skankdelvar

Where a songwriter's sole income is from speculatively writing and selling songs I don't detect any unfairness in the system. For every song that 'sells' there may be a hundred gathering dust on a shelf. But even when they 'sell' a song, the songwriter's income is deferred (unless they take a fee). They may have written the best song in the world but their chances could be scuppered by a poor interpretation, record company incompetence, inadequate promotion, radio station indifference or just plain bad luck. Either way, they get nothing until (a good while after) the product sells. By contrast, pretty much all the other participants are remunerated for a specific, discrete task. They are offered a job and can decide whether to take it on the terms offered. The recording studio and personnel get paid according to their rates; the session players, arrangers and producers are (usually) on a fee; the performer enjoys income from live appearances; the management skims off the top and take kickbacks; crikey, even the performer's [i]dealer[/i] gets cash on the nail. By contrast, the professional songwriter's back in his attic, hoping for some royalties one day and chopping out more ditties. It must be a very uncertain and insecure form of self-employment.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1389209144' post='2331452'] Surveying the lovely audience at The Lexington with faux nonchalance hands-on-hips Brian Robertson style arrogance [/quote] You really [i]are[/i] ruggedly handsome, aren't you?

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1388704621' post='2325225'] Will I electrocute myself taking it apart if I buy it? [/quote] Only if you stick your fingers into the amp chassis. Hold it by the edges and you'll be fine. I've never tried re-covering an amp but I am given to understand by someone who does it occasionally that it's a bit of a bastard job. [quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1388704621' post='2325225']Or is it something the furniture upholsterer round the corner may be able to do?[/quote] Detach the speaker lead, take the chassis out and hoick the empty cabinet round to the upholsterer. A variety of tolex types and colours is available on [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390647595516?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]ebay[/url] and via amp specialists. Also Zilla cabs offer a [url="http://www.zillacabs.com/recovering.php"]re-covering[/url] service.

Squiers are usually good vfm and your budget would see you clear to a s/h Standard, CV or VM. Hold their value if bought s/h and easy to flip. A Squier VM HSS Strat (below) retails around £230 new. Bridge humbucker good for 'rawk' one would imagine: If you're after a Les Paul shape, 'Vintage' LP copies come in around £300 new and get a lot of love:

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1388963989' post='2328303'] in an extreme case it's possible for the stud to just lie inside the 'petals' and not make any contact. A quick squeeze with a pair of pliers would fix such a problem. [/quote] F'narr, f'narr. Er - Sorry about the derail...

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1389008369' post='2328617'] If you are going to work towards shows, rather than pub sets then you need to try and give the audience something more to justify ticket prices. [/quote] Entirely this. There is a tendency for bands to view gigs as merely being the sequential musical presentation of individual songs. Perhaps this is because the main focus is on frantically trying to remember the changes. Or maybe because a professional approach to presentation is viewed as 'showing off' or 'unspontaneous'. Or because the bandleader(s) are clueless chumps. Whatever the reason, my heart sinks when bands shamble through their sets, glumly staring at their instruments and bleating 'What are we going to do next?'. If I was expected to watch a band rehearse for 90 minutes I'd expect them to pay [i]me[/i]. One band I was in, I tried to broach the subject of presentation. The guitarist's response was that he would wear a waistcoat and an Australian hat with dangly corks.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1388861342' post='2327074'] I'd be tempted to post... [/quote] OK. Here's a picture of a butt-harp. I mean, how else would one play it?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1388856686' post='2326969'] I always imagined you to be a bass player Skank, are you saying you are one of the s*x-str*ng persuasion?? *Shock* [/quote] The guitar and the bass are only two of the weapons in my [i]toadally awwsome[/i] musical armoury. If pressed in conversation I would style myself as an exponent of the butt-harp.

Of late I have been setting the neck totally flat then winding the relief back in, 1/8th increments or less until any [i]serious[/i] fret buzz goes away. If no buzz, leave it flat. Saves all that tedious measuring. As for shims, there is a view that increasing the back angle of the neck leaves the bridge set higher, thereby increasing the break angle of the strings over the saddle with beneficial effects on one's 'tone'. Which is probably bollocks, but hey... [color=#ffffff].[/color]

More tackiness. Has the Hef decided that guitars are the way to prop up the Playboy empire? [size=3]Moast awwsome guitar buyer's guide evuh, dude. [/size] [size=3].[/size]

Hello y'self, Sir

When viewing me in Profile, people often comment on my strangely shaped head and large nose.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1388666737' post='2324500'] If this is the keys player I think it is, he's a pretty good busker so you wouldn't likely scare him off that easily skank. He'd be ripping it up all over whatever was being played! [/quote] I hate it when a plan falls apart

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1388854561' post='2326919'] Flan[/quote] [size=3]Flan[/size] [size=4]Anyhow, now's as good a time as any to register my gratitude to the mods and admins. Keeping the balance between wildly varying opinions while damping down outbreaks of egregious pashun must be perfectly enervating.[/size] Hats off to you, one and all!

