tauzero

I regularly see descriptions of pickups as being "dark sounding". I have absolutely no idea what that means. I can understand "thin" (lacking in bass) and "muddy" or "woolly" (attack not very distinct) but "dark sounding" makes as much sense as "plays like butter" (you finish up with a slimey mess all over your hands?). Is this another mystery to go along with dark matter and dark energy? Can anybody guilty of using the term describe exactly what they mean?

I remember him taking some time out years ago, and then he turned up on (IIRC) OGWT with Roy Harper on a hillside somewhere, saying he was playing better now than he ever had, and then Roy Harper played a song and Page put some excrutiatingly bad guitar over it.

T Rex special Ride a White Stan Metal Gurn The Slimer 20th Century Bob Telegram Ham Get it in

I was, as I'm in Tamworth and we have had political campaigning up till yesterday I gave up on it when it appeared that most of the other Tamworth Nextdoor participants were a bunch of inhumane fascists.

I've had a few periods of doing buggerall but never thought of giving up. Currently with a covers band which is aiming to do somewhere round 20-30 gigs a year, and playing at an open mic (both guitar and bass). The two key things that define me are music (primarily bass) and motorcycles, and I've had lulls in both but never given either up.

They were in Germany. They could find a Fender but it was £100 while a Hofner was £30 and he could easily get it left-handed (symmetrical body). Anyway, who'd want a Fender?

I chatted with Philippa Forrester at Techno Games 2, and nearly got Jayne Middlemiss onto the back of my bike at Robot Wars.

Hardly the only issue with the description. Number of strings: 5 strings

I checked the MIDI messages coming out of the BCF-2000. I've gone as far as reloading the firmware, but I consistently get completely the wrong MIDI messages. They should be CC messages on channel 1 (for the faders) and they're pitch bend messages on whichever channel the fader is on. To make sure, I connected the XR12 to MIDI-OX and used the tablet to move the faders, and got the expected CC messages.

A finish that makes it look less like it's been in a tumble drier with a sackful of gravel is the ambition.

I was wondering whether the jack socket might have been got fairly close to position by feeding an old bass string through the jack socket hole and the F hole, then threading the jack socket onto it and sliding it down or using something wrapped round the string to pull the jack socket.

Well, it didn't have the desired effect - it did clean it up a little but not a lot. Going to have a look at my bench grinder to see if I can mount a polishing wheel onto that.

Before putting the front panel label on the Vong-Filterung that you kindly sent me (I did think I had it working at one stage), I put a polishing wheel into the pillar drill and tried that. It wasn't a success. I now have a USB -> MIDI box and will shortly have a Zoom patch switcher box which I want to polish up, both in 1590A boxes, so more experimentation is required. Polishing kit (three buffing wheels, three polished) now ordered from Ebay.

Sei Flamboyants and Esh Poseidons don't have any problems. I don't think it's improved the looks in this case though.

I'd echo that comment about the graphite rods - the two Seis that I gig with are also susceptible to weather, but they're also headless so truss rod access is simple and I carry a capo and allen keys for rapid truss rod adjustment. @joe_geezer, make sure you know which way the truss rod turns to adjust it.

Genesis were Led Zep? That was a wonder of disguise.

Don't forget the spare bass, for when the battery runs out mid-song.

Their songs are mostly other people's songs anyway. Status Quo might have been the luckiest pub band in the world, but Led Zep were the luckiest covers band.

Page blames Collins in that article - the drumming seemed OK, the lead guitar was absolute crap, and the vocals initially were also crap.

I've got the 4-port MIDI interface. I also got their Extreme Electric Guitar Bag (£20) for my headless 6-string which has a long top horn - fits nicely. Unfortunately, Mrs Zero has hidden it, so I may need to buy another one (counterproductive on her part, as she keeps moaning about the number of cases and bags that I have knocking around). I've bought a few other things off them but not any other G4M/SubZero stuff.

Get the honeycomb rollers from them when you get it, they work very well.

I thought I'd have a look at it - that day I started watching it at home then went to the pub which was frequented by a lot of Tamworth musicians and watched more of it, but things did start getting a bit cloudy. Anyroadup, just found it on Youtube. Rock and roll - Plant's vocals are awful, Page's solo too. Skipped Whole Lorra Lorra Love and listened to Stairway - vocals and guitar good until the solo, when Page just plays an endless succession of bûm notes.

Did anybody get set "write a full account of the amp shoot-out" for homework?