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Just had a funny thing happen. I paid a deposit for an Industrial Radio MIDIBass at the end of December and the payment has still not cleared into the company’s account nearly two weeks later. I contacted my bank today to find out what was going on and it turns out that the intermediary bank (HSBC US) has held the payment as being suspicious. My reference was IRN-## which is my invoice number. I got asked if the payment was related to Iran and was asked a whole bunch of other security questions and asked for information about what the payment was for etc. Was tempted to say that I normally pay for my arms to rogue states using bitcoin!

I disagreed with a lot of what Neil Peart said over the years but I also disagree with some of the things that I have said over the years. He wasn't perfect, as a drummer or as a lyricist, but he kept trying and growing and for that he was a real example. He was a man of integrity and for that he has my eternal respect.

Meeting up for the first time with three other muso's through JoinMyBand exactly a year ago, we plugged in, tuned up, and the first half-a-dozen songs we played all sounded great, everyone had done their homework and had actually worked on the songs we agreed to run through before turning up. Best first meeting I've ever been involved in, and we are still together now. 🙂

After a fairly decent start to building basses ( I’ve actually sold one, the walnut P to @Tullfan ) I’ve had a hankering to do more. So, this time I’m using swamp ash for the bodies as both will be painted. Bass 1 - All black stealth looking P Bass, Status Neck and CS ‘62 pups. Bass 2 - Lake Placid Blue, matching headstock and again CS ‘62 pups. Both keepers and for specific band projects so they are needed. I’ve always wanted a LPB 😍 These are being painted properly by Dave Wilson who is unbelievably brilliant at all things bass, especially painting. Im sure I’ll be back on for more hints and tips. Anyway, a few bits of where I’m up to now.

For those who haven't met Jamie, he's 47...

I can confirm this and I attended this playgroup 13 years ago

I was just reading about an early 20th-century conductor called Arturo Toscanini. Just before the start of a big concert one of the bassoon players hurried up to Toscanini, he was in a highly agitated state, and explained that he’d broken one of the keys on his instrument. Toscanini thought for a few seconds, then said ‘it’s alright, that note does not occur in tonight’s concert’. Apparently he knew every note for every instrument in that concert. That’s about 70 musicians and 2 hours of music. He also knew every note for every instrument in 250 odd other works from their repertoire, plus the words and music for 100 or so operas, and numerous other classical works. We had a class on my BMus course called LPW, which stood for live performance workshop. I hated it. Each week we had to learn a notated part, in my case it was the bass line, then perform it as part of a randomly picked ensemble. Some were quite easy, others were ridiculously hard. I always struggled to remember them, my best mark was in the jazz module, where we improvised and were allowed charts on stage. This is Toscanini destroying the bass section of an orchestra.

I write for a US based music and culture based online magazine called PopMatters and the job of writing Neil’s obituary fell to me. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to write. https://www.popmatters.com/neil-peart-2020-tribute-2644669184.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

You’ve obviously never seen me dance. Imagine a hippo that’s just been shot with a sedative. 😉

Clover slapper beelzebub 6

Half the time I can't even remember what instrument I play.

14 day written notice to bank then get thee hence directly to the ombudsman

Meanwhile Billions of dirty money is being laundered through the City and shell companies which the Govt has turned a blind eye to...

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Come on, we can have a WCPS stand, complete with Jama tasting and a (waterproof) box for donations to Dr Mondeaux...

Can open, worms everywhere! I agree with @hiram.k.hackenbacker, pick a live album or DVD. Rush in Rio or R30 wouldn't be a bad bet.

Cost me a fortune in tyres..... I'll do my best but can't confirm just yet - we might have a wedding gig (I hate wedding gigs...) I'm also a bit reluctant to attend if you're going to be there (they do say one should never meet ones heroes.....)

Many thanks, both! I'm creating two events on Basschat's FB page, as we speak.

Almost as bad was the lone Piper who used to lurk outside the King James hotel in Edinburgh waiting for busloads of tourists to be dropped out front so he could give them a quick blast of Scotland the Brave. At all hours of the day and night, or so it seemed. He was one of the characters primarily responsible for me wanting to become a sniper. Him and the receptionist who always used to put me in the room immediately above his "pitch".

Mr Peart was one of the few famous people that would be interesting enough to sit and have a chat with. Obviously he liked his privacy but he had some interesting and worthwhile views on life. Rush have never been full of themselves like many other bands when they became famous. They've always appreciated their fans and what they've done for Rush. Still can't get over this. So so sad. Like the lyrics from my fav Rush song Bravado :- "And if the music stops There's only the sound of the rain" Dave

This will not be news to many people. Here's Neil's take on it from 2012. Source.

