Rich

Throw Down Your Arms - Burning Spear

Planet Earth (Duran2)

Good morning and welcome Albs. I echo the comments of both my colleagues above. If you're willing to sacrifice having the 'F' word on your gig bag, you'll get a far superior bag for your money (or a similar spec bag for rather less).

When it comes to ambidextrous guitars, Otway did it first and best..!

Ohhh, the Trace SMX. Still my favourite ever preamp.

True, although hideousness is highly subjective. See sunburst / coffee-table / relic / etc.

Quite frankly I'd take the Skjold, or pretty much any of the others pictured here, over yet another P bass any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

My beloved parents looked on with interest as I got to grips with the bass. They were pleased to see me doing something creative. My dad in particular was interested in my progress; he had an artistic bent and always loved music, and I think he would like to have picked up an instrument himself but World War 2 got in the way a bit. They didn't even complain at hearing me practice Level 42's 'Dune Tune' over and over again in an attempt to get it right, in fact my dad grew to really like the tune. (Years later I sneaked it onto a mixed tape I made for him, and when he heard it he laughed fit to bust.) Then one evening I was sitting with them in the living room, they were watching the telly and I was flicking through the adverts in a mag -- I think it might have been the sadly missed IM&RW -- as I was desperately in need of a new amp as my band was starting to get somewhere. Dad asked what I was looking at, I said I was quite interested in this Laney Pro Bass 4x10 combo that had just come out, it looked like just what I was after as I couldn't afford a similar Trace, and I said I was thinking of popping into London at the weekend (rail travel was actually cheap back then!) to check it out. Dad looked at Mum and said "What do you think?". Mum said, "Well it is his 21st soon." Dad looked at me and said, "If you try it out and you like it, we'll buy it for you." You can imagine how stunned I was at this bolt from the blue. I told them how brilliant that was, and that I hadn't been dropping hints or fishing for it. Mum said yes we know, if we thought you had we wouldn't have offered. I still remember driving home from Tempo Soundhouse in Hanwell a few weeks later, feeling like a dog with two danglies, with my shiny new amp in the back of the car. It served me faithfully for 20 years and I wish I still had it. Wish I still had my parents too.

Tinkering with electronics today. I'm shoehorning an EMG 2-band eq under the control plate, I've offered it all up and it fits snug as a bug together with the battery. For the moment I'm going to go with just a blend 'pan pot' and no master volume control. At some point, if I can make it fit I might try a stack knob V/V instead.

Old school ties, funny handshakes and the right 'donation' made to the right people. See dodgy PPE contracts for details.

Oh yes, she did mention that. But what she said was along the lines of "yes we're always a bit busier at new registration time and good deals, but I've been doing this for 10+ years and it's never been like this". She looked quite shell shocked.

Joking aside, it's certainly indicative of a broader problem. At some point, 'trainer socks' will become 'apples'.

Someone I know works at a BMW dealership in Bristol. I was chatting with her last evening, she was saying they've sold 30 cars in the last 5 days. They've never known anything like it.

Oh, the humanity. #jesuistrainersocklady

That's my point, I already HAVE noticed it. I know it's there, but it's so slight it doesn't affect my timing or feeling or anything else ending in ing. For 20 quid I'll happily live with it.

I picked one of these cheapy Ammoon things up. I use it at every rehearsal and I've even gigged with it a few times. Nobody has once said "I say old chap, are there some latency issues with your tiny wireless dooflip?". Yes there is a slightly noticeable delay, but it makes no difference to what I play or how I play it. Unless you're incredibly precious about your sound, I'd recommend it heartily, especially if you're only playing at home.

Gorgeous. I love those 'vintage' Ibbys.

I couldn't resist the temptation, and ordered it anyway... it's on and it looks absolutely brilliant. No pics of it until the bass is finished, soz I would heartily recommend Rothko & Frost's service to anyone. Dead easy to arrange, fast delivery and a really superb product. First time I've used them, but won't be the last.

I think that's probably stretching it a bit. Or a lot.

And then of course there's Dell Amitri.

I switched over just in time to miss Sheryl Crow. Sounds like it was good, I'll get it on iPlayer. I did hear the Erasure tune though, and I'm impressed with how good Andy Bell's voice still is. When you consider how dodgy some peoples' pipes become as they age (I know my range certainly isn't what it was 30 years ago), his are still sounding great.

Nice what a lovely job. I hope my Skajazz turns out as well as that has.

Top coat(s) on the body are all done now it's going to hang for a couple of weeks to really cure properly before the bolting together starts. Must resist the temptation to rush headlong into it!

I wish I shared your optimism man. But we shall see in the fullness of time. Hope you're right and I'm not.