joeystrange

Singer in my band just bought a couple of these. I haven’t used them but I know she really rates them. +1 for Couch. I’ve been using their seatbelt straps for years and I don’t see myself buying anything else. They did start cutting them slightly shorter a few years ago, which was too short for me, but I emailed them and they cut one at the old length so all good. I’ve bought wallets and belts from them too!

The Ramones all had long hair. You’ll be fine!

Depends on the size of the fan base, usually. I know a fair few American/Canadian bands who will headline to 1000+ people and play big festivals all over Europe but struggle to pull 100 people in the UK, despite sometimes having toured here for years. If they don’t come to the UK whilst on a European tour it’s often because they’ll lose money doing so.

I would imagine so but, as mentioned above, American bands wouldn’t usually be bringing gear with them. Smaller bands tend to borrow gear and bigger bands will either hire or have gear already stored in the EU. A lot of bands will often get merch produced there too to save bringing it with them. The difference with UK bands is that we could drive and take all of our gear and merch with us, which would now cause these issues. American bands do need visas, however.

That seems like VERY bad practice.

Like everything involved with this whole mess there are a lot of unknowns. But at least it’s a step in the right direction.

According to this article UK musicians may soon be able to tour the EU (19 countries for the time being) visa-free. I’m sure there will be caveats but it’s promising, at least. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/05/uk-musicians-to-be-able-to-tour-visa-free-in-19-eu-countries-brexit

Dammit.

For anyone who might be interested the Museum of London are exhibiting Paul Simonon’s ‘London Calling’ bass from today. Not sure how long for though. Entry is free.

Just curious, why did you think the E string shouldn’t be at the top of the fretboard?

That would make sense. I was told they were DiMarzio but never actually verified. The Vox was neck thru so it didn’t have a neckplate that I could check. It does look very similar though.

Matsumoku was what I found when doing a bit of research when I was selling it too. I believe the pickups were DiMarzio, no idea if that’s what comes with the other basses. The strangest thing (to me, at least) was the pickup selector. There’s a standard 3-way toggle switch for bridge/both/neck but there’s also a smaller toggle switch which just controls the P pickup and toggles between bass coil/both coils/treble coil. Do you know if that’s common for the Westones or Arias?

I had an early-mid ‘80s Vox 3002 Custom that my dad bought from the guitarist in his band. Learned to play on it then got my first Precision and didn’t touch it for years. Then, about ten years ago, I sold it here to fund an Ampeg SVT. Sounded decent, from what I remember. Weighed a ton though!

Very nice! It always kinda bothers me when an instrument of that age looks pristine. This one certainly has some tales to tell! Enjoy!

Blink 182 will forever be one of my favourite bands and he was a big part of why I first picked up the bass. I really hope he’s doing ok.

No bass players for me. Just Jools Holland.

Surely this has to be a scam? How does someone find an eBay item, find the seller’s address and then turn up claiming to be the person who bought it and have it just handed over?

I went to an all-dayer in Nottingham once and saw two bands that had two bass players. One was a 3-piece, with a drummer, and the other had a drummer and singer/guitarist. Sadly I can’t recall the names of either band. Until then I’d never seen a band with two bass players.

Black Flag. I love punk rock and hardcore but for whatever reason I’ve never given much time to Black Flag.

I know a lot of musicians and I don’t know a single one who this has ever happened to. It’s something that people often worry about when they start out but as long as you’re well prepared (which it sounds like you are) then your unconscious brain will take over and you’ll be just fine. Just have fun, be confident, try to relax and don’t think about making mistakes. Overthinking can be a bad thing. Once you’ve done a few gigs back you’ll have more confidence and none of this will be a worry to you anymore. But mostly have fun!

I believe Jerry Only from the Misfits uses these. He owns a load of them and will buy any that come up for sale. Having only ever heard him use them I can’t comment on what they’re like as his sound is… very unique.

The original Mark Hoppus signature Precision was a J body with P neck and pickups. The updated Mark Hoppus signature Jazz was a J body with P neck and pickups. I don’t think it really matters.

Low, so that my right arm is pretty much straight. I find that I get elbow ache if it’s higher and my arm is bent the whole time.

If you PM me the address I could try to go and see if they still have it?