NancyJohnson

I've been in plenty of situations of being the 'headline' act where other bands have used our stuff. Drummer just bought an old beater kit, so he was OK so long as any drummer using it used their own pedals/smare/cymbals, from my perspective, if someone asked nicely I'd probably say yes. That said, I used to get royally whizzed when bass players frankly ignored my requests and saw my gear as being the opportunity to see just how loud they could play. Another facet being headliners rocking up with a 1x12" Rumble combo, seeing my kit and literally salivating at the prospect of using it. (This also happened with one of my basses too, I had a white Gibson Thunderbird and was asked by one guy whether he could use it for his set as he'd 'never played a real Gibson before.') I played the Dublin Castle about three years ago, bill-wise we were the meat in the sandwich, 1st band used my stuff (I new them, so fine), headliners also used my stuff - they were literally up on the stage and plugging in seconds after we'd finsihed and didn't even ask to use the drums or my kit - and their set went on and on and on and on and on. No help with the load-out, no mention of thanks and they stole one of my guitar stands. W*nkers.

Lest we forget, he also favoured Henhouse Rotisseries and Tumble Dryers towards the end.

Limbeck. I'd never heard a note of theirs until yesterday; plenty of mentions, but never bothered. It's really good. Suprisingly so. It just seems to sound like a lot of bands I like just went into the studio and recorded an album.

Back on topic, Geddy Lee. Yup, genius from a playing perspective, genius from a multi-instrumental perspective and he seems a genuinely nice person. The only thing really is his voice; adored it early on (I entered the building with 2112/All The World's A Stage and snuck out after Signals), but I find it too shrill and he's obviously suffered over the years. To quote Pavement: What about the voice of Geddy Lee How did it get so high? I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy? (I know him and he does!)… His tone is instantly recognisable to those who know his work and despite being called out as not knowing what I'm talking about and advised I was deaf elsewhere in these hallowed pages, Mr Lee's pretty distinctive tone was, for a very long time just Precision/Jazz/Rickenbacker(s) into Ampegs, so the signal chain doesn't get much simpler. Who is going to begrudge a player of his calibre the option to just transition to Tech21 racked gear? (Which is apparently 'all scooped mids' according to my accuser.) So yes, genius.

My mum used to buy me Disco45.

Lovely!

I think you'll find it's pick n' mix that rules.

I haven't spoken to Al in quite some time. Hope he's well!

Just as an aside, the Spice Girls recorded demos (yes, I know, demos) at Creative Control Studio in Bracknell. They were based in Lightwater, just down the road. I've used that studio several times with different bands.

'Stop' by the Spice Girls just came on the radio. I asked my wife if she remembered when they did this at the Brit Awards...I remember All Saints being on just before them and how they were just this uncoordinated mess, then the Spice Girls followed, perfect choreography. Despite my punky/metal roots, I'd be stupid not to recognise this as being a perfect slab of pop. Forget Geri's Union Jack teatowel dress from the previous year, this, my friends, is THE definitive performance. 23 years ago. Blimey.

I'll admit I wasn't familiar with Crafter Guitars. Just had a look...unsure which model it is, but there's one that's very similar to the Gibson Chet Atkins SST. Might need to check these out too.

Opened discussion with the wife last night. Always have to play this little game, plus, she's contributing indirectly to it anyway (I have unspent and forthcoming birthday monies incoming). After breaking it to her that a Taylor looks my preferred choice, I just pointed out that it's over a grand (chortle) and it might be a good idea to get one from the US. We always have to do this little dance; she knows it's going to be more expensive than a grand and just wants to make me squirm a bit.

For a while now I've been hankering for a thinline acoustic - I don't play a lot of guitar, probably because my acoustics are limited to a 70s Epiphone FT140 and a Zenith Josh White parlour guitar, both of which are a bit cumbersome. So, where do I go to for advice? Lol. So the shortlist - I'm being increasingly drawn to some of the Godin stuff - some of their stuff is mental and I'm always drawn to the quirky (check out the fretless A11, the fretted A10 or the Gypsy). TAYLOR T5Z: GODIN A6 TAKEMINE (Unsure of model#) GIBSON CHET ATKINS

To me, it's always made perfect sense to have the D&G unit towards the neck rather than the bridge; there's always been this output disparity in the E&A and D&G units; the D&G always appears quieter and less tonally full than the E&A. My Spector has the P-unit reversed and the D&G seem to have more of everything, but it's questionable that the Spector's innards (Darkglass Tone Capsule) might be contributing to this, but even with everything flattish, there's more output and tonal parity.

It's odd how familiar I am with this one song; I think it got under my skin as a guy on BBC Berkshire played it virtually every day when he was wrapping things up at the end of his show. I'll profess I haven't listened to another song by this band until about 20 minutes ago when I saw them mentioned on Spotify's release radar/new releases - I listened to a few minutes of the new album - the instrumental intro and I bailed out as soon as the singing started. Shame. So whaere did I go? What is spinning at Johnson Towers?. Bob Mould/Sugar mix.

You remember when I played at that place in Putney? There wasn't even a door on the utilities, just a curtain.

This is it, spot on. India and heavy. I'd add that it's a perfectly decent bass for anyone looking for a project. From memory, the neck was very chunky. I bought one for £20 one time. Sanded the body back, resprayed with matching headstock (which I sanded off again), put a better bridge on it and installed a Warman pickup. Bashed it about a bit. Perfectly acceptable back up bass or for playing those places where you wouldn't lose too much sleep if it got nicked. Sold here yonks ago.

I played one of these a while back at Anderson's. Not really my thing, but it was a country mile ahead of all the other stuff that was hanging on the walls in there. It played beautifully, tonally alive. Also the J4; given that the Schecter J4 Jazz (also nice looker/player) is retailing at £799, you'd think these would come up for £500-600 on the used market.

£700 can buy a lot of bass if you're prudent, you hold out for something you really want and you're prepared to haggle. Recently paid £550 for a 1986 Hamer; US made model. On receipt it needed a decent set up (all good), Dunlop Straploks (which I would have done anyway). I have replaced the stock DiMarzios with a used EMG Geezer Butler PJ set, but I'm still well under the £700 limit.

Whenever I hear PRS speak, always reminds me of Sebastian Bach.

Well, the two most expensive ones (Lulls) were small shop instruments - I do wonder how much input Mike Lull had in the making of these and how things will progress now that he's passed away (the business seems in good hands with his son Spencer taking over). The two Hamers are 1980s models and damn you Fender for shutting them down.

I've got six basses that have cost me from £30 to £5.5k, so a pretty broad price range, but they all give me joy. They're all set up broadly the same, action borderline rattly and in truth with a degree of tweaking amp side, they all sound similar. Thing is, I've always liked to be surrounded by nice stuff and I've worked long and hard paying the mortgage and bills, so with the house paid, it was time to throw some swag at (subjectively) better kit. I can appreciate that more work has gone into the expensive kit - the fit and feel is immediately identifiable - but I can't warrant the £5,470 price difference, no. It's all just wood and metal.

Thanks mate! 14087 & 15433 it is then!

I suspect that the way to go here is an extra long nickel Elixir Nanoweb 4-string set (.45-105, SKU# 14087) and a tapered single (.130, SKU# 15433).