spinynorman

That took like two minutes. These have now gone.

Toyah and Robert (Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp) at the Regal Cinema Evesham. I had seen their Sunday Lunch Youtube videos during lockdown, but I really didn't know what to expect from this. Turned out to be full band, Fripp and two other guitarists, bass, drums and keys. Plus Toyah, of course, who can still sing, still move and knows exactly how to work an audience. Fripp is 78, but he can still play - the speed his fingers move at is mesmerising - and he wouldn't play with other musicians if they weren't any good. I was wondering about the economics of that setup in a small venue like the Regal, but turns out they were warming up for Isle of Wight and Glastonbury. You could argue it's a pub band setlist of - mostly - covers, but they did a couple of Bowie songs where Fripp played on the original recording and there was that kind of logic to most of the song choices. TBH, nobody in the audience cared anyway, we were all having too good a time.

Amongst the things I'm clearing out now I no longer play, I found 2 packets of Rotosound Jazz Flats, Long Scale and Extra Long Scale. They have been used and cut, but I don't know which basses they were on, or when I took them off. They look in pretty good condition, so I thought maybe someone else could use them.

I don't want to mess about checking the lengths etc, so ideally whoever wants them on that basis, just message me here. First to raise hand gets them, free and I'll pay postage.

SOLD ON EBAY

I am selling my Ampeg Portaflex PF-350 amp head, which I was using as a practice amp, through headphones only. Now I have sold my last remaining bass, I no longer need the amp. It comes complete with the power lead and the two grab handles that screw onto the front. There is a whine from the fan when it is on, but I think that is normal. It appears to be fully working, bearing in mind I have never used it through a cab.

I could post it if necessary (charge at cost), but would prefer collection from B49 (near Stratford-upon-Avon). If you want to bring a small cab to test it, that would be fine. Willing to discuss other arrangements, such as meeting half way.

I do have an aluminium flight case which fits the amp. It is scuffed but intact and serviceable. I'm not planning to sell it, but if you want it with the amp, that is something we can discuss.

Coming up in June, Toyah and Robert Fripp in Evesham, then Foo Fighters in Birmingham.

Last was Judas Priest in Birmingham. They were great. First support was Uriah Heep, but we missed most of their set due to traffic. What we did hear sounded good. Then there was Saxon, who thought they were better than they actually were, imho.

Looks like I'm having to disappoint quite a few people, but this is now sold. Thanks everyone for the interest.

I've had a few PMs which I'm working through, so for the time being it is on hold. Thanks for all the positive vibes on this.

I have decided to sell my 1974 Gibson Ripper, which I bought on Basschat in 2011. When I bought it the body had been completely sprayed black. I stripped this all back and was surprised to find the wood is alder, rather than maple, which weighs in at a very comfortable 9lb. Details of the restoration ...

• I was able to preserve the original finish on the back of the body, but the front had to be resprayed with matching laquer from Manchester Guitar Tech.
• The original pickguard was wrecked by the paint and has been replaced with 3 ply tortoise shell sourced from the US. It was hard to find one that was correct for the Mk1 body and I ended up with one where the volume and tone knobs are not in the correct alignment, but they work just the same.
• The pickups, 3-point bridge, knobs and tuners are all original.
• The trussrod cover and the number disc for the chicken head selector are replacements.
• The paint on the headstock is crazed, but it's much less noticeable than it appears in the photos.
• Dating these is difficult but from pot codes and other data it appears to be 1974.
• It comes with a Chase gig bag.

I very rarely play it now, but the action still feels good. If you like the sound of a Ripper, you should like this. Located about 30mins drive from J15 on the M40, west of Stratford upon Avon. Collection preferred, delivery may be possible, courier last resort. Payment by bank transfer or Paypal gift.

Is this a British phenomenon? I've told some of my courier (mostly Yodel) experiences to my son, who lives in New York, and he can't believe a courier company could be that bad and stay in business.

From where I was, more or less in the centre of the pitch, the sound on Wednesday was shockingly bad. For Public Enemy there was a massive echo coming from the back - it was like being sandwiched between two different gigs. For the Stone Roses, it seemed they tried to avoid the echo by turning the volume down, so John Squire was practically inaudible and there was no energy coming off the stage at all, apart from Reni, who carried the whole thing. It was better for the last hour, so maybe by Saturday they'll have worked it out. I suppose it may have been better in other parts of the stadium.

There was also a huge emergency services incident across the road from the main entrance, with half a dozen fire engines, so that didn't make getting away by car any easier.

Just in case anyone would find this useful. Looks like you need Android 6, though, which apparently fixes the latency issues.


http://gigaom.com/2015/11/18/with-stagelight-android-finally-gets-a-serious-audio-recording-app/

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1446760843' post='2902228']
Motley crue last night were amazing. The show they put on was breath taking with tommy lees drum cage spinning around on rails over the audience and nikki and vince raised over us at the end on cranes. Sound was good for the NEC too which is usually naff and while Nikki Sixx is not known for his bass playing he is the ultimate in rock star appearance. Alice Cooper was fantastic too although he struggled on poison. Nice mash up of schools out and another brick in the wall to finish his set.
As stadium gigs go this was one of the best ive seen. Pity its their final tour
[/quote]

I was there too, with daughter and her boyfriend, who is huge MC fan. I thought same as you about the sound - we saw Queens of the Stone Age at the NIA and it was just a loud, fuzzy mush, whereas this was loud enough for impact, but everything was very well defined. I thought Alice was great, considering I was first blown away by Killer in 1972 and those songs still stand up now, and he's still being guillotined on stage, and he doesn't have to say "m*****f***er" every five minutes to get the audience going . Not that that's really a dig at Motley Crue, I do know how that genre works. The pyrotechnics were amazing, when the flame throwers went off we could feel the heat in the middle of the hall and the mechanical stuff was spectacular. I also liked the encore where they played at the end on a mini stage in the middle, which happened to be right where we were standing. Actually Nikki Sixx is my kind of bass player - keep it simple, look cooler than anything and use a Thunderbird. All in all, best gig we've seen for a long long time.

