor fountains... just think of something completely over the top and multiply it by ten. The band area was a separate "surprise unveiling" - in that it looked like (from the inside of the marquee) it was just the side of the marquee... but it then opened up into a.. err.. nightclub in a marquee. So this brings us to our first notable incident. We were running on a generator - presumably the same one that was powering the whole of the marquee. There was a lot to power - and probably of note was the huge chandelier and hanging illuminated pinata (but more on that later). As we soundcheck, there was what I could only describe what felt and sounded like a bomb going off. The whole ground shook and the sound was just louder than anything I'd ever heard. Everything inside power wise, was dead. We went out to the generator was located, and there we found that the top of the generator had been blown clean off. Cue the electricians (whole team of them) trying to get phone signal to source another generator. To be fair, they sorted it pretty quickly. They'd got a make shift generator running and then another lorry turned up with whatever was needed to restore power. I had thought that would be the end of events... but turned out, that was only the start of the fun. 5. We went to the catering tent - and jeez, you have seen nothing like it on this planet... Curiously enough, despite the immense catering facilities, outside the marquee, there were two complete stoners (like, obviously stoned) cooking up some dubious looking meat in a dubious, patently unsafe oven, out in the open for all to see... with their rust bucket of a van parked next to them. Clearly there was something not quite right... so being a member of the band (which gives you the right to speak to folk, right?), I struck up a conversation. Turns out these chancers were cooking the meat for one of the main courses - which I seem to recall was something rare and oxen like. I asked them how they got the gig... and apparently, the client had been ringing around catering people to see if anybody knew how to cook this thing. It would seem nobody else would go near it... but this pair told me that they had said "yes, do it all the time, no problem". I looked at him... and he pre-empting me, he responded, "yes, we've never cooked it before, but I mean, how hard can it be?". You could see and feel the tension between the catering crew and the stoners... who by the end of the night couldn't stand due to their alcohol consumption. Hilarious. From a bystanders point of view. And no, I didn't partake in the food. Come to think of it though, I can't actually recall eating anything. Probably had a bag of crisps in the van. 6. We'd all sound checked and was waiting in the house ready for "the call" after the speeches. It was delayed... and delayed... and delayed. The speeches hadn't even happened... so I went out to investigate. Turns out that the best man had told the groom not to marry the bride whilst waiting at the altar as she was only after his money. She clearly was... just after the money. He - socially awkward, dweeby, pretty ugly (trying not to be too unkind here) guy... her, super model looks but not the err... supporting pedigree shall we say. It was clear who her guests were and who the grooms were. Anyway, turns out, one of the brides friends had overheard this and told the bride. Naturally, the bride went off the hook at the groom shortly after the matrimonial vows had been exchanged. Unbeknown to us, the whole day was running late as the bride and groom had vanished and spent the day arguing in the grounds. The wedding breakfast had mostly gone ahead without the bride and groom being present. 7. Eventually, about 11 o'clock (that's PM), the speeches happened. There had been some cooling off by this point and the best man got up to do his speech. Lets just say, he started the speech with (and I paraphrase here), "it all started as an unlucky chance meeting on a gap year in Ghana where the "happy" couple met. He then proceeded to rip into the bride. The father of the bride then ripped the mic out of the best mans drunken hands and kicked him out of the marquee. Then started another half hour of chaos and guest awkwardness. The father of the groom came across to me and apologised and said he would still try and make the first dance go ahead. 8. The first dance. Probably the most memorable first dance I have ever had the (dis)pleasure of seeing. About quarter to midnight, the "nightclub" was revealed. Bride and groom were dragged onto the dance floor (literally) and told to dance as they were causing embarrassment. (I found this so funny - like the most embarrassing thing for the family at this point was the reluctance to have a first dance?! ). We played "You're Too Good To Be True". I remember this sequence of events like they were only yesterday - a - band starts b - bride and groom do nothing c - singer prompts - "this is your time to shine x and y" d - nothing e - father of groom appears with a sword f - groom puts his hands awkwardly on brides hips g - bride removes grooms hands from her hips h - bride is standing there, groom is dancing in front of her like an awkward Alan Partridge. i - father of groom gives sword to groom j - father of groom whispers in groom ear k - groom jabs heart pinata with sword l - confetti falls on the happy couple, causing the bride to roll her eyes and storm off stage m - we finished song with groom just quivering in the middle of the dancefloor, the guests having remained absolutely quiet and motionless (even whilst the band was doing the baa daa baa daa!! bit...) n - the singer turns around and asks what we should do next, we just shrug - the dancefloor is now empty and some of the guests are dispersing o - father of groom comes over to band and mimics the hand to the neck movement (cut it there) p - he speaks to me - "you're only contracted to midnight and I dont think anybody is in the mood for music anyway" q - we start packing up at about 5 minutes to midnight in absolute silence. No music, no talking, nobody in the marquee was talking. I don't think the band spoke to each other until we were all back in the van. r - father of groom gives me an envelope "for our troubles". (I should have mentioned we had already been paid up front anyway... so I think this was embarrassment money) s- we drive out the venue, having packed up, past the bride and groom who were arguing at the gate which was at the perimeter of the field we were in. We wound down the window and thanked them before wishing them a very happy life together. So yeah. that was a memorable one. I've never been paid so much for 4 minutes of playing. (If you are wondering, my rate that night for playing was £150/minute)

