pete.young

Or transpose the notes below E up an octave.

Timely article from the Guardian, reminding us that Ed is not the only musician who wanted to put an end to bogus law suits. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/10/john-lennon-morris-levy-beatle-v-mobster-1976-court-battle

RIP Stu.

Before one of us has to!

Remembering to switch it from bass mode to guitar mode is probably a top tip. I hadn't even realised there was a switch originally! I've been using mine with guitar (actually, acoustic lap steel) and the pads and organ sounds really add something. The bass specific patches are better with bass than guitar, and there are some which are just useless for both (thinking of the lead synths particularly). The arpeggiators are awesome fun with a guitar, haven't tried them on bass. What I'm really missing is an expression pedal. I think that will make it a lot easier.

I've just acquired another tenor, a Gold Tone TS250R but it will be set up for Irish trad playing, GDAE octave down from a fiddle. This came fitted with a Plectrum neck which I've removed to refit the original tenor neck. This has been slightly butchered by the previous owner to fit the hoop, but is servicable if anyone wants to try and use it for a frankenbanjo. In the UK, besides trad jazz the other place you find plectrum and tenor banjos is so-called BMG groups or orchestras, Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar. There used to be quite a few of these when I started playing in the '70s but they've mostly died out.

I don't bother with a power conditioner. The UK mains supply is relatively clean in noise terms, unlike the US, and a decent quality amp such as Eich will have filtering built in to it's internal supply. Use an extension lead with a surge protector and save another space in your rack.

I remember that stuff too. Turned beautifully on a lathe. Made loads of screwdriver handles out of it.

You could also give Presto lights or ultralights a go - they have a steel core and are supposed to work with a mag pickup, though I've not tried it personally. They are definitely low tension, kind to hand and basses with dodgy neck joints.

You're going to need a 4lb lump hammer to put the frets in!

What some commercial sites seem to be able to do is to provide a search function with a slider to set a minimum and maximum price and present the adverts which fall into the range.

I think the competitive or judgemental aspect can bring this kind of anxiety on, or make it worse. There's always more tension when I know there are lots of other players of the same instrument in the audience, and you can't help feel they're evaluating your performance. In this case it sometimes helps to imagine that they are wishing you to succeed, not hoping you're going to fail. In the brass band world there are many actual competitions and this can be tough on people, where the consequence of nerves can mean difficulty breathing and hence making a note of any kind. We had a brilliant MD for a time who has since moved on to conduct at the very top of the brass band world, who sat us all down before one contest and said "I want you to play this piece as though you have already won the contest, and you are going out to show the audience how you did it." I think this is a brilliant piece of advice, and it's stayed with me to this day.

What an extraordinary thing this is. I've seen Stingrays before but not a Bongo. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185329436860

The acrylic nail will work. The banjo player in our old-time band makes regular visits to the nail bar to have his playing finger nail built up. They thought he was a bit odd at first, only having one finger done, but they've got used to it now. Another option is the plastic fingernail kits you get from Boots. I've used these they're cheap and they work OK. There are some banjo picks which are made specifically for clawhammer, maybe some ideas here? http://glorybeamingbanjo.blogspot.com/2018/01/clawhammer-picks-and-you-review.html

OK, so how many of you older dudes auditioned for this?

It's a great journey. A couple of things about this video which spring to mind. Firstly, there is a technique in here which I would say is more intermediate/advanced than beginner, which is using the thumb to play the second string. This is called drop-thumb. I notice she only does it in the fast version, in the slowed down section she just leaves out the note altogether or plays the 5th string instead. I'd do that too, at least to start with. Secondly, in the slowed-down version she is definitely bending her thumb to pluck the 5th string. This is usually regarded as bad technique, and she doesn't do it in the fast version. The way it was explained to me was that the tip of your thumb comes to rest on the 5th string, and stops the hand on it's downward/inward travel. You then sound the 5th string by lifting the hand up and out. There's a good book by Dan Levenson called 'Clawhammer from Scratch' which goes into a lot of detail about hand position, ergonomics and such. Eagle Music has it for a reasonable price. And this demo of his take on the basics is on Youtube:

Because you are a blithering idiot? What do I win?

Storky, you're an upright bass player. They need you more than you need them. Even if they don't realise it, someone else will.

Boss OC3, or OC5 if you can get one.

I think there's probably more happening in Peterborough than in Cambridge.

How about an adaptor which has a 9v battery clip on one end and a 2.1mm plug on the other?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if these boxes were administered by WiFi, and I'd also expect a sizeable percentage to be installed with the default admin password.

Absolutely this. Great minds and all that.

A Bass Collection SB301 would probably be close, or a 310 with the pre-amp removed.