Roger2611

That is priced at the bottom end of full fat Stingray money, great basses but surely they have to be priced below that of the higher end instruments? I brought mine for £300.00 which I thought was just below market value at the time

Hi all, I have just picked up a Status Energy Matrix bass in a decent used condition for a fair price, as always seems to be the case with the plain wood finish on the body it does show quite a lot of wear above the pick ups, would it be sacrilege and destroy any resale value if I have the top veneered with a cherry / burred walnut / quilted maple finish? I would get it done by a qualified person as, although not overly complicated a job, I am sure my DIY skills would not come up to scratch! What do you think? Rog

The Clash, Joe's lyrics, the anger, the political stance, everything about them was exciting on the first album Stiff Little Fingers, Jake's lyrics introduced me to world I knew little or nothing about and through countless albums SLF continue to deliver, Ali's bass playing and the brilliant live performances all add up to SLF being a seminal band for me! The Chameleons, introduced me to beautiful arrangements, stunning pieces of music and the fact that you don't have to have commercial success to qualify as a massively influential artist Although Frank makes a very compelling argument that Crass should have been one of my three!

Whiteman in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedy's All still as important to me now as they were as a spotty 15 year old "oik"

I think the live performance has been shown before, if it is the same concert it was excellent!

The USA subs are now pushing firmly into the same range that the prime US basses are being offered at, I know they are basically one and the same instrument (I actually prefer my Sub over the higher range basses) but it does seem strong to be expecting the same prices as the far more expensive basses. For me it is the same with the JV Squier's you see them being offered up at more that a late 70's USA Fender which seems mad in a way

I have just brought a Soundcraft UI24-r to use as an enclosed in ear monitor system for the rock band I play in but it is so much more than just an enclosed monitor system, it is incredibly capable as the main and monitor desk, paired with a nice old pair of EV SX200's and a power amp of your choice you have a wonderfully capable pa system that is not overly expensive and is a mix between old school and modern technology, look into the likes of these new fangled digital mixers, they really do appear to offer a huge number of options in the heart of building a modern PA system!

I realised a long time ago that, when it comes to instruments (especially Fender's and Gibson's) top of the range doesn't necessarily mean the pinnacle of playability, I have a couple of US Precision's that sit in cases whilst Mexican or bitsa basses get the gigs, it has likely saved me thousands of pounds in disappointing spends on high end famous basses when I know the budget stuff can be so capable and rewarding! Perfect example, I have now owned and sold 3 really nice Gibson Les Paul's whilst I have kept and still love a bottom of the range Chinese built Tokai Love Rock, which guitarists in two of the bands I played in have chosen to record with over their USA expensive counterparts! Both have offered to buy the guitar if I ever choose to sell it. The best £300.00 I have ever spent.

I believed that for a short while, once the studio was packed full I found the infamous "under the bed" storage area, that's where the Gretsch now resides, imaging my surprise last week when I went to the back of the wardrobe to dig out an old shirt I wanted and I find my old Kawai K4 keyboard leaning against the back of the wardrobe!

Manoeuvres (a tribute to OMD) to be honest, I don't care that they are a tribute band, they were excellent and provided a brilliant night's entertainment for a tenth of what it would cost to go and see OMD and be stuck a good way back from the stage!

You are a bad man

Arturo Bassick, so cool he even has Bass in his surname!

I have just swapped my Mesa Boogie D800 for a Mesa Boogie Walkabout head, purely because I found the D800 felt like it lacked something! I will run it for a few weeks before coming to any conclusions. The only class D head I have liked and kept is the Markbass LM3 which I love, a TC Electronic RH750, Ampeg SVT pro7 and Mesa Boogie D800 have all come and gone because the Markbass sounded better (to me)

I was at that gig! I was going out with UB40's fan club manager at the time, we had free tickets and back stage passes, the Pogues were brilliant but got very drunk after they played, started abusing UB40 and were thrown out by the bouncers! If I remember correctly wasn't Robert Palmer the opening act?

First concert: Bauhaus 1982 Lings Forum Northampton Last concert: Big Country Roadmender Northampton Best concert: Ramones Hammersmith Palais Worst concert: Sisters of Mercy Rock City sometime in the 2000's Loudest concert, Ellery Bop Rock City (supporting Killing Joke 1986) so loud I was scared my heart was going to stop, literally emptied the venue! Seen the most: Stiff Little Fingers Most surprising: Pink Floyd Docklands arena (blown away by the sound and stage show) Next Concert: Gene Loves Jezebel Esquires Bedford Wish I could have seen - I always thought it would be Abba but with the passing of Mark Hollis probably Talk Talk now!

A band called Black Elvis 2000 supported Zig Zig Sputnik when I saw them at Coventry Poly, one of the early dates of their first tour (so OK we are not setting the bar very high to be honest!) they were brilliant, the crowd were shouting for more when they finished, I believe they were subsequently thrown off the tour a couple of days later for upstaging the main band!

Yes, the amp sits on a plastic square with another angled section glued to the front so the LED's shine towards the amp rather than towards the front, pretty simple really but a pain to get the LED's to stick firmly in place!

What is it you dislike about the Wilkinson's? As that might give the Jazz bass guys a better idea of what would suit your needs. Personally speaking I don't really see a huge difference between any of the pickups I have in my Precision's

I always found my old Trace Elliot rigs with the UV front light something special, having moved on to light weight gear I have always missed that Trace look so I decided to build myself something to emulate it! What do you think?

If I remember correctly it is an IPhone only format, a customer sent me some images in this format recently and I could not open them on a Windows device

Cracking job, well done sir

The Fabulous Stains!

I like the idea, sadly I cannot take part as since my school day efforts I have been banned from using a hammer and chisel if anywhere near wood! Good luck though as I genuinely do think that it is a good idea, we all think we know how to do things and we all assume others do things the same was as us, it is not until you sit down with someone you find out that they have been doing things completely different to you, and making that work for many years!

I can never unsee that!