colgraff

Which albums have starts that really do it for you? Not whole songs, just those first few chords. I'll restrict myself to one: Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time. A big bass chord followed by those classic Maiden guitar sounds with the octave shift. It's not musically sophisticated or difficult to play but to my ears it is close to perfect. Brrr.

From a long time ago, I remember in the TA, we suffered from SKS: Shiny Kit Syndrome which was used to mean stealing anything from stores/armoury that you could while on manoeuvres.

Mrs Graff has a Santander credit card that applies no charges to transactions regardless of currency or transacting country.

Girlfriend Annoyance Syndrome. They certainly get annoyed when gear is acquired.

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1449067543' post='2920526'] Most bands I've seen with two guitarists would sound much better with one. I much prefer it myself. I enjoy the spaces and dynamics, Don't get me wrong. Some two guitar bands really nail it. But you don't really need two people with a similar guitar sound chugging away at A & D. [/quote] Very true, to my ears early Iron Maiden was one of the few band to get a true balance between two lead guitars and bass. Then they went and spoiled it with three guitars!

I'd have any amp you like and Chris Squire's triple-necked Wal. But I'd still be scared that someone would see me with it!

I think the thing I found hardest in moving from a two- to a one-guitar band was keeping count in solos. I was surprised by how much I had been relying on the rhythm guitarist to tell me when chord changes were due in solos.

Love Kiwi's weasel imagery! My most disappointing gig was Iron Maiden in ~1990. It was post Adrian Smith but still with Bruce Dickinson. I was a huge Maiden fan in the 80s and remember being desperately disappointed. They weren't bad, in fact were probably note-perfect but the sound balance too loud for the venue so the overall mix was a bit muddy and the guitars seemed to be crackly and indistinct.

I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have found a band who play two gigs a month regularly within a relatively small radius. As most of us are parents and have other jobs, that is ample. We rehearse once every now and then if we have new material or if we need a tightening up session.

Sorry to hear that. I've always managed to find decent drummers on Joinmyband and BandMix without too much trouble. I may have been lucky though.

[size=4]I play in a one-guitar pub rock covers band and have played in two guitar ones. My advice is:[/size] [size=4]1- You should be at the same volume as the guitar (not for guitar solos, though)[/size] [size=4]2- Pedals are strictly optional so don't worry on that front. [/size][size=4]Set your amp so that your sound is very slightly overdriven. This will give it a fuller sound. For an example, listen to A Kind of Magic by Queen here: [/size][size=4] [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc2ZDSCftAI"]https://www.youtube....h?v=Dc2ZDSCftAI[/url][/size] 3- If you don't want to do this, get an overdrive or fuzz pedal and set it to high OD/fuzz with a low effect level and turn it on for solos to beef up your sound. [size=4]4- If you haven't already, learn the bass lines note for note. A lot of one-band bass lines are surprisingly full and complex: make the most of this opportunity to show off your skills.[/size]

I'm not sure if it is a new niche but having a hobby that pays for itself is very welcome and coming back with a few spare pounds after a gig softens any domestic criticism.

Vanderkley Aurora + 2x Vanderkley 410s. Running at 2 ohms, the sound is enormous and, because I don't need to raise the volume past 10 o'clock, the sound is beautifully balanced and tight. Played with my Dingwall Prima Artiste 5, it is a wonderful rig. I mainly play pub pop/rock/funk, etc.

Well, it's different. I'll give it that.

When I moved house, I forced myself to bin my 1986 Monsters of Rock tshirt. I couldn't call it hardy as I have been too big for it for years. I was sort of hoping it would last until #1 son was of a size for it but it was starting to look a bit too mouldy.

I liked Dancing in the Street. I even liked Labyrinth, too!

I use a rackmount for my main sound and pedalboard for song specific stuff. As I get older, I find myself using effects more. Not sure what that implies except that maybe I can afford better quality stuff so it sounds better, maybe?

Albums: Iron Maiden Live After Death Queen Queen II Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet Eric Bogle Singing the Spirit Home Billy Bragg Victim of Geography Violent Femmes Violent Femmes Jeff Wayne War of the Worlds Cats Book The Forsyte Saga. I've read it endlessly and love rereading it. Item electric shaver and solar charger. I hate being unshaven.

It's a start and potentially a great resource.

The curse of bad timing is perennial. Punch had an unfortunate cover picture that coincided with Robert Maxwell's death/suicide and Scott Adams was flamed to a crisp for this cartoon that was printed on the day that Mother Theresa died: http://dilbert.com/strip/1997-09-13 despite his pointing out that he drew the cartoons months in advance.

When I replaced my bass and rig, I sold my old bass (TRB 2V) and rig (Warwick xtreme 10.1 with 410 &115) to a couple of teenagers at a local rock school at super knock down prices. £120 for the bass and £250 for the rig. They were thrilled which made it worthwhile.