uk_lefty

Mine is "kickstart my heart" by Motley Crue.

I saw them advertising lefty stingrays in a pop up ad a while back. The ad claimed they were genuine, etc. All for £283 or something daft. They had even done the "made in California" sticker on the back of the headstock. I would never buy from one of these, not only because it's a rip off but you just don't know where your money is going, what shady practices may be going on in the factory etc. I know you can say that about many big brands but when the end product is blatantly illegal there's less chance of them having a CSR policy and all the checks you'd expect a supplier to say Tesco to eventually be subject to. You just wonder how many people take a punt like many BC'ers hoping they get something useable and how many genuinely think they're getting something of a good deal from the back door of the factory. I once bought some sports gear off eBay from Pakistan thinking that's ok it's where all the factories are. On eBay he had one bit of feedback saying FAKE DO NOT USE but loads of good feedback, so was it one person not knowing what they were looking at? Not so. What was supposed to be carbon fibre was a well painted piece of wood using the manufacturers stencils, a blatant inside job at forgery by either one or two of the workers or the factory themselves. I threatened the seller with trading standards and reporting to the brand, I even got offered "fifty genuine Figueroa Armani leather jackets" as compensation!! 😂 I got my money back and reported him anyway.

One thing you can't fault Ashdown for is having a go, the Superfly was ahead of its time. Ok they don't always get it right but they support people with any of their kit, not just the newest flagship models. I just wish they could do a proper Trace clone and hope thegreek doesn't buy out the whole stock

Interesting concept. I suppose it depends how important that individual is to the overall makeup of the show and the sound of the band. People have already mentioned a MeatLoaf show where the bassist was easily replaced, yet would you go and see, say Motley Crue without Nikki Sixx? He doesn't sing but he's integral to the performance even though the guitar tech could probably come out and play his parts. If you went to see someone like Jeff Beck and you know he has put together a quality band would you mind if the drummer was substituted at the last minute for the show you attend? Probably not, you know you'll be seeing and hearing someone equally good. Extreme example, if *insert name of favourite comedian* gets food poisoning hours before a show you have tickets for would you be happy if their PA or even an actor/ actress friend of theirs who is relatively well known came out and read the jokes? (Incidentally I have heard of "tribute" comedians and I don't get it!!??)

Son I'm thirty, I only went with yer mother cuz she's dirty Another by Black Grape

I think I can justify another jazz if it's the "half price" MIM...... Just got to decide whether to go maple or Pau Ferro....

"Ten years ago, on a cold dark night Someone was killed, 'neath the town hall light There were few at the scene, but they all agreed That the slayer who ran, looked a lot like me The judge said son, what is your alibi If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die I spoke not a word, thou it meant my life For I'd been in the arms of my best friend's wife" Long Black veil, Johnny cash (might not be him who wrote it, I'm not sure) At eleven years old, bored witless one long summer holiday I put on a Johnny Cash album just to see... Then I wanted to play an instrument and write songs. Ok, I work in an accountancy company now, but I really like music.

Gorgeous! 🤤

I have tried Steve Harris signature strings (they're just rotosound heavy flats I hear...) But that creates some serious tension, they're a lot clearer and rounder sounding than TI's. Personally I didn't like the TIs on my p bass but have kept them for if I get a jazz again I think I'd like them on a passive jazz. I've had fender tapewounds on the p for over a year now and they sound great. Thumpy and percussive but there's a grittyness when you open the tone and dig in, plus for rounds they're easy on the fingers. Just for variety I'm going to put on some Fender flats (45 guage) next. I should add my p has a badass bridge and Steve Harris signature pup which may influence things a fair bit in how I hear the strings.

That sir, is a work of art. Congrats on the purchase

Looks better from behind.

Makes me feel better about drilling all the way through the headstock of my jazz bass when re fitting tuners. With the thinnest drill bit ever, completely unnoticeable from more than an inch away. But still.

I went from a gorgeous Trace Rig that was just too heavy to a Mag300, well the "Toneman" plus a Rootmaster 1*15. I ended up acquiring another RM 1x15 and the RM500 head. It's perfect for gigging. Lightweight, decent sound. I changed one of the fifteens to a 2x10 and it's ok, not great. I think if they do a RM 2x12 they'd be on to a winner. I actually think the octaver thingy is ok but you need a two button footswitch so you can just drop it on for a few bars then turn it off. I'd never leave it on permanently. I also like that you can switch off the EQ on Ashdown amps so of you're using a preamp pedal you then get the sound of that pedal without confusion from the amp. For the kit I now have and my gigging needs I honestly can't see myself using anything else. It's my "rig for life" I think. I've chopped and changed amps a lot in the past but I've found something that does 90% of what I want and that seems to be the highest score possible! Wouldn't mind one of their CTMs in future though. The big draw for me is knowing that if you email them you'll get an answer. You can go over to their offices and they'll repair/ modify stuff (from what I've heard, don't go turning up on their doorstep based on what I say!!). So they seem like all round decent folk.