I just replaced my JG 4003 with a JG 4003S and prefer the body shape, neck and weight. Has some beautiful figuring on the fingerboard wood too. Finally happy!

And finally, it's finished. If I had the patience, I could have operated on the decal and made it follow the curve closer, but it's fine for my needs. Assuming nothing else breaks, that really is The End

A fanned fret fretless??! Kinda thought I would either love it or think, meh, not for me. I've had a number of Dingwalls - started on a Combustion and upgraded through to a Z3, but always have been intrigued by the idea of a fretless one. Obviously they are as rare as hen's teeth, so when this came in to Bassdirect I knew I''d have a try, but put it off for a few weeks as I also knew it might cost me a pretty penny. I'll try to record a clip or two at the weekend, but suffice to say it didn't take long to decide. Previously before I got my Z3, I'd been prevaricating about 3 months over whether to get a Roscoe Custom LG to add to my Dingwall ABI, but couldn't really justify the cost. The Z3 came into the shop unreserved (pretty unheard off at that time a few years ago) at a price way above the Roscoe's price. Took about 10 minutes to decide I needed the Z3, and traded 3 other basses and a wodge of cash to get it. This one, it probably took about 2 minutes. Buttery action, I find it easier to intonate than my Sandberg fretless, and the tone. Man, depending on how you play, can go from smooth mwah to growling and biting like a fretted. Just amazing. Lined Fretless, but no lines where the strings are - didn't notice that until I got home. How cool is that? Must be harder to do, but such a clever detail, like so many other things about this bass.

Hi All, Loving the Spector admiration in this series. I have been collecting Brooklyn and Kramer era Spectors for a number of years. A quick snapshot of my current Kramer era instruments: A red NS-2 (1988) and a cherry sunburst NS-5 (1987). The NS-5s are quite rare with only 74 made, so am fortunate to have in the collection. Both have a story which I plan to share along with additional photos. Until then, enjoy!!

It was in the news recently about the Oasis tribute band who got snowed in at a pub for several days. When they were rescued, they were a Noel Gallagher tribute band, and a Liam Gallagher tribute band 😝

Ha yes. Played one wedding where we were packing down and then the screaming and shouting started. One of the female guests accused another of 'nicking the cancer tin' which all the guests had been making donations instead of buying gifts. Apparently the guest was always nothing but trouble and out thieving. Hair being pulled, names being called. We tried to load out while the men tried to calm it all down. Then someone appears from out back and asks what's going on. "Oh, I've got the tin, I took it for safe keeping"

This has been my favourite thread in quite some time!

Fitting the dot markers turned out to be more tricky than I thought. The course grain of the oak and the tiny aces meant inlaying wasn't an option. In the end I drilled 10 mm holes and set the aces in black filler .Not as crisp as I'd intended but still in character for the instrument. And of course it's now fretted. Fretting in progress: Ready for fret leveling and polishing: The neck so far : Carving and sanding the back of the neck: Carved ,sanded and oiled: Progress so far:

Got it back this morning. I couldn't be happier! Looks amazing - Leighton Jennings made a fabulous job of the modding - and actually sounds great, too. I thought at first it was a touch too mellow in the clank department but then changed the eq from my P bass setting to a slight push on the upper mids (I normally cut these) and a bit more treble and now have a passable Rick-type tone. With all the new innards it works out at 3.4kg, which is a whisker under 7.5lbs. A little neck dive, cured by a grippy strap. Happy chap Big question - do I bother with some black triangle 'inlay' markers? I invested a whole 99p in getting a sheet to make some but am now thinking it looks fab without. Maybe I'll do it and see. Someone who knows Ricks would know but I have a feeling the unbound bodies are more likely to have dot markers anyway?

