Old Man Riva

Always liked Phil Oakley, just seemed really genuine in interviews back then/now. His band weren’t bad either. Re. the Roland bass. I seem to recall Art of Noise using one on a TV prog (the Tube?) in the 80s. For their version of Peter Gunn...?!

Thank you, sir, really helpful. I can only think the neck-plate I saw on a ‘68 P-bass was a replacement done at some point during the time you reference above. Which then makes me ponder why a neck-plate would need replacing... Fenders; so many questions!

Does anybody know when Fender added the plastic trim to the metal neck-plates on their basses? I thought this was a mid-70s+ thing but I saw a late 60s P-bass recently which had a neck-plate with a black plastic surround, which led me to ponder for way too long on when they introduced them.

Hard Times?!

Wunjo have one in at the moment...

If you can stretch the budget a bit I’d definitely suggest giving the Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones a listen. I tried them against Sony WH1000, Senheisser PXC 550 and the ever present Bose Quiet Comfort sets. I much preferred the B&Ws over the others - seemed to offer an airier and more open sound, with warm (not overbearing or muddy) bass and real clarity in the highs. I’m a big fan of B&W in any event - I’ve a set of 685 S2 speakers at home for use with the HiFi - and can’t recommend them highly enough. That said, I know it sounds obvious, but headphones really are a personal thing so you’re always best checking them out using music that you’d normally listen to and taking your time doing so. Good luck!

The Sonny Rollins soundtrack for (the original) Alfie is also right up there for me...

Dirty Harry Paris, Texas

The database seems a good approach. Andy Baxter operates in a similar way - i.e he gets contacted by players asking to be notified if a specific instrument turns up and keeps a record of these. Once one comes up (or he sources one) he can easily get the ball rolling. Good for the buyer and good for the seller...

20,000 euros for a '66 Jazz?! I imagine that'll be around for a few decades to come...

Re: "Just being displayed in the shop and on it's website". In fairness, some folk have entered into agreements based on just that and have had positive experiences where gear has been sold and commission happily paid... From your perspective who would be an example of a trader/store you would work with and what would you expect them to be doing (i.e. "doing some work") in terms of marketing/selling your instrument? Gear being held for a touring band and then sold on is an interesting one that I wasn't aware of so it'd be good to know where to look for that in the future.

Agree. Forgot to mention Wunjo. Again, the amount of hard work and effort that Tom H and his team have put in over the years to build the business/reputation should be taken into account if one is considering them to market/sell an instrument on their behalf on a commission basis.

Depending on the shop I'd suggest that you/we would be piggy-backing their expertise and reputation. Andy Baxter, for instance, has spent years of hard work building up his business and reputation. He sells worldwide and if he has a bass of yours you would be confident that buyers all over the globe would have access to that instrument via his website (pics, sound-clips, description etc.), and would be willing to part with their cash for a bass they hadn't seen in the flesh or played - again, he's in a position to do this due to the amount of hours, money and effort he's put into building his business and reputation. Similarly with the Gallery. The have spent years working hard to build a business and solid reputation. The same as Andy they also display instruments on global websites like Reverb or G-base, and can do so with the confidence that people around the world would see them as a credible seller/business and would buy in confidence. For those reasons above alone I've had both Andy and the guys at the Gallery sell basses for me and have been delighted with the outcome. I certainly wouldn't expect to be able to piggy-back another company's years of hard work and reputation-building and it not come with a fee. I know others that wouldn't pay a penny to a third-party and would rather do it themselves, which is absolutely fine - there is no right or wrong way. The one thing I would suggest is that, as with any business transaction, one would have a conversation at the front end and get all the clarity one requires in terms of what they will be doing to sell the bass etc. Ask questions, get clarity and leave nothing to assumption/expectation. Personally speaking, I feel that if I were to leave it to assumptions or I chose to manage my own expectations (rather than asking questions beforehand) then I would only have myself to blame if I weren't clear on how they were looking to sell my bass.

Here’s his signature head... he’s a groovy little so-and-so..! https://youtu.be/NS-zZaVJVm4

Agree completely regarding awards for music being a nonsense, and the Brits is/has always been one of the worst excuses for shameless music business back-slappery, but the fact that all people seemed to have talked about today is Stormzy and him getting the Grenfell Tower tragedy/disgrace back into the press I’d say the show was worth it. His performance probably inspired more younger folk to get politicised than a hundred politicians’ empty rhetoric and false promises would ever do.

I’ve got that picture hanging on my kitchen wall! Debris brings a lump to the throat every time. Re. Maybe I’m Amazed above. He sings it well but you have to feel for RL knowing that Rod is about to effortlessly take it up a good three notches when he joins in! A great band...

Have a listen to Reverend Lee by Roberta Flack. Lovely playing.

Really partial to the sound of a drop-tuned acoustic guitar - think Joni Mitchell and Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter etc. Have an irrational loathing of the sound of tap dancing.

Pretty much anything/everything off Aladdin Sane. It helped that the lyrics (with the exception of the Stones cover) were printed on the inner sleeve but as a kid really starting to eat, sleep and drink music it was an incredible experience listening to the album with the lyrics to hand. The most mesmerising of the lot were the lyrics to Drive In Saturday that still have an effect to this day.

Bowie. Any era, even the Glass Spider tour.

Have you seen this? Life affirmingly good...