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I'm glad you asked. Musicians have for thousands of years worn hats. Thucydides remarks in book IV of his 'Pantechnicon': "Οι μουσικοί όλοι φορούσαν φρυγικά καπάκια. Θεώρησαν ότι τους έκανε να φαίνονται έξυπνοι, αλλά μοιάζουν με Smurfs" (trans: The musicians were all wearing Phrygian caps. They thought it made them look smart but they just looked like Smurfs) Lyrist and Flautist in Phrygian caps serenade man with stick The practice persisted down through the ages but the most influential manifestation of the musical hat came to pass when jazz musician Lester 'Prez' Young saw a wide-brimmed pork pie hat in a shop window and thought 'That would be a nice change from my customary straw boater which is looking a bit past it if I'm really honest'. That night Young wore his new hat to a jam session at the house of his friend Dexter 'Moondog' Van Buren*. Young's hat excited widespread approval, Van Buren observing: 'Ah mo gits me a hat like ol' Prez hyah, mebbe gits me sum jelly-roll too, Dad'. Lester 'Prez' Young with hat Young's hat became such a trademark that Frank Sinatra bought one and upon Young's death Charles Mingus composed the song 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' ** Subject to a certain narrowing of the brim the pork pie hat has remained pre-eminent among jazz head wear, outlasting trends such as the beret, the turban and the snap-brim fedora. The pork pie's high visibility among musicians noted for their technical prowess has made it an obvious choice for ageing pop and rock musicians no longer able to trade on their fading good looks or bodily tautness. The pork pie hat says to the audience: 'I may be a wrinkly old geezer who can't get it up but by Christ you will respect my chops and say stuff like "He's playing better than ever. It's called maturity, y'see" ' For older bass players the pork pie is not simply optional; it is essential. Nobody cares about bass players anyway and the older bass player is in the worst place of all: a non-entity with one foot in the grave. A pork pie hat adds a tiny hint of zing where none existed hithertofore. That is why bass players wear hats. Possibly / no / no / yes / possibly You do not need to acquire a hat. In fact, I would counsel a contrarian stance and advise you not to acquire a hat. But if you must get a hat either commit yourself 100% to the pork pie hat or seek out exotica such as a Native American War Bonnet or a U-Boat Commander's Sou'Wester with Kriegsmarine insignia You're entirely welcome. * Dexter Van Buren was an emigre middle class college lecturer from Croydon, England and given to affecting jazz patois. ** Mingus composition story is true.

As Iron Maiden once sang "Run to the hills, run for your life."

Just snagged this in a classic BC service station carpark trade deal. I got a tube amp I can actually lift and @Williams4S got a very special jazz bass. We both felt happy with the swap and remember kids bartering saves the planet. I'm a recent convert both to valve amps and to Ashdown gear in general. My SVT produces a sound which makes me go weak at the knees but hauling it up a flight of stairs means I barely have knees to start with. This beauty is 50% lighter so if it sounds at least 51% as good it will be a serious contender for Amp Number 1. Why Ashdown? Basschat sold me on the company. So many people reporting back on the excellent customer service simply cannot be ignored. Also I have an ABM 500 (see here for more information) and it's just a great amp. Oh, and the Trace Elliot connection cannot be ignored! So here I am. Possibly one step closer to my ultimate set up. As things stand it is the CTM100, atop two BF 1x15 cabs and my Bass Collection Bruce Thomas Profile slung around my Gregory Peck. Its not my Trace Rig I grant you. But that's a thing of beauty rather than a practical tool!

And then you look around you at your fellow musicians and discover a policeman, construction worker, naval rating and a cowboy on stage with you. Bad things come from bad hat choices. Some people can wear hats, some can't. Some could stick a plant pot on their head and look cool, trendy and sophisticated. Others (and i count myself among them) could wear the coolest of cool hats while stood in a fridge in the middle of December and still look like a pillock. Every hat I've ever worn has managed the trick of looking embarrassed to have me stuck to its a£se. So, listen to Del Var's sagacity and wisdom, heed his advice, take his words and hold them to your bosom like the cherished pearls they truly are - but be prepared to accept that, regrettably, The Hat may be for others to bear and not for you....

