captain black

And, hey, don't forget it's going monthly from the next issue. Happy days. Was tongue in cheek.

[quote name='deaver' post='449852' date='Mar 30 2009, 08:08 PM']Bass Player is just as bad proofing wise. I prefer the tutorials in Bass Guitar Magazine and [b]you can read it in the bath.[/b][/quote] Yes!!! It's not just me then. I have to say that the only and I mean ONLY place I read BGM is either in the bath or sitting on the pot. Don't ask me why. The wife goes mad 'cos theres a stack of them in the bathroom. I subscribe, but I have noticed the downturn in quality and journalism recently. But i can't get into Bass Player Magazine tho I've tried. At least it's OUR bass Mag not an ad-plastered American one. And, hey, don't forget it's going monthly from the next issue. Happy days.

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='449285' date='Mar 30 2009, 10:53 AM']I was recording a school battle of the bands gig last week (dont ask... needs must and times are tough...) for a whole bunch of schools in Edinburgh and, whist I agree with some of the points, those kids played and performed to a level that would put most of the old farts playing in the local pubs to shame. I had no affiliation with any the kids but it dawned at me that little things, like parts learned exactly as they are on the record (complete with all the funny intricate rhythmic variations), were nailed whilst, back to the pub bands, you will be lucky if you even recognize what they are doing.... Just throwing it out there... G[/quote] G Have to acknowledge at the same time that there are some great young bands out there also. Makes you sick! I'm just remarking that I seem to come accross the other type more and more frequently at the moment. The facilities for learning that people have right now are better than ever thanks to the internet, DVDs etc,. Some take advantage and use it as a springboard to better things. Some just stay at that level. As ever, i guess it all comes down to personal standards and how hard you're prepared to work and how good you want to be. You can't half tell the difference between the kids that are [b]driven[/b] and the kids who are driven around tho.

I've noticed a proliferation in the numbers of 'Dads Bands' around at the minute. You can see them all over. They're young. Their dads ferry them to 'gigs' and set the gear up for them while they stand around looking vaguely interested. They spend the whole night playing power chords learnt from Tab off the internet while adoring jailbait looks on. The dads stand at the back nodding all the way through and then pack up the gear at the end. The upshot? It's all done for them! They haven't had to do it for themselves. As a kid I had to bus 6 miles to practices then carry my amp and bass about a mile (stopping for many rests) so that by the time I got there I could hardly play. When you learnt your favourite songs you had to LISTEN to the Record ...NO REALLY LISTEN and work out what was going on. You learnt the subtleties. You learnt your trade. You couldn't just google it. So I think your answer lies in the fact that the future generation of bands are missing out on the 'serving your time' part. Also the standard of affordable guitars and basses you learnt on back then, or should I say Planks (hondo etc.), was pretty poor in comparison to what young 'uns have today (not that Dad hasn't bought them a Les Paul anyway). Anyway....Rant over. Ps. Apologies to anyone who helps out with their son's band but you get my point.

Or Try Martin Owen. He makes the Bass gremlin etc. and mods and repairs also for a VERY reasonable fee. A nice guy as well. [email protected]

Just bought a sansamp DI from Observer and it arrived so quickly he must have delivered it himself! Great guy to deal with. Thanks again, Joe

These are pics of my Highway One Jazz. Actually it doesn't look too different to yours. I have the action set quite low. Hope the pic upload works.