NancyJohnson

Just makes me a bit sad, TBH. Look at the action. £1.2k! No case, no plate, action about an inch, rotten paint. Sigh. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hamer-Cruisebass-Electric-4-String-RH-Bass-Guitar-1982-Made-In-USA-/203499749174?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249

Away from the gig experience, I'll focus on the stuff I don't like. If gigs are some distance, I hate the journey there and back. Also, if the headliner is on for less time than the journey there, I make a mental note of that, too. If it's a standing gig, at 6'4", I detest hearing people behind me saying they can't see. I'm sorry, I'm tall. Get over it. People! Stop talking or watching the gig through your phone. Also, to all the idiots that don't attend many live shows, the act of putting on a leather jacket and jumping into random people because 'that's what you do at gigs, innit?' needs addressing, because sir, 'If you knock my wife over again, I will punch you to the ground, you fecking asshat.'

Game of Pricks, My Vitriol. I had no idea it was a Guided By Voices song.

I know most of us have a vested interest in this album, either because of his dad's band or him playing in his dad's band, it's interesting that my wife - who comes into the rock area via Ash, The Cure and Motion City Soundtrack - listened to it, genuinely enjoyed and didn't know who it was until until Distance came on. It is a lovely album. I wish it were longer and there were more albums like this out there.

Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but he's revealed he's got (an unspecified) cancer and has been receiving chemo for three months.

I've owned an Aerodyne Jazz and a Geddy Lee, no particular issues with them, but just not for me. I also ran a truly terrible 1979 Precision for about ten years, so you could say I've at least worn the t-shirt. I can't best answer why I repeatedly went back to Fender, I'd say price was the overriding factor; the belief that you're getting a lot for your £££ I suppose. I'm uninterested in reviews, mark that down as a personalty trait. The Geddy was the last one, nice enough but a bit meh, I think I paid £650 for that. I suppose I've never been a fan of playing what everyone else is playing either (there were two Flea basses at one gig I did), nor am I enamoured with the constant reissuing/repetitive manufacture of the handful of core models that Fender (etc.) make. I'm lucky enough to have a half dozen basses, four of which are off makers who were/are known for smallish production numbers along with a couple of more mainstream models. There's no bee in the bonnet thing going on; I've just reached a point where I've come to realise that people are fiercely defensive of their kit; 'My Epiphone/Squier is better than any Gibson/Fender I've played,' while at the same time they're putting Gibson trussrod covers on these or sanding off the Squier transfer for a Fender decal.

Thank you for allowing me an opinion, otherwise I'd just be a sheep and follow the herd. I note however, that you've 'not played a bad MIJ Fender', although you're not supporting that claim by giving comparison to anything else (for instance, a truly terrible MIJ may still be a country mile better than some of the kit I started out on). Interestingly, you've not made any comment as to saying how these basses sound (*subjective), only mentioning initial pricing an the maintaining of their value in the secondhand market. I'm sure the Duff and Nate models are decent enough, but just because someone's review opinion of something is 'excellent' doesn't make it a wonderful thing.

I just don't get all this <insert year> reissue or Signature-range stuff. I've played a handful of vintage instruments and to be honest they were nothing to write home about, age aside, I'd say they were probably worse than a new instrument. Ponky. People seem too enamoured with colour/wood choices in the belief that this makes for a better instrument. Once it's painted up, nobody would be able to tell whether something is mahogany/ash/basswood. It's all s big con, I tell ya! 😄

The one foreign language track I adore is Pokusaj by Elvir Lakovic Laka - it was the Bosnia & Herzegovina Eurovision entry in 2008. I have it on a huge mixed Spotify playlist and it just lifts my heart everytime it shuffles into play. It's 100% mental. These two are brother and sister, too. Enjoy!

I could watch that all day. Mesmerising.

His Guitar Build Off 2021 was one disaster after another and I am tiring of the whole desire to do different ethic. There's no doubting he knows his shizz, but the thing he just finished seemed to be more about him getting out of unnecessary situations rather than making something decent. Just build a stunning guitar, just stop trying so hard to break with convention.

Show day WFH today, so it's the deluxe of UFO's Strangers In The Night. On shuffle, mind.

I'll admit I'm a little obsessed with trawling You Tube for guitar repair/build content; these Lignum videos are a joy when compared to the lengthy Crimson ones.

I'll pop this is the build area; I've been following these guys on You Tube for a while - their carpentry work extends beyond basses, but if you enjoy a bit of watching CAD design make guitars, this is a joy.

I saw Dream Theater a long while ago. After two hours plus of fretwankerage, they left the stage, returning a few moments later and did an 'encore' that lasted about another hour. They might have well as had an intermission so we could have had an ice cream, or something.

This is spot on. Pretty much every post I do now raises the point that tone is subjective; an earlier post here cites a reviewer saying that in one instance the pickups 'were not that good'. What actually constitutes good? I currently own six basses, broadly they cost me £20-£5,500, they all same pretty much the same, I wouldn't be able to say the pickups thereon are 'good', because what they do is subjective. Christ, it's a £250 bass; if Geddy Lee decided he was going to go the HB route, players globally would be hoovering these up and saying they're the greatest basses since they hoovered up his Signature model.

I've got six basses (honest, guv), three passive, three active. My point really is all about forgetfulness; we've all been there. The primary thing is that I used to favour passive instruments, but the Spector changed that; a creature of habit, I've had 30+ years of just leaving basses plugged in and change can be a pain in the a**. I'm still a little surprised that decades since the advent of active circuitry (and the complexity therein), just leaving the jack plug in can lead to 100% failure.

What have I started here? 🤣

Given the tech that's inside the Spector (or any other active circuit), the major stumbling block is battery life. Call me an old fart, but I love me a switch with a little LED; I suppose these things exist already in other basses, but really, how difficult would it be to have the bass wired for a two-way/three-way mini toggle, that's wired to light a small LED when the bass is active and properly off/circuit isolated when the bass is passive (or off)? Mini/micro-toggle switches are £10 for 12 on Amazon, mini-LEDs are pennies.

It's just a pfaff to be honest; especially as sometimes I just want to have a noodle for a few minutes. I forget to unplug it the cable is on the floor.

I shall try and word this properly. It's known that leaving an active bass plugged in effectively keeps the circuit open and drains the battery. Is there any way to leave the bass plugged in? Over the last few weeks all my basses have gone into hibernation except for a Spector. Can't leave it plugged in, so I was wondering whether there was something like a kill switch that I could go through to just leave it plugged in. Doesn't matter if it's a mini footswitch pedal with an in/out and a button.

While I profess to have never knowingly heard a single note by Kingdom Come, I think what made me chuckle about this post was the throwaway 'whoever they might be' comment. They were known as being Led Zeppelin-esque since their incept in the late 1980s and have released about 20 albums. Isn't is a case that imitation is the highest form of flattery?

I was there for the unboxing. It's bloody lovely.

I've never heard of these pickups. Often thought about installing the guts of a Rickenbacker into another bass, but never got around to it.

I just got confirmation from Rough Trade that my Tears For Fears live CD is on it's way; £13 incl. shipping. Honestly can't fecking stand the scalpers selling online a day after the event; there's copies on sale for £100 and a live auction up to £66 at the time of writing. We just seem to do this greed model here; it just destroys the whole spirit of RSD.