magee

I had a recurring noise/buzz from a Musicman that nobody, just nobody, could fix. I lived in Dublin at the time and the guy who looked after U2's guitars pretended like he had fixed it, but he hadn't. Turned out a later owner solved it - the copper wire in the pickup had broken, so it needed a rewind. Another thing to think about checking.

You could try this one I have for sale, as a valve starter amp: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/268722-price-drop-100w-all-valve-hand-built-bass-amp/ On a slightly less self-interested note: I had a Little Bastard once and it sounded beautiful. I had to get rid because it didn't have enough volume for gigging and rehearsal, but the sound was fabulous.

Done, also intrigued.

That's all really helpful. It sounds like opening your mouth when getting the fitting is the secret. Thanks all. Matthew

The singer/guitarist in my pub blues band suffers from tinnitus. It's pretty bad - he says even playing an acoustic guitar can trigger it. He's tried good quality ear plugs before but said while they were fine when playing guitar they didn't work when he started to sing. Moving his jaw had an effect on the shape of his ear canal and sudden bursts of sound rushed in. It was worse than having none. Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone know of any kinds of earplugs which are good for this and combat the change in shape of your face/ear canal when you're singing? Matthew

I've made sure I haven't played in a two guitar band for years - it's not a lot of fun. As has already been said, very few guitarists know how to shape their tone and style to make use of having two guitars. The only problem I encounter is the guitarist worrying - sometimes an awful lot - about how 'empty' the sound is when they solo. I've spent countless hours convincing them that it doesn't sound empty, that a rhythm guitar underneath the solo adds little to nothing, and that the cost to the sound of having two guitars chugging away all night is just too great. I don't add my worries about having two guitar egos in the band, not out loud anyway. Previous commenters are totally right - the sound of the band fills all the space, you don't need to compensate drastically for anything. And audiences don't want to be swamped in noise anyway - they want light, shade, nuance, dynamics and a touch of wit and grace. That's much easier with one guitar than two. You'll have a ball, good luck.

I think it's fabulous, but I'm a big Bad Plus fan so I'm biased. They do brilliant modern-ish but accessible jazz and have a bit of a thing for doing odd covers of famous songs - lots of Radiohead ones on previous albums and at gigs. Never heard them with a singer before.

Chip Van Morrison

Starvin' Gaye

Fry And The Family Stone

PaulWarning - nope. I guess they're too embarassed to sing about dying before they get old at 70-odd years old. There was, in fairness, outrage about this in the toilets afterwards, so the well-lubricated ageing mods started their own singalong. Great reverb in there.