RhysP

I usually love watching Eurovision but I just can't be arsed with it this year.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1494669376' post='3297705'] Think Ralph Towner rather than strummy guitar. [/quote] Towner uses Guilds a lot.

I did a Pearl drums clinic in Switzerland in 2007 where the basses supplied for use were all Sandbergs. I'd never come across them before & I was very impressed.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1494669809' post='3297712'] That's not jam, it's noodles. [/quote] Not a good combination.

There's no way I would ever have used an amp straight out of the box for a gig, same as I never would have left a bass on a stand unattended. Just asking for trouble.

The MU's luddite attitude towards the use of new technology in music in the late 70s & 80s put me off them for life. Narrow minded & backward looking.

My brother's got a really old mint condition one in it's original box. Can't believe the money they go for, they sound f***ing terrible!

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1494452403' post='3296201'] I have no time for political correctness in it's extremes, but my opinion is that using this phrase isn't acceptable. Am I offended by it? Not really, but I feel that corrupting a word that descibes mental handicaps or learning difficulties to use as a 'humorous' but ultimately derogatory term is out of order, and no more acceptable than calling someone 'spazz', or some other unintentionally cruel playground jibe. I'm sure nobody means to cause offence, but all the same I'm uncomfortable with it. [/quote] I agree with everything you say, except that I do honestly think plenty of people enjoy nothing more than deliberately causing offence.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1494517865' post='3296693'] I'm sorry to hear about it. However, it isn't reasonable to expect (and certainly not to demand) that the rest of the world walks round you on tiptoe because some people have been unkind to you. [/quote] That's not what I expect or demand at all. All I am saying is that there are many people out there who for very genuine reasons are fully justified in being angry or offended by people using demeaning terminology. The fact that people don't seem to accept this, and also seem to be annoyed by the fact that people find it offensive or insulting, is what I find astonishing.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1494491279' post='3296379'] So what's your "good reason" then? [/quote] Having a lifelong developmental/neurological condition, being referred to as "retarded", "backward" "wrong in the head" & other lovely, confidence building terms all through my life by family, teachers & people I worked with, nearly being institutionalised by my mother when I was a child because there was "something wrong with me" - Those good enough for ya? Probably not.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1494264232' post='3294515'] And if you like a red one http://www.milanuncios.com/bajos/bajo-vigier-arpege-ii-de-coleccion-228782878.htm This is definitely a 100% graphite neck version. [/quote] Oooh!

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1494455464' post='3296231'] Worth doing. The little furry bastards already control the internet. It's clear they're up to something.I often find my cat on the keyboard trying to look innocent. Check your history, [/quote] One of my cats once came & stomped on my laptop keyboard & a picture of a man with a camel appeared. I have no idea where it came from. She also used to be completely obsessed with the Kraftwerk website.

You can get humbucking Jazz pickups, not sure what you mean by "double humbucking" though.

I once received a bass through the post that had been covered (and I use the term very loosely) with a couple of split open brown jiffy bags & then wrapped in brown tape. No case, no gig bag, nothing. That too, incredibly, arrived undamaged.

Just keep playing it & what you do with your thumb will just happen naturally. Worst case scenario is that you end up fitting a thumb rest of some kind.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1494433400' post='3295968'] "Taking offence" is becoming a popular hobby these days, sadly. [/quote] As is not giving a f*** about whether somebody has good reason to be upset or offended by something it would appear.

You only have to go into any music shop on a Saturday to hear just how many people don't even know when they are out of tune.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1494414135' post='3295721'] On the other hand, someone with learning difficulties probably gets enough grief in a school playground as it is, so taking this p!$$ out of them is at best lazy, and at worst quite mean-spirited. [/quote] It doesn't stop when you leave school, it continues all through your life. People who are talking about "First World Problems", "Political Correctness gone mad", "it's just banter" etc. have obviously never had to get through life with a developmental or neurological disorder.

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1494360634' post='3295393'] (I often play Kiss' Torpedo Girl at soundcheck which was actually played by Ace Frehley not Gene Simmons). [/quote] Great bass line!

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1494349111' post='3295250'] The difference is that Billy is taking ownership of his own condition and I agree that is the best of what Brits do. Laughing at easy targets though isn't (not that I'm suggesting that is what YOU are saying but I think this is where some tend to get it slightly wrong). [/quote] Absolutely this.

I've got a bit of a headache now.

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1494347568' post='3295227'] I thought sting started out as a young jazz double bassist, didn't he? [/quote] He actually started playing classical guitar at the age of ten.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1494341725' post='3295133'] I'm not sure it's worth arguing... [/quote] It's not, I'm just genuinely puzzled by the purpose of this thread & the criteria being used to decide who is & who isn't "suitable". Maybe I'm just overthinking it...