Happy Jack

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1473083786' post='3126710'] ... or how many were listening. [/quote] Hold on Trev, you just introduced a variable that no one is going to be comfortable with.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1473081752' post='3126672'] Natural wear is acceptable :-) [/quote] Is this a reference to un-dyed shorts and leather sandals?

I try not to look. I like a blind data.

That YouTube link also led me to one of all-time faves from that period, [i]Tap Turns On The Water[/i] by CCS. Great great track, and still sounds wonderful today. That was the point at which the really dark side of football hooliganism started to appear, but also some of the wittier use of pop songs by footie crowds (forget that [i]You'll Never Walk Alone[/i] maudlin nonsense). Bristol City adopted the CCS hit: Tap turns on the cider Watch the cider flow Cider makes the Tote End Watch the Tote End go We all come from Bristol Come from Bristol Town We all come from Bristol So get yer knickers down

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1473081593' post='3126670'] I apologise, but I've been itching to post the "worst miming with a Rickenbacker" clip. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWaJ6vNyvaw"]https://www.youtube....h?v=aWaJ6vNyvaw[/url] You were warned! [/quote] Hah! I remember watching that. They were a bunch of young scallies who couldn't believe their luck at getting on TOTP by playing the same chord for three minutes. And people used to sneer at Quo!

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1473081254' post='3126666'] Biggest as in number or biggest as in stature? [/quote] No no no, he wants to know how tall they all were ...

Tell me more about bending the neck ...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1473065666' post='3126448'] The vocalist records everything. Everything! I've been at breaking point for a while, the guitarist (who has only been in the band for a couple of months) is more vehement than me. Tipping point for both of us came after the singer circulated some of the 'better' recordings from last week. [/quote] GAME OVER INSERT NEW COIN READY PLAYER ONE

Valves are better than solid state. They're louder, for a start ...

Y'know, there are people who will actually pay good money to have the finish on their shiny, new bass wrecked. It's a funny old world ...

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1472888064' post='3125000'] Have you recorded him playing at a rehearsal? Always an interesting experience.. [/quote] Surprised that no one else has picked up on this ... it really IS the answer. A band can argue until they're blue in the face about how they sound and how well/badly they're playing, but you can't argue with an mp3. Record his next rehearsal (if he's allowed another one) and TELL him you're doing it. No ambushes. Tell him you will be circulating the mp3 to the band for their [i]critique [/i]and watch what happens ...

Slide, Charlie Brown, slide!

Chris wasn't joking about using flats. It's a real eye-opener (ear-opener?) when you put flats on a Lull.

Len is spot on except as regards the settling. Thunderguts don't so much "settle" as keep stretching for ever. It's a feature, sir ...

One of the first things I discovered when I started on bass was that the profile of my index finger (#1) is quite different from that of my two middle fingers (#2 & #3). #1 is relatively tapered whereas the other two are far more rounded. The result is that when I first tried fast two-fingered stuff the difference between #1 and #2 was really obvious, whereas I could get a far more consistent tone by doing fast passages using #2 and #3. I played like that for years - JJ style for slower stuff, the two middle fingers for faster strumming. Somewhere along the line that mutated into using pretty much any combination of the three when playing. My point being that you could start by leaning 'the hook' alone and work on introducing #2 and #3 as a route into faster playing.

Hmmmmm ... there's jamming and there's jamming. Going along to an open mic or blues jam can be a lot of fun, and what you need is essentially knowledge of the tunes being played (eg Red House) or at least of the form being used (eg 12 bar blues). Going to a serious freeform jam with a bunch of high quality jazzers is a whole nother thang.

I can imagine you playing some Quo ... Down Down, Derry and Down ...

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1472858097' post='3124936'] your typical thief is not that sofisticated ;-) [/quote] Not that sofistika ... sophissti ... sovietis ... clever.

Huge fan of Mike Lull basses here, though I've recently moved away from his straight P-basses to those with the T-bird pickups. I've had a lot of Ps over the years and I can't think of any that I prefer to a Lull.

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1472805807' post='3124355'] Same thing with Paul Gray on bass with the Hotrods and the Damned, unmistakable Rik for me. That soft clank [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twBjYX8ni4I[/media] [/quote] I love it when an expert bass player announces "and you can hear that lovely clear piano tone" before playing a few notes that couldn't sound less like a piano if you hit it with an adjustable spanner.

At the risk of offering a serious suggestion, and thus impeding the torrent of piss-taking heading towards the OP, I'd start by lowering the action to the point where the strings are routinely clanking against the fretboard. No, really I would. Then I'd set the EQ on my amp to remove almost all of the bass. I'm not trying to be funny.

I'm now thinking about Uri Geller playing bass ...

Someone whose right arm is much longer than their left?

Y'know, played badly, I reckon that thing would sound just unbelievably sh*t.