Happy Jack

Rather than giving up bass, I've added a new instrument alongside it - keyboards. Very diverting, a real wake-up call for my synapses, and an entirely new outlet for my GAS.

By far the most common reason we're given is

I've been in there a lot over the years, going back to when it was Chappells. Maybe because of the whole flagship thing, when they do a Sale they do it properly and you get som real bargains ... assuming of course that you're interested in what's in the Sale. 🙄 More to the point, don't let the general swankiness of the showroom prevent you from making an offer; it's not awfully awfully English but don't ask = don't get.

One of the nicest necks I ever had was on a Status Artist GP, a standard Precision neck only in graphite. When I asked Rob Green about a 5-string 35" scale neck he said that he had no mold for one and no plans to make one.

Kutzall?

On a more general note, if there's an area, in any country, where there are musos desperate to gig but no venues then Shirley the answer is obvious ... put on your own gigs. Find a friendly pub/club or just use a local village hall or whatever, and let's do the show right here! If it's a complete flop then don't do it again, and you've answered your own question about the shortage of venues. If it's a huge success then congratulations ... you are the next Robert Stigwood.

I much prefer gigging within an hour's drive of my front door. As you know Billy, that means that I cover much the same ground as you ... fanning out from NW London to cover Middx and Herts plus bits of Beds, Bucks and Essex. I'm constantly astonished that there are still people (my age, not teenagers) who will happily gig the way bands used to in the 60s/70s, and drive to Nottingham for a pub/club gig on a Friday, then to Southampton on the Saturday. It's not that I can't hack that (I rather like the drive home after a decent gig) but I'd only do that if I really had to. In context @Bluewine, it's always worth remembering that on average distances over here are ridiculously short compared to motoring about the MidWest or whatever. In England, driving 100 miles to a gig is usually considered outrageous, whereas in much of the USA that will barely get you to the local shops. 🙄

That home welding course really paid off, eh? 😉

I look at that photo and I wonder, why? If you're simply copying an existing design then presumably you have a genuine example next to you so that you can take measurements etc. In that case, what was gained (for the copyist) in that trivial change to the shape of the p/g? In marginally changing the positions of the knobs and the flick-switch? In adding two frets so the upper horn no longer finishes at the 12th fret? I'm not complaining, as such, just curious. Wouldn't it have been simpler (and more profitable) to clone the original design and produce something that could be [please select one only] affordable to those who can't afford a real one / more easily passed off as genuine by fraudsters?

Because the only thing that's better than an aluminium DB is TWO aluminium DBs ...

A month down the road, is there anything here you'd like to change?

Yup, that's Howard the drummer from Red Herring. Looks like he's having some sort of fire sale ... drums, instruments, high-end watches.

So seven years on I've stumbled across Born Fighters, which is a bloody good watch, and also possibly the earliest (1979) recorded use of 'wasp in a jam jar' to describe a guitar's tone.

If "cost effective" means what I think it means, then you're off to a very bad start ... 😄

Outstanding! 👍

In all fairness, Saturday was the hottest Saturday of the year, and Sunday was the most humid Sunday of the year. What that photo can't show is the power cut that wiped out part of the town centre for nearly an hour starting 20 minutes after that shot was taken, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the thunderstorm accompanied by a deluge of Biblical proportions therefore fell on (unprotected) power supplies and cabling with no electricity passing through them.

Friday: Saturday: Sunday:

I suspect that for a Mod your approach works really well, Michael. For a mere browser such as me, the steam-powered route is just fine. 🙂

The problem with this approach is that it guarantees that what Basschat will offer you is what other people are interested in, and you're straight into social media territory. What I want to see is what I am interested in, and I reckon I'm the best judge of that.

In all fairness Chris, a pin without a point isn't really a pin. Hey - I'm just saying ...

Me. Please don't do this.

My hands are hovering over the keyboard, poised to strike! 🙂

Well now you're back on the whole 'competence' thang, aren't you? 😂