His son is in Texas now? He used to live in Nigeria.

Its a common scam. There's absolutely no point in replying to these criminals. Delete the email & move on. If he messaged via gumtree, report him.

Come on, this is bass chats Needs a new bass, cab and amp

Dear Ricky There I was, blamelessly pressing wildflowers in my commonplace book when the computing device made that 'bloont' noise which signals that someone is doing something on BassChat. Setting carefully to one side my Hall & Ball miniature pruning snips I clicked on the 'Alert' to discover a not entirely ill-founded but nevertheless unsubstantiated speculation that in the event of the Russian Navy having determined one of their nuclear submarines to be surplus to requirements and offering the vessel for open purchase I might have expended a portion of my not inconsiderable treasure upon said submarine for such purposes as shall remain entirely private but may become clear at such time as certain of my plans come to fruition. At one time I might have responded to a public disquisition of a frankly impudent nature by picking up the telephone and placing a call to my close personal friend the noted (and - it may be said - much-feared) legal counsel Mr Wolf J Flywheel, this with the express purpose of instructing The Great White Wolf (as he is known to friend and foe alike) to commence legal proceedings against whomsoever might be bruiting rumour in respect of my activities. Somewhere between learning that Wolf's attention is currently 120% taken up by his class suit against Universal Music Group in the matter of the destruction by fire of 500,000 master tapes (including a priceless and unreleased 1936 recording of the child star Miss Shirley Temple singing Swanee River, a performance which in these fragile times might be accounted both 'offensive' and culturally appropriative yet still be of interest to students of problematic cultural tropes) and discovering that my daisies had begun to wilt I came to the conclusion that faced with a range of mostly unpalatable options I should observe the maxim μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον (trans: "The least bad [choice] is the best." ) and proceed along the following lines: * Stay my retribution * Divert the topic elsewhere * Deploy a 1960's TV reference * Throw in some gags * Deny everything and blame someone else * Sit back and await developments I hope this clarifies matters. Yours Del Var

Don't get paid by PayPal! All he needs to do is say he hasn't received the bass and they will refund his money. It's happened to me before and PayPal paid the buyer out despite having proof of delivery to the right address. You will not be able to claim on any insurance either as of course a delivery company will have proof of delivery. Be very careful.

The things you see when you don't have your gun.

Well, yes it should. But David's been through a lot recently and I didn't want spoil his fun.

Shouldn't that be David Van Day's yad nav divad?

My good friend Mr Van Day tells me that he has recently purchased a Ford Transit with the intention of converting it to a pleasure vehicle. 'I'm going to name it after myself so people will say "Look, there goes David Van Day's day van 'David'. It'll be a motorised palindrome, basically'.

I think this one would suit you teebs, it lights up 😁

A pun worth the investment I was seriously considering having that written on the headstock, but as much as I am aware that luthier built instruments don't sell well, this inscription would mean I would have to keep the bass until the end.

I think this fella is great. Just cracks on and has a great selection of basses too. I particularly love the sound of the T40 Peavey he uses on this one:

If you didn’t type that on an electronic device made in an Asian sweat shop where worker’s rights are essentially non-existant, well done you!

Not read the whole of the other thread detailing the more annoying Youtubers, but it got me to thinking about a list of those we find useful, informative, helpful and so forth. I like Constantine Isslamow for instance. Seems a nice guy and his stuff is usually on the money. Who have you found that you like, for any reason?

I love hats. On stage off stage, all the same to me. Always loved hats. Caps, beanies, bobbles, pith and other helmets, pork pies, trilbies, sun hats and fedoras. Love them all. Anyone who tells you hats are bad...... Well, they just have a different opinion from me that's all. No less valid than mine.