Spent this morning trying to get tickets for The Stone Roses, what a waste of an hour that was. F'in' Ticketmaster.

Now on eBay.

Any interest before this goes to eBay?

When my daughter was in her early 20s, about 10 years ago, her then boyfriend played bass in a thrash metal band. We found a friendly pub that was prepared to put on the Dad's Rock band that I was in, supported by the boyfriend's metal outfit. The audience for this series of extravaganzas fell into two camps. Friends of my band, who had been duped in into arriving during the thrash metal set, and friends of the thrash metal band, who, to my surprise, stayed and enthusiastically supported the Dad's Rock slot.

The Dad's Rock crowd generally regarded thrash metal as a tuneless cacophony, with no relation to The Beatles or anything else they regarded as music. I explained as patiently as I could that, even if they didn't like it, it was being performed very, very well, and then slipped away to talk to the metallers, who were far more interesting.

The metallers were all 20 years younger than me, but the "it must have been great when you were young" came from them, not me. They were very well aware of where "their" music came from, though they were more likely to revere Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and The Stones, rather than The Beatles. They were also, far and away the best audience I encountered in 15 years of gigging.

In relation to this thread, the point is, everyone who is interested in music comes at it from a different perspective and you can have far more rewarding conversations if you accept that, rather than trying to ram a single point of view down their throats.

Very happy to add to endorsements for Dave, as he has just bought the Big Muff I had for sale. Transaction was agreed and completed very quickly, with no issues at all. Definitely recommended.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1438609960' post='2835739']
The nub of this thread (as so many before it) is that the OP feels himself to have been significantly influenced by The Beatles at a formative moment in his life and - moreover - asserts that many others were similarly affected, be they musicians or consumers.

[/quote]

With respect, I don't think that was quite the nob of the original post. The way I read it, the OP feels being born at a particular time and growing up with a particular set of musical influences gives him some kind of unique authority in popular music, which he has difficulty getting other people to acknowledge. Having been born at the same time, growing up with the same influences, albeit in a different country, I can fully understand why later generations wouldn't find this idea very engaging at all.

[u][b]** NOW SOLD ** [/b][/u]Nice US Big Muff, in green, with box and instruction sheet. Fully working and in pretty good cosmetic condition, just small scratches here and there. Will post in UK for £35.

I've decided to sell my Kala U-Bass, as I'm not using it. When I did use it, which was for small "unplugged" rock gigs, it was great fun and always a talking point.

It is the acoustic mahogany version, which has a piezo pickup under the bridge. It doesn't have any volume or tone controls.

It is currently strung with Pyramid Black Tape Nylon Bass Uke strings. The advantage is they feel like conventional strings, and sound great unamplified. The downside is the D and G strings come over much quieter than the E and A when amplified. Also, the D string tends to rattle, which I cured with a piece of black card in the nut slot.

I will also include a set of little-used Aquila Silver Rumblers, which are more like the stock strings, but a bit less stretchy, and the original set of stock Pahoehoe strings, which are well stretched.

It is in very good cosmetic condition, with the original case. The action is quite high, as it always has been. There is something that looks like it ought to be an adjustable truss rod, but it isn't. With these you have to accept that you're not going to go flying up and down the neck, or at least, not quickly.

Priced to sell at £275. Can be collected from B49 - 30mins drive west from J15 on M40. Or I can arrange a courier at cost.

[quote name='Acebassmusic' timestamp='1432905288' post='2786095']
I'm amazed that no-one has asked if the Mars bar is in perfect condition or if it has been [s]re-licked[/s] reliced!
[/quote]
I think someone did, probably around 2012.

By now the thing must be riddled with cocoa moth.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1438531175' post='2835203']
The curse is how hard it is to make that very point to some.

Blue
[/quote]

Like me. I was born in 1952. I'm fed up with people my age always going on about the Beatles, so I can understand why later generations would be thoroughly sick of it.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1435675195' post='2811298']
The Who are different as in Pete Townshend is the creative person in the band. That is probably why they survived.
[/quote]

That's an interesting point. A rock band is different from an orchestra because it's expected to create the music as well as play it. Problem is, the creative spark tends to diminish with age, so you end up with bands that, even if they still have the song writers, they're not creating anything new that is anywhere close to what they did in their prime. But, people are still happy to see Pete and Roger, or Mick and Keith, so long as they play the old stuff. In Yes, I'm not sure who people would go to see. Could it be just Jon Anderson?

[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1433350177' post='2790383']
They're really not much good in low current applications as they lose a fair bit of charge per day even when not in use.
[/quote]

I bought some Duracell Duralock rechargeables and they seem much better at holding charge. I've been using them in a camera flash which gets used intermittently. I got it out last night after 3-4 weeks and it was still working fine - plus on one charge I'm getting something like 3-4 times the number of shots I was getting from disposable alkalines. Might not be so good in other applications, but I'm happy.

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1431175556' post='2768500']
Batteries in basses?
[/quote]

Not in mine, thankfully.

Looks like it should all be ok then. Thanks.