Rich

Blimey, that's taking me back! that was fun, and Mo was an absolute star. What a lovely man.

Not the first idea, sorry. That bass is/was my only experience and knowledge of the brand(s). In the past I've seen identical instruments on fleaBay wearing either Wolf or Mazeti branding, they seemed to be interchangeable.

Crikey, that's a blast from the past From what I remember, it looked like this pic except that the body wings were a pale wood (ash? Maple?). I bought it for absolute peanuts because the 3-band electrics were totally fkd. I bought a no-name 2-band EQ off ebay, turned the switch and third pot into a passive bypass & tone control, sold it on for a handsome cash profit although I did put some hours in. Perhaps I should have gone full-on MDP and turned it into a wide-spaced 4-string for players with really big hands. As I said, it played very nicely and sounded really good, but the neck dive was huge thanks in part to its colossal headstock. I remember the build was surprisingly high quality though.

Concrete Jungle -- Bob Marley & The Wailers https://youtu.be/y07vgARrOUE Concrete Jungle -- The Specials https://youtu.be/b3B4xC4z9yg

My bitsa P bass. Body was £20 off eBay, no idea what it was originally but it's solid wood and weighs as much as a sofa. Neck was from my beaten up old Squier Jazz (yes I added the decal, sue me ). Pickup is a hot Wilkinson off eBay, a tenner I think it was. Bridge was a fiver, pickguard was about 20. EMG active 2-band eq came from my spares box, had it for years and can't remember how much it was Vinyl pretend-MOP neck blocks were a fiver or so. Total cost, not very much at all, but it plays very nicely, sounds thunderous and (I think) looks great. I might add a J bridge pickup at some point. Shame it's so fecking heavy.

Alas, 3k wouldn't get me either of my GAS basses ('65 YOB Jazz, Wal 5-string). I'd go to Bass Direct and the Gallery and try everything I could lay my hands on.

Knowing aliexpress, when it turns up it'll look more like this:

@sprocketflup was in an excellent Kate Bush trib 'Cloudbusting' at one time. Not sure if he still is? Must say I was dead jealous when he got that gig.

I barely slap at all in a band context these days, but I still like it and often do it just for fun. One of the things I love about slap is that it seems to really really annoy so many people here

Must be a Mac thing. They open ok on a PC.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/John-East-J-Retro1-Active-Bass-Preamp/323658142530?hash=item4b5b875342:g:nPkAAOSwgb1cRHRb:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true I very much doubt it will stay at this price though.

I've seen a couple of ads along the lines of "Band seeks bassist, gigs waiting, covers but not the usual stuff" which turned out to be "Guitarist seeks bassist, drummer, vocalist, in fact everyone except guitarist, gigs are a distant aspiration, and the first things on the set list are Dakota and Sex On fcking Fire".

And it 'sold' for £390...

Beast used to do a similat shirt for the, errm, features to which you refer, it bore the legend...

I listen to all kinds of music (apart from C&W and trad.jazz). I'm passionate... about music.

We wear individual combinations of red and black. Anything we want as long as it's just those colours. In my case it's unfaded black jeans and either a Ferrari polo shirt or a red Beast T-shirt with 'gert lush' on it (it's a Bristol thing ).

I find the song unlistenable. The bass is like fingernails down a blackboard.

This, very definitely. I've always managed to sing and play ok, but talk and play? Impossible.

The things you see when you ain't got a gun.

Do you have 'In Rock We Trust', perpetual holder of the Worst Rock Album Cover In History award?

They sound like a class act. It's always a good sign when a band are so organised. Good luck with the audition, don't worry you'll breeze it Yes, I've been caught out like that before. Before learning a song these days, my first question is "which version?".

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.