To be fair to Scott I don't think I've seen any job spec that doesn't have the catch all "and any such tasks as required..." From student waiting jobs to decent salaried business positions. But yes, it does seem as if it's not very well defined. While I've criticised, constructively I hope, I respect Scott and what he's doing in general. If you strip down the job ad to what's really needed then for someone who's experience in social media stuff and subscription based products then it could be a great opportunity. As a few have mentioned the challenge will be to expand the range of services and retain membership. Not easy when there isn't decades of similar businesses having gone before to learn from. And fair play to Scott, he's helping people of all abilities get in to bass playing and get more out of their time playing bass, and he's been there and done it, he's no chancer who's accidentally created this by dumb luck.

I sold off my Sire earlier in the year too...

I don't think the ad is too bad... Probably because I've seen many far, far worse!! I think it's a bit confused, not sure how you can be an experienced and respected contributor to the business of your job is to make sure everyone does what Scott says. Also being remotely based but being responsible for team culture just doesn't work IMO. There are some specific skills and experiences required so it's not just hopeful pie in the sky stuff. I just think it's a bit of a confused mix of stuff he's asking for, in a language that may turn off a lot of people who would want this kind of gig, and it seems a bit "big corporate" for what seems to me like it should be a tight knit small but successful enterprise. That's £1,500+ VAT and expenses for my insight.

Thanks for all the replies. The info was very scant. I'm happy either way, but the logistics of getting a bass there after work, if it were required, would have been a nuisance.

That works better than a load of people sat amp-less in a room trying to follow i guess. Should be good

Only done signatures once, even the sound and lights guy got asked to sign the poster! Makes you feel a bit less special.

So I've signed up for my first ever lesson/ masterclass after playing for over twenty years. I'm off to the Andertons Marcus Miller masterclass. There's very little info about it, though I've seen YouTube videos of other similar things I don't know what to expect. I guess I take my bass...? Has anyone been to an Andertons masterclass event before? Or a Marcus Miller one? Any insight gratefully received. I bought a ticket as I live Marcus' playing and thought they'd sell out quickly, now slowly bricking it...

https://m.uk.dhgate.com/product/left-handed-white-music-man-ernie-ball-sting/395856085.html?f=bm|GMC|pla|1670763299|61518981061|395856085|pla-296557785071|113003009|GB|zhuxue887|m|2|#pd-113 I've seen this advertised via Gumtree (not gumtrees fault). Blatant fakes, I doubt many people fall for it but am sure quite a few buy from here and then they circulate secondhand. Can't believe they don't get shut down quickly.

It's ok, I just feel like a bit of a third bollock for not knowing how to do this stuff, I know you weren't having a pop. A lot of written advice doesn't go in to the required level of detail for me such as I previously mentioned, what distance am I measuring, from fretboard to middle of string or top of fret to bottom of string? Is just one example. I will look at some of the recommended YouTube clips on here, it's just knowing what is good advice and what is turd is sometimes hard to spot. I do want to get to a point where I am self sufficient with this stuff and I like the idea of a cheap kit bass to use as a test bed. Far safer than pissing around with my Stingray! It was when I put the under-sea cable thickness Steve Harris strings on my Japanese Precision and could feel the incredible tension going all the way through the neck, papping myself that something was going to snap and not a string... And the truss rod on that bass needs the neck joint loosening to get to it. That's when I though I really, really need to do this stuff myself.

I take it to a guy who knows what he's doing. He asks what I want, he delivers it without flipping up the instrument. I have a go on it and either say yes it's great or say hmmm maybe you could lower it a bit more? Etc. It saves me masses of time, frustration and stress that I'm wrecking a bass. Things like adjusting the truss rod aren't intuitive to me.

It would be good if there was an "idiot's guide to" bass maintenance somewhere. For example setting action height, I bought the special overpriced ruler but do you measure from the board to the middle of the string? The top of the fret to the bottom of the string? Etc. Would save me £60 every now and then taking my basses for a 'service' (I like to not only change strings but go for completely different gauges etc so it needs truss rod, action and intonation as well as the easy stuff) as I'm sure after a few goes on an old bass I could build up the confidence to do all sorts of stuff to my nice basses.

That, sir, is completely ridiculous and impractical. It's right up my street!!! Great work.