TrevorR

Now less than £15 on Amazon! I might just have bought a copy too... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Geddy-Lees-Beautiful-Book-Bass-ebook/dp/B07GDMJH3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550089844&sr=8-1&keywords=geddy+lee's+big+beautiful+book+of+bass

"*EZO or ES Method – Energy/Space Method of wood, metal, and ctr. treatment. Modifications: mass crystallisation (wood), resonating in human emotional range. Sound effects: real presence with element of reverb and chorus. Developed by Mr. Papian." I was reading this in the ad and I thought, that's familiar. Then I remembered, it's one of Jon Anderson's lyrics from side three of Tales for Topographic Oceans.

Hang on... I’m fifty f...cough cough cough and I remember then my brother brought back Sgt Pepper, the Beatles and Abbey Road on their release days and sitting with him in his bedroom listening to them. He took me so see Let It Be double billed with Yellow Submarine and I cried when I heard they’d split up...! None of your ageism!

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

Amazon Kindle or Kindle app is the best known eBook reader. Probably the widest selection too. Kobo’s were nice too but didn’t really take off. You can download free eReader apps.

Presenting the Airline Jetsons JR bass...

Didn't say I was cool enough to pull it off either... BUT I DO WANT ONE!!!!!!!!! The other Backlund designed models are equally sci-fi and wonderful... The Model 400's just as nice! https://eastwoodguitars.com/collections/backlund

Watching some footage on Todd Rundgren's Utopia reunion tour and he's making very good use of a rather taste, space age Eastwood guitar, a Backlund 100. I keep on thinking "Oh man, what a COOOOOOOL bass that design would make!!!" (potential neck-dive notwithstanding - I've got a nice wide, suede backed leather strap so that's OK). Just as well for my bank balance that they don't make a bass version!

Can I nominate my lovely chum, Mickey (Michaela)? She’s currently President Of the Methodist Conference, head of the Methodist Church. Does that count as one of the UK’s top female vicars?

Gorgeous...I think that the rosewood tailpiece actually looks great - a happy accident rather than design but I think that it looks really good!

Yeah, but there’s a world of difference between “NOT being cool” and being utterly utterly awful - which is what that video is and always has been despite Time Stand Still being one of my three favourite Rush songs and my undying love for Aimee Mann!

Paul McCartney and Wings for Crossroads!

Don’t you mean Bwian Wawlden?

True, but I've always found that stainless steel or nickel rounds always sounded pretty sub par on either an acoustic bass or guitar - much worse on a 6 string guitar. Bronze, phos bronze of flats/tapes always just worked/sounded much better to me. So not NEED but much prefer. YMMV, of course.

My trick was always to bend the bit of the string where the bare wire goes round the ball end at a 45 degree angle so that the ball end didn't get trapped on the bottom of the bridge peg and ping it out.

Saw the vid on this earlier... top of my wish list, methinks! If it works half as well as that implies it’ll be a lot of fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got way past my Stuart-goofing-about threshold 20 mins into last week’s so Tina’s laid back approach was a breath of fresh air. Yes, there were omissions but it’s worth remembering a few things... It was a programme about BASS in music, not bass guitar and so I enjoyed the d’n’b bits (maybe BECAUSE it’s music I don’t listen to). It’s a mainstream programme on a mainstream channel. It wasn’t primarily aimed at bass geeks and to have made that show would have alienated the casual watcher. You can only fit so much into an hour... Wonder what next week’s programme on guitar will be like? I’m guessing... Charlie Christian - Les Paul - Leo Fender - Briefly Elvis/Scotty as a lead into - Beatles - Brief cross reference to Paul Simon/Bob Dylan via The Byrds and a British 60s folkie - Hendrix - Marshall Amps - Zep/Who/other loud bands montage - Punk - Van Halen - Smiths - Ed Sheeran

Oh but in so many ways, no. They aren’t. But just in case I’ll throw this one in as a backup. Owned it for 37 years (in fact exactly as long as I’ve been playing bass) so it also probably counts as a “keeper”

My first thought was, “Well, at least it wasn’t Gibson who bought them...”

What, kinda like this? Since I don’t play 5 strings or fretless these two would do me quite nicely. And have done since 1993 and 2001 respectively!

That SB700 was my first ever bass too. And yes, it weighs a ton but balances perfectly! Still, it meant that when I picked up my Wals back in pre-Internet days I never worried about their weight... I just thought all basses weighed 10lbs and that was perfectly normal!

Is that pedal for guitar or bass? I can’t tell from the box...

Still love my ‘700!

Those oval bridge plates on Laklands. Can’t get past them. I know it’s their visual signature so it would never happen but give me one with a regular rectangular bridge and I’d be all over it!

Our local Poundland says in its windows that it's doing it's "BIGGEST EVER SALE! - Many items at 50p!" That made me smile as I walked past! It's a hard time to be a shop at the moment. the BBC News Review of the Year programme on "The REtail Year" was an interesting, if slightly depressing, watch... https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bw98j2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bw98j2/review-2018-the-retail-year