When the egregiously drab Carol Anne Duffy handed in her badge I had high hopes for the next incumbent of the office of Poet Laureate. Of course, we ended up with Simon Armitage, a specimen of extreme loathesomeness whose poetic output is limited to a meagre few published collections, these propped up by occasional dribs and drabs of semi-literate doggerel condescendingly lobbed at his fawning adulants rather as a chimpanzee might hurl his fecal matter at a coach party of mouth breathing schoolchildren. That Mr Armitage has stooped to write librettos for modern opera merely compounds rather than alleviates the crushing ennui that befalls me when I hear his name or - worse - his ghastly, nasal voice droning away on Radio Four about inclusion, compassion and his (feigned) affinity for the North of England, a bleak and charmless locale where no fashionable gentleman would venture even on a bet. The repellent Armitage will probably remain in post for some time and it will be with the greatest difficulty that I shall suppress my feverish anticipation for the day when his inglorious tenancy comes to an ignominious and preferably painful end, and the talented Mr Skinnyman takes his rightful place as our national poetaster. Sic transit Gloria Gaynor, as my old pal and drinking buddy Alf Tennyson was wont to say. He knew whereof he spoke.

Didn't Dr Seuss write a book about all this ...and then something went BUMP! how that bump made us jump! we looked! then we saw him step in on the mat! we looked! and we saw him! the prat in the hat! and he said to us, 'why do you sit there like that?' 'i know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. but we can have lots of good fun that is funny!' "Just look at my bass It's a Fender you know, And tell me it's ace And not just for show If I play you a song You can all sing along But cover your ears When i get it all wrong" And there on the mat With his ludicrous hat There stood the prat The prat in the hat With a smile on his face As he played on his bass The children all applauded the prat And threw coins in his hat Where it lay on the mat And they shouted and shouted And all sang along Till the prat in the hat had ended the song "You should be on telly, On one of the Beebs, Oh please play some more, On your bass, Mr Teebs" But the prat was tired His hat was too tight So the prat in the hat Bade the children good night. And off he went with a swish of his hat That marvellous hat On the head of a prat.

Pretty sure we'd all vote for the most ridiculous/impractical hat we can think of and Teebs will end up going on stage in a giant pink sombrero. Then we'll have to live with the guilt when he inevitably gets beaten like a pinata for cultural appropriation by the outraged Mancunian Mexican community.

If you want to get ahead, get a hat.

Did that when BC had a blog site a few years ago. It was about 10,000 words in 6 instalments and entitled 'I Was Hitler's Bassist'. It was a bit sh!t, actually

Dear Mr Del Var I certainly didn't imagine that you were, at the time, 'busy' pressing flowers. I pictured you more likely to be parked-up in international waters, relaxing on the sun deck, with a 9x19mm Makarov automatic pistol on your lap. Things were getting a bit boring, so I remembered the anecdote about the Russian sub, and thought (rightly), that it would be like catnip to a... cat. It would only have been more delicious if David Van Day had bought it. Regarding your toothless lion of a legal representative - you can tell him from me that (without prejudice), the internet is like Radio Caroline was, meets the Wild West. In other words, I've got no money to be worth suing. P.S. Stingray was not a documentary! P.P.S. Did you see that documentary about the Russians selling handfuls of plutonium out of the back door, to supplement unpaid wages at the power plant (weapons factory), in the 1990s? I remain your servant and greatest friend, Richter Van Rickenbacker

Ah, I've worked with musicians like that before. Only way to deal with them is to make plain statements, not ask questions. So the evening beforehand you need to send out an email or message saying "I'm going to assume we're not going acoustic tomorrow, and I need to bring X, Y and Z. If there's a problem then let me know before 7am tomorrow so I can bring something different." S.P.

I certainly wouldn't write P-Rick on the headstock...

It's even worse in OP's case, since he isn't organizing the courier and so won't have access to proof of delivery or even proof of postage.

Nice try 😂

i have a BTA300, a CTM100, a CTM30 tweed, the 100 stands out above the others, good job fella.

I think this might be the furthest off topic I've seen a thread go on Basschat 😂

Based on a 10-minute google search, Amazon paid £4.6m tax in the UK last year on turnover of £10.96 billion. To put that in perspective, with a similar sized UK revenue, M&S paid £65.4m corporation tax alone on turnover of £10.46 billion in 2018, in addition to business rates and the tax generated by their 80000 employees (compared with 27500 for Amazon). In effect, Amazon is subsidised by the UK taxpayer. Handy for Jeff Bezos, I'm sure he would find it difficult to make ends meet otherwise. Until our "leaders" adopt a strategy to extract a proper contribution for access to our markets, our high streets and indigenous businesses will continue to wither. I never buy on Amazon, or from Starbucks or a variety of other businesses for these reasons.

