Mr H

I called my wife in to watch that youtube link, The Admiral. At the end we were presented with a smorgasbord of other gross delights, and eventually found ourselves watching [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ThuAV-GCGk"]giant blackheads being popped[/url] for the next twenty minutes or so. After that, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh-c320aTgM"]teratomas[/url]. Thanks!

Just watched the Equinox clip. The action on that lawnmower at 2.58 was terribly, [i]terribly[/i] high.

Love to see the figures for those fourteen (so far) declined offers. I bet not all of them were entirely serious.

So, it's between me, grumble, and BetaFunk at the moment... I'm not bidding. Honest. I do really like it though. "Surftastic" describes it very well.

I think it's [i]very[/i] handsome, but it's too close to [a] Christmas and [b] my Yamaha SBV500. What does the panel think? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-4-String-SCHECTER-USA-HELLCAT-BASS-with-OHSC-/390515867473?"]http://www.ebay.co.u...-/390515867473?[/url]

And ninety minutes later I sold a Peavey Cirrus BXP bass to Lou! Great communication, enthusiastic and friendly chap, and a pleasure to deal with. Thanks, Lou.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1354821109' post='1890925']Finally I recommend 'How Music Works' by John Powell. A brilliant small paperback that explains music from the perspective of physics. Very readable (I've only got 'o' level science) and gave me several 'light-bulb' moments.[/quote] I bought this for my wife (pianist and singer) a year or two back - she found it extremely interesting, so much so that she's recently been exchanging e-mails with the author. He seems like a very pleasant chap, who enjoys a beer and a curry. On that basis, I'll recommend it too.

d - John Wright b & v - Mike Watt g - Nels Cline Surely somebody could arrange that?

And after all that... I was highest bidder, didn't make the reserve (£300), and it got sold off eBay to someone who offered more than I did. Exciting three days, though!

Got an email back from the seller who took it all in good heart - "Ha ha, we've all been burned on eBay at some point." Fortunately, I think she saw my earlier this-looks-dodgy email at the same time as the"retraction". So that's good. May still bid, even though I feel bad about questioning its authenticity. What better way to make amends, though, than bidding highest?

Agreed, absolutely, but it pays to be careful on eBay in view of the number of suspect "Fenders" out there, especially as a non-guitarist (me!).

Hey, nice one Rhys - that's turned everything on its head somewhat. That looks exactly right. Well, now I will do the other decent thing and email the seller (and thus the owner) and let them know.

Thanks gents. That double string tree seems to be a feature of the Squier Standard Telecasters - good spot, Big Stu. I think I'll be walking away from this one. EDIT: I emailed the eBay seller (who isn't the owner of the guitar!) with the suggestion that this isn't a genuine M.I.M. Fender Telecaster, and the reasons which have been put forth. I have done the decent thing and implied that the current owner was deceived by the previous owner. I wonder what will happen to the listing?

Very possibly. We were also thinking [i]Duncan Designed[/i], but the first word looks longer than the second. That would be a replacement, though, which would have been worth mentioning? Questions are now being raised about the neckplate (should it be plain?), the likelihood of a serial number wearing away, and the lack of a visible [i]Telecaster[/i] on the headstock. "Fender" neckplates and decals are easily available, it seems...

There's a local eBay sale which I'm interested in, but I know even less about guitars than I do about basses. I know enough, however, to be sceptical about the name Fender when applied to eBay guitars. It's this one: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251189235224?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649[/url] I emailed and asked for more pics, and got these (original size!): A neckplate marked [i]Fender[/i], no visible markings on the bridge, something not-quite-discernable on the bridge pick-up. The serial number, apparently, has been sufficiently worn that it is no longer readable, so that line of investigation is lost. It's done "a few tours" in the last two or three years, and was owned by somebody else before the current owner got it. A distant guitarist friend of mine has his doubts, but he's too far away to check it out for me. So what does the panel think? A good buy at a particular price, or just not convincing enough? Thanks in anticipation.

Also tried uploading pics direct to the site yesterday in Ebay Sales section. Also on a Mac (with Safari). Eventually gave up and used Photobucket. But - hey! - at least the black first-unread-posts buttons are back. Mostly.

[IMG]http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii510/stevejhpb/thatfretless.jpg[/IMG] Here it is with a bit more light (Photoshop!) - fill yer boots, gentlemen. (sale has nothing to do with me, by the way)

Regarding the issue of not listening to all of all the tracks: I will hold my hand up and say that I listened to every track, but not to every second of every track. The waveforms shown on Soundcloud tend to give a fairly good impression of what you might expect once you're into the tune, by which I mean that in a song with several sections (intro, verse, chorus etc) I found I could pretty much tell what's coming later on if something is repeated (and I fast-forward to check). There were a lot of entries! When making a shortlist, it was convenient to not listen to the whole of a song if it was obviously less appealing to me than something which I'd heard earlier. That said, not listening to all the tracks - at least in part - before voting does seem pretty rude! Eight posts since I started writing this - I wonder how many folks said this first... EDIT: Dad3353 said it first!

Like Rockford Stone, I found myself with a very long shortlist. Finally I boiled it down to steve's entry, largely due to the elastically excellent bassline. I saw 13 Guitars at the Merseyside Guitar Show this afternoon, and his basses are very nice indeed - the winner of this month's competition will be very pleased.

I've loved this thread - thanks all. I bought a hifi separates system in 1993 when I first got a steady job, then updated it when I got a decent-paying job a few years later. I grabbed a great turntable (Nottingham Analogue Horizon with customised Rega RB250) a couple of years after that, and then children started to appear. I still remember the awful feeling of defeat when I packed everything into boxes away from greasy destructive fingers seven years ago, and it's all still boxed away to this day. Almost three grand's worth, I reckon. If ever a man needed his own room...

Recently received a Yamaha SBV500 (in a padded Fender gigbag) from Spencer. Great communications, very easy to deal with, unsurpassed at packaging! Thank you very much.

OP clip = outstanding! If I wasn't able to see the musicians, though, it would have been hard work.