FinnDave

It's all just opinions - they are very similar to the output end of the human body's digestive system - everyone has one and everyone else's stinks! I doubt that any recording studios will close down because I don't care for their output.

I dislike almost anything that was recorded in a recording studio. I consider recording studios sterile places in which people try to make perfect music. I don't think that music needs to be perfect - it's the human touches that make it interesting. Recording studios are places where music goes to die.

Both of these bands are beyond bland - I have no idea what the 3% of Queen's output you find OK could be - but I haven't made a practice of listening to them.

Apart from the last line (I have no idea of the lyrics even of songs I actually like!) I could have written your post - people always assume that I'd be good at the popular music questions in quizzes, but I am completely clueless. I'm about as a far from being a music fan as it's possible to get. I love playing music, but very rarely listen to anything for simple pleasure. If there is music playing, I have to ignore it, or I'm trying to analyse what's each person is doing and why. I can't just 'listen'.

Bob Dylan is an excellent songwriter, but every cover of any of his songs is always better than the original.

Why bother with two pick ups when one is enough? I do have a couple of Jazz basses, but invariably have both pick ups on full - can't be doing with fiddling around to get 'the right tone' - if it sounds bassy, that's good enough.

I bought his solo album when it was first released in 1976, listened to it a few times, then left it on the shelf. The bass playing was incredible, but I wasn't too keen on the music itself. It didn't seem relevant to what I was playing at the time, but I had certainly heard of him long before Basschat came along - long before the internet came along, in fact.

I used a Bass Station for a few gigs after motorcycle accident left my right hand hand rather damaged - I had never played keyboards before but worked out a few bass patterns and was able to play a few songs on it in order to give my injured hand a rest. Sounded fine!

I only found out about this after it had started - I am only a few miles outside of Oxford!

First time I played in the centre of Reading I picked up two fines for bus lane infringements. The fines cost more than I got paid for the gig. I played there a few more times and drove very carefully, but picked up another bus lane fine and refused to play there again. I think on that night everyone in the band was also clobbered with parking fines.

Which pub? I've played a lot of Swindon gigs and parking is usually a nightmare - but Oxford's even worse! I went to see a band in Swindon a couple or weeks ago, spent an age finding a car park, walked to the gig and only afterwards realised that I no idea idea where the car was. Luckily, my phone had remembered and directed me back there.

Has W been done yet? If not (or even if it has) I offer not one, but two, Ws in one name - Kevin Ayers & The Whole World.

I played there about three years ago with the Grateful Dudes, I remember it being fairly full. We must have had a few in as I took home over £150 and that was door money minus expenses split six ways. Of course, that was pre-covid.

I've had a few of the tweed covered ones - as Lozz says, they do absorb stuff off a wet/dirty stage. All bar one have stopped working, the one I have left is kept for home use only. On the plus side, they do look good.

They make a right mess of your frets, though.

I've had quite a few Ashdown amps, and the only times I've had to use the warranty was with a couple of ABM 600 heads. They were replaced without hesitation.

Me too - and I've bought two in the last couple of months as well.

The Rotosound flats arrived in the post about midday, and I've just put the bass away after playing the new strings for a while. Bearing in mind these are new strings, fresh on, they sound pretty good on a Classic 50s Precision (also new to me this week!). Good tight punchy sound, surprising amount of top, but that will probably fade as they wear in. Less sweetness of tone than the LaBellas I have on the other basses, but I suspect they'll work better in the band. Time will tell!

I'll pass the message on!

Our guitarist often plays a strat copy he found in a skip. He also has most of a PA and a working lighting rig from the same source! I don't think he makes a habit out of late night skip raids, but he works as a mechanic at the place the skips end up at, so gets to see what's about to be chucked out.

Thanks, I'll give them a few months to settle down.

I've bought a set of Rotosound flats to try from a fellow bass chatter - I'll see how I get on with them.