The original Bass Day UK, held in Manchester and organised by Stevie Williams, was always well attended. So much so that it started off in Night and Day, outgrew the venue and ended up at the RNCM. Always a fantastic day and a shame it disappeared. I would imagine a Manchester event would be welcomed to fill the void left by Bass Day UK.

Exactamundo! Not remotely terrifying. For the purposes of clarification: Titan = Despotic marionette ruler of vast undersea realm, his reign enforced by '000's of spiky headed goons in 'terrifying' mechanical fish; also former master of Marina, slave, mute hottie and Lt. Atlanta Shore's rival for affections of Capt. Troy Tempest Triton = 1. A Greek god, the messenger of the sea, offspring of Poseidon. Often confused with Titan (see above). 2. Popular brand of electric shower appliance Aquaphibians Aquaphibian 1: "Troy Tempest! You're f*cking nicked, me old beauty"

Body : figured ash (never seen such flame on ash before)

The fretboard (cut from the same maple board as the neck)

Having played bass and ran the desk at a few different churches down the years, I would agree. You can set it all up in a school hall the hour before, or you can have an install using much higher range stuff than the gear we’re talking about in this thread ... and it makes no difference at all if the person behind the desk doesn’t know what they are doing. The main problem I see is that people (esp guys IME) approach it as a gear thing, spend hours and hours working out the gear, moan cos they could only afford desk X rather than desk Y, know all the ins and outs of if the K12 would be better than the RCF equivalent.... but have utterly no expectations that mixing is a skill like playing an instrument that takes skill, attention, some discipline and most of all ears to learn... anyway rant over

I'm not doubting it doesn't happen, I'm saying you're a douche bag if you're one of those that does it.

I think you will find most hotels and food outlets match your opinion of Amazon. Not to mention products made in the far east. I know of one national outdoor activity shop that uses zero hours- min wage. You don't know how many high street treat their staff this way. Much of what I buy from Amazon actually comes from independent dealers who use the site as a shop window.

Aw; there's another thread in the making there - White horses, Singing ringing tree, Robinson Crusoe, Banana Splits........

This.

(making up for having no TLRTs )

the BTA is hybrid, solid state front end so it has the ability to compensate between different basses better, but it weighs so much, (5 stone), my semi-acoustic Gretsch is awful with the 30 watter, nothing but hum, i think youll be happy with the Ctm100, it seems to do it all.

I think a lot of it is practice. I realised that if I put anywhere near the same effort into it as I do to my bass playing in terms of reading, analysing the work of lyricists I like, and looking critically at what I write, it would improve a lot. I don't think people approach it with the same seriousness as they do their instrument, I certainly didn't... Hey I can talk, been doing it for years, I must be able to write... Lol... Nope! Throw things down though, then go back to it. There'll be parts where you like what you're saying, but not how you're saying it, just think of another way to say it. Then there'll be parts where what you're saying sounds flowery, patronising, preachy or just stupid, again just try to rethink it. Be prepared to change things again when you hold them up to a song. I've had to make changes because some words, or combinations thereof, don't sound good when sung. Don't be too hard on yourself though, remember that there are some really great, successful songs out there with some awful lyrics ... Stupid words, terrible rhymes, but for some reason they strike a chord with people. That's probably another thread though.🤣

It would appear from this that people prefer no fuss instructional videos. No life stories, histrionics, fannying about, etc.... Mmmm🧐

Ah this is more like it 👍 Constantine is great, always bang on and absolutely nobody can accuse him of showmanship or gimmicks 😉 The guy posted above with all the masks behind him is equally as good. I had to learn 'The Real Me' by The Who and he had done a normal speed and a slowed down version which really helped me. Also like Paul Wolf (how-to-play-bass.com) for simply learning fun bass lines that I might not necessarily ever have looked at. This one I can imagine for many should be in the other list and isn't bass, but he does do basslines so it sort of counts, but I find myself enjoying his videos and enthusiasm. It's Doctor Mix, an Italian guy who's massively into keyboards and electronic music.