Dan Dare

Mumford and Fathers

Thinning the herd. If you know about these, you'll know how good they are. Final price drop before it goes on eBay. Recommend me a lightweight amp, cab, etc (usually followed by buy a Barefaced).

Exactly. Plus, the machine won't need to be paid (important in these days when gig fees are being squeezed), so you can take gigs that wouldn't be worth doing for a larger band, you can play a smaller stage because fewer players need less room, etc. Yes, it's great to take out a full band and all the bells and whistles, but it often doesn't work from a practical perspective.

I try to play with drummers who can play the drums...

If the original key isn't achievable by a singer, the band should transpose. Not all keys suit all voices. That's especially true if one is getting on a bit. You tend to lose the higher register with age.

So it's country, then. Just not 50s style.

I feel that's taking it a little too far. Certainly, if the majority don't like or want to play a number, it's reasonable not to do it, but if only one or two object, that shouldn't rule it out. Yes, the singer has to be happy they can put it over and that it suits them, but if that's the case, fine. We play a few I'm not that fond of, but playing a song I don't like is only 3 or 4 minutes out of my life and if it goes down well with an audience, I'm happy to go along with it. If I don't like a song, I try to play it as well as I can and get satisfaction from a job done right, rather than enjoyment of the music itself. It's much the same as the attitude one has to take at work.

This. What feels right in your hands is what's important. Take your time and visit a few shops to try stuff. You're in London, so how about a trip to the Gallery in Camden? You don't have to buy from them, but you need to play a selection of instruments and they have quite wide stock. HB is already owned by a large corporate. It isn't (and never was) an actual company. The instruments are designed/specified by Thomann and built by one of the massive instrument factories in China that builds for many different brands. With the exception of some major names or boutique/one off makers, that's how most mass produced instruments are made these days. They are designed/specified by front companies that don't usually make but subcontract the building to giant firms such as Cort (factories in Indonesia, Korea and China), World Musical Instruments in Korea and others.

I've had a few. Too few to mention.

Thanks. It really can. I'm glad I thought about selling it - gave me the motivation to try to fix it. I'm definitely keeping it now. I've treated it to a new set of flats and it's instant Bernard Edwards. Minus his technique, of course...

About 3 years back, I fancied a Sting Ray, but didn't want to pay what they go for. I looked around and read reviews and the G&L Kiloton came up as a possible poor man's Ray. So I went out and bought the Tribute/Indonesian version (which uses the same pickup/wiring as the US versions and was favourably reviewed). The shop where I bought it only had a little combo to try it with, so I attributed the fact that it sounded like a J bass with only the bridge pickup working to that. When I got it home and tried it through proper gear, it was the same. Middly, nasal and no great weight to the sound. So it went in the cupboard to be forgotten about until recently. I dug it out and thought I might as well sell it as it wasn't being used, but I worried that it would be unlikely to have much appeal with the feeble sound. I wondered whether there might have been a broken wire or one of the pots wasn't working right. So I found a wiring diagram online, took it apart and guess what. The pickup selector switch was incorrectly wired. It must have been done wrong at the factory because I bought it brand new. Don't they test things before shipping them? Apparently not. Broke out the soldering iron and switched a couple of wires on the selector switch over and blimey. It rattles the windows. Very pleasing.

Same here. I prefer passive to active P and J basses. I fitted an East J Retro to my J a few years back. Quality of the product was excellent. Clean/noiseless in use, wide eq range and did all that was claimed of it. However, I felt it made the instrument sound a bit generic. That J bass quality was missing. Eventually, I removed and sold it. I'd suggest using an external pre, rather than a permanently fitted one. I also have an active P Bass Special (P/J). It's versatile, but a bit characterless,

I don't have a "sound". It changes depending on what the material calls for.

Yet another clip-on tuner. I'm forever losing them.

Love the "No returns for acetic reasons ". Rather an acid comment, eh?

God, that's bad. In addition to the bit of wood that's been stuffed in the access hole for the truss rod adjuster, there seems to ne a piece jammed in the channel for the wiring for the neck pickup. The knobs are class, too. No doubt the neck screw plate has been removed because it was stamped "Made in Japan". 38 bids? There really is one born every minute.

Have we had the Poo Fighters previously?

Ice Pube

The Polite

A good drummer makes the whole band better and the reverse is equally true. Which is why the good ones are so busy/hard to get.

You must be psychedelic. Or psychic. Or something.

No point. You've said what you think and so have I.

I'll stay off my high horse if you stay off your low one, mate. Yes, it's irrelevant. A lot of pop music was never all that great to begin with. Pop music is part of the paraphernalia of our youth, together with the fashions, friendships, etc, etc. Listened to critically, it's often not up to much. That's not the point of it, mate. For a lot of people, going to see the musicians they loved when they were young is an enjoyable trip down memory lane, a chance to reconnect with the days when they had hair and their face left an imprint in the pillow, rather than the other way around. If you don't like it, that's your right, mate. But stop sneering at those who do, mate. I guess you must be deeply unhappy and want everyone to be as miserable as you are, mate.

Your point has not been missed at all. Whether or not anyone can "still do it" is irrelevant. So is the reason that people continue to go to see them. If they wish to "cling on to their youth", that's their business, not yours. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to buy a ticket. There are plenty of things I don't like (including acts that were popular 30 years ago who are still cranking it out), but I don't call for them to be stopped. It's a free country.