Happy Jack

In all fairness, that looks like it was already a complete basket case before being ... erm ... improved.

http://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/looking-to-start-a-motorhead-tributecover-band-t827490.html The replies make a good, if brief, read. In the advert itself, I particularly enjoyed the line, "[color=#111111][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4][i]not sure if i can sing though (i dont sing in my band) but i can try to give it a go[/i]."[/size][/font][/color]

And this would seem to be the right Scandinavian moment to remind our readers of this: http://youtu.be/Ax8yNcAH8mo

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/274561-shergold-marathon/

Have you tried using the Tuner Out as a headphone socket?

And these are mainly the guys who never made it to the audition. I once had an American guitarist / multi-instrumentalist with an excellent self-published album on t'Net turn up for a planned first session of a new band. As soon as be arrived and opened his mouth, it started to go pear-shaped. He was Spanish. But your name? ........... Ees a stage name, si? But your details say you are American also. ....... Yeh, yeh, ees good background, si? Then he started to play. His guitar playing was complete sh*t. No, really, complete sh*t. But your album, isn't that you playing guitar? ....... Si, and zee session guys too. By now, the drummer and I are desperately trying both to not crack up, and also to not kick the sh*t out of this guy. Oh God, let's fall back on the standards. Let's play Red House. Spaniard starts playing ... well, I don't know what he was playing. Drummer and I stop and look at him. We're supposed to be playing Red House. ........ But zat EES Red House! No, no it's not, really it's not. ......... Ha! Maybe I know anuzzer Red House! End of audition.

I was having a Big Red X moment ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/banjo-bass-/252198933324?hash=item3ab83a534c:g:C6MAAOSwHQ9WYcu3

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/NakedGuitars.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/NakedGuitars.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

LOL - I like that a lot. The Nilsson version was [cliche alert] part of the soundtrack to my teens [/cliche alert] so I've always had a soft spot for that song.

Which rather begs the question, what was it that you wanted to cover that with?

That's never Aha ...

A Walk In The Black Forest - Bert Kampfaert

Autobahn - Kraftwerk

McArthur Park - Richard Harris

Without You - Nilsson

Silver Machine - Hawkwind

If you're the one being photographed, and you have no input to what's happening, then let the photographer call the shots while you just try to enjoy the experience. If you (the band) are supposed to be telling the photographer what to do, then sort out your ideas at the pub the night before, not while he stands there laughing and the meter is running. If you think about it, this is the visual equivalent of turning up at a large gig where what the crowd hears will be what the sound guy gives them.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1451723865' post='2942698'] I would urge you not to take this so personally , perhaps see it like a guy who loves cabinet making in his garage at weekends , but doesn't do it as a professional during the week. [/quote] I need a lightweight cabinet with long scale legs and standard door spacing. Do you think he could make one for me if I specified alder?

The rig was an Aguilar TH350 into a Midget + Compact pairing. Apart from that, I was going through an Earthquaker Warden compressor pedal. It's quite possible that I had turned down the volume slightly for the PT4 because it's such a high output bass. I must confess that I assumed this was down to the pickups rather than the strings ... I've never really thought in terms of "loud" strings before! I absolutely adore that Thunderbird, and it remains #1 bass, but the tone of that PT4 is just to die for. That said, Silvie (Ms. Warwick middy-tone) doesn't like it so much.

I once asked him for his advice on an 8-string (i.e. 4 pairs) and he recommended an Ibanez. He's very keen on them, but I suspect that's partly because he's such a big bugger! I find (on average, YMMV, the value of basses can go down as well as up, past performance is no guarantee of future performance) that Ibanez tend to be seriously heavy basses, real boat anchor stuff. As to the Hootenanny, I've been lucky enough to be gigging every NYE for years so it's a long time since I've been able to comment.

I followed much this line of thinking when I set up The Sapphire Grooves (with Neil the drummer). We'd never been in a band together despite wanting to do so, and we started by asking what a drum'n'bass band should be good at. We came up with ... (drum roll, please) groove. We spent over a year trying to find the right people to play with where all we wanted was songs that grooved. Not fussed with what genre they fall into or how you'd describe them, the one-line pitch was "we play songs with a groove". Are we there yet? Probably not. Does the band have a future? Probably not. Have we played paying gigs? Yes. Have we had fun? Oh yes! As a side project, this sort of thing is solid gold. But IMHO it only works if you also have a main band to focus on.

OK, so here's the Mike Lull PT4 (34" scale) with the Thomastiks, and me trying VERY hard not to dig in too much: http://youtu.be/x2nCtaVZbiY And by way of comparison, here's the Mike Lull T5 (35" scale) with my usual LaBellas on EADG and a Lakland Jo Osborne B-string: http://youtu.be/sTUdPwiU4zY That Thunderbird has been my first-choice gigging bass since I bought it last Easter. Note that both basses have exactly the same Mike Lull Thunderbird pickups, which are quite simply the best I've ever played through.