RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

Always cross my fingers when saying anything 🤞 My eBay transactiond are , so far so good ! To me it depends on what you're buying or selling . I only had one potentially bad experience when selling vinyl 12" and albums ( selling ) . Royal Mail somehow deliberately damaged a rare ish Metallica 12" . I asked the buyer if it was okay to refund postsge and that he keeps it . ( The sleeve is rare ) . He was okay with that and provided positive feedback explain8ng my helpful solution . Buying vinyl from 2 different sellers which never arrived . Got refunds and apologies . Me being polite etc helps . Buying a kaossilator pro which didn't power up . Thankfully eBay and PayPal sorted problem within a few days and refunded. I haven't sold any basses on eBay , but did buy from 2 sellers in Germany who were great . If I was selling basses I'd ask for collection only as then in theory there should be no problems . What I find annoying about eBay these days is , if you so much as look at an item you have an offer from the seller. Or they send messages about things that don't interest me ,and think I should buy it .

Being the youngest of a large family , it wasn't easy to get into a routine without distractions . Long story short , the 3 most valuable things spring to mind : 1. A graphic designer who worked in the same company as mine gave me lessons for £5 once a week 2. Rudy Sarzo Hot Licks instructional video 3. After reaching a plateau , I found a teacher in Tooting via loot magazine ( John Hills) . He played double bass , and he let me have a go on his Wal Fretless . This encouraged me to get a fretless bass . The circle of 5ths is what I found very useful . He even got me playing autumn leaves while reading music instead of tab. Troubke was unfortunately, work and trying to stay sociable plus joining bands etc made it difficult to keep up. Sometimes going to Tooting on a Saturday morning from the Borough half cut from the night before was manageable for a time . Then overtime on a Saturday morning put a kybosh on that . All this before the days of YouTube ! You tube is something I recommend . So many options out there ..

Same , except I haven't got a real status ...yet !

Mmm....I nearly sold mine last year . Thankfully I changed my mind . I would say anything up to £600 due to rarity now, and that in the past I've seen ones in good condition go for around that . I have seen some in not so good condition shall we say, get purchased for around £450 . I don't think they got a good deal there . I love the little clicks when adjusting the volume , bass and treble knobs . Well I did , until I got mine modified . ( more below) The output is thunderous , and very powerful from the status active pickups ( 9v battery ) . The sound is very bright sounding, and could be too much for rock bands . ( again more below) . In bands I've been in , I have been asked to turn down . What they meant was cut off the treble . Also, you cannot hide mistakes ( if you're like me ) , due to the bright tone . As for the body , it is " rich American walnut " and quite heavy . A bass of quality in terms of looks and build . The jack is not the greatest quality . A lot of headless designs are made with basswood bodies . I would like to think of your opinions of those . The reason being , is that I have a Jack Daniels bass made with basswood . It sounds great , and fantastically light to play . However although I have gigged it in the past , I do wonder if basswood would be as resilient and tough as my Washburn status 🤔 is the sound as good ?🤔 Anyway , back to the modifications on my Washburn status and why : 1. I got carried away in a rehearsal with a blues band , and I thumped the bass in a Rudy Sarzo like manner .😬 Took it into Denmark street and had a switchcraft Jack replacing the broken one . There were still issues . 2. I kept getting radio signals ,and local taxi services going through the pickups . So, Graham Noden at Denmark street tested the strength of them . I didn't need to change them . What he did was take out the active circuitry . This meant unfortunately (?) that all I need to do is plug and play . No clicks on the tone knobs anymore . Job done ! No more batteries , plus the bands I'd been in since loved the tone of it . what Graham Noden pointed out was that so many manufacturers followed a trend in the '80s by putting active circuitry in basses as standard . Words to that effect anyway . I say get one ! Headless strings and normal strings are compatible . Look fantastic ! I have a dimarzio strap with straplocks which take the weight off of the bass when moving around .

I missed primus supporting rush apart from the last 2 songs , as some of us went to the bar outside the venue. A couple saw them and thought they were good . As for meat oaf , he was tragically bad at knebworth in '85. He came out aggressive calling us c#nts . Then the mud and p bottles covered the stage ,and deservedly so. So much so, he fell on his broken leg leaving the stage ..🙂 A bad day at the office ..

Funny thing regarding Metallica . I was a huge fan etc . I did see three play at the o2 on 5he same tour That was good, but if I sneezed I would have fell to my death. It broke records for the most fans in the o2 . . What was memorable was that I moved from Twickenham were I used to live a short while before that tour . A friend of mine got let down and had a spare ticket. He was offfering it for free , but I sensibly declined . He didn't quite grasp that it would be impossible to get home and was offended 🤦‍♂️ As for machine head. When they supported slayer, the security messed up and many of us missed them . I saw them play a blinder that they added to make up for it . I heard a few tracks from a new album at the time in virgin records . Rap?!? Awful! I knew then that they were nothing special and are also rans compared to the hype they had .

