Munurmunuh

I think I can trump these: Iron Maiden and Killers 😬 (and seriously I do hold that opinion) (honest!)

The problem would be that sometimes I like things more even when I know they're not as good. And when I'm not very interested in something I amuse myself by finding reasons for shoving the boot in. So my ranking list would be a bit of a joke. I think ....And Justice just a massive achievement, it does what it's trying to do so successfully. I could probably write a great deal of speculative bs about that album, but that too you could all live without quite happily. Given the veneration for Rust in Peace, I've been surprised by how inconsistent it is. I'm not expecting all 9 tracks to be at the level of Hangar 18, but there are at least two B-sides loitering in there. Since I went in chronological order, it's been a while since I last listened to Ride The Lightning and I'm SO excited that that's coming up at about 4 o'clock. I listened to it 15 times in a row and only moved on because I had to eventually. ps Listened to directly after AJFA, Peace Sells seems delightfully unhinged 🤪 pps the return to Ride The Lightning was everything I hoped for and more. What an album. I'm now on the 8th and final album, Killing Is My Business, and it's making me so happy, such crazy music. I had read that the original release had terrible production and that the 2018 remix and remaster was a fantastic salvage job. So whilst I bought an old copy of Master of Puppets for two and six on ebay, I shelled out proper money for the remixed KIMB, and I'm extremely glad I did, it sounds really good.

After the excitement of So Far So Good..., Master Of Puppets soon had me looking up the dictionary definition of "portentous"... ...done in an overly solemn manner so as to impress... Hmm.

Over the last month or so I've been listening to the first 4 Metallica albums and the first 4 Megadeth albums in chronological order, listening to each one repeatedly until I felt I was just about on top of it, and only then moving on to the next. I've loved it all. I was keeping tallies and apparently each album got an average of 7 listens. Since this music really winds me up, I've been feeling a bit nuts the whole month - but as living on my own in lockdown was driving me round the twist anyway, I figured why not making the most of it? I've just had a couple of days break, and tomorrow will listen to all 8 albums back to back. Roughly it'll take me from 11am to 5pm. I'm going to go in this order: Starting with the two I like, but which suffer in comparison with the rest - (1) Kill 'Em All (2) So Far So Good... then the two that are most venerated - (3) Master of Puppets (4) Rust in Peace then the two I rate most highly - (5) ...And Justice For All (6) Peace Sells... and finishing with the two I most enjoy listening to - (7) Ride The Lightning (8) Killing Is My Business...

No one seems to have much to say about the debuts from PJ Harvey, Amy Winehouse and Nirvana. Have to admit I've never listened to any of them! But very very happy with the three follow ups.

Each email I received from Bax was signed with a different name, but each email had exactly the same inane tone and no one point I made was answered: I do not believe I was communicating with real people at all, but virtual CSRs. Perhaps its like with the courier companies they use - a grade of customer service with a real human element only kicks in above a certain price threshold. The item I was buying was not expensive but it was very much needed, so spending days going back and forth chatting with a ZX81 and getting absolutely nowhere was very frustrating. I don't feel inclined to work out by trial and error how much you have spend with Bax to be treated like a human being. If only they would advertise that useful information....

Is it wrong to be ogling the case as much as the instrument? 😬

My item was a lot cheaper and more robust than a guitar, so perhaps at different price bands they use different couriers. Hermes admitted quite early on that the package was irrecoverable. Bax on the other hand .... after a couple of emails I concluded that an automated bs machine was generating their communications - sunny prevarication, with zero reference to what I had said. Fortunately I had used PayPal, who extracted the money fairly promptly. Once I written that ^^^ I started to look for an analogy for dealing with Bax, and suddenly I had a very brief mental picture of a scene from Logan's Run 😆 Which is perhaps a little harsh? 😁

Love the marker on the 12th fret

About 15 years ago, I momentarily found myself in the same room as Bez. He was complaining bitterly about people stealing his "intellectual property".

I attempted to buy from Bax once. They used Hermes. A load of parcels left the distribution centre and never arrived at my local collection point. That little episode taught me about both Hermes and Bax. Paid slightly more at Guitar Village for a similar product and got a decent courier, money well spent.

The building is total rubbish, we can all hear so much noise - but the thing that is unpleasant is the noise that is not just passing through walls and floors, but which seems to be coming from the building itself, because then it feels like its all around you. The isolation pads are, it seems, getting in the way of the fabric of the building amplifying and transmitting the rumble. It was something I could do to be neighbourly and now I've done it. The small ones under the speakers are firm enough to hold the heavy Castles safely, they don't seem precariously perched on them. So I'm happy and am going to stop thinking about it.

When I scrolled up after reading this, I was a bit surprised to find myself looking at a perfectly nice headstock 😋

This building is so flimsy, I'm surprised the lightbulb hasn't ripped the fitting from the ceiling

I would love more narrow spacing options for a 4 string, but I understand why manufacturers shy away from offering them - different size bridges and pickups cost £££. I found that when playing fingers, placing my right hand any closer to the bridge than the neck pickup requires too much stretching to be comfortable, so the nice thing about the picking technique I've settled on is that I can do it right down by the bridge. Nice to get that variety back.

Because my hand is not large (except my thumbs - my saviour on piano but totally useless on bass) I have to shift my hand to a new position every time I move string. For example, when playing the D string, the bottom knuckle of little finger gently nestles between the E and A string. Getting this second nature is slooow process, but the lack of easy flexibility means that I'm evolving a totally different style when playing with a pick rather than fingers, which is turning out to be an enjoyable thing: no unnecessary bouncing around the strings, not so many notes, but a more consistent tone. A bit more regal 👑

When I played the guitar, I had the ridge of my palm planted on the bridge, able to mute all six strings at once. When attempted to transfer this technique to bass, my hand simply wasn't big enough. Also, on the guitar, I could pick the six strings individually without moving the wrist, but on the bass to get from the top string to the bottom string I have to move my whole hand/wrist/forearm. Finally, even if I had been able transfer this technique, it was all about opening / closing / partially closing the resonance of all the strings at once - no good on bass, where I want one string totally open and the rest totally muted. So despite experience on guitar, once I used a pick on bass, I had to work out a totally fresh technique. Which meant a while of sounding *awful*

After I posted that I had this thought: aren't duff necks a standard issue for manufacturers? Wouldn't a large company like Yamaha know that, to be sure of being able to cover their warranty commitments safely, they'll need to have x spare necks for every 1,000 instruments produced, along with y preamps and z pickups? They seem a safety-first institution.

Is the neck different to the standard BB734 neck? Would Yamaha be able simply to replace it?

Some idiot bought not two pads, but two *pairs* of pads..... One pair is now happily in place, and I guess I'm taking the other pair to the Post Office on Monday. I've decided I can feel a difference, and if that's self-delusion, I'm happy with that

I woke up to an email from Memo at G&L telling me that it's now on its way (again) I'm guessing that a new neck will mean a new serial number, which is a shame because I really liked the original one: 2012012. Small things please etc etc

Sub_drop

Collection only from Abergele. I had to look up where that is. Greater Rhyl.

Like most advertising, it seeks to create insecurity and then offers a cure. Do you welcome parasites into your home?

Pinnaplasty isn't cheap