skankdelvar

Ever played a Caravan Club rally? They're like Saigon during the Tet offensive, sh*t going off everywhere. Never again.

That's a fair point, particularly in respect of the fan sites. Moreover, Gibson have in the past been tolerant to a fault in permitting savagely critical posts on their product web site, though this may change under the bright-eyed marketing wonks who've just taken over the reins from Unhappy Hank. Thing is, every brand attracts fervent adherents, a microscopic proportion of whom appoint themselves Defenders of the Faith. I'm sure it's just the same on washing machine forums ("People who don't like Miele's new crease-free drying programme are just, you know, stupid and evil") and for years I informally attributed this blind, defensive zealotry to psychological illness. Nothing serious of course, just a case of the mental sniffles. I was forced to reassess my position when I read a paper in The Lancet which links this kind of erratic, emotional and slightly womanish behaviour with low or depleted testosterone levels such as might be encountered in both pre-pubescent and elderly males. Extensive fieldwork reveals that a small subset of sufferers have evolved a rudimentary cure, this being to self-administer oral doses of prostatic fluid milked by hand from the loins of those industrialists they have set upon a pedestal. The problem is revealed to be physiological rather than psychological; but the afflicted deserve our compassion whatever the cause. The only thing sadder than a brand fanboi shrieking at the wall is seeing an old teddy bear wired to the front of a bin lorry

Similar to the RIC forum. Venture the mild opinion that some replacement parts are priced a bit on the high side (specifically: £200+ for the 'R' guitar tailpiece - known for snapping) and you could get nibbled to death by rabid fanbois and / or forcefully ejected by one of the Hall clan. The Balls and the Halls. They're such bastards.

muiscmen aNd rikerbakers an fendr all suk big leage best bas giutar evr is sqire afinnity percizion i got one it so good my brther Cody keeep steelig an hide IT in his room I get back is all out tune I tell mom but she not lssning jus drink mor beer I say Cody yu wait til Dad gt back from deployment he kik yor butt. Fuk U, logo Nzis.

Oo-er.

If you're going to do this at a parents evening you should finish with 'I Will Always Love You'. Skip the 'bittersweet memories' verse then right at the end get the winsome, smiling 11 year-olds to stretch out their little arms to the audience and tilt their heads to one side. Outcome: doting parents in floods, roof-raising applause. Ker-ching!

I think everyone agrees that The Beatles failed to live up to the promise of their earliest recordings featuring Tony Sheridan on lead vocals. Everything after that was just ineptly executed, derivative dross.

True dat. Gypie was a great guitarist in his own way but the Mk1 Feelgoods were a uniquely different band to everything that followed. Likewise, I always preferred the Jimmie Vaughan / Keith Ferguson / Kim Wilson line-up of the Fab T-Birds. Gritty and direct.

A band isn't a real band until you all bow simultaneously at the end of every song:

Only time I've ever depped it was by accident. Nearly 40 years ago I'm back from college for the summer, been playing guitar for about a year and I've put it around I'm looking for a punk band. I get a call from this bass player says he's looking to put something together, do I want to hook up and try some stuff, he's got a room booked upstairs in a pub Tuesday evening. Sure says I. Tip up at this pub, hump my gear upstairs to find about 20 people sitting around at tables, drum kit in the corner and a stand-up bass. Little old bloke scurries over to me, put your amp over there next to the kit, we'll start with some standards. Standards? WTF is going on? Little bloke gets out his fake book and calls some jazz standard in something like Db (a key with which I am entirely unacquainted) and off they go. I noodle some single note stuff in the wrong key and what seems like five years later it ends. Little old bloke's giving me murderous looks. He calls another song I've never heard of. Same thing happens, ghastly row, punters are looking bewildered, the drummer's looking nervous. I suddenly realise that I am a total novice playing guitar at a jazz gig and I've never listened to jazz in my life let alone played it. We make it to half-time and little old bloke storms over and gives me a complete bollocking, says his mate George told him I was a great player, what's going on? 'Who's George?' says I. 'I don't know any George'. 'George the Dixieland trumpet player' says he. 'Never heard of him,' says I. 'Well, there must be some mistake' says little old bloke. 'Clearly,' says I. He decides he doesn't need my services for the second set, they'll play it as a duo so I off I trudge, feeling a bit disheartened. To this day I have no idea what happened to bring about this bizarre disaster and I've never played Jazz again.

Oooh Matron! Portrait's OK but landscape just makes it easier to see what an instrument would look like in its playing position. Just a preference, really. One's mileage may vary

A Mosrite twin-neck and a Bigsby twin-neck. Gnarly!

