Silvia Bluejay

Yup, I agree, the RFH is an excellent idea in case of rain, better than the Galleria, as there is seating available. I'll go back there to spot a suitable place next time I'm in town during the week, as well as popping down to Regents Park. Then we'll watch the weather forecast and pick the most suitable solution. Roll on summer! (Please.) Edit: I have amended my intial post on this thread accordingly.

I went on a reccie mission to More London Riverside yesterday. The place is beautiful. (I hadn't ventured beyond crossing Tower Bridge from the north bank since City Hall was still half way through being built.) However, considered from the point of view of 10-15 people meeting there on a rainy day, I'm not sure how well More London would work. The only places we could take refuge in in case of downpour appeared to be restaurants, such a Strada and Gaucho, and a couple of small cafes. In the immediate riverside area there are no pubs or gastros or similar places where a reasonably large group could sit and just chat and have a drink. There are plenty of really nice outdoors areas, such as the Scoop, all the gardens around the buidings, and Potters Field Park, through which I walked to get from the foot of Tower Bridge to the riverside. The only large covered area I saw was a few minutes' walk along the river to the West, and that's the Hays Galleria. There is also what looks like a "proper" pub in the vicinity of the Galleria, as well as the other usual bars/restaurants/cafes. In short, the place would be lovely on a dry day, but if it was rainy or threatening to rain, I think we'd have to meet up in the Galleria. What are everybody's opinions on the above? I'm going to go on another reccie mission, in Regents Park this time, one of these days, so that I can check if there's an easily recognisable spot for us too meet up in case the weather behaves and we can actually have that picnic instead.

Hm, I suppose I must have pestered them in a more annoying way than you did, so that they wanted to get me off their backs quickly, and accepted all my requests I would still recommend talking to them on the phone as opposed to emailing (except for confirmations). Seems to work better. Let us know how it goes with the replacement. Good luck.

When I sent back my scratched bass I asked them (on the phone) for a courier to collect it from my door, as i haven't got a car, and they obliged. You may still be in time to change the arrangement if you call them?

[quote name='grumble' timestamp='1337351558' post='1658675'] Yep, its the only thing I dont like about mine. For those complaining about the lack of space for a full db, don't worry you will have one day. Then you will be an old tw*t like me and it will be muscles and joints that are more of a concern [/quote] LOL - thing is, as far as my small (top floor) flat is concerned, besides the constant risk of knocking over or damaging a DB, there's the problem of central heating and/or sunshine coming through the windows (British Weather permitting). If the only potential spaces available are right in front of a radiator or in corners where the temperature soars when it's sunny outside, the poor thing is going to get warped in no time. At the moment I'm keeping all my music equipment in the only corner that's as far as possible from radiators and protected from sunshine by a curtain. But that corner is too crowded already... Many other would-be double bassists may have similar problems in their homes.

Hi William, and welcome! Nice GAS-inducing basses you've got there

Welcome, both Debs! When I was a beginner, a few years ago, I took a couple of 3-month courses at Tech Music School, and had two excellent teachers who were both far younger than me. One of them was facing a female oldie (and a leftie one at that!) for the first time in his career, but still did a sterling job of teaching me. The student's enthusiasm matters a lot more than their age, so go for it!

If, like me, you have no space for a real DB at home, what's going to happen is - you'll get an electric upright that's got FIVE strings, so you're still one up on the previous And you'll love both the 4 and the 5 to bits Welcome to the club, Fumps! "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"

I was at Middle School in Florence when I Feel Love exploded on the scene. So many memories. And her Bad Girls album also means a lot to me. One of my musical aspirations is one day to disentangle and learn to play the bassline to Hot Stuff (disco mix version). There are so many instruments on that song I still get confused when trying to analyse it. RIP Donna. Immortal through your music.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1337325787' post='1657991'] Did I miss something? [/quote] Nah, no big deal - the entire universe (which, as you know, centres on BC) ended abruptly, but somehow ped, kiwi and the guys managed to restart it. And Jack, you've been working way too hard in the last few days, and not spending nearly enough time on here. *crosses arms, taps foot*

Incidentally, the warnings seem to have cleared themselves out - I'm not getting any red alert page now, despite using the same toolbar bookmark as before and not clearing my cache. Thank you, guys, for your hard work.

doesn't allow me to correct the typo either.

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1337313969' post='1657910'] Still getting the 'attack' warning when using my bookmark, though can get here if I ignore it. Will delete bookmark and try again. [/quote] I have exactly the same problem. How can I ignore the wraning permanently?

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1337255447' post='1657883'] For any bass player (bass guitar i may add) to have no interest in guitars which are made by the same company that makes their favourite basses is stupid. [/quote] I guess it depends on whether you also play guitar, how much spare time you have to read or watch advertising content, your level of appreciation of/technical expertise in guitar-making, etc. While i'm reasonably fascinated by, and attracted to, any beautiful, well made instrument (stringed or otherwise), I would not use such a strong word as "stupid" for those who have no interest.

Aww, so glad to see I'm not the only one jumping around for joy like an overxcited kid every time I receive a new baby. I did just that when I got my NXT 5 a few weeks ago, and something not dissimilar when I took delivery of the HB upright. Enjoy! Music is good for the body and mind.

Never lose hope. I'll make sure to pop down to both suggested places in the next few days, before the actual meetup happens, and find a spot where we can find one another easily. On the day I'll have a BC sign of some sort with me, too.

No warning whatsoever from my usually very reliable PCTools free AV. Maybe all you guys have AV software that's being exceedingly paranoid???

Welcome to the club! Keep asking, if you have questions - I'm a newbie on that instrument too, and we can exchange opinions and tricks if applicable

I'm the proud owner of an NXT 5 and I'm happy to confirm that the dots are where the notes are. The first three dots on the E string mark F, F#, G, and so on. When in doubt, tune the bass with the open strings and then set the tuner to Chromatic, and then fret on the dots.

Welcome, DD!

Methinks someone should soon start a new thread with the appropriate year - and possibly also day and month - in the title

Thank you all for a. starting this topic and b. giving precious advice based on your experiences. I haven't got tinnitus at the moment (fingers crossed), and I'm always pretty careful and use (ordinary, cheap) earplugs at gigs, but I have now ordered a pair of "women's size" ER20s and feel safer

When you make a purchase through the English language site, they state that the price of each item is inclusive of 20% UK VAT, so I guess that's that. They charge your credit card in Euros, and the amount is the price shown on the item's page. They also provide a conversion in pounds, but that's only indicative - the exchange rate applied will be that on the day they charge your credit card (when they ship the item).

Keep in mind that they won't send out the new one until they have taken delivery of the defective one you're sending back. They told me so when I received a new bass guitar with a scratch, and complained, and asked what my options were. I wasn't offered a discount (I would probably have accepted it as the scratch was only little). What I did in the end was ask for a refund on the scratched bass, send it back, and at the same time order an identical new one from the website. That saved me a couple of extra days' wait, I suppose. It was a bit of a hassle, but then again, they're in Germany and delivery takes longer than popping down to your local music shop - which doesn't exist any more anyway...

Welcome metal brother! Keeeep It Heeeavyyy