NancyJohnson

Blimey! I have no idea what year this was, early 90s? Nothing on the internet. Saw this show with a couple of mates - we were all Sweet fans as kids - it was just a truly harrowing freak show; Connolly got through it somehow, he was being heckled by a group of people. It was just awful.

Tourtech stuff is great, I have a couple. Great value and to be honest probably not so different from manufacturers OHSCs.

A generalism for plywood basses always seems to allude to the body being manufactured from sheets of material akin to that with which you'd use for roofing a house; that said, moving to the neck construction, Kubicki Factor basses (both the Key and Ex models) both utilised a plywood-neck of 32 strips of maple. I've never heard anyone moan about these.

Nope. These were part of the Fender Fotoflame series. The top is a print. On paper. Not even a veneer.

Well here we are; eleven months of living with this bass. I think I made reasonably decent progress for the first four months. We had builders in in April, so all musical activities were put on hold, then I damaged my knee, had an operation to fix things and I'm still recovering from that - it's just uncomfortable to stand for long periods. If there's an upside, I put in a lot of hours early on and I don't believe my recent lack of playing has been a negative. My competency on regular bass translated across reasonably easy, I mean that element was more about playing vertically that horizontally. I've not bothered with the stand thing, but I will at some point, even if I need to get to a garage and get someone to weld metal for me.

I've got a NS NXT5 - my wife and mother-in-law palled up and got it for my birthday last December. I'd only played an upright on a couple of occasions prior to this; it's a curious thing, there was this desire to explore upright basses at some point and I went with the 5-string, because hell, why not? I played it a lot for the first few months - then April time we had the builders in, so it got difficult to play, then I tore something in my knee (operation) and standing for long periods is still painful, so it's been a bit neglected of late. Had a noodle this morning and don't think I've really lost anything from the first few months experience with it (except maybe the callouses on my fingers). It's the only bass or any sort that I have out at the moment.

Quite a few years back, I witnessed a double header of Brian Connolly's Sweet and Les Gray's Mud at the old Guildford Civic hall. Brereft of any of their old bandmates, Messrs Connolly and Gray stumbled through greatest hits sets backed by musicians half their age; Gray was like the leery old uncle that parents warn you to avoid at family gatherings and Connolly was body ravaged and in the throws of Parkinsons, led on and off stage and glued to spot in front of his mic-stand. These two aside, I suppose the other bands I think should have retired with dignity are Kiss, who are probably 20 years into their farewell tour and Motley Crue, who tore up their Cessation of Touring contract pre-pandemic. I suppose everyone wants to remember their favourite bands when they were young, lithe, thin and not bloated, grey, middle-aged and not being able to hit the notes (viz. Vince Neil). Reckon Noddy Holder got it right. And probably a few of the old punk bands bailed before their time. Keep 'en hungry.

Italian powerpop:

There's a rare as hen's teeth Yamano Thunderbird on eBay. Sapphire blue. Price is great (£1,600), but obviously you'd need to factor in shipping/taxes). There's another one on Reverb, but about £700 more. Gibson made 200 of these for Yamano, Japan back in 2000, other than the colour it's all stock. I borrowed one of these when I gigged in Italy a few years ago. The colur was stunning. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325400316009?hash=item4bc35ec869:g:KFAAAOSwdrljWeZd&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4PbGzdc%2B9mQV5zdiT77barzyinwl52LSe1SeqCugxl75nZNxfzoKGakoi26Drh4kKro46hZWMLBaMcM9X30pJDf%2B6%2BSE3LXfhRvi2yRkxAhJKOWZfUBxJuw0wRPWmBIItrpLhpbGxOhUDyd9QerBsyjMAPA%2FJeIAa5xy87g9Js7BVdxn67dW%2F9Iv9TNUKLyq4yDuTzakjGFEn6Mtan5aa8xEQcxtQ8mofqbWVtKdWxvp7e%2FD9TD1AGIREMuAqjmX3imzwdfrDraVCdhBKrVZAxggoe3Vhq%2BUOi0RnR9%2FaJ%2Fh|tkp%3ABk9SR6CUwqCMYQ

Brief update. I just installed a Tonerider Generator humbucker in the bridge position on an Epiphone Phantomatic...there just wasn't the space for two Wago connectors in the cavity, so I ended up going the old route and using the same connectors I'd used to install the John East preamps. They're on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06WGM9W7S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). They're like £7 for 20 pairs.

