Norris

Half cut, I once stood there chatting backstage with Dave Edmunds for half an hour or so without a clue who he was I was the bass player in a scratch band to back Geoff Downes (Asia, Buggles) at a charity gig he'd organised. I was rather ashamed that I didn't have the foresight to learn Video Killed The Radio Star even though it wasn't on the song list. I busked it ok, but it would have been so much cooler to have known it properly Last year I lent my Thunderbird to Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) when he turned up to a gig in Nuneaton without his bass! 😂

Another band. The lead guitarist was an old hand and had been gigging in various bands since the 60s. The singer/rhythm guitarist had never been in a band before this one. They had been together for a few years and when their bass player left I got roped in by the drummer, that I had previously played with in another band We did "dad rock" covers, playing in local pubs. We'd been together for a couple of years and were getting plenty of gigs, but started to get a bit fed up with the lead guitarist sounding like a wasp in a jam jar all the time, on every song. Anyway eventually the drummer took it upon himself to explore the tonal range of the guitarist's amp, and made him stand there playing while tweaking knobs - it was quite capable of some gorgeous clean tones as well as filth. That really didn't go down well with the guitarist. I think he felt quite indignant about it and he decided to retire from playing shortly afterwards, effectively ending the band

We had been rehearsing our tribute band for nigh on 3 years. We'd been through a couple of second guitarists (I really must post in the weird audition thread). The keyboard player was an absolute perfectionist but we'd battled through week after week to get the performance "acceptable" (it actually sounded flippin' awesome). We were ready to gig! That's when the drummer decided he wasn't really into that music and he'd in fact just been helping us out until we found a drummer that wanted the gig. That's when I finally decided I'd had enough, and the band folded

Nope I wouldn't be going back there. Some venues can be rough but friendly and with a good atmosphere. Others are just not nice places to play. There a few venues that we refused to go back to over the years. One had quite a boisterous, drunken crowd that were often trying to get on the mics and falling over the kit, etc. The landlord didn't keep them under control and often wasn't even in that room. After a few gigs of that we refused to take another booking and told him why. Another venue we only played once due to threats and intimidation - from the landlady!!! We are not an Irish band, we don't know any Irish songs and really don't want to start any trouble out of ignorance by playing a song that might be insulting to one faction or the other. We couldn't get out of there fast enough!

Cadbury post-Kraft takeover Take your Oreo cookies and shove them where they look like they came from, rather than crumbling them up into what used to be a nice chocolate bar!

I'd say gloss finish, then once cured take some fine (0000 grade) wire wool to it to rub it back. That can either give you a satin finish if you do it evenly, or a more roadworn look if you do particular areas. If your neck is still attached to your bass then mask off your pickups (or better still the whole body) to avoid getting them covered in little bits of wire wool - it sticks to magnets

It's a bit difficult to tell from the photos. Fret wear tends to happen underneath the strings, meaning that the frets start to have dips in those places. Levelling the frets and re-crowning will obviously remove material, and eventually after a few goes you will not have enough fret left and have to replace them. Usually you should be able to redress the frets 3 or 4 times depending how much material you need to remove to get them back to being level. Whether you need to replace them depends on how high you like your frets to be. Perhaps borrow another guitar for a short while to see if it's the instrument or you? 😂

I have my expression pedal set as the volume control on pretty much every patch I use. The only real exception are a few patches for one particular song where I need to do an elongated synthy/wah/envelope/phase sweep mid-song Are you wanting to do something else with it, while simultaneously controlling volume?

"Hello this is Currys customer services, how can I help?" "You've been taking a direct debit from my account for years, as far back as I can see in my statements. I don't use that account for direct debits, and never, ever buy extended warranties" "I'll get that stopped and refund it all back to you" Obviously not the first time they had a conversation like that, but a nice surprise that they handed my money back without hassle. Actually some good customer service for a change but I still haven't bought anything from them since

E. Feel glad it's only a tiny chip and happy that it plays really nicely I know it's probably not going to help but my bass is just over a year old now and is still looking pretty much pristine even after 50+ gigs, and despite being gloss black. I'm half thinking of deliberately putting a dink in it to save worrying about it 😂

Rickysounds is also the place for your pickup bezel, but you probably already knew that 😀

The "backside" is too saggy for an Aria (looking at my SB-1000 hanging on the wall) - a much perter posterior 😀

I was pro for long enough to realise I wasn't really going to make any money out of it. I've enjoyed being a weekend warrior for the last few decades though. It took a lot of pressure away from playing, not having to earn a living from it. Now that I'm a fair bit closer to retirement, the house is nearly paid for and the family has grown up, I might have considered it. But then I like my life: I'm in a nice place

Sorry, I can't remember that long ago. The only local shop still surviving sells entry-level gear that is of no interest to me. It's a sad state of affairs, but I think that ship sailed a long time ago

I've had my gen-2 P7-5 for just over a year now. All stock apart from the strings, and I love it (Andertons website screen grab image, but looks just the same as mine)

4003sw/5 would do the trick for me

Ooh - I'm liking that. It looks ideal 👍

I thought "foot controller" and then "I've got an Android tablet". Either would be useable. I don't mind the sequence programming so much, but would be nice to be able to adjust the brightness to suit the room/proximity of the lights. I'll check out that linked video now, thanks @Mudpup

Put masking tape on your fretboard whatever you do to protect it. Then one of the methods already described - the Stewmac tool that ezbass suggested is very good. For final polish though, a Dremel with a polishing wheel and some very fine cutting compound (Meguiars ultimate compound is my favourite) will give you a lovely professional finish

I already have a DMX controller that I've programmed with a few sequences for my lights - a slow, low, fading single-colour wash for between sets; and a brighter colourful sequence while we are playing. However I have a hankering for something that I can control with my feet. Something that is easier to program than setting each individual RGBW value for each light, for each sequence step. Something that I can control the brightness without editing the sequence. Something that might run on my android tablet - or not. What can you recommend? For reference, I have a pair of Thomann Stairville CLB 4x RGBW bar lights and a couple of small derbys (although those are not DMX controlled at the moment)

A Rumble is too heavy?! Good luck finding a light weight Ampeg

Your budget will probably cover a pair of Mackie SRM-450. Powered speakers are definitely the way to go and we've been using the Mackies for many years now and they have been great. Fabulous for vocals and kick. You'll want a mixing desk, but they are cheap enough.

I'm getting tired of keep spelling it when people keep asking about my bass that sounds so great, so for the last time it's S-I-R-E

My first bass was a Kay. The action was so high I could have probably limbo-danced under the strings

Borrow a 5er and temporarily remove the G string? You could stick a thin line of tape down the fretboard to make it look like the string is still there 🤪 I'd lend you mine but I need it for gigs