NancyJohnson

We gigged for Musicians Against Homelessness in 2016/17 - we were the second band Alan McGee picked up in 2016, which was the first year they did it. I think that in 2016 they raised £40K over 100 gigs, which is great considering no one had heard of it, and we raised over a thousand of that over three shows. Now this year of course, everyone and their mother has been doing gigs, which yes, is a good thing, but baddish for bands like us because the whole punters-feeling-good-about-themselves only extends so far. Gerry is a lovely bloke, Christ, I see him putting on shows and then posting at 1.30am the morning after gigs asking whether anyone is driving through Cirencester so he can cadge a lift home. When we did the Swindon Rockets thing earlier in the year he actually walked about ten miles to the place where the gig was on and the same back home because he couldn't get a ride. He put on a full buffet for the bands as well to say thank you. Virtually every gig I do it's rare for the promoter to even buy you a beer, let alone something to eat. I see faceless people getting gongs for doing less than what this guy is doing. He's a fabulous bloke and is doing great things. He needs all the help he can get.

There's a lovely guy based in the Cotswolds called Gerry Watkins who has an ongoing mission to set up this thing called The Big Yellow Bus Project...effectively it was a one man crusade to buy a bus, put beds in it and have it as somewhere homeless people could bed down overnight, have something to eat, have a shower, launder their clothes etc. His efforts for fundraising are all his own doing; he's put on gigs and is begging for any help he can to raise money for this (and other projects). My band have already done gigs for him (his efforts raised over a grand for a wheelchair football team earlier in the summer and we're doing a Yellow Bus gig in December). I'm doing all his posters/artwork for gigs. Happily, he raised enough to buy a bus a couple of weeks ago and it's all being refitted with beds and so on. Now then, he's putting on a gig in Cirencester on 2/12/17 and the guys who were providing the PA (free) have taken a paying gig, so he needs a PA for the day. Oh, for free. Whoever provides will get their name stencilled on the bus and an immense feeling of wellbeing. Anyone know anyone who have a PA he could loan for the day? If yes, please shoot me a message and I'll forward on detail to Gerry. Thanks

I was already (FB) friends with Paul Schuster...I was in contact with him when I was trying to source the JAXT4 a couple of years ago, so when I bought that, he was my initial point of contact. He's active on the Lull Owners Group on Facebook, he likes my band, so we kind of know each other digitally. When I first saw the bass I'm buying on this thread, I pinged Paul a message enquiring what the bass actually was and he came back to me with the details and the price. When I finally picked myself up off the floor, I asked whether there was any benefit in my buying direct or having it shipped to a mate in Vermont who would bring it in or or going through a UK dealer. To be honest, the cheapest option was going through Bass Direct, plus if anything went wrong then Mark at BD will be my point of contact to resolve things rather than me dealing with Seattle. Much as I love what Mark @BD is trying to do for bass players, I have said elsewhere that he probably needs someone in to handle his admin, because frankly when the specification that arrived came through, I nearly shat myself as it couldn't have been more wrong. It's got to be right. At this point I just pinged Paul a PM and he confirmed the specification and build. He's also sent me a handful of unprompted PMs about progress, which is handful more messages than I've had from Mark. I'm paying an awful lot of money and really don't have any qualms about speaking to Paul about where the bass is at buildwise.

I rarely get excited about anything nowadays...that steady decline from adolescence through adulthood has seen my excitable levels go from pre-Christmas excited to meh, but last night for a few seconds I felt a brief adolescent-excitement then back to normal. I'm still harbouring the faintest of worries that something won't be right with it...all this bourne from matter of placing my order/deposit with BD, not really getting any confirmation by return and then getting a build datasheet back of wholly wrong specs. I'd actually included photographs and so on. Eventually I really felt like I needed to take it direct to Lull to see what they were building.

If anyone is still following this thread, I got a message from Lull and the bass in 'in paint' and will likely ship to Bass Direct next week, so I should (hopefully) have it before the end of the month.

HZ are from Milan, we played two dates with them last month in Milan and Turin. We're pretty tight with them (long story)...they have friends in London, so they'll attend, I'm sure.

OK here goes. We got Hawaii Zombies a slot at Nambucca, Holloway N7 on 24/11/17. They're playing with my band (Who Killed Nancy Johnson?) at Readipop, Reading on 25/11/17. HZ are a great band...well worth the effort if you're in the vicinity. The double-header on the 25th should be a blast.

I think the key words here are 'released shortly after'. It seemed a lifetime for the GED2112 to drop...10-12 months, while the wait was worth it, I only have so many 10-12 months left!

I have an old (battered) Aria Primary (Precision) bass that has become a bit of a project bass and I'd like to put a Hipshot BT3 on it. #1. Has anyone installed an Xtender with a different set of machines? The current machines on the bass are chrome Schaller F-Series; I'm reluctant to swap out the whole set as they are fit for purpose, but I just wanted to ensure if I did put a BT3 on, that the new machine won't look wrong ie, too high/low. I can't find any schematic for the BT3 online. So would be grateful if someone who's fitted one could take some measurements for me. For the Schaller, from the centre of the large rear screw to the top of the cloverleaf, it measures 70mm. The top of the clover leaf extends 43mm above the headstock edge. Also, if push came to shove, could I swap the Schaller tuning peg and gear with the Hipshot unit?

