NancyJohnson

Betty Boo. Seriously.

Growing up in the 70s, I always looked west for musical inspiration...Kiss, Rush, Angel, Starz. When punk took off, the UK was where things were at to my newly-annointed teenage ears. I'd say right now, the stuff that's stayed longest with me is UK based...Japan, early Queen, The Clash, Rich Kids (what a band they could have been), curiously a lot of the US powerpop/poppunk stuff I listen to is very UK-tinged.

The Lulls are both wired VVT, same as a Jazz Bass, Thunderbird etc.

I do harbour a lot of love for the 60s Thunderbird clones on my Lulls, so (not wanting to be pedantic) it's a T/T from me. Just on a personal note, I've never really felt at home on a single pickup bass...my second choice would be a P/J combination; I play with everything fully open - including my legs - and the addition of a J pickup in the bridge position just seems to bring the bass alive in a way that a J/J doesn't.

Much as I'd criticise Fender for their constant reinvention of their core bass range, they do tend to mix things up and even if what you want isn't part of their current catalogue, it's almost certain that they'll have tried it previously. Moving along, it's clear the old Gibson management were asshats and almost certainly played the game and had policy of not giving the public what they actually want.

My advice against you buying an Epiphone? Save a few/lot more ££ and buy a Gibson.

That's a great looking bass!

Saw that Thomann had pushed the availability date to 'medium term availability', which is just vague. Popped an email to Tommi Otsvaara at Darkglass and got the following: I can't say for sure when you'll get yours but I think first units are shipping out this week. We have pretty limited stock at the moment because producing these amps is rather slow especially in the beginning of every new product. I hope you'll get yours asap, hopefully next week already! Thanks for your patience! Best regards Tommi I'm ampless at the moment - which isn't an issue - but I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas at the moment.

Dubious on the pricing? It's £150-200 cheaper than prices listed elsewhere.

If it was me, I'd initially find out who I was playing with and see whether the bands concerned would be willing to let you borrow their backline; bands do share and if you lay it on that you're travelling from the UK, people become even more accommodating.. Next up, I'd consider option (c); leave all my gear at home and factor in the buying something in Las Vegas and either bringing it back (VAT/duty/running the green channel) or selling it on (at a probably loss) after the final show. Without a doubt, Las Vegas fulfils the demographic for pawn/musical consignment stores...so long as you're not picky, you should be able to find what you need. Google is your friend. I have a friend who lives in Henderson...her son plays guitar, so he's probably quite genned up on what stores are about. I'll happily shoot her a message. Finally, if all this borrowing freaks you out, forget about it; 18 months ago I did some dates in Italy; as a band, I think collectively we took a Sansamp BDDI (and fresh PP3 batteries), headstock tuners, plectrums and some drumsticks. It was fine.

Maybe it's just me, but how many times can you reinvent the wheel? Also, the geometry on Squier headstocks always looks slightly off, an approximation rather than a straight copy.

I used to play along with a lot of Kiss and Rush when I first started. That said, from a band perspective, it was always originals.

Thomann advising 'In stock within about one week'. Getting a little moister. 😄

Material composition and conductivity thereof aside, isn't it all about the degrees of rotation? Assuming the knob rotates through 300 degrees (of a circular 360 degree rotation) to operate from open to closed, then the length of the track size is of an irrelevance; it doesn't/shouldn't matter whether the pot is the size of a thimble or that of a dinner plate.

I love the look of Duesenbergs, especially some of the Star Player TV guitars - they're pretty sparkly and blingy, but I've never felt the pull of purchase and I'm not a fan of the basses at all really. There's just better out there to be had.

The only DRs I REALLY liked were the Jonas Hellborg Signature sets. Despite them being 40-100s , the windings were of a bigger diameter/gauge to that of what I'd consider as being regular strings. They felt comfortable, good tonally. I think these have actually been discontinued, but sets come up on eBay periodically; they're definitely worth a punt if you can find some. I have one unused set that I'll use next time I'm swapping strings.

All of the above really. I don't believe the nuts on budget basses are cut particularly well, so the strings should ride OK; the key things are going to be in the bridge and machines. I'd just make sure that the bridge will allow the B-string through the entry hole and that it has enough clearance to roll the saddle back to allow the bass to intonate. Make sure the posts on your machines are wide enough to allow for the B-string too.

Dare I add to this list Kiss by The Art Of Noise/Tom Jones? I'll admit Prince was never on my radar (even in death, this remains so), so maybe it was well known beforehand, dunno. Oh, and my mate Keith played guitar on it (and in a chasing the money exercise, Diamond Lights by Waddle and Hoddle, as well).

Thomann update, 2-3 weeks on the head. Getting a little moist.

I have a mate who was ('back in the day') reasonably well moneyed, he'd been playing guitar for a while. He'd never really nailed his desired tone until, around twenty years ago (maybe more, maybe less), two things happened. On a trip to the US he came across a guitar shop that was closing down and he bought three US Jacksons. One of these was a Strat type thing, single pickup, volume control. When he got back here, for some reason he traded one of the Jacksons for a Fender Twin Reverb. And boom, there it was. Over the following years, all the gear came and went - I lost count of the guitars he owned - now the guy owns a handful of Gibsons, an EVH thing, some other bits and pieces - but he admits he never sounded as good as when he was just plugging the Jackson into the Twin Reverb. We're all as guilty, I believe I had my lightbulb moment twenty odd years ago when I first discovered Line 6 Bass POD and pushed it into the effects return on an Ashdown MAG combo. I had one patch I adored and EVERYTHING sounded great through it; it was like Geddy and Mr Burnel had a demon baby. Ever since then I think all I've wanted was to emulate that tone. Everyone who used my rig at gigs wanted that tone. Nothing I pushed into that set up sounded bad. Sure Tech21 stuff satiated that desire. I'm hoping that the Darkglass A/O head (3-4 weeks) will do it, but I'm just too proud/stupid to even consider going back. My mantra has always been trade up, never look back.

Can I throw in Shudder To Think here? They were a four piece post-hardcore band from Washington DC. There's quite a bit content over You Tube. They were weird enough during the first couple of albums, I mean on the album Get Your Goat, you'd get more going on in a two minute song than a load of bands would do on one side of an album, it was wonderfully listenable, but from a playing perspective it was impossible. Things took a swerve when original guitarist Chris Matthews left and Nathan Larson came on board, he just took things to new levels of strange. Interestingly, I'd cite Stuart Hill (their bass player) as somewhat of an influence (and hero), especially with some of the stuff I'm doing with Lutz at the moment; I tracked him down (via Nathan Larson) a few years ago. 'Just shoot him a message,' said Nathan, 'he'll answer.' And amazingly, he did. We discussed a ton of the material they put out. It was nice when Bass Player did a piece on me and he thanked me for the mention.