BillyBass

or to slightly alter my post above... @casapete's band: 'The PLO Experience' That could lead to some feisty audience participation

PLO The Wives S Club Semen

I'm originally from nr Philip Lane but I lived in Muswell Hill for 15 years, Ally Pally was a 10 minute walk! Now I'm up in Barnet.

I haven't lost a pick mid song yet, though I'm sure it will happen. Particularly when it's hot and sweaty my pick does often shift between thumb and forefinger. I suppose I would carry on with fingers and grab a pick if there is a break in the bass line during the song. I normally leave a couple of picks on top of my amp or in my left pocket.

@casapete's 'The ELO Experience' played in Stevenage last night. I went along with my other half and an ELO loving cousin. I got to meet Pete before the gig; its nice to meet up with people from here. Pete will have to tell us how this compared to his other gigs but I thought it was a great night. I can't remember seeing so many old people dancing at a gig! ELO were really prolific in the 70s so if you are 60 or older you would know many of their songs, and the audience were mainly over 60s... and we all knew the songs! I recommend anyone on here to go and see The ELO Experience when they next play near you. I will be seeing them again. Me and Pete before the gig (Pete has the shorter hair).

Three volume knobs would annoy me, I would much rather have a single volume and a Strat switch. Nevertheless, I can see Norwich City fans warming to this bass.

Medulla by Bjork I missed the 90s, I was a monk living in Burma and Sri Lanka for much of the decade and have only heard a few of her more famous songs. I like some avant garde classical stuff, like Sciarrino, Scelsi, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Arvo Part etc and also Throbbing Gristle, but listen to the genre rarely. When I do it is in a dark room, alone, at night. If I was in the mood, I would likely go back to something I know and like rather than Medulla. I didn't like it. Nevertheless, this has aroused interest. I might listen to some more of Bjork's stuff, possibly her earlier albums. I don't want to give a mark out or ten as I would like to have something similar to compare it too. The avant garde classical composers I mentioned above would be the nearest for me, but not near enough for a real comparison.

I do like the look; silver with tort, maple neck and pearloid inlays. They shouldn't all go well together but the end result looks quite classy. Congrats.

I'll give this one a 6/10 My favourite tracks are 'We are Young' and 'No Say', & 'You're the Light'. If the rest of the album had have been to this standard it would have got 7-8/10 but I found a lot of the stuff in the latter part of the album left me a bit frustrated in that I wanted the songs to take off a bit more and they didn't. I haven't listened to their first album but I imagine that if I saw them live I would be tapping my feet more than dancing. I see that signed to Kill Rock Stars, which if you are a Post Punk fan, you might have heard of.

Do come! I'll have a go on your Ray34, please.

I'll take part in this. Though, I might give up prematurely if it is truly awful.

I've recently put a set of Rotosound Nexus black coated strings on a P bass. I'd had the set for ages, I bought them to try out but was a bit nervous about me picking the coating off. Reading a bit more it seems it doesn't matter if the coating comes off through picking as the benefits of the coating are gained from in-between the core and the wrap, not the outside. My first impressions are really positive. They are matt black with different coloured silks, so that is a plus. These sounded good brand new; I really don't like the sound of rounds before they are broken in and these don't have that initial glassy brittle top. The coating feels very slightly sticky. If you like flats then you might not like this but I don't like the slippery feel from flats and the black coating feels quite grippy. My initial thoughts then are positive. Just like my preferred NYXLs, they sound good brand new and I found a few sets for about the same price as the cheapest NYXLs. So over the next 6-12 months I'm going to be comparing these two different strings on my basses to see if one stands out.

Great stuff Ben. And this must be the custom build you were waiting for, for ages!

I was keen to do this but ultimately I had to tell Geddy I was too busy with my covers band so he got some bloke from Metallica instead. I'll try and make series 2.

I've just sold a High pass filter to @Marvin_ the deal and comms were straightforward and I would have no hesitation buying or selling with him again in the future.

I don't know High Wycombe or Buckinghamshire at all, but looking on a map, the Bricklayers arms appears to be right at the edge of town, next to countryside/farmland. I arrived after dark and departed after midnight so I didn't see much. Maybe if the council estate residents were keen it could happen but the landlords will have to a bit more marketing than just leaving our poster on their front door.

We had a paid rehearsal last night. This was at the Bricklayers Arms, High Wycombe. Everyone was in the pub for the rugby, so we decided to start our first set as soon as the match finished. It was all going well until about three minutes from the end when South Africa overtook England. The atmosphere in the pub vanished and at the final whistle most people packed up and went home. We ended up playing to 5 people, or 7 if you count the bar staff. If England had won it would have been a different story. I've never been to this pub before, our singer, who is local-ish, said he thinks they are trying to set themselves up as a music venue. I got the impression this was a bit of a country pub and everyone there could walk home, so not much footfall.

I'm a big fan of blue basses, I have three of them. That is a nice shade of blue, congrats.

My punk covers band has started to diversify a bit and some of our newer covers I prefer to play with fingers. We are going to add 'Are you gonna be my girl' by Jet. Apparently, the Jet bassist used an Epiphone Jack Casady with a pick in the studio for this song, whereas he uses a P bass with pick for their other songs. There is a distinct bass tone tooth's song which certainly isn't P bass with rounds. Watching live videos of them, he uses his P bass but doesn't replicate the studio version's tone. I'm not going to buy an Epiphone Jack Casady for one song or put flats on one of my basses but I can get close to the tone by using fingers, in a certain way. Close enough for a covers band at least. I play most of our set with a pick: Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Damned, Green Day, Undertones, Buzzcocks, UK Subs, The Ruts, Kaiser Chiefs, The Clash, Motorhead, Hives I feel these songs work better with fingers: Hold your Hands Up - Reef Are You Gonna be my Girl - Lenny Kravitz Pump it up - Elvis Costello Get it on - T-Rex

I'm looking forward to it. ELO are one of those rare bands that have so many great songs that you could do 2x50 minute sets full of crackers and have plenty left over.

On November 4th, myself, wifey and my cousin are off to see @casapete's band 'The ELO Experience' play in Stevenage. My cousin once travelled to Dublin to see ELO, he loves them and we are all looking forward to this. Though gigs are a bit like buses. Jah Wobble is playing in Camden on the same night. Shame I can't be in two places at once.

Merchant City Music in Glasgow have a few Reverend fivers for sale. String spacing at the bridge is 19mm and the one I tried in August had a good B string. I love the looks but they aren't everyone's cup of tea.

Markstyrene? like polystyrene but with improved low end register and fitting with the Italian lifestyle.

Is it possible to avoid paying sales tax or get a refund if you are taking the object bought abroad? Like VAT in this country?