G-Lo

My point, like anything in life. If it feels wrong it is wrong. The only caveats- think where your money is going. I have refused to fund Jamiroquai since he sacked Zender for wanting his fair cut for writing the Deeper Underground bassline. I have thoroughly enjoyed his music pirated, on the radio or would definitely buy second hand. Having said that I wouldnt boycott the Smiths despite feeling Morissey has lost his marbles a bit. On top of that, it's not like the rest of the band have followed him. I cant expect musicians to be ahead of the curve of their society. I can tolerate mild homophobia in old reggae, less so in contemporary, and when its frothing at the mouth obsession, no thankyou. The final caveat which is rarely discussed is song reception. How will the audience take it? Not the person looking to find offence, but Mr and Mrs Average. The example that springs to mind is Minor Threart's "Guilty of Being White"- a song written by teens and essentially complaining about racism they were experiencing and written for basement shows of local kids who would know exactly what and how was meant. Now, decades later, it's used as a White Power anthem. End of the day, do what you think is right. I'd still play Blackmail Man if I could nail it- and be prepared for the rage, the song is THAT good. Then again I AM a bubble and squeak. I wouldnt want to play Spasticus Autisticus though, no one would care but... its wrong, innit. Unless youre disabled yourself its rude.

Holding the pick a way that I cant sustain too long. Picks are amazing for a lot of genres. Fat Mike goes into it quite deeply on a youtube vid somewhere out there...

Amazing! Now to get home, where work hasn't blocked your amazing site...

How do you get on with that? Getting back into bass, and it's high on the list of bad habits to drop- if im playing too long my thumb cramps up, cant keep it up. It does help sling your bass low enough to be down with the (90s) kids, though...

It seems a little pointless. ..... I'll see myself out

Hmmm... there's a headlite for sale on bassdirect, for 325. In fantasy land i'd like a GK 500 fusion but lets not get ahead of ourselves...

That I didn't know. I had to pay tax as a seafarer when working in the Gulf- in the Offshore sector. I don't make 70k a year but I did pay significant amounts, it's to do with agreements on that sector. Irrelevant to this post other than there may be exceptions for certain professions...

Another consideration. If you end up paying US taxes you'll need a US account to get your tax refund. They WILL pay into Wise, and generally speaking they will NO pay into non- US accounts

Things have changed. I am not sure about Wise and Starling, I use Wise to send money only. I do use Revolut a lot- for 90% of everything I spend- and am more than happy. They ARE a registered bank now with protection up to 100K. Having said that, I dont leave all my money in there. It's a habit from when they were indeed not a proper bank.

Or some great alternatives, Revolut, Wise and Starling might be very useful

Couple of bits I know... You need to be a US tax resident BUT you can get an ITIN number instead. It's used for filing taxes or anything else you'd need an SSN number for but aren't entitled to. Also, I use a data only eSIM when tavelling. Always more expensive than a local SIM but you don't need to mess around looking for one, needing adresses/ ID and the rest of them. I use Airalo but I think they're much of a muchness. I've attached a screengrab of their US rates. Good luck!

So the crucial question- how do you like the backline 600 and is it worth it? Are you happy and would you recommend it?

Yep, the though being with the GK head and cab have the capability for a 2nd cab in the future. I think that would get me in the 300W ballpark, what I'm trying to work out is what is enough for me. Not sure if that combo would take a 2nd cab... back to the internet!

Ruts- West One (Shine On Me)- absolutely sublime

So guys, just getting back into bass and looking at amps. Trying to avoid the sillies. I see some okay deals for (1)a GK backline 4X10 cab and backline 600 head (pricey total) ORRR an SWR WorkingPro 2x10 OR a SWR WorkingMan 4x10 which i'd either combine with a small head or a deal on an orange head or there's THIS beast of a bargain available https://www.bazaraki.com/adv/4530444_swr-sm900-bass-head/ I'm wondering how much power is too much? I see home use, praccy with some very loud friends and eventually smallish gigs. Dont want to be the idiot with a rig for arenas but dont want to find myself just a touch lacking https://reverb.com/item/66289310-gallien-krueger-backline-250-bass-combo-1-x15 Or maybe this is enough?