Cliff Edge

The landlord of a local pub in a residents parking area near me gives out temporary residents visitor parking tickets to musicians. Of course we still have to find a space but it’s usually very close by.

Most vocalists in the big West End musicals are kitted out with wireless versions, and they are very good at hiding the mics, quite often in the artists hair. Back in the dim and distant past I saw the original run of JC Superstar where hand held mics were positioned in clips around the stage. The artist would grab one, sing and put the mic back in the clip for the next singer. Great choreography made it strangely fascinating to watch.

Jeff Wayne’s War of The Worlds. Just bought tickets for this at Brighton on 12 April next year. As long as we’re still around by then.

Back in the pre internet days when shopping for a second hand car you would trawl through the local private classifieds in the local paper, trying to avoid the dodgy car dealers. I was in London, there were a lot of them. Call the phone number in the ad and enquire about the car for sale. If the reply is “which car’s that mate?“ You put the phone down.

Country music is still popular in the UK with certain demographics, as it’s mostly harmless. I paid off a mortgage in the 70’s playing country music in London and the suburbs. There are still pockets of enthusiasm around the UK.

Country music in all its forms has been popular in the UK for many years. I don’t find that percentage strange.

My fingers are starting to look a bit misshapen, particularly on the the left, fretting, hand. However no serious pain, more an ache, as yet. I can still play as good, or bad, as ever. I’ve been taking calcium and vitamin D tablets for a couple of years but apart from stronger finger nails I haven’t notice any difference. I do have a pair of those magic gloves but rarely wear them. I do notice they feel better in the summer months and that is probably due to warmer weather and salads with Extra Virgin Olive Oil dressing. My wife is more seriously affected and has been for several years. She takes turmeric capsules but again it’s difficult to judge any effectiveness. She has recently started taking collagen powder and her hair has thickened up considerably. I just mention that in case anyone is interested.

Jerry Jones made excellent copies of the longhorns for several years, including the 6+baritone double neck. Sadly he sold up and moved on to something else.

I use a Focusrite interface but the Mac system sound settings should be the same. The output and input devices should be the same. So unless you can somehow get a Bluetooth signal from the interface it won’t work. Wired buds or headphones into the interface headphone port are the way to go. And you don’t need a DAW or similar to just play along to Spotify etc, the interface does it all.

Yes this place has cost me a bob or two as well. But I’m not complaining. I’ve picked up a lot of useful information and had a lot of fun here.

If you don’t mind going back in time and can find one, the Aria Proll TSB 650 is a great medium scale bass. Huge sound from two humbuckers with individual stacked volume and tone plus series/parallel switching. Bit on the heavy side, mine is 4.5kgs. but well balanced. Easy to play.

We can’t avoid getting old and part of it is the old memory starts to give off warnings at inappropriate times. I use playing music as a means to combat that. Hopefully.

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Tokai also sell bodies and necks for self builds back in the 70’s, 80’s. I seem to recall a guitarist of my acquaintance having a telecaster built using them.

Playing an electric bass, especially a solid body, acoustically is not a good idea. You end up plucking the strings too hard in order to hear yourself, which is a bad habit to get into. Plus you get blisters very quickly. Use an amp of some kind, even if it’s just a headphone amp.

Seconded. Excellent read.

I have SR900 and always used flats to good effect. Currently TI Jazz Flats, but they are a tad expensive so you may want something else. Unfortunately there are many to choose from, but I’m sure someone will be along shortly with alternatives. Good luck, you got a bargain.

Re pickups I put Nordstrand Big Singles in my SR900 in place of the original Bart’s. Made a big difference to the available sounds. Cannot fault the build quality of these Korean Ibanez SR’s.

Written by AI?

Never had a problem with my wedding ring.

I'm a bit late to this party but regarding pickup alignment, having recently acquired a 2006 4HH I noticed string alignment isn't perfect over both pickups. So I went online for images of similar instruments just to satisfy my curiosity. And in the majority of images, even up to the latest specials, it's quite unusual to find any with perfect alignment. Most are just like mine with the E and G strings slightly off. More so on the neck pickup. I have to say though it doesn't seem to have any impact on the sound.

re Rick Astley while the overall performance was great, to my old ears anyway his voice does occasionally lack the smooth effortless quality of others. He hits the notes ok but just not quite bright enough is the best I can describe it. Just my opinion, got nothing against the bloke otherwise.

Me neither. Wikipedia.

That was his “talent” on X Factor, which he didn’t win. Apparently before that he was in some tribute bands in Ibiza. He is one of those irritating people who did absolutely anything to become famous. And succeeded.

The whole festive Telly Specials thing requires a suspension of belief. Which takes away a bit of the seasonal magic. I’m also miffed there was no showing of White Christmas this year. Just as well I have a local copy.

I like playing 50 Ways and try to get it in every set list we do. Not many bands around here would even consider it.