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I’d love to have worked with Kate Bush, Sandy Denny and Stevie Nicks. And Seal, particularly on his first album. The Staves, because of those immense harmonies. Martin Simpson. Zero 7. I’d also have loved to have done a gig with Hawkwind, Lemmy-era. Oh, and to play on an ABBA track…….oh yes. 😁

For me, Martin’s tone and playing are absolutely essential to my enjoyment of the WA sound. YMMV.

I saw the BBC footage yesterday and found it incredibly sad and not a little upsetting. He looks incredibly frail and it really shocked me. I hope he’s going to be ok. Given how he appears, I suspect this really must be the last tour though, so I’m glad I’m going if only (as I’ve previously stated) to say goodbye.

When my band played at The Acoustic Festival of Britain the other year we were on immediately before Martin, which came as a bit of a shock to me at the time! Spoke to him at length before and after, helped him on stage with his gear and checked out his ‘72 Ric - he was a bit surprised that I had 2 (sadly didn’t take them with me, used my Warwick Alien) and was even more surprised that I’d also had a rare 21 fret Rick like his original. Have to say he was an absolute gent, warm, very funny and very kind about the band. I’m also pleased to say that his set was awesome and his Rick sounded great. He was using a Hartke head with an Ashdown Mag cabinet:

I’ve seen them several times too and they have been inconsistent. The time I saw them at the Etihad was a bit pants. There was a time at MENA around By The Way (?) that was a bit meh. There have been a couple (?) of times at MENA when they were great. And then there were Leeds Festival when John first came back which was incredible, and Glasgow Green which was one of the best gigs I’ve been to.

Swapping the necks is worth trying anyway, to see if any sonic differences migrate over or not.

This is all I took your post as and I’ll admit was a bit non-plussed by the response, but I guess a sensitive point is a sensitive point. Plus I didn’t know about any previous discussions…..

It may actually have been what they wanted. I started out in heavy metal bands, writing heavy metal tunes; wouldn’t really want to be playing it now (much as I still love the Sabbaths of this world). At some point, about 6 years in, it became about the tunes for me too. It happens, it’s not always “chasing the money”, although it probably is part of growing older and - hopefully - developing as a musician.

I actually think he would. He makes it very clear in his autobiography that he’s never been good at turning down work, sometimes to the detriment of his personal life.

Steve FXR - Yeah, we gathered!😂 If someone’s idea of the Chilis is the hard funking early band, I can see why they might not like the later albums; however I’ve always been more about songs, and for me some of the songs on the later albums far surpass the early ones, much as I also love the early versions of the band. I think Californication is just as good as BSSM, just different. I also really like much of SA. I’m actually not that keen on Mother’s Milk! My favourite Chilis track is Venice Queen.

I suspect that may be intentional. ABBA ‘finished’ in 1982, the year Tron came out.😉

I went from Jazz to the Beatles and ‘60s pop to ABBA to Prog to hard rock and metal to electronic to punk to indie to funk to folk, accumulating everything I liked along the way. I’ve never really understood why people have a particularly strong leaning to one genre at the expense of something else, it’s a bit like saying “I love all food as long as it’s made from potatoes!”. Or, in this case, cheese. 😉😂

Have you checked your cab impedance?

Still my favourite track of theirs. Stunning.

Lemmy got by with 100w Marshalls. In Motorhead! And Glenn Hughes used 200w Hiwatts……..in Deep Purple! In the ‘70s! Do you need to be louder than them? Or just much cleaner?

They were cool when I was at school, when they first started. I remember watching them winning Eurovision and thinking they were brilliant. Maybe that ages me.😂 Even when they became uncool later on I still loved them and was quite happy to say so. I never really gave a stinky poo whether something was considered cool or not, I always thought that was the worst possible reason to like something, because more often than not it’s based on someone else’s opinion.

Valve volume is different. 😉 I play extremely lightly but was quite happy competing with a very loud drummer and 2 modded Marshall full stacks using either a 100w Marshall Superbass or a Fender Bassman 135 back in the day, plugged into either a 2x15 or 2 single 15s. I guess it depends on the sound you’re after and how loud you like to hear yourself (I’ve always preferred to be “in the mix” onstage).

The only amps that have failed on me were: A very early Trace AH150 (GP11) I had many, many years ago (actually my favourite amp that I’ve owned) which didn’t like being connected to 2 cabs regardless of denomination or impedance. Had it on the bench for ages, couldn’t replicate the issue, in the end just used it with one; it was plenty loud anyway. Loved that amp. A Marshall Dynamic Bass 200w which crapped out on me in the process of getting rid, not long after buying (it was rubbish!). It turned out to have a dodgy component - I forget what - that failed as soon as someone played with some welly. As I literally brush the strings it never happened to me. 😂 Thankfully fixed under warranty and moved on immediately. A Marshall 2001 375watt all-valve head. Very rare, probably with good reason. 😉 That was useless and used to blow up almost every time I plugged it in. Got rid of that fast.

I imagine they actually have more money than they know what to do with. 😉 Along with Genesis and Yes, probably my favourite band. Will I buy the album? Probably. Will I go to the “gigs”? If I can get a ticket - that’s a big if - also probably. I can’t imagine what it will be like though, with motion captured digital versions of them.

Yes, a fan here. I tend to try and start at the beginning and keep going as far as I can.

Fela Kuti. Awesome.