pete.young

Peirre Vernier. Who invented the scale in 1631, so clearly a brilliant man ahead of his time. It was probably another 150 years before the machine tools existed that could make a Vernier Caliper.

Thomann used to be really bad at this, and so did GAK. Thomann have seriously cleaned up their act, and I haven't ordered anything from GAK since, so I have no idea.

2 1/2 grand for something that looks like it was made in my shed by me! No thanks.

Worth keeing an eye on the forums for a second-hand: Tecamp Puma Classic 112 Eich BC 112 Phil Jones Bass Suitcase Any of these would fit the bill and will drive an extension speaker if you need to make a bit more noise for the punk band. Provided it's a pretty quiet punk band, they're not going to keep up with Marshal 100W and 4x12s obviously.

Pretty hard to beat a Phil Jones Bass Double Four.

Not sure I'm seeing the dog biscuit connection. More like what comes out of the other end of the dog after it's eaten the biscuits.

Interesting, I think that's the first time I've seen the words 'Sting' and 'bell' in the same sentence without the word 'end' .

To fit the bridge properly, you need tape some sandpaper to the belly and shape the bottom of the bridge feet by moving the bridge side-to-side., like you are trying to use it to saw the body in half.

Matt Schofield Trio. Organist uses his left hand to play the basslines. Sounds fantastic. But organists good enough to do that don't exactly fall out of the nearest tree when you shake it.

It seems that this crook is still active, and using the email address [email protected] , a close friend got ripped off by the same scam . An OC3 which appears in several of the screenshots about. Just in case anyone is keeping score.

Sounds like something that an LS2 will do. Effects loop might work, if it is parallel, but you will have no ability to control how much of each signal unless you have a blend control on it. And you have no guarantee that a line-level loop will work as expected with instrument-level pedals.

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.