Marc S

I'd say the one on the right too - but mainly cos I have several of the later shaped Precisions already! lol I was going to point out that filling the cavities might prove tricky too - but as you're a carpenter, that'll be no problem for you. In fact, you may even get some requests from other BC'ers when they see your final result Was this a kit from a shop on ebay? I ask because I'm possibly looking for a Jazz body, and they had one I was thinking about getting..... and wouldn't mind knowing what their quality is like?

What a great question Graham, and some good discussion points here My reply is that it might depend on exactly what the crime was, and was there a conviction? (Edit: I'm also pretty sure Michael Jackson was "guilty" though not convicted) If the musician committed a minor offence, that's a different matter, but when it's murder, rape, abuse, assault, racism etc there's a voice in my head reminding me of what this artist has done outside of their music.... But does that fact stop their music being good? I'm asking another question.... and I can't even answer that one! lol Bono was recently mentioned in the Paradise Papers leak - it was revealed that he has several millions, stashed in an overseas account, as a tax avoidance measure - yet he also runs an anti-poverty charity..... Never cared for him personally, though U2 have written some great songs.... do I stop listening to those songs? Probably not, because tax avoidance and hypocrisy are rather less serious than assault, murder etc.... Great question OP - it has really started me thinking..... This is going to be in the back of my mind all day now I've just thought of another ironic situation. John Lydon was once thought of as the epitome of an anti-establishment musician / artist. Many years back he tried to warn the BBC and the media about what Jimmy Saville was up to! Lydon these days is much more of an iconic figure, and does some great work for charities and is an ambassador for wildlife and the environment......

Welcome back Scotty Before the days of BC - I had a 20+ year absence from playing bass! I'm so glad I started playing again.... what was I thinking? EDIT: Well done on the grading too btw

Good on you. Glad you're already feeling the weight off your shoulders Now.... on to pastures new Good luck

One that always makes me chuckle is; "There's a slight problem with the tone pot / jack socket / earth wire (delete as appropriate) - but this is an easy fix" .... so why haven't you fixed it???

Sorry, I don't know anyone in the area who would have a PA But I just wanted to say, what a great cause Gerry Watkins has set up This is brilliant news - and I hope it may inspire other people, in other areas of the UK Once again, homelessness is an awful problem, and it's getting worse all the time Well done to you too for getting involved. If I was closer, I'd be drumming up the support of musician pals (I did a homeless charity gig in Merthyr a couple of weeks back, and was pleased to see quite a few turn out to support the event) But this big yellow bus project is a brilliant idea. Hats off to everyone involved, and best of luck with it

Ah Silvia - have we stumbled on Happy Jack's Christmas present?

I'm with FuNkShUi on this..... OK, it probably wouldn't be my first choice of colour / design... but I do quite like it, I must admit Funny thing is, I have a sneaking suspicion my wife wouldn't like it... lol EDIT: Please do tell - how much did the price come out at? Just askin'

On Friday, they played much of their superb 1st album. Me & my pal agreed - nearly every song on that album could have been a single Yes, Paul Warning - their more recent albums are pretty good.... but as you say, it's a hard debut album to follow

the Undertones first album is one of my favourites, my vinyl copy doesn't have Teenage Kicks on it We play it most gigs so I don't really want to hear the Undertones do it, going a bit off thread here Yes, I recall That Petrol Emotion. The band was formed by the O'Neil brothers from the Undertones. TPE were a great band, really like them, as you say they're underrated As for the Undertones, they are one of my favourite live bands - always put on a great show. Saw them last Friday as it happens. They split a number of years back, and re-formed quite some time later. Despite the loss of singer Feargal Sharkey, they still sound as good as they ever did. Nice bunch of blokes too. I met them a couple of times. First time I met them was back in the early 80's - they were really friendly, quiet sort of guys... happy to autograph record sleeves and chat. Really easy to get on with, and not at all full of them selves. A mate of mine knew a lad who had written to them when he was just 14, asking to interview them for a youth / school magazine. They wrote back, gave him a phone number to call, and arranged train tickets for him + a parent to see them in a hotel where they were playing, paid for a night in the hotel, gave them free tickets and spent the day with the lad & his Dad, playing football, chatting etc.... Spoke with Michael Bradley (the bass player) after last Friday's gig, and he hasn't changed his attitude a bit - still a really good bloke. I told him I'd read his recent book ("My life as an Undertone") and that I'd really enjoyed the read, he seemed rather touched that I'd enjoyed it so much, and thanked me for buying and reading it... As for their songs - they wrote quite a few brilliantly simple, catchy tunes, full of energy. To me, they were the UK's answer to the Ramones. They were also the pop-side of punk. A bit different from much of the punk in the rest of the UK at the time, yet they embraced the punk attitude perfectly - Punk wasn't really about a particular style, or uniform - it was about wearing whatever, and not caring too much about what others thought. Which is what the Undertones did exactly, they wore hand-me-down clothes, as they came from poor backgrounds in Derry. In fact, they lived through all the troubles in Northern Ireland, and didn't want to sing about that. Playing in the tiny local Casbah Club, they were one of the really few bands who played to both sides of the political / religious divide..... and inspired both sides dance and sing together! no mean feat in the late 70's and early 80's Hats off to them My taste is rather broader nowadays - but I've still got a soft spot for the Undertones Teenage kicks was actually written about a rather more risque subject The original lyric was "I wanna hold, I wanna hold it tight, get teenage kicks right through the night" But they changed the lyric, so the recording wouldn't get banned.... EDIT: The energy they delivered their long set with on Friday really didn't seem like a band in their late 50's / early 60's Yes, I know "the rolling stones etc (who are also great btw) - but there was hardly a slow track in the set

Luckily for me, I've never had this issue with a bass. But that's a useful technique, and it's simple too - thanks for sharing it As has been said though, this must be done with some caution. I'd be concerned about making too much adjustment in one go, and I think I'd prefer to do just a small amount of tightening, then leave it for a few hours, or overnight before making another small adjustment. Did you tighten the tension on the G-clamp a lot in just one go? Or did you do several, gradual adjustments?

It usually takes me longer than 10-15 mins. I always think it's going to be that quick.... But it usually takes me more than that, just removing scratchplate screws, carefully putting them somewhere I won't lose them etc And fussing about, trying not to snag any of the wiring etc etc lol But as SICbass says, it's a pretty straightforward job, if you can use a soldering iron.... You can check which value pot it is when you take the scratchplate off. They're pretty cheap, but get a decent one as you're replacing it anyway No point in spoiling the job with a cheap pot - get the best one available As a point of interest, you can also now get "solder glue" - I've bought myself a tube of this, but haven't got around to using it yet... others tell me it's pretty good though

Note, some speakon connectors are also compatible with standard 3/4" Jack plugs..... I'm not sure which type they are, but I've seen some folk just plug a Jack to Jack into their speaker cabs Handy, I think - but none of my Speakon sockets or leads are compatible with this system.... if only they all were

Great news. Best of luck with it