tauzero

But with Nirvana you don't have to listen to that horrible Mancunian whine.

I've got an Original fretless and a Flamboyant fretted, both headless 5s, and a headed Flamboyant 6. I don't use the 6 much but I have noticed the tendency of the headless pair to flex the neck one way or the other - I always carry a capo and an allen key with me, and it's the work of a few seconds to adjust the neck.

Well, I know a bit about classical music, and I also know about André Rieu. I was commenting on him having a loaner Strad and not buying one, and seeing as his annual tours gross $50M, and he can afford an orchestra of his own, I'd think a Strad would be pocket change to him.

After failing in the gear abstinence thread, I went in completely the opposite direction. A Behringer XR18, a Helix LT, and now a Behringer RD-8 Mk II. This was another one that first impressions were how big it was - I was expecting something on the scale of the Korg Volca series, instead it's almost as big as the Helix LT. I haven't started using it yet so further news will have to wait.

I thought I'd replace my Stomp with a full fat Helix. Thought I'd got a good deal on a Floor but it got cancelled (I missed his messages which was to say that the funds wouldn't be released until after he'd gone on a tour that he was selling the Floor to buy an amp for, otherwise I'd have bought it by another means) so concluded that I didn't need the four send/returns or the scribble strips so an LT would do. So it arrived, and the first impression was that it was very big. Second impression too. It does mean I no longer need my six-button MIDI controller or external power supply though. I tried restoring my saved patches from the Stomp, and much to my delight that worked. So now I'm going to do some more experimenting and try an organ synth in a send/return loop.

I think if you put that up as a poll you'd get 99% saying that they do, and the others would be you and anyone who only owns 1960s basses that you couldn't do that with.

Bought a Behringer XR18 from Jack - yet again an easy purchase, posted to me this time rather than me collecting.

What top strap button? It doesn't seem to be visible - you can see the bottom button but not the top one. If it's tucked away round the back, that's a good recipe for forward tilt (cf. Hohner B2V). Mind you, thinking of the B2V, despite the teeny tiny body and the top strap button being in line with the 22nd fret, it doesn't neck dive at all.

Dingwall don't do a headless though. So, if that's important, they'd either be up against the Ibanez EHB 1265MS or 1505MS, or the Strandberg Boden.

The same thing happened to me some time ago.

Can I provide long-range support?

It's easy not to notice gradual deterioration of something, which reminds me that I really must give my Eko Ranger 6 its five-yearly restring about now. I might even clean the fretboard.

I suppose it's different for us pub band weekend warriors, my bandmates don't even know how many strings my bass has or whether it's fretted or not, the last thing on their minds is whether it's a Fender (no, it never is).

Do you know who André Rieu is?

Ah yes, this reminds me now. There was a Moffat bass bash a few years ago that Dave Swift, he of the Jules Holland boogie-woogie band, was the special guest at. In the Q&A session, someone asked him how many basses he had and he replied "about 65". He was then asked to repeat that so we could record it. Still, he only gets on telly now and again so he can't be that real.

You know you could cure that by selling me that Sei Flamboyant fretless.

Tainted Love and Paranoid - both have very negative lyrics. We also play an Oasis song, and they're all f*cking depressing.

I was looking at a musical instruments auction and was a bit interested in one lot, an instrument from the Hayman-Shergold transition period - Hayman 40/40 with a Shergold badge on it. As my first bass was a Hayman 40/40, I was somewhat interested (although the auction is in Cumbria so it's a fair old trek). However, the description mentions hook added to headstock and notes engraved on fretboard. Very sad. https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/1818-auctioneers/catalogue-id-sr1811021/lot-42226f5b-b4d1-43cd-be35-b16a00d19f54 There's also a Washburn MB-6 which has presumably suffered the same owner, although it appears that they've used a Dymo for the lettering.

In another world of four-stringed instruments, many Stradivarius violins are owned by collectors but they are frequently loaned to violinists. I was rather surprised that André Rieu has a loaner, I'm sure he could afford one of his own.

Add a switch to the volume control pedal, activated when your heel is completely down, that switches on an illuminated sign saying "PUT THE VOLUME BACK UP!".

A 105 low string should be fine, plenty of E strings are 105 and they're tuned a tone higher than what you're looking at.

Who nicked six machine heads off the middle one?

Data isn't the plural of anecdote.

I didn't realise you'd seen me.

I don't use IEMs but something similar happens to me, generally towards the end of a gig on the occasions that it does happen. It's not specific notes, it's any note, and I finish up checking that I am playing the right note as it sounds so out. Fortunately it didn't happen when I played exclusively fretless, but now I play fretted and it does.