Norris

I bought a similar item on 3 separate occasions on Ebay. The first 2 times it arrived in a couple of days. The 3rd time was for a birthday, and yes you're probably already ahead of me... the courier that shows it being "handled" in the same depot for 4 days running is...

Turmeric really helped my knees. I've been taking it for over a year and it's got rid of the hesitation before the first decent of the stairs in the morning I have a bit of pain in one finger joint though. I have been recommended green lipped mussel extract. After many months of discomfort, it seems to be abating after a couple of weeks of taking the tablets. They are very high in omega-3

^ There's one in the classifieds now at a bargain price

I so like 5 strings now that I tend not to look at the ads for 4 stringers. In fact I'm toying with the idea of trying to replace some of the herd with 5 string versions. First on the list for that would be the Ric 4003. My browsing history has a few 4003s/5 in it, especially in walnut... 🤪

The Piv in Stockingford, Nuneaton has got a great sounding room. The stage is only a step up and plenty big enough. They also sell a very nice cheese and onion cob - we get them as soon as we get there because they go quickly. I took the Sub-5 and it sounded great with the Stinger preamp. I really enjoyed playing it. I did have a tiny crisis of confidence on the doorstep and took my Sire as a backup, as the Sub hasn't been gigged much yet, but the Sire didn't come out of the case. The Sub is noticeably lighter and the neck is slimmer too. I'm really starting to like it. I do need to pop a few washers under the scratch plate though as the knobs are sitting a bit proud. (Note the tasty cob that I scoffed as soon as we finished) It was a little bit quieter than normal as we set up, but did fill out. I guess not everyone is a Eurovision fan, although it was on the TVs silently while we played. None more purple.

I didn't take any photos of last night, but someone passed on a video of us making a passable attempt at Fanfare. Unfortunately they missed off the initial fanfare, but hit record in time for the important bit 😜 Don't ask me what effect that is. It's a combination of a lot of things, I set it up years ago and can't remember the ingredients! I do end on a bottom B though 😄

That headstock looks insane! Like something drawn by AI 😄 Is the 5th string threaded through the neck at the top there? And it uses the middle tuner?

It's been a long time since I saw a drunkard thrown out for wanting to start a fight. Tonight's gig was a smallish social club too, so it was an unexpected bit of entertainment for us to watch while we were playing. I managed to pick up a cold from the great unwashed last weekend, and have battled with it for several days, so wasn't quite as bouncy as normal. I forgot to take any photos. I even made a few cock-ups in the first set, which was highly unusual. We got a young guitarist up to play All Along The Watchtower. Wow he was good for 17 (?). He's off to music college in September and I'm sure he'll do really well, such a nice talented lad. It was very gracious of our guitarist to let him up to play on his guitar (the one I made for him too!). However after the next break he pulled out all the stops to avoid being upstaged. It was a great set - I just wish I was feeling a bit better. The room was carpeted with upholstered benches, etc. That made the sound very dry, which took a bit of getting used to. I could hear every little nuance of what I was playing, even though I could feel the speakers shifting air on the backs of my ankles (warm enough for shorts!). Sire P7-5> GT-6B > Rumble Custom Converse One Stars Coop Cold & Flu Max Strength tablets with Decongestant, washed down with a large shot of Aldi's "Black Label" whisky - which is actually quite palatable

It's not just Gotoh. I've had the same with quite expensive Kluson tuners too. The screws are made of Chinesium and shear at the slightest resistance, despite pilot holes and wax lubrication. Quite annoying when you're trying to install a set of them in a couple of neat butt-joined lines

An offcut of high density foam

Sounds like you didn't give e-dam about it!

You are learning muscle memory. That takes time and repetition. Don't beat yourself up if you are struggling to play along to a metronome - that can come later. You are at the stage that requires more conscious thought. Get the notes right first, then think about speed and timing. Btw I got to grade 6 in my youth, but haven't really played piano since. I also got to grade 8 bass trombone. It wasn't done in 5 minutes - there was a lot of repetitive practice involved. Have patience - it won't take too long to get past the beginner grades

My favourite guitar, the one I will pick up and noodle on, is one that I bought for my lad when he wanted to learn classical guitar. It really is lovely but unfortunately I think it hardly comes out of its case in the university digs where it currently lives. I miss it. Anyway it's a 2012 Martinez MCG-40C. Not that expensive and there seem to be a few around second hand (hmmm...)

