Norris

I've had great fun today playing with the Redtron SE mellotron VST. Fabulous stuff, sounds great and totally free. I've also downloaded the Dexed DX7 emulator and the ARP Odyssey. Any other (free) synth VSTs I should add to the toolkit? The MT Power Drumkit VST is also very nice. I could do with something a little more subtle and laid back though. Any recommendations, maybe something with brushes and rim taps? Edit: Btw I'm using Reaper on Windows 10 (yes, I'm a cheapskate!)

Quote: It’s all about fun. No-one will get upset if you play the wrong notes Don't fret. It sounds like fun

We have a pair of Mackie SRM-450's and a Yamaha (?) mixing desk with built-in reverb & echo. Simplicity to set up and plenty for our 3x vocals and occasional kick drum, in pubs & clubs. I'm sure it could handle keys too

It's lost in the annals of history, but probably plugging away at root notes in a 12-bar with my school mates, circa 1980

Is your speaker cable shorting out?

More un-sound methinks

While you drop your bottom string by a tone? I used to have to tell the guitarist that quite often until I bought a Hipshot de-tuner It's not that difficult a song actually. Give it a listen & learn

Yeah, that one

Unfortunately not. I just listened and played along to learn it, plus a bit of rearrangement to suit our guitar/bass/drums trio. It's in drop-D tuning though

War pigs? Fabulous! One of my favourites atm Yep, Proud Mary. So many opportunities for little fills Witch Queen by Redbone. Our arrangement means I take the main riff I Can Hear The Grass Grow by The Move Hold Your Head Up by Argent (repetitive, simple bass line but so effective) I Feel Good. Just so funky

That's the advantage of having band mates to support you. On the odd occasion our guitarist may come out of a solo half way through a phrase, or even half way through a bar. You just have to adjust as best you can to avoid a car crash. He sometimes forgets the words to a song and makes some up (often about his washing machine!) until we hit the chorus. After so long playing together it just needs a look and a grin, rather than pointing it out to the audience. Most don't notice, the ones that do just become part of the "joke". There's certainly no recriminations afterwards - it could be you that makes the next mistake!

The nut is just out of shot. The length of fretboard after the nut was a slight miscalculation, but had to be that length to cover the truss rod. It took some careful fettling to get the string run clear to the tuners.

The dominant hand is doing more than most people realise. It is responsible for the rhythm and expression, whereas the non-dominant hand is the one that apparently moves around more and gets all the attention

Veneering a curved Fender-style headstock is tricky. When I did my telecaster guitar I put the veneer in a vegetable steamer for half an hour beforehand. I also prepared a shaped clamping cawl to match the curve. To make it even more tricky for myself I bound it with celluloid too (Sorry, the in-progress shots are no longer on my phone)

I tend to only get calluses on my fretting hand. They do seem to get more prominent when I haven't played for a couple of weeks, so haven't been worn down. In fact my little finger is now feeling slightly tender 5 days after my last gig.

Lovely blokes they were too

Finished reading mine (1st print) this morning, which I've been dipping into since Christmas. What a gorgeous book. I'll have to start over again...

Maybe find a few bands and pick the 2 or 3 that are free on a given event. That would help to mix it up a bit

How about a bubble machine fitted into the control cavity? Ideal for children's parties

Save money on expensive plectrums by learning to pluck with your fingers

Over the years mine have fallen into 3 categories. 1. Mind wondering during a song, either enjoying it too much or bored, and all of a sudden you know a different section is coming up. "Have we done the guitar solo yet?" "Is this the repeated verse?" etc. 2. Just forgetting how the song goes. Faff around playing something, to fish around for some vague recollection of how the bass went that other couple of hundreds of times you've played it before 3. "What am I doing?" "Oh I'm playing bass" "Do I know how to do that?" "Well the fingers are still doing something fairly musical, I must do" "Ok, so what song are we playing?" Thankfully that last one happens quite rarely, but the fingers are usually solidly on autopilot and in no danger from the random mental ramblings. It can be quite disconcerting though

Yes ...specifically referring to "Widening holes for larger pots, without destroying the finish"

Hi I just saw this link posted on another forum - good news for guitars apparently http://mmrmagazine.com/mmr-global/mmr-global-gear/breakthrough-at-latest-cites-meeting/

A reamer would be handy for enlarging pot or tuner holes. It's not easy to change the pickup hole without needing some degree of touch up to the finish - probably a good very sharp chisel would do the cleanest job (with a good eye and steady hand)

You could solve a Rubik's cube with that spare hand while it has nothing better to do. Now that would be impressive