Friday night in Lewes and the local paper said "I haven’t come across Last Great Dreamers before, but I like them straight away. Visually they are striking, looking like a Clockwork Orange droog gang who have stumbled across boho chic. Musically they get straight to the point with superbly catchy glam tinged pop punk, stacked with killer riffs and lush vocal harmonies. The songs are immediately engaging, and on stage every band member is really going for it, and you can’t ask much more than that." and then Saturday night was the 100 Club, which was my favourite gig of the decade (although the decade is but 12 days old!)

The bassist and keyboard player look like they could be characters from 'The Big Bang Theory'. It reminds me of when I played at a mathematics conference at St Andrews University, a few years ago. There was a lot of sandal and sock action on the dance floor that night.

My favourite of theirs...

Bass wise, no problem assuming I can remember the song at all, I can remember every part of it. Sometimes I have a mental block on the start (some times I have a mental block on everything). I have a list of the first notes of each song, so if I ever do, the first note will tell me the rest of the song. Lyrics wise, I can remember most of them unless I am also playing and then I can go a bit blank. Toscanini sounds a bit like an italian version of my first childhood piano teacher though

Agreed - but anything that hasn't been in the last 10 years or so, the vocals sound a bit better there.

In defence of the banks... Have you seen the legislation that they are expected to follow? And the penalties for getting it wrong? There is no wiggle room or any space for common sense, it's all about proving beyond doubt that everything is legitimate, no matter how inconvenient it is for the customer

Still taken from a video on Saturday...

Finally one on a weekend I don't have the kids. Count me in.

Date finally on the calendar! Haven't purchased/traded anything (yet) since last bash, although cunning plans are being formulated. Will bring cans & boss microbass combo again as that was invaluable later on in the day when it all got a bit slappidty clankedy thumpedy boom 😉

As the original. I learned the bassline from this https://basslessons.be/transcriptions.php?i=2 Not 100% but pretty darned close. Now I revisit it i see the bass echoes the melody beautifully in the chorus and I'm definitely going to learn it all.

The Haunted Amplifier. Our flat in Berkhamsted was directly above the Rex cinema, and one evening I heard voices coming from my little practice amp. No, I hadn't been on the sauce or smoking anything naughty. But it freaked me out when I distinctly heard, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that" coming from the speaker. It turned out that the cinema was screening 2001 that evening and the jack cable was acting as some sort of antenna and picking up the sound.

I went last year - I think it's Doveridge Village Hall, Sand Lane, Doveridge, Ashbourne DE6 5JQ, but I'm sure @jebroad will confirm.

I feel your pain. Literally When I was about 5, I had terrible earache on Xmas day - doctor's surgery shut, so my parents took me to A&E to get antibiotics or something. While we were waiting in casualty, the hospital provided a full Scottish pipe band to 'cheer up' people waiting. Full Scottish pipe band + earache = excruciating agony. Gits!

I knew Neil had taken inspiration from Ayn Rand in those early days but to be honest it didn't make any difference to me. I just enjoyed the songs and lyrics for what i imagined them to be. Where he gets his influences from isn't the point for me. Enjoy music for what it is and not what it might be. Dave

Many years back, Kiwi brought his gobsmackingly lovely Smith 5-string round to my gaff; we set up my then rig (Eden WT400 head, SWR Triad cab) in the garage, turned it well up... 20 seconds later a shelf fell off the wall. It seems even storage units are critics. In all seriousness, the tone was so beautiful that we came to the conclusion that Smith basses and Eden amps were made for each other.

Styx were playing a gig a few nights ago and Larry Gowan did a nice little tribute :

It's a fantastic, underrated bassline. Really for me is a classic line. Smooth, grooves, quite complex and unexpected, but amazing to listen to. I had a go years ago at it. The tab doesnt really make much sense until you're really upto scratch with it, but just pick out the main notes and add in the other when they start to feel right. Good luck.

Well spotted! Surprised that one extra fret appears to be worth 20,000 yen though! Interesting - not seen that before. Liking the fact it's a Fujigen, and the reverse 2xP, could forgive it being a bolt neck. They get so much right here - and then they go & bung that hideous half-Rick/half Ibby Blazer scratchplate on it...

They’re great. Their new cover of ELO’s Mr Blue Sky is just sublime!

I am not sure if it’s the socks and sandals or the head nod tennis between him and keys I like best

I found it a harmless bit of fun.

Now it's time to apply the tolex. I managed to get this very reasonably priced on Ebay from a bloke in Germany who had some left over at the end of a renovation on a vintage cab, avoiding having to order it from the US and the additional costs involved. It actually looks dark blue in natural light, but this doesn't show up so much in photos. Looks very cool though! I have never tolexed anything before, so I am busy Youtubing before I dive in!