Maude

Maybe the landlord was watching on bemused that you didn't think to politely ask them to move to another table, or offer to move theirs, rather than obstinately set up around them with the "it's not my job to ask them attitude". Maybe the people at the table thought if we're in their way they'll ask us to move, but the request never came. Not having a dig, just playing devil's advocate. Different folks see things differently.

Where I live there are few busses, if I got the bus I would have to change busses at the nearest town to get the bus to Plymouth (nearest instrument shop), a considerable wait between busses. All in it's about an hour and three quarter journey. The nearest train station is five miles away, so drive to the train station, pay to park and then get the train. Both of these journeys are considerably more costly and time consuming than just driving myself into Plymouth, half an hour by car. For some people, public transport really isn't an option. I worked out once that for a place I used to work at, if I left home at my usual time and aimed to arrive home at my usual time, using public transport I could be in work for one hour and twenty minutes rather than the usual nine hours. For some is just doesn't work.

Also the Hofner Club bass (presumably violin type as well) will get that sound with some eq-ing. The ignition, which is the cheapest is fully hollow with vintage sounding pick ups, the contemporary is about twice as much but has a centre block and modern sounding pick ups, the proper ones are silly money. The ignition is the one you want for that sound unless you want to spend out for a real one. My Longhorn seems too aggressive to get this sound. Obviously more bass and a fuller sound but the tone is there.

I had some terrible no name EBO copy, the body was about a centimetre thick and was virtually unplayable, I didn't know about setups then, also I only had a Marlin guitar amp. I joined a band and bought a green Yamaha Attitude Special from Manson's in Plymouth. It was a revelation. We sacrificed the EBO copy to the bass gods on a bonfire in the back garden in return for magical bass powers.

I'm sure it'll be the adhesive that's the problem. Our mandolinist had a stick on p/u a while back that had some special gum type adhesive with it. He couldn't find it and tried a double-sided foam tape pad and it was terrible for the sound. My theory is that the foam was acting like a damper and absorbing the vibrations. If your bass sounds the same acoustically with the new bridge then it surely can't be the bridge changing the sound with the p/u, can it?

Just bought a doublebass string from Dave. I paid in the evening, it was posted the following day and received the day after. Top stuff, thanks

I've seen it a couple of times, BBC4 weekends, usually has some good stuff

I liked their first album all those years ago but their appeal for me has reduced with every album. I know what you mean about feeling like you should like them as I feel the same. I think they found their sound and have stuck to the same formula for the last twenty years, no bad thing necessarily but it's all a bit safe and 'Dad Rock' for my liking. They do what they do though and do it very well

I'll watch that later. DG is a very likeable chap and seems like a genuine music fan. The film he made following the purchase of the desk from Sound City Studio in LA was very enjoyable, his clear joy at discussing recordings with the artists was infectious.

I love Vince Clarke era DM and Yazoo. A real synth pioneer but this is what he said in a recent interview, "I’ve always written on the guitar - I still do, even today. I’m not a good-enough keyboard player to write on the synth. After I left Depeche Mode, I started writing with a Roland MC-4, for me that was more important than the computer or the synth, because it was the first time I’d been allowed to make music that I couldn’t physically play. I wasn’t limited by how good a musician I was. Like I said, I was never a great keyboard player, but with the sequencer, I could play anything I wanted".

He was good enough for Fender to release a signature keyboard 🤔😋

He's now opened himself up to an old ebay scam. He gets paid through PayPal, the buyer collects item then waits a week or so and claims money back through PayPal for not receiving goods. Seller has to produce a receipt to prove the item was sent, obviously cannot do this as it was never sent, PayPal refund buyer.

I've done this to my cheapy Aria STB Jazz. Series/parallel switch and Entwistle neo pickups. I'm a P man at heart and the J now has that P punch but still retains the J burble. I think I prefer it to a PJ. The only problem is with the Entwistle pickups in series produce such a high output that I have to significantly cut the input gain on my amp to stop clipping.

I know it's not but that sounds a bit like a Gus.

In pic #4 the neck really looks like it would want to twist the top half of the body forwards. It's probably fine but it 'looks' weak.

If I had something like that nearby then I'd use it. My last experience at my closest shop was being told when asked if he had any flats in stock because I wanted to try them on my P bass was, "Don't bother, they'll sound like stinky poo". Not naming names but Craig's Music in Bodmin will know who I'm on about. With service like that the Internet is a godsend.

Maybe things are different in the states Blue, maybe they're different in the cities here in the UK but my last purchase was a Hofner Club, which I've put LaBella flats on. Neither of these would be in stock in any music shop within a very large radius of where I live. Possibly the closest shop that might keep stock would be a three or four hour drive away. There just aren't any sizeable shops anywhere near me. With the distance selling regs I'm comfortable buying online and if it's not for me then I'll return it. At worst I'm out of pocket the return postage cost, but that's still less than a five hundred mile drive would cost. It's just the way it is where I live

True. Without wanting to sound bitter, because it really doesn't worry me, but more often than not the 'bricks and mortar' shops are by far the biggest let down. Hence why I really don't worry about the decline of them. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. If online is better then we will continue to see 'real' shops close. But if, as folks seem to feel, 'real' shops are better then they will win in the end and online shopping will see a decline until some sort of equilibrium is reached. More worry over nothing I feel

Recordings are good for highlighting problems you never knew existed as well. In the moment everything seem bang on the money but sometimes when played back you go, "ooh I never realised I did that".

Pre Internet I had to buy stuff from high street retailers and pay over the top for the very limited stock they offered, now I've got endless choice at a much lower, I don't really see much reason to go into a shop. The nearest is Plymouth (20 miles) so fuel, Tamar Bridge toll and parking, the few times I have been in whilst in the area they didn't have what I wanted but could order it for me. That means waiting until next weekend and then paying for the trip into town again, just to pay more than I can get it online for and sent to my house quicker. I'd rather work on my own instruments so can make any instrument bought online playable, trying in store isn't needed as long as you do your research. I realise none of this can be improved upon by the shops as they obviously can't keep stock to match online stores but I really see no reason to go in a shop. I'm happier that way as my time can be spent doing what I want rather than going to shops.

What's the Kala Sub done to you to not deserve a name? 😁

I'm not sure I'd agree with your last paragraph. I consider myself self taught and I've spent the last twenty-five years soaking up as much knowledge as possible from as many resources as possible. I know I've depended on other people for my musical development.

Is it wrong that I don't actually know? They are in various places, some in our rehearsal room, some in my man cave, some in pieces awaiting fun projects, some in the living room and some in the dining room. From where I'm sat I can see nine. The thing is two are ukes, fretted and fretless, two are full sizes acoustics, fretted and fretless, acoustic db, eub, fours, a five, short scale long scale, bass vi and so on, all very different from each other. The silly thing is my main gigging electric bass is a Variax which has most of my other basses included in it My family don't go without, all the bills get paid and we don't particularly want or need anything we haven't got, so it's no biggy keeping them all, it's my hobby. If hard times came knocking I'd just sell most of them.