Cato

Mine had both. A short mouthpiece for playing vertically and a much longer tube for horizontal. It was the tube that used to get a bit nasty.

I bought a cheap melodica many years ago in a doomed attempt to teach myself keys. The thing that really suprised me was just how much saliva collects in the blowing-tube-thing.

Squier have really upped their game in terms of colours options and specs on their skinny stringers in recent years. It's great to see their bass range getting a similar upgrade.

My big breakthrough with playing fast for extended periods came when I realised that if I turned the amp up I could just brush the strings with my fingertips so I'm hitting the top of the string with much less force than my previous techinque where I was plucking the side of the string. If that makes any sense.

That Westone is stunning.

Welcome back KB!

Steel Panther are basically a Spinal Tap tribute act for the Hair Metal generation. Fair play to them for keeping the joke going for as long as thay have.

I've only ever heard the Macc lads when I was 13 and round a mates house who thought they were the funniest thing ever, but suspect that their use of racist language would probably get them banned from most venues these days. And, to be honest, I really don't have a problem with that.

There was a whole generation that thought Rock n' Roll had no artistic merit because it wasn’t played on 'real instruments' by classically trained musicians,. The more things change....

It's been the foundation of hip hop for more than 40 years. For me the ability to take a sample from a pre existing piece of music and turn it into something new and original definitely has artistic merit. After all how many guitar bands are writing songs with unique and original chord sequences these days?

It takes a little while to time to build up fretting hand strength and suppleness, some discomfort from using muscles that most people don't use much is normal when you're starting out. Having said that you should probably check your playing position. Having the bass too low or too high can cause wrist problems.

I like to think that they've transcended* to a higher level of bass playing, one where they are no longer concerned with mundane matters such as GAS or fingers vs pick or which bass is best for metal. *transcended in Budhist/karmic way...not dead.

Is that a white flag of Parley or a tiny axe?

My eyes aren't what they were ,is that a white flag of surrender or a tiny axe?

I'm not sure it's possible to 'hijack'or derail a thread that nobody umderstood in the first place. I'll be happy to try and get things back on track if anybody can explain what that track is?

Turning base (as opposed to bass) instruments into gold? Pure alchemy.

Bastard. Edit 1:(The accordian deviant, not anybody else) Edit 2: (Although they may be)

Having never played any gibson style EB type basses I'm quite intrigued by the pickups on the BM sig. At least they didn't just plonk a couple of J pickups or a split P in that body shape.

Led Zep 1 made quite the impression on me as a youngster. Good Times, Bad Times and Dazed and Confused in particular are among the first times I could really hear the bass and apreciate it's role in the music, especially as unlike a lot of the 80s Rock/Metal stuff I was listening to at the time, it wasn't just doubling the guitar part. At least not all the time

I spent a fair wedge putting Aguilar pickups, a Babicz bridge and Kiogon loom into a Squier VM Jazz. I did it not because I was trying to build a 'super jazz' on a budget, but purely because I fancied a go at modding. I had a lot of fun doing it and I was thoroughly pleased with the results.

I noticed many years ago that I was muting the e string without consciously thinking about it with the thumb of my left hand wrapped around the neck. I used to think that having the thumb round the top edge of the fretboard instead of on the back of the neck was just lazy, poor technique on my part until years later I saw a Stu Hamm instructional video where he demonstrated the exact same muting technique. So if it's good enough for Stu Hamm...

It's basically just a list of a fairly random selection of basses that someone else has compiled with a couple of snippets from a Pino interview crowbarred into it.

Is this the part where everybody takes offence because someone else said they were offended? Seems to be the way of the world these days...

My first thought was that they're harvesting email addresses. Especially with that 'tell all your friends and get them to email too' line. But then I have a nasty, suspicious nature.

I never set out to only have Fender skinny stringers but that seems to have been what's happened, with the slight twist that I don't tend to go for the vanilla 'classic' models. So I have a double humbucker 72 thinline tele reissue, a Baja tele and an HSS strat. Nearly bought a double humbucker Meteora a couple of years back too. On the bass front there's a bit more variation with Wasburn, Sire and Squier with just the one Fender - a Deluxe Precision Special. If I buy another bass it'll be a Stingray, so still Leo, but not Fender.