EliasMooseblaster

I wonder if he got a nasty shock at the post office counter! Glad you weren't ripped off, in any case*. *sorry, no pun intended

I can see the sense in this. Unfortunately the oft-misunderstood adage that "wisdom comes with age" leads a lot of people to calcify their views and positions and expect people to respect their "wisdom" just because they're older. I much prefer Frank Zappa's adage that "your mind is like a parachute. It's no good if you don't open it."

This does seem to be the root cause of so many of these problems, doesn't it? As useful as I find YouTube for finding interesting music, I'm very aware that its programmers' main aim is to keep me on the site as long as possible. So many problems around dangerous conspiracy theories, misogyny, racism, and all the other -isms and -phobias seem to be accelerated by the way it keeps feeding its users more videos without any serious checks on the information they contain. I can very easily see how you could start by watching a balanced, well-argued video about downsides to immigration, and be only a few clicks away from a massive rabbit hole that leads you to believe there's a satanic child abuse cabal meeting in the basement of a New York pizza restaurant, and you absolutely must march in there with your gun, demanding answers. Point being: there's an awful lot of responsibility that could be arguably dropped at the feet of the companies who own and maintain these platforms. Of course they scream "censorship" whenever anyone suggests they should do more to regulate their content - it would cost them money! But like gambling or tobacco before them, there's surely got to come a point where they meet a serious reckoning regarding the number of lives their laissez-faire approach has derailed - or even cut short.

Find a pretext to message them asking for another photo of a certain detail. If they can provide it then at least you know the bass exists...

I'd be inclined to stick with out for now - I completely understand your discomfort, but you've also pointed out that, away from his poorly-researched politics, he's a nice person. As long as his views aren't tipping him over into acts of violence or harassment, you may even be able to work on his better nature and very-gently-and-ever-so-indirectly steer him towards questioning some of the crazier stuff that he's reposting. In theory, there's hope for everyone!

It's a horrible position to be in. On the one hand, it isn't your job alone to talk people down from these extreme positions; on the other hand, if none of us challenge it then it just gets validated elsewhere and the problem grows. Even if you can't see the change from your own efforts, maybe it's enough to help them plant the first seed of doubt that might germinate further in the future, if enough people encourage them to actually think about the rhetoric they're repeating.

Yeah, that's pretty much what the MU told us, if memory serves: in our case, the singer had written that particular song, so she was welcome to re-record it, but the recording belonged to whoever paid for it, i.e., all four of us. And it was pretty obvious that it was the same recording that was on our album! In fact, thinking back, she may not have even paid her share (I think the guitarist kindly covered her share at the time as she was tight for cash, and may not have paid him back)...so she may not technically have had any claim to the recording!

Apologies in advance if anyone remembers me moaning about this when it was actually happening - though it was probably about 11 or 12 years ago now! The guitarist and drummer, I knew from a jam night I used to frequent, and the singer had been a semi-regular attendee before I started showing up. The guitarist and singer shared a mutual friend who'd suggested they should start playing together, and further down the line the drummer and I were recruited as a rhythm section. An EP was recorded, we played a lot of 'toilet circuit' gigs around London, and people seemed to like what we were doing. We made an album, we started playing further afield, and just as it felt like we were getting ahead, tensions started to bubble between the singer, the guitarist, and the mutual friend who'd introduced them in the first place. Theories abounded: the drummer was convinced that the singer and mutual friend both had eyes for the guitarist. The singer, however, had a long-term partner at that point, who was nice enough, but quite open about his propensity for Columbian marching powder, so I wondered whether she was joining him on his sessions, and becoming more argumentative as a side-effect. Whatever the reason: after several bad-tempered weeks, and attempts on all sides to straighten things out, the singer quit. Then...tried to un-quit, a week or two later. The rest of us phoned each other and agreed it was a "thanks, but no" from all of us. Only, later that evening, she tried to take control of the band's social media pages. And then she tried to release one of the songs from the band's album as her solo single. The email exchange that followed, I can only describe as agonising. Not least of all because I ended up writing most of them. We got on the blower to MU: (Can she do this? She wrote the song, but we all paid for the studio time...they're separate entities? Right...) And to be fair, it was a useful crash course in copyright and ownership. But however politely-but-firmly I tried to explain our position, but every reply seemed to be more stroppy and vitriolic than the last. There is an adage that arguing with some people is like trying to play chess with a pigeon: it's incredibly frustrating because the pigeon doesn't understand the rules; all it can do is knock over the pieces and cr*p on the board, but it still struts about like it's winning. This was the level the email exchange reached. Eventually, she got tired of trying to argue her case, and we found a new singer. It was a huge relief. And, I'm glad to say, the only band breakup I can remember which actually became acrimonious, so I've probably got off lightly if this thread is anything to go by!

Perhaps unusually, the most uncomfortable SPL I've been around was in a recording studio! The engineer kept trying different amps because he thought the bass hook needed more grit, and eventually I was plugged into a massive Hughes & Kettner valve head with an 8x10 fridge. We kept stopping and starting while he tweaked the settings, but I found I had to stand at the longest distance my lead would allow: standing too close to the cab was actually making me slightly nauseous! Eventually he stuck a RAT in the signal chain, everyone agreed that was "the one" and I finally tracked the bass part, wondering whether he couldn't have just plugged the damned pedal into a smaller amp in the first place. (And of course, by the time it was all mixed down, it didn't sound anything like as "big" as the sonic assault I was trying to keep under control in that soundproofed room...)

Your ears will thank you! I don't understand why people still think it's clever or impressive to be painfully loud - especially given how easy it is to be loud these days with modern equipment. Unless you're at a Sunn O)))) gig, I don't imagine most audiences enjoy it either.

I remember that transition well - explaining to the bassist another band that I was really pleased with my purchase, but still getting used to the 12th fret not being where my muscle memory expected it to be! Congrats on a gorgeous new bass, I hope it continues to please at your next rehearsal.

What's the difference between a cow and an orchestra? On a cow, the horns are at the front, and the a***hole's at the back.

It's funny how some basses just seem to 'suit' the way you play...and some really don't! Jazzes are the awkward one for me: I've heard lots of people, from big names like Geddy Lee down to some-other-bloke-at-a-jam-night, get great tones out of them, but I've never been happy when I try playing one myself. And yet, pass me a Precision or a T-bird, and I'm laughing. Glad to hear you've found "your" bass type!

Good grief, what was this guy's budget like? (It wasn't Tommy Wiseau, was it?)

Yeah, probably the smallest I've ever played! I had a run of gigs there a few years ago myself - this must have been around 2011-ish. I think by that point the owner was really leaning on his connection to Amy Winehouse, as the walls were covered in paintings of her, with portraits of one or two other famous musicians tucked into the corners. Pretty good portraits, to be fair, but it was a bit unsettling having her face staring back at you from every angle!

This is the crux of it really - it depends so much on the PA system at the gig! If the band's bringing its own small-ish PA that's only really handling vocals and maybe an acoustic guitar, you're best bringing your ABM and cab(s). If the venue has a massive in-house system that handles everything, save your back and bring a decent DI/preamp. (I wish I'd learned that lesson sooner...)

This bar wouldn't be Jazz After Dark, in Soho, would it?

I recently sold a hard case to Andy. Very nice chap, and a pleasure to do business with. (Our cat seemed to like him as well, which I always take as a good sign!)

Many thanks to you too, Andy! Pleasure doing business with you - do you have a feedback thread I can populate in return?

A particularly moo-ving piece of music...