I think someone might have finally got this. Or it just wasn't funny 😜

Oh, I forgot to say that the left-handed guitarist in the middle was playing a left-handed guitar, but strung right-handed! 🤯

We had a lovely day yesterday. It was a VE80 celebration organised by the local council and the Royal British Legion branch. It started off at 2:30 with the Leicester Big Band. The decorations were fantastic and the room was packed. After that was a ukelele band in the other room (I was, erm, too busy to go and watch them 😜) So the evening was then split between our guitarist's brother's Beatles tribute band and us. We shared kit - most of it ours. I didn't get any photos of us, but shot these 3 that I've chucked together in a collage... I was quite pleased with that set of shots Usual Sire into Rumble. More importantly footwear were my custom suede Converse

Goodness. I'm so happy to be a dinosaur 😀

No, there's a side door into the band area and we parked right outside. Couldn't have been much easier!

It's a long, thin pub. If someone is standing at the bar you would have difficulty getting past them. I quite like the band alcove because on most nights it's the only place you can stand without people trying to get past you while carrying drinks. You do have to back off the bottom end a bit though because it's quite enclosed

Our first time back at the Black Horse in Whitwick since just before Christmas. It was a quiet compared to normal - it's usually rammed. A good, enthusiastic crowd though and much dancing took place. It's a bit of a strange weekend, what with a public holiday last Monday and the VE80 stuff going on. Our little drummer boy is still riddled with bronchitis, so Rob was kind enough to step in again and did a great job. It's so nice to be able to lock in with a good drummer, even if we threw a couple of songs at him out of the blue. We had a great night. Footwear were purple suede Gazelles - they don't come out often. I took the Sire P, going into the usual GT-6B and Rumble 500 combo. My favourite patch at the moment is the Octa-Fuzz which got quite a feature in Born to be Wild amongst others. Only the one photo of the compact stage, dimly lit after we'd finished playing

2 metres tall? It must be a bronze record!

Last night was a joint 60th and 40th birthday, but in an open pub. This is about the smallest place we play, crammed into the corner. I always prefer to have my amp on the floor, but had to put it up on the seat for this one. Our regular drummer is still down with bronchitis, so the seat was filled by Rob Hewins, a musician I really admire - he did a great job drumming, filling in harmonies and taking the lead vox in a couple of songs. He's a pretty mean guitarist too! As usual the place was rammed, so I hovered in that thin line between having my teeth knocked out by the crowd knocking my mic stand and being stung in the back by a cymbal crash 😂 Sire P7-5, GT-6B, Rumble 500, burgundy suede Vans

This Always

Ah no. Being of youthful disposition her output consists solely of short video clips, all in portrait mode, none longer than a minute. Not even worth trying to grab a screen shot from 🤣😂 I need to put my reading glasses on next time!

So after 9 weeks off we had a gig at last - or at least 2/3 of us did. The drummer came down with a bout of bronchitis yesterday. Luckily we managed to find a last minute dep, a chap we've known for years and played with in various bands (including him and the guitarist playing in Martin Turner's band for a few years). That meant we had to scribble a list of reasonable songs we all knew. We actually had a lot spare at the end of the night. It was great to play with another good drummer and it can give familiar songs from the usual list a whole new vibe. We had a great time. The audience were ok and we went down well. I don't think the pub puts on enough bands to really establish it as a music venue really. I took my Sire P7-5, but actually played my stinger-equipped Sterling Sub5 all night because I was enjoying it so much. Usual GT-6B and Rumble 500 combo provided tone and heft. I forgot to take any photos, but a lovely young lady (barmaid on her night off) did get some great shots, so I'll post one or two of those when they are forwarded on. Instead you can have a shot of tonight's footwear - custom burgundy suede Converse One Stars I just know you're now going to want to play with the customisation tool, so here you go... https://www.converse.com/uk/en/products/customize/custom-collections/start-with-a-blank