Happy Jack

I absolutely LOVE the run of the strings from the tuners through the wrong end of a BBOT. 45-degree angle through a tiny, rough hole ... what could possibly go wrong?

First there was the proper enforcement of drink/drive laws, then there was the banning of smoking. Both measures are entirely to be applauded and supported, but there's no ducking that they came damned near to killing off live music in pubs. We've all fought back, of course, and live music is still out there, but it's way harder to get an audience to hit the bar at 8pm, drink & smoke steadily until chucking-out time, before stumbling into their Allegros and Cortinas ... it's only a short drive, I'll be fine, hic!

And don't forget that a 4" wood screw can solve most problems. 😉

We did much the same thing, making the offer only to pubs who had previously paid full rate. Most of the pubs took the offer and were happy to pay the reduced fee, one pub where we like the landlord so much that we offered to pay for nowt insisted on paying us. We did that because we wanted to, we wanted to 'put something back in' if you know what I mean. Of the pubs who took us up on our offer, very few of them are pubs we'll be playing in 2022. Some no longer do music, some only want solo artists or duos, some weren't that great to play anyway. That's OK, we didn't do it because we hoped it would gain us lots of high-fee gigs after Covid. 😂

I'd be concerned by a plumber who drew a crowd ...

What you really want is knobs labelled Quark, Strangeness and Charm.

But really, really easy to carry ...

Describing GAS as "irrational or illogical" is a tautology. Of course it's irrational and illogical. If a desire to purchase something is rational and logical then it's just buying the right tool for the job. The very definition of GAS is buying stuff you don't need because the acquisition itself is the aim of the transaction. Don't ask me how I know.

Bin there, dun that. Bandmates can say the strangest things ...

There are some really 5h1t bands out there. I wouldn't want to be charging the same as them ... I'm better than that and I would want to charge what I'm worth. After a while it might look as if they were 'undercutting' my band, whereas in fact they would merely be charging what they're worth. I'm not really a big believer in applying socialist principles to matters involving talent. 😉

I've got 60 gigs in the 2022 diary just now, running in an arc around NW London from Ware to Woking. Average fee across those 60 gigs is £300 a pop. Slightly more pubs than clubs, no posh functions. As to pub-rock wannabees pontificating on the ENORMOUS fees they get paid, there's no shortage of bloke-in-a-pub guys prepared to bore the pants off you with complete cow poop. When you try to find their high-paying gigs on social media it usually turns out that they haven't played a live gig in years. Ignore and move on.

Looks like I bought @Beedster's Doubler just in time! EA will be missed, they were a great outfit.

Don't like the string spacing from D to G.

My covers band The Junkyard Dogs has covered Baby Please Don't Go for years (with me on vocals!) and our version owes a lot more to Never Turn Your Back On A Friend than it does to Van Morrison and Them. I lent my original copy to one of my best friends in 1974. He rode home on a weird Suzuki thingy with an upswept exhaust (very rare in those days) and the only way he could take it home was by sliding my LP between the exhaust and the rear sub-frame. Seriously. Unbelievably, that record never played again.

What with CNC and Plek machines an' all, I rather assumed that they made Mike Lull necks on a jig and everything lined up perfectly every time. That's a bit of a revelation.

Banbury, not Bicester. Banbury, not Bicester. Banbury, not Bicester. Banbury, not Bicester. 😉

Would this be a good moment to mention how much I detest all metal? No? Fair enough. Alright Officer, I'll come quietly ...

What has it got in its pocketses?

And how many high-end preamps have I bought from you over the years? 😂

And this is why people say bass players are cool ...

It's clearly a lovely pedal and produces some lovely sounds ... but £650 for an overdrive? I play 70/80 paid gigs a year and my entire bass rig isn't worth that much! Like every other bass player I can't resist buying still more pedals, each of which is sure to make me sound utterly God-like. And when I listen to live recordings from my gigs, even I can't hear changes of settings, sometimes I can't even hear when I stomp in a new FX. Worst of all, when I DO hear an improvement and think 'Wow!', after 30 seconds I can't hear that any more ... my ears have re-set to the new sound and it sounds like, well, bass. If you want it and you can afford it then why not? Buy it. I want it and I can afford it but I'm still not going to buy one!