rushbo

Oi! I used a file and everything!

Prince went from (arguably) the most conservative guitar shape - the Telecaster - to a series of instruments that even Salvador Dali might have thought were a bit outré.

Things I like about this: The nifty fretboard markers The pickups The bridge Things I don't like about this: The body. It puts me in mind of a prop used in a pornographic, same sex cyborg movie, set in outer space. Artwork on the body: I have no doubt that it looks great close up, but from 5 or 6 metres away, it'll just turn into a grey blur. I bet they play beautifully and sound even better, but aesthetically... not for me, thank you.

I have a soft spot for: BeBop Deluxe: Live in the Air Age Cheap Trick: At Budokan Rush: All the World's a Stage Loud Family: From Ritual to Romance Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day Neil Young: Live Rust

Another word of warning: I have a lovely Nissan Note (2011) which ticks loads of boxes for what I need it for. Unfortunately a P bass hard case wont fit in the boot and has to live either in the rear footwell, or in the boot with the back seat dropped. Even in a soft case, it'll only go in the boot at an angle. Not a huge issue for me, but, if you ever leave your car unattended, even for a moment, your bass will be "on show" in the back of the car. With the back seats dropped, it swallows loads of gear (it accommodates all my gigging rig, a full drumkit and two people very comfortably) but if it was about 15 cm wider, it would make a huge difference. It's a great car tho'.

Harsh. But fair.

Good grief, Bassassin!

Bulbous! That's the word! Cheers, Cetera.

Even this one? : It's the single cut basses with the REALLY pronounced top horn* that I find aesthetically challenging. (* I don't know the proper term for the part of the bass where it looks like its lurching forward just above where the neck meets the body and then randomly attaches itself to the neck, somewhere around the fifth fret.)

I'd say that considering the BZ 7000 NT7 currently retails at £329, glue may be a major contributing factor to the price point. ...unless it comes with the hard case in the pictures. If that case has been made by Isambard Kingdom Brunel from specially treated, solidified angel's tears, then it's probably worth a punt. Or are we missing something?

Someone needs to make a massively comprehensive multiFX unit and call it "Pandora's Box." Here's the flight case for it:

I love that sketch.

CAVEAT: I'm a huge fan of the Fender Precision Bass aesthetic, so this may temper your opinion of my opinion. Every time I see one of those boutique, single cut basses (à la Fodera etc) they remind me of some massive sea creature, cresting the surface of the ocean. But not in a pretty way. I really liked the look of Jazz basses until I read (possibly on this very website) that someone disliked them because; "it looks like the bass has melted". The love affair ended moments after that sunk in.

That's the weird thing... he was a gen-u-wine. 100%, died in the wool guitarist. But he was incredibly sensible and moderate, too. And a great player - one of those annoying musicians who just played everything really well all the time. When we played live, he brought a PRS, a Squier Strat in case of string breakage, his Korg MFX, a bagful of leads etc and a small MesaBoogie combo. Set up took about 3 minutes with a stage footprint about the size of a tea tray. What a guy. I should have married him.

Yes. This.

You can divide most audiences into two categories: A. People who nod appreciatively when a guitarist changes from his/her "Bridge of Signs" tone to his/her "Texas Flood" tone B. People who get quickly bored/agitated when a guitarist prods hopefully at pedals and spins every knob on their instrument and amp in the vain hope of getting some subtly nuanced noise that in all honestly, only that particular guitarist can discern. The ratio of these groups is currently 500/1 in favour of group B. (Please note, this ratio is doubled in the case of bassists*) I worked with a guitarist who used the oldest Korg MultiFX thing in the world. It was huge and clunky, but he'd studied it, knew it backwards, forwards and possibly even in braille and could get any noise most people would want or care about. He always asked for a setlist a day or two in advance, so he knew where he was with his settings, but that was a small price to pay for a seamless performance. The day your punters notice you're fiddling about between songs is the day you need to have a word with the fiddler and make some pertinent "suggestions." * citation needed

I Picked up a Sessioncake SC01 from Martyn. Of course it came quickly and in near-perfect condition. Yes, batteries were included. He's a good egg. x

I have no desire to change my cabs at the moment, but my hat is off to you sir, for this very useful resource.

This should be on the landing page of this website, in a huge and luminous font. My band have done a couple of shows since the end of house arrest and before the first one, I dragged all my gigging gear to a local rehearsal room to make sure everything still created the appropriate noises. Just me, without the band. Fortunately, it all still worked, but I think it would be foolhardy to trust any gear that has been sitting still for eighteen months. Weird things can happen...

A big +1 for this. I use a Hercules iPad holder and it's surprisingly discreet. That does look nice - it looks a bit more maneuverable than my Hercules version.

I've used forScore on my iPad for quite a few years and I really cant fault it. For extra swankiness, I operate it with a Cuvave page turner, which retails at between £17-£25. My needs are pretty simple - just flicking through pdfs of chord sheets - but I've found it easy to use and very reliable.

I'm not a massive user of pedals anymore, but I love my BDI 21. I've had my fair share of Behringer stuff and the only thing I didn't get on with was a bass synth pedal. Other than that, it's been good news all the way. In a previous life as a music teacher with less than no money to spend on gear, my choices were limited. I kitted out our rehearsal rooms with Behringer mixers, mics and a few of their multi use combo amps. They survived a hell of a beating and performed really well. If it sounds good, it's reliable and easy to use then it's good gear, regardless of what it says on the label.

You are clearly insane. Fantastic work sir.

Here's my current gigging rig for Roxy Magic - the Roxy Music tribute I've been playing in for a while. I love a PJ configuration, I do. The red one is a bitsa and the natural one is a heavily modified/butchered "Cowpoke." The combo and cab are from the short lived Genz Benz "Contour" range. They're ace.

I've got one of these. Stupidly cheap, but rather good. Aesthetically, they're erm, somewhat lacking but they do exactly what they're supposed to do.