ricksterphil

This is John Dyson and the Bloody Mary's. We played a gig at the New Barrack Tavern in Sheffield with them. John gets down to his pants and fishnets...and then proceeds to stick the business end of his mic down his pants! They were pretty good to be fair...fantastic energy

I've played The Shed in Leicester. Neither of the ladies in our band got their bits out. Must be an East Midlands thing...here are the bare-ish SoapGirls at The Maze in Nottingham (which we've also played)

I have a passive Bass Collection Power Bass which cost £95. It's very good and compares favourably with my more expensive basses. Try as many as you can before you buy and a good set up is critical

Wibble!

Our guitarist/vocalist Mel suffers from Fibro and it's very debilitating for her so I sympathise

Thanks for the page like Ray, and it would be great to see you at a gig of ours. I was so impressed with Bluesparky's positive attitude in the face of such a battle. It serves to remind us of the fragility of life! I'm not aware of The Achievers but will check 'em out

That's fantastic! Basschat is an excellent forum, anyone who followed bluesparky's posts about his battle with the big C (a fight he sadly lost) will attest to that. We're playing The Latch Lifter in Ilkeston on Oct 19th @Raymondo so drop in if you're not busy, I always like meeting up with fellow basschatters. My band

To be printed off and stuck on the wall in our kitchen...or maybe on the wardrobe door next to her shoe collection I've got 4 ('kin amateur eh!) Mike Lull M4V Bass Collection PBass Tanglewood Odyssey Acoustic Bass Maruszczyk Jake 4p 55 basement and 2 guitars

I get a bit of tendon pain in my plucking hand arm and when I go to my chiropractor for my neck and she sorts my arm out too. I had a tendon strain in my left arm from picking up a cab at the wrong angle which didn't self heal - she sorted that out and it hasn't returned. I've gone down the 'not hitting so hard and turning the amp up' route which helps. I now use a soft wooden pick on songs with fast runs (Panic in Detroit and Hang onto Yourself) which changes my arm and hand position so it doesn't affect or inflame the tendons in my arm. I might try the banana thing too - I usually eat 1 a day anyway, so might double the dose!

Never been as a punter, played one in my teens in Worcestershire. Alexis Korner was there (yes it was many moons ago) and said we we're crap (he was right).

...and there you have it. It really wouldn't do if we all liked the same stuff, and anyway Emma Bunton was/is proper fit imo

Spot on!

Finding the right mix of other musicians is key. The band I'm in at has it and it's pure gold!

Ashes to Ashes I struggled to do anything resembling slap until we did Ashes to Ashes, which is a mix of slap and fingerstyle. Having to get on top of it for this song I have managed to make a reasonable fist of it. Les Claypool I am not though!

Yup + 1 for AMPband