Top chap, Grady Martin, if for nothing other than Johnny Burnette's Train Kept A Rollin'

It's OK. I don't think anyone else does, apart from the person who wrote the document and the poor bastard who was paid to read it. On the upside, it's an invaluable contribution to the sport of buzz-word Bingo.

Genuine excerpts below from the submission which secured Reggae's Safeguarded Intangible Heritage Status: "The music originated within a cultural space that was home to marginalized under-represented groups, mainly in Western Kingston ... irrespective of social standing, gender or language ... Its contribution to international discourse concerning issues of injustice, resistance, love, and humanity, underscore the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, socio-political, sensual and spiritual ... The collective impact of Reggae music, in particular the Abyssinians' (song) "Declaration of Rights," served to uphold and affirm international legal instruments such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a time and in a space when it was not fashionable nor expedient". Yes, yes, but how will Reggae be safeguarded? "This objective is facilitated through the ... ACIJ/JMB ... which since 2016 has been designated the Focal Point for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Jamaica ... The State Party also created a Technical Committee in 2016, within the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport to oversee further safeguarding measures in keeping with the 2003 Convention ... which complement on-going dialogue with stakeholders and music industry members who formally support and enhance State Party initiatives". H'mm. Some distance from roots rock riddim, one might say. "

After much initial ballyhoo the Fender / Bono / Edge lovefest seems to have gone a bit quiet, displaced, perhaps, by Fender's new 'post rock' marketing drive aimed at (i) snowflakes, (ii) young ladies and (iii) young lady snowflakes. Despite Mr Bono's much-bruited enthusiasm for all things progressive, it would probably be counter-intuitive to use those two grizzled old gobsh!tes as figureheads for a youth-targeted campaign. "♪♫♪ Stay young and beautiful, if you want to be loved ♪♫"

Gibson Brands - New Board The Nashville Post has revealed the identities of the Board of Directors of Gibson Brands, the company which owns Gibson Guitars. The revitalised board will - one supposes - offer direction and support to the previously announced Guitars Division management team. But who are Gibson's new Corporate Overlords? Joining the previously mentioned Chairman Nat Zilkha (of Gibson's majority shareholder, hedge fund KKR) are: Nathan Hubbard: Former CEO of Ticketmaster and latterly head of Twitter's 'commerce division' (sic) JC Curleigh: Gibson Guitars CEO, late of Levis Jeans Nancy Ford: Works for KKR, also a director of - er - Nature's Bounty, and Cardenas Lemonade Matthew Ross: Another KKR drone Brian Kushner: FTI consulting ( a DC-based 'global business advisory firm' with 4,700 employees and t/o of $1.7bn) Morgan Neff: Senior Portfolio Manager for Wilks Brothers It's the last name as is the most interesting: Morgan Neff works for brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, a pair of billionaire Texan businessmen with connections to GOP Senator Ted Cruz. The Wilks brothers made their stash out of fracking. Having sold their business in 2011 for $3.5bn dollars les freres Wilks embarked on a land buying spree, securing ownership of hundreds of thousands of unspoiled acres in Montana, Idaho, Kansas and Colarado. Readers might speculate as to why Texan frackers might be buying undeveloped land in mostly rural Western States. Not satisfied with bending Mother Nature to his will, it is reported that brother Farris Wilks is closely involved with the Lord Almighty. Farris's foundation allegedly donates to Religious Right groups and to the Koch brothers’ political network. It is also said that Farris Wilks funds a network of “pregnancy centers” that refuse, on principle, to talk to single women about contraception. (Married women need to check with their husband and pastor). The American Prospect website alleges that Farris "saw Barack Obama’s re-election as a harbinger of the End Times and he believes God will punish America for embracing homosexuality". So that's the Gibson Brands board, then: a collection of vacuous hedge-fund stooges, a ticket-scalper, a 'business consultant' and the bagman for some God fearin' Texan oil folk. What could possibly go wrong?

Springsteen's Esquire, purchased 1972, same year he was signed to CBS

Neil Young and Old Black (since 1969). OK, not his only guitar but the guitar.

That's a tasty set of lyrics. Nice work, Josie

Unparalleled sagacity from the Warren Buffett of the BC marketplace

Nailed it, Bridge, nailed it. (If there was a double 'like' emoticon you'd have got it).

I think it's always nice to know whether one can drive a bus under the strings or not Anyway, I'm not saying the suggestion should be written in stone or that any measurements are a definitive indicator of a bass's condition / value. If nothing else, it might imply that the seller is interested in that sort of thing, which might provide a small degree of reassurance..