Rich

I want to ask which songs, but I suspect it'd make me weep. I love playing ska.

I liked the Quarrymen until they sold out and went electric. Splitters.

The best one I ever had was during a gig with my old jazz-fusion trio at a jazz venue in Bristol. Halfway through our set of very-obviously-jazz-associated-and-not-remotely-hard-rock-at-all instrumental tunes, a spotty oik with one too many alcopops inside him asked me if we did Iron Man by Black Sabbath. He did it again after the next tune, and again after the subsequent one. I'm sure he would have done it again if I had not invited him to sex-&-travel.

I'd have fretted and fretless 5s too. A matching pair of Wals would do nicely.

Yup, this is what I was getting at when I was whingeing about that Mavericks dirge. I think you probably worded it better than me

I'm 100% sure I couldn't come up with a bassline that would improve the song, because I'm firmly of the opinion that the song itself is beyond redemption. The bassline is the same few notes over and over again because the song is the same two chords over and over again -- this in itself wouldn't be so bad if the other parts of the song were more interesting, but the vocal line is just an uninspired drone too. For me, the only interesting aspect of the song is the horns -- everything else can be filed firmly under 'meh'. As I said, YMMV. I know some people love it, and for some reason it always fills floors at parties.

Are you going to ask the same question of everybody who has expressed a negative opinion in this thread so far?

If I'd been fired for not doing exactly what he wanted without any question whatsoever, then I'd have gladly walked. Call me a big softy but I like a band to be a democracy, not a dictatorship.

Oh, probably. My dislike for the song extends to the bassline. Same 5 notes over and over again. Yes, I know Simple Minds' Waterfront is just one note, but I'd rather play that all night than the feckin Mavericks thing even once. As always, YMMV.

I quite like the Bona bass, with a few reservations. The blunt headstock looks like it's had a bandsaw accident, and the angle of that G tuner is all wrong. And the ramp should be either clear acrylic or body wood, or not there at all. As it is, the huge expanse of black looks ugly. I quite like the body shape, with that tail cutaway that reminds me of Stanley Clarke's Spellbinder. But the world needs yet another P or J bass like it needs a hole in the head ozone layer.

In terms of repetitiveness, my bassline from hell is Dance The Night Away by the Mavericks. The song makes my skin crawl anyway, but the idea of playing that bassline almost makes me nauseous. OK I know it supports the song and isn't overplayed and all that, yeah yeah well shoot me, it's awful. Many years ago when the vocal talent in a band I was in announced at a rehearsal that we were going to do it (a unilateral decision, not a suggestion), I played my absolute veto. He was adamant, but so was I. It became quite a frank exchange of views in the end, especially when I told him that if he insisted on doing it at a gig, I would head to the bar for the duration of the song and they'd have to do it bass-less.

There's a bassline from yesteryear that irritates the hell out of me. It's like fingernails down a blackboard. Sets my teeth on edge. But it's nothing to do with dullness or repetitiveness... it's that it's so horrendously out of tune. I refer to this offering from the Godfather:

Bugatti the company were steadfastly Italian from 1909 to 1963 and again from 1987 to 1995. The current company bearing the name might be headquartered in France, but I think their history makes them rather more Italian than French, certainly spiritually.

Good tip, and very timely -- I'm thinking of getting some moulded plugs as a present to myself when I eventually get back to playing. I do sing BVs so I will need to bear this in mind.

I have a feeling that I'd probably never need it/use it, but dammit I want one now

Not to mention Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Bertone, Zagato.... 😎

How did you get on at your appointment?

Nah, I'm going with dirty mind

I know imitation is supposed to be flattery, but this bloke is just taking the wossname. If anyone wants me, I'll be in the studio recording my newly written songs 'Subway To Heaven' and 'Eleanor Rugby'.

Venue: The Red Lion, Brentford (RIP) It was October 1986. Mullet, stupid clothes, LOTS of slap. The set was all original material, 80s rock-pop. Bloody good songs too. We were young, slim, hirsute and firm buttocked and we KNEW we were going to be megastars. I used my Wal Pro 2E, plus a Roland SH-09 for synth parts, through the Laney PB150 4x10 combo my wonderful parents bought me for my 21st birthday earlier that year. This was the band's first gig and was a Saturday night support slot for Philip Jap's then band 'Secret Society'. (I think he missed a trick by not calling them 'Jap's Eye'.) A year later we were headlining and selling-out our own Saturday night gigs at the Lion, while Secret Society were relegated to Fridays. Nick Beggs was in the audience for one of our early gigs with them. No pressure there, then.

Now there's someone who would greatly benefit from being lured to a deserted warehouse and shot in the face.

Quite a few years back a bunch of us in the office were talking about bands we'd seen 'before they were big'. We were just chatting really, but I think secretly we were trying to outdo each other. There was a pause in the conversation, and then one of the older guys looked up and said, "I saw Hendrix in Worcester..." Instant win, end of contest

Music radio stations hardly ever play anything that's to my taste these days, so I don't listen to them (rather than, y'know, just complain about it) . If I listen to the radio at all it's usually either 4 or 4Extra. In the car it's jazz or prog mp3s, or more often an audiobook.

Many years ago there was an old storehand at work who was a big, and I mean BIG, fan of Hank Marv and the Shads and was never seen without his walkman on. He often used to talk to me about them, usually starting with the "'Ere, Rich, you like music..." prelude. Now dear old Trev had apparently suffered a significant head injury in his distant past, and had never fully recovered really. And one day, I had a bit of a glimpse into his world. "'Ere, Rich, you like music," he said, "'ave a listen to this bit of guitar, it's blimmin brilliant it is". Hands me his headphones. I put them on. He presses play. The sound from his £5 Woolies walkmanthing is tinny and atrocious, but worse than that... in my left ear, Hank is noodling away on side A of one of Trev's numerous Shads tapes... and in my right ear, side B of the same album is playing backwards... No wonder Trev was a bit special. Bless him.