[quote name='andysleigh' timestamp='1510324642' post='3405622'] the more i look at it the more it makes me annoyed that gibson cant put a little bit of effort into making something i little special or different. [/quote] Thing is the major brands are stuck with making/re-issuing their legacy instruments; Fender are just as guilty as Gibson in that hardware/electronics aside their core designs are all 50/60 years old. Gibson did produce the recent EB basses through two guises - these were wholly new designs for Gibson, although the body shapes did borrow heavily from Tobias and Peavey and the first EB Series body looked an awful lot like a Fender Dimension bass. While a few here liked them - specifically from the new pickups and the price point - they've obviously bombed and haven't been put into another production run. I like the RD Artist rework. I'm still holding on to see whether they'll do a 20/20 reissue.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1510315097' post='3405509'] Clearly another message board full of opinionated people who cant get their facts straight. It says "[i]this list does[b] NOT [/b]contain bands that were clearly playing before he [/i][the author of the piece, Harry Fletcher] [i]was born." [/i]and then goes on to list a whol ebunch of late 60s and 70s sh1te. As far as I know the Beatlesand the Stones preceded all of the omissions listed. No real surprises in the list apart from Super Furry Animals and the assertion that releasing an album in the Welsh language is somehow a good thing. Th piece is badly headlined, it talks about great bands, and then describes how influential the selected bands are. On that basis how can you include Joy Division who would not have existed had the founders not been blown away by the Pistols and leave out the Pistols themselves. I understand people not liking Oasis, but they were successful and influential, although you could argue other less successful bands were forging that path before they came along. [/quote] I believe the uppercase/capitalisation usage of the word NOT is assertion of bands listed in the sentence that follows, rather than the ones he's already included (Pink Floyd/Roxy Music etc.). Also, I wouldn't go so far as to just put Yes, Supertramp, ELP etc. into the sh*te category either simply from a musical heritage perspective...these [i]sh*te[/i] bands are still major influences on a lot of current bands. Whether you like them or not, had Yes/ELP etc. not been about, we wouldn't have had Rush, Dream Theater or Muse. Likewise, without Yes or ELP there wouldn't have been punk kicking off.

[size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I suppose it brings into question what greatness is. Sales? Size of fan base? Releases? Innovation? Influence on others? It is pretty subjective and it's a nonsense. I know we're talking bands (so no Bowie/Elton John, Kate Bush etc.), but even so, Super Furry Animals?[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Looking at the list (see below), I do wonder about the obviousness of some of the includees and absentees. No Yes? No Fleetwood Mac? No Sex Pistols? The Police? I'd also throw in bands/artists like Japan, Duranduran, ELP, Genesis, Muse, Mott The fecking Hoople, Depeche Mode, Cream.[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]To save you the bother of clicking the link, here's the list: 20. Joy Division 19. Super Furry Animals 18. The Jam 17. T. Rex 16. Roxy Music 15. The Who 14. Black Sabbath 13. Blur 12. Queen 11. The Kinks 10. The Stone Roses 9. The Clash 8. The Cure 7. Oasis 6. The Smiths 5. The Rolling Stones 4. Pink Floyd 3. Radiohead 2. Led Zeppelin[/font][/size] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=3][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1. The Beatles[/font][/size][/size][/font] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=3][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][b][EDIT] [/b] I add for your deliberation two post comments by someone called petrometro1 on the ES webpage. Pretty succinct.[/font][/size][/size][/font] [font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][size=3][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]1)[/font][/size][/size][/font] [i] when will journalists and the media ever get a grip on the English Language? Firstly, the most overhyped word bar none is "Iconic". An Icon is an Orthodox Religious Painting for heavens sake. Secondly; If this list is of the most iconic bands how is that at all possible? Its either Iconic or it isn't. Journos have a problem with unique. Fairly unique, very unique. Get real; its either unique or it isn't. As Nigel [/i][another commentator] [i]states.. this list does NOT contain bands that were clearly playing before he [/i][the author of the piece, Harry Fletcher] [i]was born. It doesn't contain Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, Hermans Hermits, Yes, ELP, The Nice, King Crimson, Supertramp Genesis... in essence the article is not worth the paper its written on. To compare Oasis with Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones is pathetic.[/i] 2)[i] as thought. has been with The Standard since September 2017. Resume for linked in is written entirely in the first person singular. He was in 6th form in 2010 so suspect he was born around 1993. That's about as credible as this list gets.[/i]

My band is post-punkish, whereas I listen to a lot of XTC, Jellyfish, early Queen, early Japan. So yes, there's disconnect.

Rob van den Broek (author of the Gibson Bass Book) has just posted images of Gibson's RD Artist basses on Facebook. The black one is hubba bubba for me. Lovely. Just take my fecking money.