Yep, until about the second to last number when they all decide now's a good time to start dancing.

My previous covers band played at an outdoor, afternoon charity event. A nice walled off garden of a hotel complex on a sunny afternoon. What could go wrong. To get a bit of shade from the afternoon sun, we set up under a pergola full of vines, which seemed like a lovely spot at the time. We were really nervous as it was our first public gig. Then just to make matters worse, just before it was time to play, the owner came up and said, (insert name I can't remember) from The Drifters is in the audience. Sure enough. There was one of The Drifters front and centre, watching closely about 20 feet from where we were playing. Nothing worse for making an already nervous amateur band more nervous than knowing there's a professional watching. So we launched into our first set, and it was godawful! The vines soaked up all the sound, and as we'd never played anywhere than in a small room before, we didn't even own monitors. So myself and one guitarist at one side of the drums, couldn't hear the other two guitarists at the other side of the drums, and vice versa, and none of us could hear the bass drum at all, so we were playing at totally different times. The singer was in the middle and didn't know who to follow. It was dire! Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I realised the nice shady vines we'd set up under was home to thousands of mosquitos, right around the time one of them landed on my eyeball. They absolutely ate us alive for the whole gig. We struggled to the half time break, at which point, The Drifter got up and left. We were mortified! Then the owner came over when he saw us all deflated, and ensured us it didn't sound too bad from out front, and asked what the problem is. We said we couldn't stay in time because we couldn't hear the drums, at which point he said, "Well we've got another drummer in the crowd". Now as it turns out, what he meant was, the other drummer could sound check while we went out front to listen and adjust accordingly. However, he never got time to explain, as that was the point or drummer, believing she was being scapegoated for the bad timing, went into full meltdown mode and started packing her kit away. The drummer is married to one of the guitarists so obviously he was well on his way as well. After several minutes of trying to get everyone calm, the other guitarist, who is usually extremely quiet, well spoken, and never swears. Just bellowed "F#ck The Drifters!" and after about five seconds of silent shock, we all fell about in fits of laughter. We played the second set absolutely perfectly, despite the continuous mozzie onslaught, and from that day on, "F#ck The Drifters" became the bands mantra.

And everyone has played that wedding where no matter what tunes you play, no one dances and they just all stare at the band and clap after each song... Haven't they? With the only 3 people on the dancfloor two toddlers and a teenage boy racing up and down and skidding on his knees.

Surely, this is fake news?

Remembered a couple more incidents over night.. Being Essex based, I used to play around the bars in Colchester (used to have a large military presence with barracks there) One particularly venue ‘Fagins Den’ used to open late night, with the band playing from about 11 o’clock. This particularly evening, the crowd mostly consisted of Squaddies who by appearance, had just done a ‘hand to hand combat’ course, much alcohol was imbibed & you can guess what’s coming….. After one guy got jabbed in the throat, it all kicked off….Bottles,glasses,bar stools flying. The band played on as we were tucked away in an alcove…. The M.P’s arrived & all I can say is Wow, they don’t hold back?…..The Red caps virtually emptied the venue of anyone with short hair. We packed up shortly after.. Another town, another venue, a different band.. First gig at this place, parking in the High street a distance from the pub. I was carrying my first item of gear(Bass cab) to the entrance, along with the drummer with his kickdrum, when a barstool smashes through the front window… We just glanced at each other, turned round & walked back to our cars…

Good question. Two things I think; first I find the sheer physical challenge of DB has always motivated me more than EB, for example the fact that my hands, shoulders, back and even legs tire during a session and that this demands I'm more focussed and economic when I play. Second, I think I've found a style of playing that simply suits DB, one that while still credible on EB, sounds and feels better on DB. I guess on the basis of both factors I increasingly find DB more motivating and rewarding to play. None of this was really a conscious decision, it was odd to realise mid last year that I simply don't choose to play EB any more; in the band, when I practice, or even when I just want to play for the pleasure of playing, I now nearly always head for DB.

Going to see them in March. This letterman performance was the one that got me… https://youtu.be/GK4lD3Uf8_o

My 3rd and 4th fingers are busy muting strings, which is weird, because I never asked them to, they just decided that I was sounding a bit more rubbish than I needed to, and started tidying up around me. Great tip I got taught a long time ago on a different instrument, but which applies everywhere: work on the last four notes of a tricky passage first, then the last eight notes, then the last twelve notes, etc. Once you've learnt the whole section, when you're playing through it, you'll always be moving onto a handful of notes you're more familiar with, rather than constantly moving further away from what you're comfortable with.

