uk_lefty

My late Uncle was a massive Tangerine Dream fan. I'd love to get in to it just to get familiar with it but do t know where to start, any tips?

Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis, really helps when I've got to get stuck in to a load of spreadsheets.

My Mrs got me Guitar Family Trees from one of those cheap book remainder type shops a few years back. It's absolutely excellent and only cost a couple of quid. So if you're like me and you check ebay daily for guitars and basses that are a bit less mainstream then this book takes you through the models and the company history. Good glossy photos too and it covers brands like Hayman and so on, so it's not all Fender and Gibson. A good cheap option of you can find it, and a feel good present to give because its massive and heavy and therefore seems expensive!

I've seen on ebay ex "McBusted" Ashdown 8x10s quite a while back. They had no speakers in them.

I'm not sure that's right. I recently had to pursue a plumber for a very badly fitted heating system that cost me hundreds to put right and you can recover all of your costs if you win. The key to these things though is that nobody wants it to have to go to court so it's a few we'll written letters saying you will take action if its not resolved by whatever date, with loads of evidence, and then I expect most cases end with an amicable settlement outside of the court system. Its a ball ache and you shouldn't have to go that far but sometimes it's the only way people know you're serious. I'd say keep plugging away, if the shop is dealing with the manufacturer this can take months and be a bit of a black hole. Had it with a wireless system I bought through Andertons, it went back to Line 6 for a repair but did take ages with absolutely no communication in the middle unless I phoned and asked.

Dave Mustaine.

Agreed. Country would be wrong any other way, and I think some of the rhymes and the feel rely on the accent and slang that just wouldn't work otherwise. I have a friend who moved to the US many years ago. He is determined to keep his Yorkshire accent but he says American things and uses American slang. Its weird.

Glasvegas, sing in a strong Glasgow accent. Forget your dad he's gone becomes forgit yer da he's gone.

I had one that had been beaten to sh!t, won't bore you with all the details but despite it being a bit heavy it was my main gigging bass, the one I kept coming back to even though I had other more expensive basses. I traded it in for my Stingray and later, listening back to old gigs, realised I'd traded in the wrong jazz against the new Ray. Take a punt, you won't lose money and you could get a winner. Do some wast mods like stick in some bartolinis and you can have an absolutely fantastic bass that you won't mind a chunk coming off when the drummer kicks it over again.

Oooooh tempting!!

That's fantastic! Love it

I can't call myself a "fan" but I bought Radio Music Society years back and it's a good calming album to have on while trying to concentrate on work. Great bass playing, musicianship and composition and an incredible voice. I followed her on Facebook for a while and it got a bit weird and art studenty for my liking so I'll stick to the jazzy albums. Have just got hold of chamber music society and giving that a run through this morning 😊

Cheat notes help when I'm going from playing along with a recording to playing with a band. I will often write down something like: Intro D G C x4 Verse D A D A x2 Em D A Em Chorus A Bm A Bm C# x4 So it's not tabbing out a riff or whatever but it sets out the structure of the song for me so I don't get lost without the cues the original recording has and if I forget the exact riff at least I can play around the chord. Then after I've played it enough I don't use the notes any more.

I think the Bootleg recordings has him trying to work it out on organ. All makes sense now

No doubt the Status necks are great, but the neck on my Ray is amazing, would only replace it if there was a catastrophe

What happens to all these homeless Stingray necks?!

I took the advice on this video and adapted a fuzz patch on my multi effects pedal by introducing autowah, chorus and octave, it does a much more sympathetic synth sound than most synth presets. Definitely worth exploring second hand multi effects that are easy to edit rather than buy a one trick pony pedal.

I didn't like number 4. I couldn't tell a lot of difference with the others, though 2 sounded more bassy than 1. All except 4 sounded good as chorus effects and suited what you were playing, I guess which one to keep depends on how they sound with a band and what you want to do with them? Also whether versatility is something you're after with those effects too.

I hate seeing a fingerboard that looks like it's had a row of spuds planted in it then removed, same with the back of the neck. Makes me wonder how uncomfortable it is to play. Just taking off some shine, a few chips off the headstock and logo is sufficient.

Well now you mention it I have just started an 80s band so....

If an agent has kept you booked solid and well paid I'd be inclined to listen to them, even though it startles me that they've said this, but it's their business and they should know. I just can't work out how or why this would be the case. In my sweeping generalisations I would have thought it's easier to find a good female singer than an adequate male singer, and easier to "sell" a band with a female singer.

If I can find up close pics I'll put them up... I wasn't brave enough to do a full relic but I had an MIM Jazz that I deliberately went about "aging" in my own way: Chrome pickup covers. Simple to age them, just never put the bass in a case. A big flake came off the bridge cover near the F which looked better than any chemical pitting I could have tried. Neck. This was played and played... But in fitting new tuners I accidentally drilled all the way though the headstock once. That stayed. There was a few dents in the end of the neck from bashing in to guitarists and drummers. Again, no case. No cleaning the back of the neck to let sweat take its course, but the thick poly type coating was tough to stain. Body. Dragging the strings against the body when removing them took the burgundy down to grey. In one rehearsal a guitarist and I got a bit too angry with somebody and in a fit of noise I was smashing my bass bottom strap button first in to the floor. Big flakes of poly and paint came off to reveal naked wood. So every now and then I picked at that a bit more. I think the bass had been owned by someone who must have played with a stud bracelet on or something, it was scratched to hell, wish I'd sanded through that to the wood. Pickguard. I put on a black Pickguard but when I fitted new pickups it needed some fettling. I didn't have good tools, just some wood files so made a right pigs ear of it, which looked pretty good IMO. I'm up for buying a Chinese ebay body and neck and having a relic P, would be fun.

I took all this advice on board, the Ian Allison video I found was great. I considered buying up all the individual pedals but actually it didn't take me long to edit a fuzz preset on my multi in to a few good useful synth sounds by adding Octave, chorus, and autowah and dialling back the fuzz a lot. Thank you! You've helped open my eyes and save money... And save lots of Thomann packages arrive for my Mrs to get suspicious about!

I'd love to say something about my personal creativity and not wanting to tread on the likes of Paul McCartney by doing a version that never quite captures his brilliance... Yawn. I have a set list of over 60 songs. I learn something that captures the original spirit, be it a main riff, a way of phrasing, but I'm not going to remember every single fill and trill along the way. And sometimes I'll throw in my own because I'm bored, or the song needs a bit of space filling that we don't have the instrumentation for, etc. Sometimes I want to learn a fill because it sounds cool. Sometimes I listen to an original recording of a song I've been playing for years and realise the band has strayed massively from elements of the original. If people want to hear an exact reproduction they can stream it/ get the CD. If they want to have fun listening to a live band they have to accept some "artistic licence" which may also mean, lack of ability!!