Japhet

Ball of Confusion - The Temptations

The words 'midi' and 'sync' are like kryptonite to me! I can barely work a mobile phone.

I'm looking for a simple looper to use at gigs. My criteria are; has to be simple to use with a small footprint. Don't need anything at all fancy or complicated. So far I've spotted the TC Electronic Ditto and the Digitech Jam Man. Anyone have any advice - would be much appreciated before I go and buy something I don't get on with. Ta.

A guy I know has been playing in Germany, Holland, Belgium etc for years doing the blues/rock circuit. He says it's the only way he can make a living. When he comes back to England he says he's really only playing for expenses and a bit of beer money. Sad indictment of how it is these days.

'Little' screw connections is a bit of an understatement if you ask me. They are microscopic (at least to my ageing eyes!)

Bit of Chorus. Bit of Octaver. All together now..................'Wherever I lay my hat, That's my home'

One Direction are so shallow (compared to the hard bite of Mama's got a squeezebox).

I prefer the Streamliner sound and have a 600. Stingray through it into a TechSoundsystems 2x12 (with a really good tweeter) gives me a very clear sound with plenty of warmth and bags of power. So small it would fit through most letter boxes and I've never had a single problem with it. Tragedy that Fender pulled the plug.

I like (or dislike) every genre of music to different percentages. I dislike about 99.9% of thrash metal, 95% of Free Jazz 85% of Country and Western and so on. Come to think of it I hate Musicals, Opera loads of Rave and Garage stuff...............looks like I'm a snob.

Never really got U2. Bit too sincere for me.

Just put a 2 band John East preamp in my 1995 Stingray 4. Used it at rehearsal last night and am utterly blown away with it. Sounds fabulous and I would seriously recommend it to anyone wanting to beef up the sound on their Ray.

I've found that some of the most talented musicians are also some of the biggest pricks I've ever been associated with. However, my current band has a bunch of guys ranging from pretty good to bloody fantastic and we all get along really well. Everybody pitches in with setting up and carting the gear and we don't have any prima donnas which is crucial. I play for the fun of it - always have, and I feel very privileged to be in with a bunch f good blokes who enjoy what we do.

I've never played with a pick and don't like the sound much either, so songs played that way can be a bit challenging. I also find the transition from finger style to slap a bit tricky (other people make it look effortless). Also not a major problem since I'll usually only play a few bars of slap here and there in an entire gig.

Thanks for the info Doddy. Never thought of it from a writing perspective but that now makes complete sense.

Saw him at Hammersmith too with Richard Cousins playing a Danelectro Longhorn if I remember correctly. My overriding feeling though was that it was identical to the studio albums and I might as well have just listened to them. Very proficient but also very sterile.

Yep, I understand this. What I don't understand is when 'proper' musos tell me that the key of Ab is different to G#.

Spacey,good job you didn't use matey's rig. Can't imagine the sh*t storm if it had gone up in smoke when you were using it!

There's loads, but at the moment I'd love to have a bash at Pump it Up by Elvis Costello. Really good fun to play and the sort of gigs we play I think it would go down a storm.

Damn! Got a gig that night.

In my opinion, it's companies like Lakland and Yamaha (and many more) who keep Fender on their toes. Fender have gone though numerous periods of poor quality but their history and loyal followers keep coming to the rescue.

Rikki Lee Jones. Fabulous album. Bought it the week it came out and never get tired of it.

You might have been better with a GK MB Fusion. I wouldn't rule out Tecamp either (Puma 900 head in the FS section which is nothing to do with me). Have only gone through Markbass amps a couple of times but thought they were a bit bland.

I've always used my thumb (mostly on the bottom string) and 2 fingers. Using my thumb gives a nice meaty thump and I find it keeps the time keeping nice and tight.