Happy Jack

Nah ... they're impaled on a line of stakes running down the garden. Think 'end of Spartacus' ...

A quick Google reveals loads of photos of Ross playing a Jackson and a Musicman in later years, but the only photos I could find of him with Journey show him playing an Ovation Magnum II. A totally brain-dead thread from 2005 on the Ovation FanClub site focuses on the alleged sale on eBay of his alleged Viper 3 bass (seriously ) which he allegedly played on the Escape album. The accompanying photo of course shows a Magnum III (with knobs, not sliders) on which someone has scrawled some sort of a signature in black sharpy. It is all way less than convincing. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet the farm on the Ovation Magnum II and nothing else. Why do you need to know?

My basses are all now practising social isolation, and are kept on wall hangers at least two metres apart. But the real plague carriers are the valve amps ... dodgy characters with a dubious past, and they smell funny too.

Hmmmmm. Either you'd need some serious amphetamines and play everything ar ramming speed, or you'd be playing a VERY long gig.

Nah, they'd flood their engines.

...then the Black Gate opened, and forth came no Ring-Wraith, but a living man, the Mouth of Sauron. 'Greetings,' he cried. 'I bring a short statement affirming the Dark Tower's commitment to prompt customer service as we face the challenge of responding to COVID-19 together...'

That is an excellent piece of work, both as a statistical analysis and as a journalistic explanation. Well worth 10 minutes of anyone's time.

Only one gig so far, Marc, with the second coming up on Friday. First thing to note is that I thought I'd allowed plenty of time for these strings to settle to pitch - big mistake! For the first 10 days I was tuning back up a semitone at least twice a day to keep it honest. By the night of the gig they had finally settled and I relaxed, but I then discovered that playing three sets of rockabilly is really quite different from occasionally checking the tuning. I must have checked & corrected the tuning at least a dozen times during that gig. My blushes were spared by the inebriated state of the guitarist, whose own tuning issues did an excellent job of disguising mine. Next, the difference between very-well-played-in Silver Slaps and brand-new coated guts should not be underestimated. The gig was seriously hard work, and my fingers were aching mercilessly long before the end. Finally, I loved the tone and I have every expectation that these strings are going to settle in wonderfully over time. Cancellations allowing, I'll be gigging this bass every weekend for the next 12 weeks. More to come ...

Covid-19, you know what I mean, At this moment you mean everything ...

You need to get out more ...

Following on from other comments, pretty much the only significant factor here is whether or not you want to play it as an acoustic bass. If so, then best forget flats, whatever the brand and whatever the colour. If you want an acoustic bass to compete (i.e. be audible) against even a couple of nylon-strung acoustic guitars, then you either need rounds or you need a very big body (e.g. a DB) or you need something designed to do this and not a lot else (e.g. a Guitarron). Against a couple of steel-strung acoustic guitars, my experience is that you need amplification.

Well that's certainly distinctive, and yes - 'fastidious' is exactly the right word.

We've been using one of these for a few years: https://www.amazon.co.uk/RockNRoller-Multi-Cart-R16RT-270kg-Capacity/dp/B00SVET954/ref=sr_1_6?m=A27DJ9FNAZH7IA&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1526642646&sr=1-6&refinements=p_4%3ARockNRoller+Multi-Cart

Srsly?

While we're at it, you may want to give SERIOUS thought as to where you choose to get your 'facts' from:

Just phoned the venue for tomorrow night, warned her that the band has had illness this week but we're pretty sure at this stage that it's not Covid-19. She says we should come and play, just don't expect a full house.

And if you're not serious, read this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-51866403?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5e6b6add3cfb2a06519c121d%26Alex Jones told to stop selling bogus 'coronavirus-cure toothpaste'%262020-03-13T11%3A27%3A22.364Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:956f12a4-5461-4dc7-8355-926bcbeaf6d7&pinned_post_asset_id=5e6b6add3cfb2a06519c121d&pinned_post_type=share

I'm finding this really helpful: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

It had to start somewhere, I guess. We nearly cancelled tomorrow's gig when the BL went down with a high fever; it turned out to be sunburn (seriously) but sooner or later it's going to happen. My two gigs last weekend were both packed, no signs of C-panic at all, but clearly that's not going to last. I'm working on the assumption that every gig for the next two months is liable to last-minute cancellation.

And you've signed up for Basschat? Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Welcome to the Great GAS Generator.

Don't forget the flipping truss-rod cover ...

Thank God he labelled the strings so we'd know what they were tuned to ...