[quote name='The59Sound' timestamp='1510169362' post='3404478'] Rose tinted glasses at work - Jools has plenty of golden moments. At The Drive In - 2000? Alice In Chains - 1991/2? Bloc Party in 2005 were great when they made their debut. [/quote] It's been going 25 years and that's the best you can come up with? For every At The Drive In, there's been dozens of Ali Faka Toure, Matilda Veindad and Black Umfolosi.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1510178295' post='3404543'] Everyone seems to think that brass gives a warmer tone, but I find the opposite to be true. I may be in a majority of one, here... [/quote] I used that old Aria at a rehearsal last night...the bass is very bright tonally already. God knows what it would sound like with steel saddles.

As posted elsewhere, I went with the Kickass on my old Aria Primary...it's a wonderful bit of kit. I don't have any issues with Babicz at all, I mean by this that I like their Gibson three-pointer replacement, but their designs always look a little unnecessarily over-engineered and I don't feel their products extend to more traditional shaped instruments. While the Babicz Z-series would have done the job admirably, I just thought the KickAss looked better suited for a P (or J) style bass. If you do decide on the KickAss, ahead of the curve give consideration as to whether you want brass or steel saddles (the brass, apparently, gives a warmer tone, but it's pretty zingy irrespective).

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1510048050' post='3403419'] Nancy will be along in a minute to say Maruszczyk should go down the tubes for doing that... [/quote] Ack. At least it hasn't got two big bites out of it. I'd never buy one, mind. [Edit] If (as indicated on an earlier reply), he's offering these in custom colours too, then credit to him, because Gibson certainly missed the boat there. He needs to build them with long-stem cloverleaf machines as well. That said, I'd never buy one, mind.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1510055162' post='3403544'] Reading back through the thread so far, it seems that apparently Later is crap for the following reasons (some of them slightly paraphrased):[list] [*]The bands are too extreme or boring. [*]There's no rock, metal or prog. [*]It's not the Old Grey Whistle Test. [*]It's too diverse and lumpy. [*]It's mostly about veterans, indie bands and quirky singers from islands somewhere. [*]It's too polite and needs edge and energy. [*]The acts are only on because they have an album to plug. [*]It's over the hill and stuffy. [*]There are far more well known and popular genres that don't get on it. [*]It needs a more diverse range of music. [*]It's trendy and pretentious. [*]It's not my taste in music. [/list] I think that last one sums it up perfectly. It's crap because it doesn't have the stuff that *I* like. Although I suppose if it's simultaneously too trendy/pretentious AND over the hill/stuffy, it must be doing something right [/quote] While it's a bit of a generalisation, I believe the main gripe tends to be that the format allows for bands like the aforementioned Albanian folksters Saz'iso to appear on the same bill as Noel Gallagher (or similar). A quick scan down the episode list (here, folks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Later..._with_Jools_Holland_episodes), shows dozens and dozens of bands/artistes that have had their shimmering ten minutes of BBC fame, ne'er been seen or heard of again. I just don't have a pretentious single-worded synonym to sum this show up, but the bill always seems to be inconsistent and unpredictable.

Anyone got one of these? I think (once the Lull drops), my attention will move onto a fretless one of these. Very much doubt I'd stretch to one of the £3k Czech Republic built models, but the cheaper WAV5 model, at around a grand, look nice.

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1509978644' post='3402976'] My main beef with Later is they always play it safe, with the same old tired , identikit indie guitar bands, sensitive folky strummers and beardy Americana geezers. All very tame and inoffensive. Just wish they'd book some acts with a bit of balls that could tear the place down like some bonkers metal band, a hip hop combo with a bad attitude or cutting edge electronica.There's quite a lot around to choose from. [/quote] I remember on one of my infrequent sojourns The Darkness coming on...this has to around the time of the first album, perhaps before. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHrRqFZYwNo

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1509918161' post='3402637'] +1 A lot of true words said here. [/quote] Especially about my band, huh?

I haven't watched Later... for a long long time, so with my wife departed for bed and a coffee to finish I was scanning the channels for something that wasn't Wheeler Dealers or How It's Made. And jeepers. Nothing really changes for Jools vanity show. I tuned in as Aimee Mann was finishing up. Bland and my only actual thought was she looked horribly thin, unhealthily so. Next up, Saz'iso a folk band from Albania. Christ on a bike, I [i]really [/i]need to look them up. That at the end of their performance people in the audience were actually whooping made me extremely sad as they were just so terrible. Next up, Noel Gallagher. Left me cold. Was that woman playing scissors? Finally, for me at least, there was a Superorganism, a band that NME (rest it's soul) describe as 2017 Buzziest Band. It was at this juncture I decided it was time for bed. All this does raise the question of how the hell does this show stay on air? I honestly doubt anyone who watches it on broadcast will actually utter the words, 'Ooh, they're good,' after each performance. I'd also doubt anyone who records this horrific mash-up of world music actually isn't reaching for the remote after the first act or two. There's such a lack of consistency; juxtaposition this (if you have a memory that long) to something like The Tube, a live show that knew it's audience and you were pretty much certain that you'd hold out until C4's News at 7.00pm. The other thing is, we gig a lot and the majority of the bands under and over us would knock every band on that show out of the field of play. Christ, my band would knock all of these bands for six.

Public Service Broadcasting, Hammersmith, last week.