Happy Jack

Well flats will instantly take you in that direction, and make both slides and (ahem) note correction much easier. What you will lose is the exaggerated growl that you get from playing rounds on a fretless. On the other hand, you'll also do far less damage to your fingerboard. Bear in mind that there's just as much variation between different brands & styles of flats as there is with rounds. La Bella FLs (my own favourite) are very stiff and very expensive; Thomastik make strings which are far more compliant and need a much lighter touch, but sound really lush when played well.

The elephant in the room is that, to keep the visuals working properly, he's clearly scaled up the body to match the huge neck. Given the typically very light weight of a Lull 4-string (say 7.5lbs) then scaling it up by 20% wouldn't turn it into a back-breaker at 9lbs, but unfortunately I don't think it works like that. I suspect that the 20% upscale need to be cubed for three dimensions, and 1.2 cubed is 1.73 which would take that 7.5lb startpoint over 11lbs, and that's before you get into the ergonomics of playing a thing that size. Still love the idea, mind.

I wasn't much interested in meeting Bill. It was the girl on the cover of Sunburst Finish that I wanted to meet.

Bluejay and I will actually be in Camden this evening, a mere 400 yards from The Roundhouse, but we cannot take these off your hands - we're going to watch The Rev support The Wurzels at Dingwalls. Oi am a zider drinker ...

But in all fairness, Blue, how often do you go around the room telling the audience how great [i][b]they [/b][/i]were?

I've used other avatars in the past, but was asked to change them. [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/GIF%20files/SpinningGirl.gif.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Just%20Stuff/GIF%20files/SpinningGirl.gif[/IMG][/URL] I have no idea why.

It was 37 years ago today That Joe Strummer taught the band to play Nope, sorry, doesn't work for me.

Try to swallow the resentment and part as friends. The music biz is smaller than most realise. You haven't seen the last of these guys (probably) and it's not unimaginable that one day you'll find yourself hooking up with one or more of them again. Being incredibly f***ing gracious to someone who has just been a sh*t also pretty much guarantees that you get the moral high ground. [size=4] [/size]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1481743210' post='3194823'] Well, if you want a bargain, there is this totally legit sounding thunderbird: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-thunderbird-bass-guitar-/182371853013"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/182371853013[/url] [/quote] I was so impressed by that listing that I bought the bass. Twice.

Well, some of it's from the 60s. That's a Hofner 185 (the original shortscale rather than the modern HCT version), Continental issue with celluloid 'dot markers'. It would have originally been fitted with a pair of 'Staple' pickups as fitted to the Violin bass. The equivalent bass in the UK and Commonwealth was the Hofner Artist - you got a serial number for no extra cost but you lost the uber-cool celluloid. That pickguard is quite a nice bit of brass and will probably polish up with some Duraglit. It sure as hell ain't original. As to being "of interest to a Hofner collector", I very much doubt it.

That's really no way treat a Nigerian Prince.

https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/9127579-nice-teardrop-guitar

As a general rule, short scale basses tend to be more "thuddy" than long scale. If you like that (and I do) then that's great, but I've never yet owned a shortscale bass that actually sounded like a Precision. Certainly you'll need to put some effort into making a Mustang "growl". Could be your string choice, could be a smallish (say 15W) valve amp, could even be a pedal. Given that Mustangs are not exactly cheap, I suggest that you either try before you buy or buy a really cheap shortscale to try out first.

As with most everything else in life, it's horses for courses. I've seen compressors being used as effects pedals, as a general sound enhancer, and as a compensation for poor technique (that would be me then). They're versatile, but a compressor can only really do one of those things at a time. Ultimately it's down to your ears. If you can't hear the impact then that compressor or that setting is (literally) doing nothing for you. Others may make comments, and clearly they're hearing a difference, but can you? Pete just mentioned the Demeter Compulator. Some years ago that pedal was absolutely flavour of the month here on Basschat - lots of love for it, lots of praise. I spent two hours in Charlie Chandlers trying everything I could to hear that pedal's subtle, transparent effect. You know what's coming, don't you? It was so subtle and so transparent that I couldn't hear a damned thing. I left the shop with an MXR Dynacomp. These days I use The Warden pedal by Earthquaker Devices. Would I recommend it? To me, yes I would. To you, dunno - we've never met.

Does Darryl Jones count as an actual 'member' of the Rolling Stones?

Snap!

Crosby Stills Nash. The Monkees.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1481499203' post='3192790'] For me, a lot of tiredness at gigs is caused by being tense because I don't know the set well enough. [/quote] Yup, that's a good call. In my early gigging days (not as long ago as you might think) I used to have to remind myself to breathe! I'd be so keyed up not to make mistakes and let the band down that I'd be playing with cramped fingers while holding my breath ...

2" Rawlplugs ain't gonna do it ...

Yup. No short cuts available, just play more! If you're out of shape, be sure to do some basic warm up exercises first ... nothing too strenuous, just loosen the rusty muscles. http://youtu.be/bakDMyALGt0

Best ask MacDaddy of this parish - he's the one who keeps complaining about it ... [size=4] [/size]

This ^ Also, are you testing using the same Speakon each time? A cable that hasn't properly"twisted home" and locked has caused me hours of aggravation in the past.

I always fancied Prof. Higgins's room from My Fair Lady ...

The only issue with my Hondo II Les Paul is the intonation from the 12th fret up on two strings. How's yours?

[i][color=#000000]... this Sunburst model has the rare distinction of being owned and played by The Who's master bass player John Entwistle.[/color][/i] [size=5][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#000000][center]Unfortunately, a quick Google turns up literally dozens, perhaps hundreds, of images of The Who's master bass player playing Gibson Thunderbirds, not one of which is this bass. And since the advert itself fails to offer such an image, it's hard to see how even so reputable a dealer as NKR can make this provenance claim.[/center][/color][/font][/size]