Has anyone else noticed how many of these stories start "I was in a band with an alcoholic drummer..."?

Here it is. Good things - was nearly in tune and setup well straight out the box. It is very well finished - the neck in particular is lovely. Not so good things - It is a wee bit heavy, tuners don't look best quality, colour is slightly more orange than I expected (butterscotch blonde). Haven't plugged it in yet so don't know what it sounds like.

Update on my amp. I had sent Dave Green an email to buy a replacement smooth master volume pot and I'd either install it myself or get a local tech to do it. Instead he asked me to send the amp in and he would do it. I sent it off on Tuesday. It arrived with Ashdown before lunch on Wednesday. At 14.42 hours on Wednesday I got an email from TNT Couriers saying they were collecting it. It arrived back with me this morning with the pot swapped for a smooth one, and no charge for the work or the part. @Ashdown Engineering amazing customer service once again. Thank you. Although I did have a slight heart attack when I fired it up and no sound... and then noticed that the Headphone switch on the back was active!

My one has changed. I sold the 4003 (didn't like sharp, bound body edges) and replaced with a 4003S (nicer neck, lighter, contoured edges) which I am enjoying

Great job. The unbound 4003S model (based on the 60s UK version sold by Rosetti) has dot markers. I would leave as is and lament the many uses that 99p could have been put towards 😄

If you use enough of them, yes. A PJB 4x5 is equivalent to a single 10 in cone surface area (I appreciate there's more to it than simple driver area). I haven't measured the XMax, but the cones move a fair amount visually, so the displacement has to be good. In practice, one of them gives the equivalent output of a high quality 10 or even a 12. It's surprising how much poke it has. I have 5 of them, although I've never used more than 3 in anger (if I see a good used one, I buy it). 4 of them, driven by my head plus a power amp, sounds mighty. My neighbours were not happy. The beauty of them for me is that I can take out as many as I need and because they are so small, they're an easy carry and fit into the car boot. Tonally, they are on the clean side, although not hi-fi or sterile. With small drivers and no tweeter, they reproduce highs without sounding spiky or brittle. I use mine with an Aguilar head (plus power amp if needed) and the warmth of it complements the cabs nicely. I should imagine a Markbass will give similar results. I'd try before you buy, however.

When I was around 16 or 17, I was in a band with my schoolmate, drummer Glen and some older people from where he lived, playing 80's-style hard rock which, since this would have been 90-91, wasn't too much of a crime. We were playing some multi-band event which was going to be televised and got to record our song in a real studio which we would then mime to on the night of filming. All good and very exciting for a pair of kids like Glen and I. On the day of the event, we were asked to show up to the venue, a large ballroom in a very posh hotel, at noon and it was explained to us that we would be going through several rehearsals for the show so the TV cameras could get their angles right and all that other technical stuff we we oblivious to. They ran through the entire show, so each band got up and played in sequence, eight bands in total. Our band were second in rotation. Hearing yourself coming loud through a PA was very exciting and quite surreal in the sense that if you stopped playing, you could still hear yourself playing. Glen and I were getting great craic out of this. Hey, we were kids. Tearing down, then watching the next band set up, play their song, tear down, then through the rest of the bands, then repeat the whole process three times in all, it got fairly tedious quite quickly and the other three in the band, who were a good few years older than us and quite grown-up, were acting grown-up and schmoozing so Glen and I were popping to the bar and getting a beer or two as we hung around and watched the other bands. Glen was 18 and I looked older than I was, so we had no trouble getting served. By the time of the show, we were both unintentionally rather tipsy and, with the venue now filled with comfortably the largest audience either of us had ever performed to, quite giddy on a mix of beer and adrenaline. The first band played and then we were up. Our song was a power ballad type of thing, keyboards and clean guitar to start, then bass drum and rimshot snare and I came in with the first chorus when it became more power and less ballad. I was standing there on stage, looking moody and emotional as I waited for the bass part to come in. Just before the drums started, I heard Glen calling my name. I turned around to see him waving his right foot at me as the bass drum played loud and proud which was probably the funniest thing I had seen in my life, or so it felt at that time. We both spent the rest of this moody song trying, and sometimes failing, to suppress the giggles in front of several hundred people and the TV cameras. During my two close-ups, I'm not playing anything resembling the real bass line. Glen was a top fella, brilliant drummer and has played to slightly larger audiences since with The Script and I reckon has learned to keep his foot on the pedal 😁

