Happy Jack

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porter-and-Davies-BC2-KT-Bass-Guitar-Monitoring-system-Platform/324341614323?hash=item4b844446f3:g:eDkAAOSwXTVfjth5

Much as I'd love to be able to reproduce, note for note, the basslines to all my favourite songs, there are a few issues that would intervene. 1. Many of them have no 'agreed' absolute original line. I was actually listening to John Pattitucci's line for How Sweet It Is earlier today, which he says is the line that Jamerson actually played, and frankly I don't agree. [Spoiler: He's probably right and I'm probably wrong.] 2. I am fairly promiscuous in a band/music sense. Right now I'm 'in' three bands and I occasionally dep for at least two more. Each of those five bands has at least three hours' worth of repertoire, so I need to be gig ready with at least 15 and in reality perhaps 25 hours of music covering Hank Williams to Bruno Mars. Playing every note of every song exactly like the original is a pointless exercise. 3. @MacDaddy is quite right. When I play Elvis in a 3-piece someone has to provide the missing piano fills, when I play Sam & Dave in a 3-piece someone has to be the brass section occasionally. If I get all up myself and refuse to play something because "well Duck Dunn never played that", chances are the band isn't going to last long. 4. There are some depths I will not plumb. Just because the original bassline contained slap, there's no need for me to sully my pristine fingers with such pathetic, desperate behaviour.

I did wonder if anyone would recognise it ...

Well I'm out on the road and my car's brand new Least it was when I bought it in '72 From a guy who'd had it since '54 And he thought it was new but he couldn't be sure But it looks new From a distance

Well ... (1) it's an auction, so being at £300 doesn't excite me, and (2) 'Reserve Not Met' means that we have no clue whether or not this will ever be bargain.

That would be very helpful, Richard, even if that turns out not to be the exact system I go for. IT prices and capability change so fast that your spec can only be 'a moment in time' but it would serve as a sensible benchmark for me (and everyone else).

Just in case you're a semi-obsolete dinosaur with no real understanding of video technology, who has been tempted to experiment with video editing software (such as Reaper) by this thread, do make sure before you start that you are running a 64-bit version of Windows AND you have downloaded the latest 64-bit version of VLC (go to www.videolan.org ). Shouting & swearing at a blank screen that isn't doing any of the stuff they show it doing in the tutorial videos is not good for the soul. Don't ask me how I know.

Just to finish this off, the refurbed amp arrived within 24 hours and now works perfectly.

That'll be Howard, the drummer with Red Herring. He's had that bass for sale (at a very optimistic price) since I depped with them in August 2017. GLWTS

Contact Kris Kedzior on [email protected] His number used to be +44(0)7793 741 759 but that's a few years old and may have changed. In those days he was based in Staines.

At the risk of extracting the urine, why not just recruit the best singer and, if it's a lady, ask her to dress like a bloke? If you're challenged, you can wave the LGBT banner in their general direction.

You'll be struggling if you try to find anything shorter than that!

Wasn't that the fifth album by King Crimson?

I try mate, I try ...

Nice playing but shame the bass is in such poor condition. You'd think that, being an expensive Custom Shop model an' all, he'd take better care of it.

Mission Creep has now set in. I'm looking at buying a tower PC optimised for video editing. I bloody knew this would happen.

As always Russ, you're absolutely right. That's no help.

Update: I like the Vegas interface and tutorial, but now I discover that there's a second level of protection of the 'free trial' version in that you can't render any video lasting more than two minutes. This was not mentioned during the three hours of tutorials that I have just waded through. I suppose I can see where they're coming from, but given that there's already a fixed 30-day lifespan for the trial version anyway, this particular piece of overkill means that they may just have lost a customer. If I can't generate a meaningful video to check that what I think I've done is what I have actually done, then I'm less likely to be investing either more time or any money in paying for a product that hasn't actually been tested!

A very loud extended bass solo is pretty much what the Government have been seeking, in order to persuade people to avoid town centres.

I'll take this opportunity to thank everyone for the shedload of help and constructive suggestions coming my way, and also to mention that I am now following the advice of my very good friend Mr. Rishi Sunak and re-training as a Video Software Engineer. That is, I'm spending hours every day frantically clicking things and swearing at the computer.

How do you feel about scale length? I know that it doesn't bother a lot of people, but my experience has been that every single really good 5-string bass that I've ever owned had (or, more accurately, has) a 35" scale. That extra inch isn't particularly impressive on the E or A, but seems to make a world of difference to the B. So that puts me firmly in the Lakland / Tobias / Mike Lull camp.

Well could you at least fax me some paper then? I'm running low ...

Typo? At £900 rather than £9000 it wouldn't be such a bad deal.

I'm not hearing that at all! A different version, perhaps ...