SteveXFR

I only play 4 of those strings. Supporting Hellbastard back in December

Stoner metal Kyuss - Gardenia Down - Losing All Fu Manchu - Evil Eye

I think I've got the fill. A couple pull off and hammer ons seems to be getting me there. I don't have a fretless so I won't use one

I got the notes, I just can't play it!

I've been learning Even Flow by Pearl Jam and it's not too difficult except for the descending scale runs. Is it just me or is it actually difficult to play it clean? Any tips? Its 8 seconds in, ending with the harmonic

Guitarist insisted I needed to buy a Ampeg SVT Classic plus 8x10 and an active sub. A reasonable request if we were a headlining, touring band playing big stages to big crowds. This was in preparation for our first gig which wasn't yet booked. I told him to get stuffed and the drummer said "wot he said" and followed me out

I've had friends who turned pro in mountain biking or as musicians and they're all absolutely skint and never get to do what they loved just as a bit of fun with mates any more. I'll give it a miss I think

The entire bicycle industry for making 27.5" wheels obsolete and messing up production so badly last year that now all bikes are extremely heavily discounted. These two factors combined mean my top spec, incredibly good enduro mountain bike is now worth half of bugger all. The whole bike is now worth less than I could have sold the frame for last year.

Ebay fees have just got too high for me. I'm selling stuff elsewhere now

Yeah, I see why they would like those particular comedians and with the exception of Sarah Pascoe I don't find any of them more than mildly amusing and can't stand Michael McIntyre. My favourite American comedian at the moment is Reggie Watts, he's just confusing but brilliant.

I can't stand the whole "we're punk, now buy shares in the company because that's what punks would do" thing.

Jaguar. No more V8 saloons, not ever. How's a gentleman supposed to get around with less than 8 cylinders? Triumph motorcycles. No more sports tourers. Its just pretend classics or massive off road style adventure bikes.

Comedy just doesn't translate. Every time I try watching a septic comedian, the audience are in hysterics and I just don't get it. There are a few exceptions but they are few and far between. I don't think our colonial friends get British comedy either.

Eyes of the south - Down

Swimming lessons - The Skints

Caffeine bomb - Wildhearts

I tried Ableton live and found it lacked user friendliness. Nothing seemed very intuitive about it. I'm now using Reaper which is much better and only about £60 although the free trial never actually ends.

White Pony - Deftones Dammit. Beaten to it

I find work hardening works well

But we're not American are we? We are civilised, tea drinking, English spelling, sarcasm using, human beans

That's not right. Tempering is a treatment used after hardening to remove some of the hardness and increase toughness. It makes it less brittle, not more.

Repeatedly fitting and removing strings is not normal behaviour and will lead to failure occasionally. Bass strings don't need pre-stretching, that's more of a guitar thing. Just fit them, tune up and play them until they've lost too much brightness for you then bin them. If you want to vary the tone a bit then try some different playing techniques (fingers, slap, pick or try picking harder or lighter etc) or get some effects pedals.

The Bristol shop used to be pretty decent but last time I went in to try basses, I waited ages for one to be taken off the wall then got given a tiny practice amp a few feet from a guitarist trying out a big valve amp so couldn't hear what the bass sounded like. I asked to try it where I can hear it and was told to come back another time. I bought one elsewhere. It's even worse since they moved to a shop where there's no parking.

It's similar to the bass strap height discussions. What works for a finger style tech wizard or slapper isn't going to be right for a super fast down picking punk using a plectrum