And following on from my first story... One of the bands on the bill at that gig were "impressed" enough with our performance (or more likely wanted a band that didn't need to use their kit) and offered us a support at their next gig in Leicester. They didn't have room for us in their van, but we were told that they would pay our train fare out of the door money as the venue was one they had played before and there was good crowd. On the evening of the gig as we arrived at the train station in Nottingham it started to snow. By the time we arrived in Leicester it was falling steadily and settling. Most of the buses had already stopped running and notices were going up in the station about train delays and cancellations. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to the pub venue with our gear getting colder and wetter all the time. We arrived just in time to set up, soundcheck, grab a drink and then it was time for our set. The only other people in the pub were the other band, the PA guys (this was in the days when few venues had in-house PA systems and if you didn't have your own you'd hire one in for the gig), the landlord, and 2 bar staff. Half way through our set one paying punter came in bought a half and then sat as far away from the "stage" as possible. By the time we'd finished, the snow was still falling and was now pretty deep. We decided that if we wanted any chance of getting back to Nottingham that night we had better leave now while there was a chance that the trains were still running. At this point the other band told us that they had organised with the PA guys to take us back to Nottingham with the PA so that we could stay for their set. It's just as well that they did, as the one paying punter left after their first song song and the landlord let the staff go early, so the main band played to us, the PA guys and the landlord. Despite all this the band got asked back for another gig, and which my next "proper" band supported them at. That went much better.

Great advice here, mods are really for you only, they hold pretty much zero value for anyone else if it comes to resale time…so if you think you might eventually sell, keep them (having hopefully kept and then replaced the original parts on the bass). An alternative way to look at it is that mods may also commit you more to an instrument.

"This is the end, my electric friends, the end..."

I didn't keep mine because as much as it was impressively loud and genuinely sounded good, I impulse-bought it without considering whether I actually had a use for it. I practice and record using headphones/mixer/preamp and I have a Markbass 801 combo which would be smaller and easier to carry than the Thunder and my smallest cab to any venue where that combination would be viable. If having a fanless practice amp had been at all important to me, though, I'd most likely have kept it as it really did sound alright.

Well - someone's been looking at Sire & going - "oh sh!t!" - haven't they? Very nice. Do like that blueburst on the J.

The Tele thing's not a Jedson, seeing as how it doesn't say Jedson on the end. It's the exact same thing though, sold unbranded as many old MIJ basses were. Both it and the SG-ish thing (an almost-copy of Gibson's budget Kalamazoo KB-1) turn up in the wild badged as Sakai, which makes it highly likely they were made by Sakai Mokko, at some point in the early 70s.

It could crash the whole site. It's a very worrying development

My big breakthrough with playing fast for extended periods came when I realised that if I turned the amp up I could just brush the strings with my fingertips so I'm hitting the top of the string with much less force than my previous techinque where I was plucking the side of the string. If that makes any sense.

True, but the cost of production is not the only aspect in the Squier pricing. They are hugely popular due to the Fender association, and Fender is a behemoth with a huge marketing budget and endorsees to pay. A good amount of the extra cost goes there. FWIW I have had both a Sire M5 and a Squier VM 70s Jazz. The Sire was a better instrument in terms of spec, but I definitely preferred the 'authentic look' of the Squier.

If the mods had demonstrated the good sense to ban me 10 years ago I'd be a whole lot wealthier today

ACDC did a nearly-as-good cover 😉

I'm going to have to wait for the report before I can comment. 🙂

He's struggling to bend down to plug the amp into the wall socket?

Sometimes your 3rd and 4th fingers on your plucking hand wave around a lot. If you put a pencil in your palm and hold it with your 3rd and 4th fingers it lets your 1st and 2nd fingers get on with the job.

It isn't that easy, alternating back to the E as a pedal constantly in different parts of the bar. It's sequenced, just as the Muse tune mentioned earlier. Something you have to 'automate', and build up slowly from there. Ligaments and tendons work best in a straight line, straightening out the wrist a little helps. A lighter touch and turning the amp up, also mentioned earlier, is the way to retain and release energy over time, but with a louder volume, muting has got to be kept on top of. With the fretting hand, don't use more pressure to fret than is needed. It takes less than you think.

Many years ago I was playing in a covers band. We had a gig at a caravan park. During the gig someone came up and asked the singer if we could dedicate a song to his father as it was his birthday. The singer duly obliges "this next one is for Joe Bloggs, happy birthday" We launch into the next song on the list. Half way through our rendition of knocking on heaven's door we notice a guy in a wheelchair being pushed up the front wearing a large home made badge with the number 80 on it.