Norris

Ah the ferrules are rebated. That would make them more awkward to remove. Glad the new tuners fit ok then.

We play I'm a Believer, we play Nantucket Sleighride. It doesn't matter what you do to a certain extent as long as you play it well and keep the audience engaged

And Blue - it sounds like you play to a lot of "cold" crowds in your bars. In UK it tends to be a bit more "local" and we have quite a few fans who will follow us around and make an effort to see us if we're nearby. I suppose that makes a bit of difference in our approaches to playing. A familiar crowd makes it an intimate experience, which seems not to be a feature for you as far as I can tell

We have a pretty wide repertoire so can tailor the set to suit the occasion. We do like to push the "musical" venues with a bit more guitar and proggy stuff, but can do Sweet Caroline etc if needed

I'm certainly going to try tru oil on my next build and may well do a slurry. I won't be using stain though. To avoid more derailment, just watch out for blue ink - red and green seem stable. If unsure go for a dedicated colour fast wood stain. It's not that expensive but have fewer shades available

As Grangur says tap the dowel in from the rear of the headstock

Regarding Diamine ink, I did a series of colour fastness tests. The "Ruby" red was very good and hardly faded at all. I had much more variable results with the four different shades of blue that I tested. I ended up settling on spirit based dye from Rothko and Frost

A microswitch fitted on the bass drum pedal?

Windows media player used to have a "Visualiser" that generates graphics on the fly from an audio track. I don't think it has a way to do it on live audio but there is bound to be some software out there that can. As for going analogue, that won't be easy to do much more than simple volume-related i.e. signal voltage. More complex might be possible with band-pass flters - which would need a bit of reading and research. But then how would you feed it into the monitor. I think I'd forget about modifying a CRT unless you really know what you are doing - there are some pretty high voltages therein!

In a moment of youthful exuberance I lept off the stage, executed a perfect scissor kick and smacked my head against a low beam. No blood, but I was a bit fuzzy for the next couple of songs with mild concussion. I did once look behind me just in time to see the drummer disappear down the gap at the back of the stage along with his drum stool and whatever bits of kit he tried to grab on his way down. Luckily it was only a couple of feet drop

+1 for the Rumble 500. You probably won't need an extension cab but I'd probably pair it with another 2x10. The extension cabs are not exactly the same size as the combo though - if you're a bit OCD about that sort of thing

That has come together beautifully. Looking forward to the porn pics

Wow! Not jealous at all!

Practice with your eyes shut We have four par cans on a crossfade and a twinkly thingy to add a bit of movement. Lighting bands is different to discos

What a great little amp! Straight out of the box, plug in a bass and lovely sounds. Give it some welly and it's surprisingly loud, no rattles or farts. It's solidly built and can be used as a wedge. It would be ideal for jams and acoustic nights. Highly recommended if you're looking for a practice amp!

Keep them coming! You ought to see my telecaster build thread (on another site). It's been running since September last year and I've lost count of the number of pages! And I still have several months to go at the rate I'm getting stuff done!

Wow! That's different. Have you had to use extra long scale strings? Great looking bass - I love the top horn carving

Have you got the correct date set on the flux capacitor? Lovely work btw

Two large cheap sports holdalls for the lights and associated cables. A medium general purpose hard case for mic and leads. A soft case for my GT6B. Guitar stand and mic stand lashed together with cheap straps. A soft case for the light stands. Bass and strap in a gig bag. Combo with Roqsolid cover (+ hardboard sheet in the optional front pocket) Yes, it takes a few trips

I could happily live with one bass - my Squier. But then after telling my lad to put down my vintage Aria I then got out my fretless Jazz for the first time in ages. And I couldn't possibly get rid of the Ric. And... Darned Basschat GASeous atmosphere!

I know that I always have room for improvement. I'd rate myself as "competent to handy" rather than virtuoso. There are a lot better bass players out there, but I do a pretty decent job in our guitar/bass/drums trio. Any comments from the audience are usually met with a standard "thanks mate" and not allowed anywhere near my ego

I bought a 5 string Yamaha bass from Tobie. Excellent communications and bass arrived in great condition exactly as described. Thanks for a smooth transaction Cheers, Norris

Why not use a proper "LED driver" - less than a tenner each on Amazon? They are transformers specially designed for the job

Or maybe this would do the trick: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/286772-truss-rod-tool-for-rickenbacker/

I have a cheap magnetic screwdriver set with interchangeable bits. The driver with no bit fitted is slim enough to go on the nut and still give you something to turn it with. It fits my Ric without having to hack lumps out of the bass. Of course ymmv