lozkerr

Jesus wept. Talk about rubbing their noses in it. That's appalling. I've done arts festivals in the past and slept in some pretty dubious accommodation, including dressing rooms, but at least I aye had a roof ower my head. Do they hand out trowels and a roll of army form blank in place of toilets, too? Sheesh.

I am approve. And I think I'll use my video camera tomorrow night to record the march out and the fireworks. It has an impressive zoom capability for a device that is twenty years old. Far more civilised to lean out of the window than stand in the street with hoi polloi.

I suspect that might have been in the Tattoo's mind when they placed the ad. As I said above, I've been watching the march-out ever since the blasted thing started - thankfully missed last night as we bailed to the pub - and the wee gaggle bringing up the rear have a noticeably gawky teenager air about them. I haven't seen them up close - CBA to run down 76 steps and back up again - but they do look very young. Assuming they are this band, of course. And bearing in mind that I'm now at the age where MPs and senior Forces officers look young, too 😉

Has anyone heard any more about this? I'm getting the impression they managed to recruit some suckers eager beavers after all, as I've been watching the Tattoo march-out for the last few nights. Can't do much else, as the buggers make too much noise to get any shut-eye. They all come marching down Castlehill in smart uniforms - the Guards in scarlet, the Highland dancers, a detachment of what I think are Commonwealth soldiers, some singing girls - and before the massed pipes and drums rock up, there's a small gaggle of T-shirt and jeans types who look like a band, even though they're no carrying instruments.

This should be a pinned post. That was what convinced me to switch to a five-string. Take Teenage Kicks. Dead simple bassline - so simple that even I can play it without cocking it up too much. The first note is a D. On a four, you might start at fret 5 on the A string and bob up and down towards the nut. Fine if you have hands the size of shovels, not quite so easy for us lesser mortals. On the five, start at fret 10 of the E string. You can play the whole thing over four frets without changing position at all - just drop down to the B string when you hit the chorus.

Well said, Sylvia. I can see why folks are concerned, but it'll be easier to judge after the event. I'm uneasy, I have to admit, but I'm hoping that my concerns will prove unfounded. See you there!

My first bass was a GSR200 too, and it never had a hint of fret buzz. As other folks have suggested, it's worth taking it to a good luthier for a set-up as a first step. Regarding the fuzzy sound, before you attack the pups with a screwdriver, check a few things first. If the fuzz is worse at the lower end, replace the battery. When it's on the way out, the low notes start to sound muddy before the higher ones are affected. Also, try turning the Phat EQ right down. As in fully off. A little of that knob goes a long way. I like the GSR200 - if I still played a four-string I'd be keeping it as a backup instead of thinking about selling it.

Leave it - he's just trying to milk it.

It is! Bought on Marketplace a few months back. I doubt if it would be ideal as a single cab but it sounds lovely alongside the 210.

It's actually an 18" cab, and it makes one hell of a difference to the tone. The low end sounds really full and warm compared to just using the 210 in the Metro. I have been toying with dividing the Metro into a separate head and cab. It's not a real combo - the only connection between the amp and cab is a bog-standard speaker lead. Might make it easier to lug about and the 210 would certainly look better on top of the 118.

It's (literally) painfully simple - I'm not strong enough to lift the Metro onto the 118 cab. That's the only reason, and aye, it does look odd. But I have the feeble body of a woman...

I bet it's a featherweight compared to this lot. Aye, it's bloody heavy but the tone is gorgeous.

I'll be there on both days. Hope to see you there!

I would like to proffer my profound thanks for that timely and sage advice. While it would never occur to me to comment on a colleague's physical peculiarities, it would not do to display an involuntary reaction. Particularly as I have just been contacted by a 'Mr A' inquiring about a bus. Speedy work, Mr Del Var. I trust he pays promptly?

Great minds think alike... I was planning to source a big tour bus from the fleet parked outside Edinburgh Castle. Plenty of seats, full air-con and tinted windows, so you can get tooled up without worrying about being seen. Foreign plates too, so no risk of being detected by ANPR. And they burn well.

Or perhaps Mr Del Var could be persuaded out of retirement again? I'll drive.

I'm not overly impressed either. Not bought my train tickets yet, but I've paid for a weekend ticket and booked accommodation. Which I can't cancel. If it does turn out to be dire, there's aye Tin Pan Alley a half-hour's walk away. And there's the Bass Gallery. But the comms so far is pretty poor.

Mine is my music stand, which dates from around 1973. It's seen me through the violin, bugle and trumpet and is still going strong. I still have a few Time and Tune books from primary school, too.

You're right, they're not. The great advantage of the five-string is that you get two full octaves over five frets everywhere on the fretboard. I switched from a four to a five about fifteen months ago and I can't see myself ever going back. Keeping the B string quiet took a bit of getting used to, but the main work was in changing the root of each scale. I started with E major and E minor rooting on the fifth fret of the B string; once I had those patterns in my head, the rest was easy.

You might be right. Fortunately, there isn't a lot in the profile section - you can choose to show your email address (which I've disabled) and your location. Nothing about age or gender and there's no option to upload a photo. The only thing that might alert a bot is that I had 'show online status' set on and I'm pretty much permanently logged in. The list of online users is shown below the main classified headings, so it would be trivial to write a script to contact them all. UPDATE: I've just had another look at my inbox and the messages have disappeared along with the user name. Looks like JMB have been alerted. Stay safe, folks!

Don't keep us in suspense! 🙂

And needless to say, I haven't and won't be replying.

Morning folks, Just had an out-of-the-blue message from this character on JMB. He either thinks I'm stupid or it's a scam - there is no way I'm giving my email address to some semi-literate stranger. There's also someone called Ger sniffing round the Edinburgh musicians groups on Facebook. I'm not sure they're related, but that's the only connection I can think of. Anyone else heard from this character? Here's his profile and the messages:

Can confirm. The shop's been closed for months.

That would make me Porty Costa. I'm not sure it works - it puts me in mind of a weedy bloke in a Hawaiian shirt playing keys in a Benidorm tourist disco.