EliasMooseblaster

What's the difference between a cow and an orchestra? On a cow, the horns are at the front, and the a***hole's at the back.

It's funny how some basses just seem to 'suit' the way you play...and some really don't! Jazzes are the awkward one for me: I've heard lots of people, from big names like Geddy Lee down to some-other-bloke-at-a-jam-night, get great tones out of them, but I've never been happy when I try playing one myself. And yet, pass me a Precision or a T-bird, and I'm laughing. Glad to hear you've found "your" bass type!

Good grief, what was this guy's budget like? (It wasn't Tommy Wiseau, was it?)

Yeah, probably the smallest I've ever played! I had a run of gigs there a few years ago myself - this must have been around 2011-ish. I think by that point the owner was really leaning on his connection to Amy Winehouse, as the walls were covered in paintings of her, with portraits of one or two other famous musicians tucked into the corners. Pretty good portraits, to be fair, but it was a bit unsettling having her face staring back at you from every angle!

This is the crux of it really - it depends so much on the PA system at the gig! If the band's bringing its own small-ish PA that's only really handling vocals and maybe an acoustic guitar, you're best bringing your ABM and cab(s). If the venue has a massive in-house system that handles everything, save your back and bring a decent DI/preamp. (I wish I'd learned that lesson sooner...)

This bar wouldn't be Jazz After Dark, in Soho, would it?

I recently sold a hard case to Andy. Very nice chap, and a pleasure to do business with. (Our cat seemed to like him as well, which I always take as a good sign!)

Many thanks to you too, Andy! Pleasure doing business with you - do you have a feedback thread I can populate in return?

A particularly moo-ving piece of music...

I'm not sure what's more awesome: the fact that you were on TV (on the Beeb, no less!), or the fact that you can play a sousaphone!

Have you considered the high-brow legend that is "Unclef**ker" from the South Park Movie?

Personally I find that they're quite useful for getting making the strings a bit slicker, and easier to glide over. Judging by the dust on my pickguards under my usual right-hand position, I'm leaving a lot of shredded fingertip on and around the strings! So whilst the audible difference is a bit on the subtle side*, I can definitely feel a difference. *I have also noticed it's more audible on acoustic instruments than electric (like so many of these things...)

I suspect you're right - I almost certainly heard that one from a drummer I worked with for many years, who devoured rock star biographies and was chock full of music biz anecdotes just like that. I have long suspected that roughly 50% of them were mis-remembered or just plain made up!

I've heard before that Sabbath (and so presumably H&H too) had a weird bee in their bonnet about keyboard players being visible onstage...didn't Rick Wakeman get stuffed behind a curtain when he toured with them?