Japhet

TV 'talent' shows have played a big part as well. The public have been fed a diet where only the vocalist is of any interest and musicianship is of none.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1483056074' post='3204511'] Great musicians. Dave is a hot bluegrass banjo player, too and a fine craftsman, as well. Some years ago, I saw an old horse drawn travellers caravan he had restored at a country fair. Beautiful job. An extremely talented man. [/quote] Dave started out as a signwriter and he absolutely loved restoring his gypsy caravans. It was his sanctuary.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1482766069' post='3202586'] Am I right that he's using a pick in many of the performances? A bit hard to tell. Great player, great band. I was taken to see them aged 11 - and even at that age, they were superb. Big RIP to their drummer Mickey - amazing drummer who died a couple of years ago. Played with them from the beginning until he retired in 2009. I was just starting drumming when I saw them, and he was important in me seeing how a professional fits in. [/quote] Mick was a lovely bloke. He carried on his job as a plummer for a long while after they 'made it'. Chas told me that they would be at a gig and Mick hadn't turned up and when they tracked him down he'd be in somebody's loft changing a ballcock and he'd 'I'll be there soon but I've got to stop this leak first'. Drove Chas nuts!

It's a little known fact that Boris Johnson is the brother of not one, but two well known slappers. Louis and Ulrika.

I like Led Zeppelin's version of Stairway to Heaven by Rolf Harris.

Bought a valve amp from Pete. Top bloke. Excellent communications and he travelled a fair way to hand it over since he didn't want to risk sending it. Absolute pleasure to deal with and a credit to the forum.

I'm happy to switch back and forth. Some things are easier on a 4 (slapping for instance although I'm sure some will disagree) but the way I see, a 5 only has 5 extra notes but enables you to play in different positions and on different parts of the neck. A 5 can also get a bit heavy on a long gig.

The Tecamp 1x12 is a cracking little cab. Build quality is top notch and it can take some stick. Light as a feather as well.

After quitting Slade, gravel tonsilled front man Noddy Holder struggled for money so he turned his hand to inventing. His first effort was the Noddy Cup Holder which was a merchandising disaster and led to several Court cases where purchasers had been scolded with hot beverages.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1482395685' post='3200106'] They are great guys. I did a summer season with them a few years back (I was in the main turn band) and got to know them well at the time. Blimey, they could put the booze away. Had a few drunken nights with them. I got to play the P Bass a few times as well, along with learning the vocal technique for "Rabbit".. [/quote] Ha! Had more than a few boozy nights with them myself - more often than not in The Crown at Broxbourne.

I have a family connection to Chas and have known the pair of them for years, but not so much lately. Dave is about the nicest bloke you could ever meet and Chas was primarily a bass player (and a bloody good one at that). Chas was in a band called The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore of all people and was also n Head ands and Feet. They are both superb musicians and used to come round my house on Burns Night for a jam and a sing song many years ago.

Use the XLR socket to go straight to the desk. The DI on the Streamliner is very good.

I wouldn't go back to a heavy cab. As for the heads, I'm very happy with what I get out of my lightweight ones. I don't really know what a lot of people are on about with their criticisms to be honest. I do however have a hankering for a valve head before I finally hang up my bass.

The key signature will identify sharps and flats within the major scale since they won't be marked as such on the piece of music you're reading.

Excellent choice. Lakland punch way above their weight on their cheaper ranges and the 55 01 has probably the best 5 string neck I've ever played. Love mine and it's such a versatile instrument too.

Never trust the electorate and take all statistics with a hefty pinch or salt.

Loved a load of John Entwhistle's basslines, particularly around Quadrophenia, but the tone on a lot of later stuff was a clanky mess IMO. With regard to comments about players above though (particularly Pino). I'd say that whilst a lot of us could undoubtedly play many of the basslines, would any of us have been able to come up with them in the first place?

The thing I really liked about the MB500 Fusion was the 2 channels with separate gains and footswitch. Loud little bugger as well.

My fairly cheapo Lakland 55 01 has the best 5 string neck I've played, including SR 5s. It's completely stock with Bart pickups and active/passive selector and I love it to bits. Can get a bit heavy on a long gig though but what 5 string wouldn't?

The only thing I'd want back is all the money I spent on stuff I didn't need.

The amp section in your combo will run at a max of 4ohms. Adding another speaker would increase this to 2ohms (counter intuitive I know, but that's how it works), and would blow your amp up. The industry standard is that most combos/heads run at 8ohms and have a speaker extension socket to run an additional cab. Yours doesn't have an extension socket because it can't power another cabinet.

I'd go for a 4 ohm 2x12 cab for starters. I reckon the one I have now is louder than a 1x15 & 4x10 setup I've had in the past. Take your pick of class D heads since anything from 350 watts up will have plenty of power. My 500w Tecamp head is very loud at around 30% of available power. I also find the 2x12 much louder than the Barefaced Compact I had for a while.

Practice with a single pluck as in 'bum di, bum di, bum di' until it's smooth. Then practice the double pluck (I use index and middle finger) as in 'diddy, diddy, diddy'. Start it all at a comfortable pace and then build it up. When both parts sound smooth, put 'em together.

AC Cars and Carroll Shelby.