SteveXFR

Do you know what year mine is?

It's really nice. Really glad I bought it. I don't know if this is a particularly good one or they're all this good.

I'd open it up and check the internal fuse(s). Depending on the value of it, it may be worth taking it to an amp technician. I just had the complete 300w power section replaced in my amp plus uprated cooling fan and extra heat sinks for £130

Keep at it. One day you'll achieve that dream.

It's very average. It sounds too much like too many other songs. Bland at best

I've recently changed from Ableton to Reaper. Ableton was good but my basic laptop runs a lot better with Reaper which seems to use a lot less power and is more intuitive. Reaper is also a lot cheaper for the full version which is only £60.

I also use a pick and take out a lot of mids on the eq. I find there's too much punch with a flat eq and I'm taking the same space that the guitars are in.

Don't mention brexit or vaccines. Either could spark a riot.

I've recently decided to simplify and the results have been superb. I've got rid of most of my pedals and just got a few top quality pedals. Boss TU3 Tuner. It just works reliably. Orange Fur Coat. I never use the octave function but the fuzz is nasty. Two Notes Le Bass. Really nice warmth to the clean channel, which I'm using as a boost and the dirty channel has a really nice distortion. The fusion setting sounds huge. The Origin Cali76 CB just does a superb job of keeping levels in check and giving a great tone.

Of course! How did i not think of that?

I like to swap my picking positions quite a lot when playing, quite often picking at the bridge for verses and near the neck for choruses. It all goes well until I start to get a little sweat on my wrist and it sticks to the bass body andmy movements start to get a bit jerky and awkward. There must be a simple solution to this. Any suggestions?

Cool. I can walk there from home in 25 minutes. I might come along.

Summat to do with years of over enthusiastic double bass death metal apparently.

Bruton is the posh bit of Somerset. I nearly run over Michael Gove there last year, unfortunately I missed. I'm not far away in Frome which is basically just the place people from Bruton buy their fairtrade cocaine and vintage tat.

It's an idea, he's a really good drummer but unfortunately after several years as a session drummer, his knee's aren't up to the job any more. He'd struggle to play a full set

We auditioned a few. Either they could play well enough but wouldn't commit to a fortnightly rehearsal or they would commit but weren't up to the job. The last one said he could commit, could play very well but then when it came to it, he said he couldn't make rehearsal because he was going to spend the day online gaming.

We're not very metal, none of them blast beats, more like Black Sabbath mixed with Soundgarden.

How did it go down with audiences not having a live drummer?

The drum machine suggestion isn't too far off our best current option which is recorded drum tracks played through the PA but it would be better to have a real drummer there playing and making mistakes with the rest of us.

Maybe it's a particular problem down here in Somerset but drummers are really hard to find, good ones even harder to find and good ones who are reliable and play metal are like unicorn turds. Fortunately our rhythm guitarist / singer is a pretty handy drummer for recording but unless we buy him one of those old fashioned one man band kits we need an actual drummer for gigs. Is it always really hard to find them? Is there somewhere online they hang out?

Trace Elliot amps and cabs are dirt cheap and really decent. I've got a GP12SMX with the higher spec 4x12 and 1x15 whichI got for £300. They sound amazing for such a low cost. It's a bit short on volume though so I'm using my Orange Terror 500w head with the Trace cabs. For someone in a normal band (not stoner metal) it would be more than enough.

They played our local punk festival a couple years ago and were excellent. Best band of the night.

Our local punk band, Far Cue do a pretty decent cover. Last time I saw them play it the drummer/singer was wearing hot pants and a boob tube with "stop looking at my tits" written on it. You may think she can wear what she wants but it's a bloke in his mid 50's

I saw Pearl Jam at Hyde Park several years ago. It was OK but like all massive festival type gigs it's too big and even if you're at the front you're still further from the stage than you would be at the back in Brixton Academy.

The Ace Of Spades is one song which is best left alone. No one could ever match the original. Lemmy's vocals and bass were just perfect for the song.