Cato

Does anyone remember the great avatar massacre from the big update of a few years ago? We're about to go through the looking glass, who knows who we'll be on the other side?

Axe bass ordered off the back of a copy of Metal Hammer c1989. Defretted with a pair of pliers c1992 when I upgraded to a Washburn Status. Left it with an action about half an inch off the fretboard at the 12th fret. I never got round to trying to lower it. As far as I know it's still at my parents house although it's quite likely they'll have taken it down the tip during one of their intermittent decluttering efforts in the intervening years. I did come across my knackered old Hondo strat in their attic though a couple of years back though, so who knows?

I was a huge Maiden fan between the ages of 13 and 18 before I left them behind at uni. Although even though I haven't listened to them properly in well over 25 years the Steve Harris gallop still seems to be my default setting when I'm noodling on bass so those 5 years clearly had quite a big impact.

I've never understood the urge to put labels on everything. It happens to extent in all broad categories of music but for some reason dance music and metal fans seem to to be the most obsessive about dividing everything into micro genres. I remember back in the 80s, when I used to listen to metal, friends arguing about whether various bands were speed metal or thrash metal, I never did learn the difference. Since then there seem to have infinite subdivisions, stuff I would have called 'Thrash' back then now seems to have subdivided with terms like 'doom' , 'sludge', 'math rock'. It all seems to have got a little bit out of hand.

In one of the hundreds of Andertons youtube clips Lee Anderton basically said that from his shop's point of view it doesn't matter how expensive or well done the mods are, they add no value to the px or resale price of the instrument. In a private sale a buyer might agree to pay more for a well modded instrument that particularly appeals to them but the general consensus seems to be that you'll get more of your investment back by returning the instrument to stock (if possible) and selling the upgrades separately.

I'd recomend going with one with built in drum loops. I use a boss RC30 a lot as a sort of sketchbook to quickly build up different song parts on guitar and bass and see how well they fit together. The weakness of the RC 30 is that is has, i think, 10 basic drum patterns, all of which sound like they were lifted from an early 1980s beginners keyboard. I also have a couple of other multi FX type pedal units that have a much better selction of drum tracks, but using these with the RC30 is where the problems start If you use the RC30s own drum function then the drums stop and start to repeat when you press the pedal to close the loop. With an external drum machine that doesn't happen. The drums that you've already recorded will start to loop while the drum machine carries on and the 2 sets of drums will now be out of sync with each other and any tracks you've already put down. It's not a huge problem for the way I use it because all I need to do is stop the drum machine and then carry on building the loop with the recorded drums. But it's more of a faff than it needs to be and if you were trying to do any kind of live 'one man band' thing where you needed to seamlessly build up the tracks then those moments where the two sets of drums are out of sync is not pleasant to listen to. As I understand it with a unit with a good selection of built in drum loops like the RC10 none of that is an issue. You just put the drums on at the point you want whilst building up the tracks and that's it. I hope all that rambling makes some sort of sense.

Well...you can never disprove a conspiracy theory there's always the 'no ones allowed to talk about it' defence. But realistically, after nearly 40 years and countless biographies, autobiographies and interviews with the people involved in making the track, from the band to the studio crew and the band's management, if John didn't play on it I reckon someone would have let it slip by now.

Eurovision winners Maneskin have recently come to my attention. Not my usual thing at all but I'm enjoying the energy of what I'm hearing. Whole lot of diverse influences in their music from cheesy europop to The Strokes. The first track here has picked up quite a lot of airplay on Radio 1 recently and I suspect it's going to be on quite a few set lists before the year is out.

I never really saw the point until I had a go on my brother in law's Harley Benton AB and found myself really enjoying it. I'd never have one as my main bass but I think they're just a fun thing to have around the house for picking up and noodling on. I too found the thick uncontoured body a bit uncomfy for playing finger style and I'm not a huge fan of the very bright tone from the phosphor bronze strings but the OP has already addressed that issue.

The old boy network might get you access to opportunities that are harder to come by for musicians that aren't part of it. But ultimately it's the music buying public who decides who gets to make a living out of music.

Arctic Monkeys released their debut in 2006 and have gone on to sell out arenas and headline festivals all over the world. I can't really think of any more recent acts that have forced their way into the big boys club though.

Best wishes mate.

You should go full soap opera. Keep the current setup but start seeing the old band on the sly. Eventually both bands will end up with bookings on the same night and you'll have to tell one that you're leaving them for the other....

Because of the general shortage of new gear coming into the UK at the moment I wouldn’t be surprised if they only have a very limited stock, possibly at a store the other end of the country from you. Still, if they're asking for a deposit which they would keep if you didn't turn up to try it out after they had it sent to your local store that would be highly unusual but just about understandable, and pretty much up to you whether you lose the deposit by not turning up. If they're asking for 20% deposit which they keep even if you turn up but decide not to buy the amp then I wouldn't touch their conditions with a bargepole.

Another vote for O'Keefe's. I have a mild form of psoriasis which mainly affects my hands and the soles of my feet. O'Keefes has been more effective at preventing and healing cracks in my fingertips and feet than anything I've ever been prescribed by a doctor. Trick is to start using it when you start feeling the warning signs of your skin cracking, rather than wait for the cracks to appear.

Might be worth mentioning in on the build diaries forum There's a few guys on there that you don't really see much on other parts of the site.

That's a lovely bit of rosewood on the fretboard, unusually actractive grain.

Given the finger stretches involved in forming some chords towards the headstock end of the bass then a shortscale bass has to be a big advantage.

Not particularly glamorous but the Ford Fiesta is by far Britain's most common car. Got to be a shoo in for the Precision.

Always good to see more quality bass content online. I look forwards to chaecking it out.

The price of a new US Professional ii Strat has risen by £250 at Andertons since January. I've not been watching basses but I'd be surprise if they've not had similar hike. It's gone up a bit more at some smaller stores. I suspect it's probably mainly down to the shipping container shortage which must be affecting every part of the production and supply process by now, from shipping electronic components to the factory to sending out finished instruments across the world. There's got to be various other pandemic related cost increases throughout the chain too.

This might be a bit controversial but personally I think the tonal differences between single coils and humbuckers have been greatly exaggerated. There is definitely a slightly 'thicker' tone to humbuckers and back in the day the higher output from the twin coil design might have made a significant difference to the amount of distortion you could get out of an amp. But these days most amps are designed for much higher gain at much lower volumes. I can get close enough to the maxed out marshall tone + Les Paul of the 'Sweet Child O'Mine intro' using the neck pickup of a telecaster through my Boss Katana that most punters wouldn't notice I'm using the 'wrong' guitar and I can do it with the master volume set to 1.

I'm not sure it counts as a fad because a lot of people including me have held onto theirs, but there were a lot of people getting Sire V7s when they first came out.

Most UK retailers seem to be struggling to get stock of a lot of stuff at the moment. It seems to be a combination of the pandemic and a shipping container shortage making it unpredictable as to when new stock will actually arrive in the UK.

I always meant to get round to Bowie. I know and like the 'greatest hits' very much but I know there's a whole treasure trove of less well known material that I've never heard.