Cato

Presumably they've stopped doing now, although I haven't noticed online prices for Fenders suddenly plummeting as a result.

I reckon you'll hear a bigger difference in sound by waiting for the new strings lose a bit of that brand new zing than you will by changing the electronics. Might be worth trying put a few different brands and types of strings as well. Just putting flatwounds on instead of rounds will make a big difference to your basic tone. I went on a bit of string journey a few years ago where I was trying a different brand every couple of months, I was quite surprised at how much difference there is in sound, feel and response between the various different makes.

That's just the nature of late 80s/early 90s guitar hero rock. It always seemed to be more about displaying very high levels of technical proficiency than writing great songs. Generally the rest of the band is just there to provide a framework for the guitarist to do his 'thing' It never did much for me but I had a few mates at school (all guitar players) who absolutely loved it.

I've got a 2016 Deluxe Precision Special. As far as I can tell the main difference between the deluxe and the American Performer is in the electronics. The deluxe is active, with a 3 band EQ, it does have a switch to make it passive but (on the 2016 at least) there's no tone pot in passive mode. The other difference is the country of manufacture - the deluxe is near the top end of the Fender Mexican range (not counting signature models and special finishes like relics) whilst the American Performer is at the lower end of the US made range. In real terms I doubt there's much difference between the two in terms of quality of components and finish and they're so close together in terms of price that I suppose it comes down to whether you want the active electronics on the deluxe or not. For what it's worth I love my deluxe but the active Precision thing (especially with the added J) definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Booking fees are basically a historical left over from the days when venues sold all their tickets from on-site ticket offices and had to employ staff to work the counter, take phone bookings and post out the tickets. These days the process is largely automated and centralised on a national scale, yet some somehow not only do the booking fees remain even for home printed and e tickets, but they seem to keep increasing as well.

I don't know if any of them ever featured a compressor but there have been various basses and guitars with various built in FX produced over the years, from the Gibson RD Artist to the recent Ibanez SRKP4 with it's built in Kaoss pad. None of them has ever really set the world alight. Edit: Just checked and amongst other effects the latest version of the Kaoss pad does indeed feature a compressor, still not sure if the Ibanez had one though.

Just heard this on Radio One of all places. Lovely song, very nice bit of double bass too. I'd heard some of the angry protest/social commentary stuff like 'The Revolution Will Not Televised' and ''Whitey on the Moon' but this is a side to Mr Scott-Heron that I was completely unaware of. I didn't even know the guy could sing, let alone that he had a voice like this.

I got my first fretless a couple of years ago. I'd say at least 90% of the technique needed to play fretless is exactly the same as that required to play fretted. I can sort of see the 'it's an entirely different instrument' argument but it's not like the difference between say, a piano and a trumpet. It's not really even the difference between playing a bass and a skinny string guitar.

Grrrrr.

You're better off out of it. If it hadn't been the old guy wanting back in there would probably have been some other daft drama shortly down the line. Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta fly. @rseholes gotta @rse.

I'd like to get to a point with the fretless where my left hand doesn't start creeping up the neck of it's own accord if I'm not constantly watching it.

I've had on/off GAS for a Ripper a Grabber or a G3 for years, probably since seeing Mike Dirnt with a G3 back in the Basketcase video in around '93. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the stars have never aligned so that I've seen one for sale and had the funds at the same time.

'....But apart from forgetting to put a truss rod in the Esquire and the intrinsic tuning stability problems caused by the Strat's trem system design, and taking into account the fundamental redesign of the pickup and significant changes to the body shape of the Precision between '51 and '57..... Leo got it right first time'

The UK press isn't know for it's accuracy. I'd guess the meat of the story about the divorce and the settlement are broadly true, but the details like '8 albums' and '3 piece band' could well be wrong or cut and pasted from an old biography the reporter found online, so trying to guess who it is based on that information could be a futile exercise.

I've been keeping an half an eye for an NBD thread since you mentioned waiting for a delivery in the 'Help, under attack' thread. I wasn't expecting anything quite this special though.