I saw them play a blinder at the marquee when they were still' hungry ' . Then saw them at Wembley arena . They plated the gig wearing a sock around their genitalia . Awful gig . A few band mates and friends saw them in the early 2000's and all thought they were boring and uninteresting .

A few other thoughts .. Living in a small flat with stereo seperates still , I stick with stereo recordings . I do have a few albums with 5.1 included with my purchase for example Jean micheljarre aero . That's a strange release, if ever there was one . A dvd/ cd 5.1 + strereo pack . Metallica have been releasing all their albums ( gradually ) in box sets . The thing is, they haven't recorded enough to justify box sets imho . Very lazy in the studio for most of their existence . I did purchase the Ride the lightning box set . However, I'm fed up with them now , and managed to sell it for the same price I paid . I never opened the box . They too are now in the kiss money making conglomerate game . I don't need stencils , vhs tapes or patches . With Black sabbath I decided to get the cd remasters with the packaging being exactly the same as the vinyl albeit miniaturised . master of Reality . Bill ward does sound like he is playing on buckets and cardboard boxes imho. With Rush , I have the cheap remastered CDs . I did get a couple of their latest cd remadters but I gave up , as they fill up the content with cleaned up bootlegs and stuff I'm already familiar with . Btw, the recordings of presto and roll the bones will always be light . i will get the counterparts vinyl when that gets reissued again .

Could be wrong , but probabky because he is typecast . Anyone that can hold their own with Ritchie Blackmore , can't be too shabby. Great musicians . Doing those Chas'n'Dave vocals ontop of playing their instruments is hard work in itself .

There are quite a few awful gigs I've been to . Having said that , those bands could've played blinders elsewhere . Anyhow , Mordred at the marquee . A poor man/ woman's Faith No More / Chilli's . Vocalist had a silver face ,and was full of attitude . He wasn't happy about something ,and started taking it out on the punters . Not good . He was booed throughout . Arrogant fwit! Warrior soul . I forget which London venue it was . We were youngish 20 somethings expecting to see a hyped metal band at the time . What we saw was a long haired frontman shouting about American politics . Politics then were not as divisive as now . We had no idea what he was ranting on about . Punters booed him throughout . We went to the bar after about 20 mins . Whatever happened to them ? Laibach at the Astoria . They mimed ! Badly ! Not our bag musically . I have a couple of 12" covers ( life is life / sympathy for the devil) We left after 10 mins . Megadeth ..tbh I've seen them a few times . Either headlining or support at donington . Anyway , Flotsam and jetsam blew them off at the hammy o . Let's just say that mustaine was a mess . Changing costumes , no proper communication with the fans . When the Friday rock show broadcast the gig , it was ...edited . Heavily . I saw them play one blinder of a gig at the Astoria . The rest were patchy at best l Danzig at the Astoria . Going through the motions . Awful. They were ok supporting Metallica , but on reflection they just did the same set with no charisma at the Astoria . Tygers of pang tang . I think it was the frontman Jess cox that we couldn't get on with . Saw them a couple of times , once with John Sykes who was too good for them imho. Another vote for deep purple . Saw them on the house of blue light tour ? Wenbley . Gillan coughing his guts out ! A very static ropey performance that should have been cancelled . Dave Lee Roth . Hammy o . His better days were behind him . He had session musicians from what I remember . I got there late , and left after about 20 mins . I had a few beers with a friend who visited me . I should nave stayed at home . A friends sister went and she left after about half an hour , so I wasn't alone in my experience . U2 at Twickenham . Vertigo tour . Bono at his finest , making the gig about him and telling us we should co exist and turning the gig into begging for money for his chosen causes . He is not the messiah ...

