Shambo

Hailing originally from that part of the world, I've had the impression that the Beatles driven tourism has been growing over the last decade or so. As the years pass, the myth increases and so do the Beatles tourists. Economics of the region being what they are, it makes sense to cater for this growth industry, thereby tempting more tourists in reciprocating growth... eventually creating a urban theme park, multinational ownership the renaming of the city as Beatlesworld.

Don't worry guys, I've had five different basses I can remember since I've been a member of this site, never more than two at one time, and with the occasional wait in between them. This is just one of those waiting times... the chase makes the capture more sweet. Thank you for your generosity of thought, Basschat is a good forum for that. Bass player solidarity makes me return to stalk gear and contribute even if I'm not playing.

Zero. There's no option for zero. Hopefully it won't be zero for ever but I had to sell my last bass during the summer to pay the rent. Still got a bass cube 30 under the stairs. I stalk the classifieds looking for something like a natural westone thunder around £100, (so if you've got one languishing under the bed.... nudge, wink, nudge, hint, etc).

Worth a punt? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Satellite-P-style-Bass-guitar-Vintage-made-in-Japan-Matsumoku-Kawai-FujiGen-/172093300574?hash=item28118f5f5e:g:RdsAAOSwezVWt6KY

At that price, I would've bought a set even though I don't actually own a bass at the moment.

Just sold Mark a Jazz bass. A nice straightforward transaction and a pleasure to deal with. Thanks.

That catalogue is full of frankly hilarious 'model' musicians. A perfect reminder of why, back in the day, I thought 'rock' was the antithesis of cool. Thank you for the laughs.

Video Killed The Radio Star

As a seller, I ask the buyer to leave me feedback in my advert, so that I know their item has arrived safely, and so that I can go ahead and leave them feedback in return. If they don't leave me feedback as a seller, they don't get feedback as a buyer. I've never gotten a negative in 10 years of selling, but I've lost goods in the post, been straight up ripped off and occasionally gotten some narky comments with low stars. I put it down to buyers remorse or people just coming home from work in a bad mood. I know I describe everything accurately and honestly as I can and always post next working day. As a buyer, I found it quite impersonal when it becare de rigueur to receive automated glowing feedback the immediate moment a purchase is made. How do they know I'm a valued customer? Our transaction isn't complete until I've received the goods in a timely fashion and I'm happy they are as described. I might yet turn out to be a bit of a nightmare customer.

I spent the turn of the century mainly working for Stage Electrics as a freelancer. Rock n roll, festivals, theatres, conferences but I had to give it up. I built up a serious dislike for diva musicians that was affecting my preferred happy state of mind. Now, I won't offer an opinion amongst friends, even when pressed. Every musician gets the sound engineer they deserve.

I use a Roland 30W Cube for home practice,(cost me £50 on ebay[b], nearest first, collection only[/b], and was practically new, still had the shop price £129 sticker on it), but would be looking for something 2nd hand, Laney or Peavey 300W if I needed a cheap gig-able first rig. Ashdown can be found providing 2nd hand bang for buck too. Like the Trace Elliot gear mentioned above, weight will be the trade off. I once had an Ashdown 4x10 300w combo that nearly killed me getting it up the stairs to my flat.

NME is a teenage thing. I used to read it when I was a teen in the early nineties, but got bored with the build 'em up, knock 'em down, next big thing, next next big thing, next next next big thing, etc. Recently, having been mixing with older teens as the token old fart mature student on my uni course, I noticed a few of them read it, but a few others slag it off like I just have. Like Smash Hits that trys to be a bit more edgy, but ultimately as disposable as the flavour of the month act it will briefly champion before looking for something cooler. Good luck to them though, it is what it is and I hope it doesn't go under.

I've been doing a bit of research into portable computing since the turn of the year and I'm holding out for a MS Surface Pro 4 to do some CAD/Photoshop with a stylus on my uni course, but am resigned to the fact it might never happen, or at a realistic price for me. As someone mentioned above, chosing a lappy with a solid state drive will provide the most dramatic improvement in performance for the money. Personally, I'd look for a 1920 x 1080, 15.6" full high definition screen (FHD), as opposed to HD+ or just HD which isn't good enough for modern movies. RAM might be something you could upgrade easily yourself at a later & cheaper date. Apparently, the new direct X coming with the new windows OS is going to favour big towards multiple core processors, more so than any previous incarnation, so you might not be wanting to do anything too graphically taxing ATM, but it's something to consider if you want your new lappy to keep pace with newer software for longer. Happy hunting

Quilted maple makes my toes curl. Reminds me of baby food after it's been abruptly regurgitated by the baby.