Baxlin

I don’t have a beard, but a few years ago, I grew one, until one day looking in the mirror with my glasses on, Harold Shipman stared back at me. Within 10 minutes the beard was off! (As an aside, my school in Nottingham was only a couple of miles away from the school he went to, and being the same age as HS, I would have played rugby against him more than once. My claim to infamy!)

I was taken for Pete Waterman at a wedding once. Should I have been flattered?

Rainer Hersch and the Tringe Philharmonic Orchestra. Who, you say? Brilliantly funny classical conductor, and brilliant, but small orchestra, made up of members of 'proper' orchestras (eg the Halle). But it was the final night of the Tringe Comedy Festival, (where famous and not-so-famous comedians finally polish their acts for the Edinburgh Fringe), so the accent was on humour. In how many styles, for instance can you play a well known classical piece? From Reggae through jazz to ragtime..... A 100% standing ovation at the end. (Milton Jones, Josh Widdicombe, Ragan whatsisname, Ed Byrne, etc were also appearing on different nights)

Thanks, BB. For two hundred quid he ought to describe it properly....

I’ve never used a thumb rest, but if I did, I think I would expect it to be above the 4th (E) string, not below the G. But then googling 'bass guitar thumb rest position' there’s at least one pic with it in the same position as in this ad. As I said, I’ve never used a thumb rest, so could someone explain please? I suppose it could be a finger rest if you’re picking just with your thumb?

I made my own, using a fairly high density foam bought from an upholstery supplier, and with Mrs B’s help, covered it in suitable fabric bought,IIRC, from John Lewis. Copydex and a staple gun used to fix it in the case (which I’d also made myself). The best way to cut foam, by the way, is to use a very sharp carving knife (not serrated).

Please clarify - which went to the charity shop, the album (which hadn’t changed), or the "improved" hi-fi? 😟

I still have a pair of drumsticks from my teens in the 60s, which I found and started to use again a couple of years ago when I bought an electronic kit. You wouldn't say that they 'help me make music' though if you heard my drumming......

On a whim, yes. An 80s Marlin, hoping it would be lighter than my EB3. It isn’t. But it was only £40, and being sold by a local hospice charity, and now I’ve fettled it a bit, it’s fine as a back up bass.

We’re about the same at church, although my turn comes around more often, and the band is on stage, very visible! It’s very rare that we have paper copies as we use iPads, but it’s a hard job to convince many to use an iPad bracket rather than a music stand. Guitarists need somewhere for their capo and spare plectrum, don’t they.... The words are projected onto the back wall of the hall for the singers, and we also each have a Mei monitor mixer for our in-ears, which brackets onto the mic stand, but an iPad also on a bracket IMO is better than a music stand, for our purposes, anyway. WIP to convince the other band members, but it’s not important enough to lose sleep over , regardless of the time this is being posted!

I’ve 'enjoyed' having a dodgy back for many years, and certainly for rehearsals, I'd sit rather than have the full weight of the bass on the strap, because of backache. Both my basses are long scale (an EB3 and a 335-shape semi acoustic). Looking for a lighter bass, I bought (unseen, via eBay - yes, I know) an 80s Marlin, which, as I’d learned on here, is budget thing, but, having a ply body, I hoped it might be lighter. I’ve mentioned this bass on another thread. Unfortunately, it’s not lighter, in fact it’s a tad heavier than the semi, and still 34" scale. However, as the bridge is closer to the bottom (?) of the body, the whole instrument, and therefore the playing position, is shifted a few inches to the right. Guess what, it’s so much more comfortable to play, and I did a 2 hour rehearsal yesterday with it, sitting down only for tea break. Might have to sell all 3, and buy a decent similar-sized one, or switch to short scale!

I’ve just picked up an 80s Korean Marlin Sidewinder from a charity shop, to use as a 'to hand' practice bass, and am pleasantly surprised. OK, it needed a good clean, and a bit of setting up, but I like it! One thing though, I was amazed at the difference 2mm extra string spacing makes. I'm used to having a 17mm string spacing bridge, this one has a 19mm. No problem, just different.

I volunteer for FOH duty at a local theatre, and in the next few weeks we have various well-known comedians coming to the "Tringe" (Tring's version of the Edinburgh comedy Fringe), but I’m looking forward to seeing Rainer Hersch, a conductor/musician who brilliantly combines music with comedy.

My semi-acoustic bass lives within reach of my dining room chair, so I can practice between courses. As well as regularly cleaning the strings and frets, I polish all my basses' and guitars' bodies with a decent car wax, as I’m also a bit (a lot) nerdy/OTT about detailing my cars.

Apparently the lyrics to Procal Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale have a meaning........ We skipped the light fandango Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor I was feeling kind a seasick But the crowd called out for more The room was humming harder As the ceiling flew away When we called out for another drink The waiter brought a tray And so it was that later As the miller told his tale That her face, at first just ghostly, Turned a whiter shade of pale.

Joking aside, (and ready for inappropriate answers) would it be worth making an offer, just for the metal bits? THEN setting the rest on fire?

OK, as I recall, the PC version of its origin is that Forces', or at least RAF airmen's, standard issue underpants used to be made of a perforated, Airtex type material, with the 'business' bits, particularly the seat, having several layers, thereby resembling the breakfast cereal of that name. The non-PC version? Use your imagination as to what might have been shredded........ 45 years on from being demobbed, and I still refer to u/pants as Shreddies, as does Mrs B.....

Ex serviceman, by any chance, wearing shreddies?

The info about the list didn’t come from my memory, my brother in law still rows for the Union (he’s now Veteran, and old enough to know better!), and he told me about it fairly recently. Malcolm

I think you mean the Union, with the list of bands. i used to row for the Boat club in the 60s, and as a full member, the three clubs (before the Boat and the Brit merged) allowed each others' full members free entry to their events. One evening I saw Cliff Bennett and the RRs, Ainsley Dunbar Retaliation, and another band whose name I forget at the 3 clubs. The bands were booked up to a year in advance, so the Union had Quo, when Pictures of Matchstick Men was in the charts, and Honeybus, when they were on their way to No1with Can’t let Maggie Go. We had The Impressions at the Boat, and local band Ten Years After made the occasional appearance. great times, and hope the OP's set went well.

Never been a Madonna fan (IMO she even ruined American Pie), but according to the BBC she had dancers wearing both Israeli and Palestinian flags on their costumes.

In our church band, we are regularly introduced to new songs on the day, and have several worship leaders, so even if we play familiar songs, they are often in different keys. Band members are on a rota, meaning we play with different musicians each week, and only have an hour or so rehearsal before the service, so we use iPads with words and chords. Also, our wired in-ears are each fed by a Me-i, which we all have on stands, so an iPad on a holder doesn’t add much...

I hasten to add, we have CCLI licence/subscription/membership or whatever!

To answer post #1, yes, often! Mainly because when we introduce a new song, we don’t usually have dots, only have words and chords, and possibly a YouTube vid. So that means it can be open season, so long as it doesn’t detract from the words. Malcolm

Bought a 'damaged' (but new) semi acoustic bass from Gear4music, at just over half price. The only damage was theat the jack socket had come unscrewed and had dropped into the body. Ten minutes with a bit of bent wire, and a locknut from my spares box fixed it. Thanks G4M!