I have been toying with the idea of reforming our 1979 ska-pop combo from [s]Hell[/s] Hull. After some serious stalking I have located (though carefully [i]not[/i] contacted) the singer, the (other) guitard and the sax player. The drummer and the bass player have slipped from public notice and remain untraceable. So if you're out there, Ian (CPGB) Jackson and Simon Burch...

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1388848530' post='2326813'] I'm not entirely convinced that you actually meant "tortuous" there. Perhaps "tortious". [/quote] Tortious (1) TORTIOUS: Being in the nature of a [i]tort[/i]; in common law jurisdictions, a civil wrong which unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who ... (2) TORTIOUS: Contraction - "This tort is scrumptious!" (see also [i]Chillax[/i], [i]Frenemy[/i]) [color=#ffffff].[/color]

If this thread had cropped up even a short while ago, I'd have nominated Bruce Thomas (Attractions). Much unsung and under-rated. However I discovered yesterday that the Bass Centre have recently released a BT sig. Bruce's blog about it [url="http://www.brucethomas.co.uk/?page_id=24"]here[/url] [size=3]The Bruce Thomas 'Profile' - a snip at £495[/size] [color=#ffffff][size=3].[/size][/color]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1388696450' post='2325079'] Radio ... Plugger(s) [/quote] Only good for Radio 1 and 2 and - tbh - the days of the sharp-suited plugger with some Charlie in his pocket are long gone. And commercial radio does not (generally) entertain pluggers. Too dependent on research and heavily rotated big names. Frankly, unless you're extremely lucky or you've got an amazing back-story, you will get [i]zero[/i] national radio airplay. Send stuff (with press pack, etc) to relevant specialist shows on BBC local radio, community stations, etc. They might listen. Better by far to focus on local venues and relevant websites. Sorry to be a wet blanket but this is my experience from having worked in radio. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

Sparko Grabber? Tina Weymouth Mustang? Roger Glover R**k? BigRedX Gus? The list stretches into single figures...

One of the known issues with Valve Jrs is the hum. YMMV. There are kits on ebay for this and other issues. They are also surprisingly loud. FWIW, I spent some time with a chum's VJ and found it lacked headroom. From a whisper to a roar with not much in between unless one dialled the guitar right back. Subbed a 12AT7 into it, which improved matters until the valve blew.

[quote name='BobVbass' timestamp='1388655746' post='2324345'] ...proceeded to run up and down his fretboard in some obscure scale while saying "feel the burn baby" between numbers while staring at me... [/quote] Good grief! 'Feel the burn, baby'? Does this man lack [i]all [/i]self-awareness? Anyhow, I have a solution to the keytard problem other than unleashing a leopard on him or luring him to a deserted warehouse, etc., etc. Simply give him a bell and offer him a gig. Send him a comprehensive setlist and play absolutely none of it on the night. Worth £50 to watch him sat there doing nothing and glowering for an hour or two.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1388591907' post='2323765'] YO!! GIDDYUP!! HAAHHH!! *Whiplash sound* [/quote] You are Doris Day and I claim my crisp fiver.

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1388586535' post='2323670'] all the best to you all what ever you plan, Make it happen.. [/quote] And all the best to you too, Sir. Looks like you've got it going for you at the moment so strike while the iron is hot. Keep us all in touch with developments. BC is great but it's also a black hole into which my time gets sucked, never to return. So 2014 will be the year of the great dial-back. And some singing lessons, gawd help us.

Don't give me that no image malarkey... ... and Lo! millions of bass players went out and bought hats.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1388407398' post='2321593'] I wonder if the middle-aged bulge is responsible for the regular episodes of curmudgeonliness* on the forum?[/quote] On a number of occasions I have suggested that this (and concomitant testosterone depletion) might be the case. Far from stimulating heated debate I instead learned that Mr Billy Apple is still 'squirty' even though in his mid-seventies. Which - frankly - was no help at all. [color=#ffffff].[/color]