Nicko

I'm ashamed to admit I've played the Alien Ant Farm version of Smooth Criminal, the Gun version of Word Up, and the Kula Shaker version of Hush. In a completely different band we did the Beatles version of Twist and Shout, the Eric Clapton versions of Cocaine and I Shot the Sheriff. I've only ever played the original versions of Walk This Way, Valerie and Proud Mary and I wish there had been cooler cover versions of Colbie Collait's Bubbly and Kylie's Cant Get You Outta My Head but these were played pretty close to the original.

@BassAdder60I went through a similar thing a few years ago. The band had broken up after lockdown and I just couldn't face going through the never ending cycle of getting a band to giggable standard, building a reputation, getting gigs and then it all falling apart. I sold everything except a cheap bass but kept my guitars and now do a bit of home recording to keep me musical. I haven't missed it at all. Good luck!

Band 1. Guitarist was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed. He had bought a new chromatic tuner and got so drunk before the gig that he couldn't tune up but that didn't stop him playing as he was too gone to actually realise he was completely out of tune. He decided the next day that perhaps being in a band that plays in bars was too much temptation. Band 2. Singer arrived at one rehearsal with a keyboard. Guitarist walked out never to be seen again. Band 3. Guitarist booked a NYE gig before checking that the rest of the band could commit. Drummer refused to commit and asked the guitarist to cancel but he wouldn't let down the venue even though it was only March. We eventually sorted it out around July time but the first time we went back to rehearsal it was obvious the situation was far from sorted and they actually couldn't stand being in the same room as each other. Band 4. Singer moved to Milton Keynes. The band was based in West London. Singer didn't have a car and had no intention of buying one. I had to point out to the rest of the band that this arrangement wasn't going to work.

I grew up in Heston and bought my first house in Bedfont - I only moved to Norfolk 15 months ago so I'm doing the reverse. If you'd also lived in Harrow we could complete the set. Bell music was the closest music shop to me until Project Music moved to the A4 at Lampton.

Now there's a distant memory of a mis spent youth (mine not yours).

I think I had this book many years ago. As Paulo85 says there are some extremely challenging chord shapes even for intermediate players, but more importantly I don't recall it being very good to understand the context or relationship between those chords so the answer IMHO is no. That may be because I didn't get very far though the course as jazz isn't my bag anyway. Online courses or better still a decent teacher is the best way to progress. I spent maybe 10 years trying to learn from books before taking lessons and I learnt more in the 2 years of lessons than I had from books.

Some would argue that bass players should already have an intimate knowledge of chord theory. Unless you are playing root notes how else do you know what fits?

I play a lot of inversions. Bmin is B, F#, D and the notes you are playing notes are D, D, F#, B so it would be a great substitution for a standard Bmin creating a bit more interest and tension. I don't do jazz.

I am very long sighted, have severe astigmatism and suffer from blepharitis. I wore contacts for gigging and not much else - they were uncomfortable after a few hours so all day wear wasn't an option. I would love to wear contacts occasionally but my prescription and the astigmatism means I cannot use the daily option which would be perfect if you only want them once a week or something. Getting 14 day contacts to wear once is pricey. Most opticians will do a free fitting and you've got nothing to lose.

I very much doubt you have seen me playing then.

Well, she didn't rebook us. You may draw your own conclusion.

I moved out of the area a year ago and was under the impression it was already shut when I left.

I suppose it depends what being "good at bass" means, I haven't got any fancy chops, can't slap even simple lines and still can't decide if I'm a fingers or pick player. But I know my limitations and I'm pretty solid when playing with a half decent drummer and that really the job isn't it? I'm pretty rubbish compared to some bass players. I'm a pretty good addition to a band though.

Here is my entry. I ran out of time and it's not exactly polished but it's been so long since I did anything that I thought it would be a shame to miss the deadline again. The song title refers to Age Related Macular Degeneration - a progressive eye disease that my father suffered from which leads to loss of central vision. I was also diagnosed with the condition but have since been given the all clear as the problem with my eyes is apparently quite a long way from the central vision area and is not progressing. The retinal scan that the opticians offer these days will pick up the problem if you have it although it was quite embarrassing sitting there with the Moorfields A&E consultant as he rang my optician to tell her she didn't know what she was doing with the scan. Recorded in Cubase Elements 11 using Amplitube SVX bass amp simulator, Marshall simulations for the guitars and MT Powerdrums. Apologies for my screechy vocals!

Been struggling for inspiration for a few months now but came up with something this morning. Hopefully there's enough time for me to get it done - normally I'm quite slow.

Bruce Dickinson replacing Paul Di'Anno upped the quality of Maiden's output no end. The enforced split of Nirvana gave us the Foos. Not sure where Nirvana would have gone had Cobain stayed around but I suspect they would have imploded at some point.

It was a very low starting point.

It was a very low starting point.

I was a self taught (self deluded?) guitarist from aged around 13. I never really progressed much but ended up taking lessons in my late 20s. The local council ran group lessons and it's tre best thing I ever did. I learnt more theory than anything else but that's probably what I needed - I already knew how to play quite a few chords and a few scales but never really understood how to put them together. I got to grade 5 before giving up - mainly because it was all going a bit jazzy which isn't something I'm interested in. Picked up a bass to fill in in my early 40s. Technically I'm a self taught bassist but although the approach to bass is different to guitar the mechanics and theory are all identical IMO.

Oh dear. Surely the price you are suggesting is for a premium product, not for a slight improvement in quality. A Fender Mex P to J neck conversion is around £330 and that includes a premium for having "Fender Precision Bass" scrawled on the headstock.

I buy my basses off the shelf so wouldn't consider a custom neck. I assume there is a market for neck profile, width, fingerboard radius and fret profile but players that are that specific may be in the market for a complete bass. FWIW I recall reading somewhere a review of a guitar with Fender's old fotoflame simulated flamed maple. The reviewer commented that technically flame maple is less stable than the woods usually used.

Most Greek food has its roots in Turkish and middle eastern cuisine. If you go to an Iraqi restaurant the names might be different but the dishes are similar. Greek tzatziki is Cacik in Turkish for instance, Greek soutzokakia is pretty much the same as Turkish kofta but in some cases even the names are similar such as Greek dolmades and Turkish dolma. σουβλάκι ή γύρος Kebab normally refers to something you don't see in kebab shops in the UK - minced meat on a skewer somewhere between a doner and a souvlaki(shish).

I'm glad you posted that. I'd been reading it as Neefeid.

And there I was thinking I'd been smart dreaming mine up.

Pedant alert! You mean crowned.