I used some little push/pull connectors when I hardwired my East preamps, way easier than screwing into a Lego style block. Wago connectors are fantastic, it has to be said. I've never considered using them in a guitar application. I've got to put a humbucker into a guitar later this week. Top tip!

I have an LT with Bart'sv(unused/surplus/for sale kids). It's got a Darkglass tone circuit. Don't read this as being Darkglass=dirty mush (like the Stingray/Darkray); it's just an active circuit AFAIC, cut/boost. I know people get all wound up about what's under the cover, but the Darkglass circuit works fine and is perfectly functional; it is just one facet in the entire signal chain. I've got John East circuits in a handful of basses and don't really see much difference in what each circuit gives over another, my desired tone comes from outboard gear (GED/dUg stomps).

Never had issue on any strap depth (so far)...the only ballache is where the strap hole is too small.

IMO the European Spector basses are great quality for a production line made instrument. Fantastic fit, finish, workmanship. Can't really fault them. I think you get an awful lot for your £££ compared to Fender/Gibson stuff.

If it's a like for like swap, do it yourself! It's pretty easy.

I've got some old boards here...

Plenty I've bought because I thought I'd like them, but only one I didn't like initially but got on a trade. MusicMan Bongo 5HH. It's one of three basses that in hindsight I have regrets about moving on. It was a superb thing.

They look a bit home made.

I watched the Christine McVie documentary yesterday, I think I may have recorded it about a year ago. There's one bit at the end around the time FM took on Neil Finn to handle guitar duties where Christine McVie says something like, 'Oh, I love Lindsey, but we had to fire him.'

I'm in a little village about seven or eight miles east of Reading. Nothing here. Locally Bracknell has a couple of venues, The Cellar at South Hill Park, The Acoustic Lounge (not strictly acoustic). Reading is better, quite a few small/decent places, Face Bar, Sub 89, Purple Turtle, The Butler, South Street Arts, The Turks, Velocity, Oakford Social - there are a few that I've played but not certain whether they're still open; Readipop was great, there was a bar in the Town Hall I gigged once. There was one place in Reading, old metal pub called The Rising Sun. It was a fantastic place. The inside was wallpapered (walls and ceiling) with pages from The Beano and The Dandy and for good measure the place had a old rowing boat in one corner (riding on a sea of papier-mache). I played there just the once...the place was absolutely rammed, literally people falling onto the low stage. When we were loading in we got heckled by a group of metal-boys nursing pints of lager but the level of heckling reduced with the more gear we bought in. Reckon we played about an hour and aside from a gig I did in Milan, I'd say it was one of the best gigs I've ever played. The bar staff said we were the loudest band they'd ever had in there.

I liked SlTs...bought them in the US. They felt nicely rough/gritty. Closest from a feel perspective is the Markbass LongEvo. Very similar in feel, and as they're coated, they last for ages.

I've been on EQX 102.7fm all day. They're a tiny radio station in Manchester, VT, they just do alternative music, all good. Found so much new stuff through them. They broadcast from a quintessential/beautiful house in a little village in the Green Mountains, about 40km northeast of Albany NY.

Charles Berthoud, yes. That's the guy. I mean, there's no doubting the guy can play, but for me it just seems all a bit unnecessary.

I've never been remotely interested in playing like Flea/Claypool any more than I've been interested in bands that sound like RHCP/Primus, so have never even tried emulating what these guys (and a zillion of other players) do. Oddly, its getting to the point where I feel marginally embarrassed to say that I'm 'just' a rock/indie/punky/post-hardcore player.