Wow! Been caught squealing . Painful ! 🙀 He had some issues there . 😹

Good topic . I remember back in the '80s when Hawkwind releaeec 2 12" eps , Sweet mistress of pain / Valium 10. The reviewer in sounds magazine actually questioned if those tracks were from the archives or new recordings at the time . The classic motorhead lineup are all dead , yet special deluxe editions of their stuff still gets churned out . Then of course there's Record Store Day . I have live and dangerous on CD and original album format . I don't play it anymore , and tbf only like a couple of their classics anyway . I think if the artists make a ' labour of love ' ,and give the fans something actually worth adding to their collections then that's great . The Celtic Frost Dance Macabre is just that . Plus the Steven Wilson remasters of Tangerine Drean recordings are great also . As for Hawkwind , it is said that the original masters of their United Artists catalogue have been lost forever . Could be wrong , could be right . If so, is their Warrior On The Edge Of Time cd boxset artificially enhanced ? The best thing imho is magnu with the 2 drummer intro . Trying to find space for all these reissues is another thing . I've decided on doing things differently with my collection of late ; I trimmed down the vinyl collection but will always purchase CDs . I received a ltd edition Jean michel jarre digipack cd yesterday . Inside the cover there's a sticker which I had to point my iPhone to for extra content . That was a pita to sort out . It takes me to a website called Zatap where I had to register it . 😮‍💨

Not sting then ..

I've used eBay for selling loads of vinyl,over the last couple of years . Also buying the odd bit here and there. This keeps on building my 100% feedback . It seems that some musical items are cheaper than reverb ,if you are the lucky bidder. I pay by PayPal ( at the moment ), but funds seem to be paid into my bank account pretty sharpish when my items are sold . I've only had one dodgy seller on eBay , and had to get them involved . ( A kaossilator which wasn't working when turned on) Dealt with swiftly . Item returned ,and me refunded. when I received the notification mentioned , it seems to me that accessing your funds after a sale will be not straightforward as before. Maybe in the future, a charge will be made to transfer it to your bank account ? 🤔 On a tangent I do have a small list on eBay search , for things I may want to bid for times aren't too hard . What I keep getting from eBay is sellers offers just because I looked at something . I could do without that. I even get messages about things I haven't looked at .at all . Probably AI 🤔 Ebay keep changing terms and conditions too requently these days , and it is slowlly putting me off .

Brings me back to me being positioned outside the toilet door in certain venues . Thankfully no bum notes were mentioned . Then we often had punters putting their drinks on my amp despite being politely asked not to . All part and and parcel etc . back in the day .. chicken wire perhaps ? 🤔

My very first gig 30th birthday . A band made up of best mates / work colleagues . It was a gig that took most of the year to plan . Weekly rehearsals at Alaska studios/ guitarists flat etc and lots more. I used to drink regularly in the Albany piub back in Great Portland Street lunchtimes and evenings with work friends and colleagues .Got on really well with the manager . He did smallish gigs for around 80 or so people now and then . We managed to book the venue for the birthday gig . Then , less than 2 weeks to the gig I receive a handwritten letter full,of apologies advising me the gig will have to be cancelled due to flooding ! So myself and the guitarist were looking frantically for somewhere at short notice . We had to be in centrall London due to where we all lived and worked etc . We tried quite a few places without a Hope in hell . However somewhat out of the blue , I found the sols arms which was in Euston road near where capital radio used to be . Success ! The manager asked me how much do I want to pay, and I said £80 . I was paying as it was my gig etc. We were apprehensive as to,how many would make it , but fee accepted and all stops were pulled . Being naive and desperate , I could have ended up not paying as we played in front of 200 people ! No regrets as gig went ahead after all . Plus we played there a few more times , and got paid .

I was in a covers band , and we replaced the vocalist at the time . He was a good fit for us , no problem . We noticed in rehearsals that he had his lever arch file which we thought it was just for rehearsals . That was not the case .. He used it at gigs leaving it on the floor , turning over the pages in a break from vocal duties between songs . He had a cheeky chappy persona so to speak , and kept the crowd entertained . He was in another covers band at the time as well . To me if we are all rehearsing our stuff and doing the homework as well in preparation for next rehearsals and gigs , there is no excuse for him to have his lyrics on stage at the dog'n'duck etc , The last singer saw him with us a couple of times, and was baffled / appalled at what he saw . On the plus side , me and mr. Drums seemed to get the best feedback and compliments from the punters . I checked out the vocalists band a couple of years ago , and yes they're still going. One or 2 different band members .He still uses the lever arch file 🤦‍♂️So yes, you've gotta make a stand ..

I stumbled across the Shepherd's Bush gig on you tube , and he did a great job from what I could see . ( only saw a few seperate tracks initially , and haven't got round to seeing the full performance yet ) .

First thing to do imho, is to name and shame them on Trustpilot, Facebook/ twitter ( if you use them) . when I was on Facebook for a short time , I went to pages of M&S/ oak furniture land, Lloyds pharmacy ( I think that’s all) when I received appalling service. It worked. I then gave positive feedback on their Facebook pages when issues were quickly resolved. ( Fair’s fair etc)

Preferred the chuckle brothers tbh ..