skankdelvar

Lovely work, Sir. And very tasteful ageing.

The main problem is that a year's elapsed since you took delivery of the 'repaired' item. This gives the original luthier a loophole to deny responsibility for the fretboard damage even if it was his fault. Also, judging from many similar threads here and elsewhere these sort of disputes are best sorted by quiet discussion and polite entreaties in the spirit of goodwill. Certainly, while you've got deposit cash tied up in a new build you [i]really[/i] don't want to 'name and shame' in a publicly view-able section of the forum and risk a major falling out. IME, some luthiers can be a bit cranky; push them and they just shut the dialogue down and you're left chasing them for a year or two. In respect of the crap re-fret: unless the original luthier is an absolutely stand-up guy I suspect you're out of luck. Your dilemma thereafter is whether your justifiable mistrust is such that (i) you sever ties now and lose the deposit on your new build or (ii) whether you want to wait to view the finished item before paying over the balance. Either way, don't go to war with him on these pages until you've decided how to play your hand.

Enjoy yourself with your new toys, Sir!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1485312420' post='3223062'] Educate me, pounds, quids? [/quote] Mostly from London & SE England: £1 = A quid / nicker / squid £5 = A fiver / a ching / a Lady (Godiva) £10 = A tenner / an Ayrton (Senna) £20 = A score £25 = A pony £50 = A nifty £100 = A ton £500 = A monkey £1000 = A grand / a bag (of sand) Any form of money = Dosh, readies, bunce, moolah, lolly, scratch, brass Banknotes = Folding, sheets, wedge Loose change = Shrapnel Bankers' check = A kite

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1485299052' post='3223008'] Maybe, maybe not. I certainly would not defend the notion of universal admiration/popularity. However my kids definitely don't indulge my preferences; the abuse I get if I put a Yes CD on when they are visiting is quite unsettling For my birthday I know they went through my CDs as they thought they had spotted a Zep CD I didn't own - they were right. They them admitted to accidentally having it in their laptops pre-wrapping. [/quote] That's really sweet of them

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1485245242' post='3222343'] Iceland is the afterlife? [/quote] Not exactly. In my personal belief construct the afterlife is a variant of [i]Niflheim -[/i] i.e. rather like Iceland without the boutique hotels, the vibrant party scene and the hipster DJs [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1485261062' post='3222543'] There aren't any pop acts at the rest of the 3 day festival, Download is the new version of what was 'Donnington Monsters of Rock", basically it was THE rock/metal show in the UK with a worldwide audience travelling to attend. [/quote] Gosh! So [i]that's[/i] what happened to Monsters of Rock. Never knew.

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1485213203' post='3222270'] Take it from us blue, you are soon wrong about Led Zeppelin being Old People's Music. It might not be the case in the USA, but they are held in very high regard across the generations here in the UK. [/quote] To be realistic, I think the popularity of Zeppelin is probably far higher among older people than among today's bangin' yoof. And even back in the day they were something of a cult band to be eschewed by mainstream record buyers intent on dampening their gussets to Mr David Cassidy or Miss Suzi Quatro While the band may form a small if respected component of some young peoples' musical diet I doubt it is quite as central to their continued existence as it is to those whose salad days are but a dim memory. While many of us wee-smelling wrinklies would like to think that the Mighty Zeppelin are still an omnipresent musical force I suspect that the erstwhile practitioners of 'light and shade' may enjoy a passing vogue only among a small minority of youths who for reasons best known to themselves embrace a historiographic musical perspective. Anecdotes about one's offspring's approval of the Zep are (genuinely) rather lovely but does it [i]ever[/i] cross our failing and enfeebled minds that our progeny might charitably be indulging us in the mistaken belief that the [i]apparently[/i] continuing eminence of our long-dead favourite band means we are still relevant? That such a kindly deception is meant to ease our eventual and inevitable passage into that land of ice and snow and the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow?

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1485202592' post='3222108'] He came around and fixed my roof tiles after a storm about 9/10 years ago. I went round his house not long after, he was thinking about unloading a Bass on Ebay at the time. (might well have been the Bass you mentioned, or possibly a P-Bass) Also I have quite a funny story concerning the insurance company involved with my roof....Not for public airing though. Yes, he occasionally turned up at The Oysterfleet (I was there on one occasion). He is still in the building trade as far as I know. [/quote] Thanks for the update, Sir. He was such a talented bass player and so right for the band.

Thank you for posting that. As a child, one of my first records ever was an EP with various Gerry Anderson TV show themes on it.

Sparko kicked it in the head after ten years on the road with the Feelgoods and went back to doing something like roofing or plumbing. AFAIK occasionally turns out at the Oysterfleet. Sold his iconic Grabber bass some years ago. Went for about £700 (with provenance) on eBay. I'd have paid considerably more than that.

It's a shame that most people don't welcome a more innovative and progressive approach to clubs and music. A friend of mine recently launched a 'semi-ironic, multi-media, poly-sensual event' where guests were invited to lie down in the road outside a launderette on Neasden High St and drink their own piss while listening to an 8-track tape of The Osmonds' Greatest Hits. Heartbreakingly, only four people turned up to support this fledgling enterprise. When the London club scene goes dark it'll be because of the public's narrow-mindedness. And the bullying councils, of course

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1484502316' post='3215926'] What do you think? Blue [/quote] Excellent ad. Enough information to spark interest and a desire to find out more about the job. Therefore likely to generate the widest possible response from the largest possible number of applicants; which is always a good strategy

Ah! The great Gwizdala war of '08 and '09. Not the forum's finest moment though, as Mr Huge Hands accurately opines above, Mr G had a tendency to respond somewhat - shall we say, [i]robustly[/i] - to observations with which he did not concur, one of these being a lingering doubt in some minds that the undoubtedly talented bass maven could, as he professed in a column, practice for ten hours a day and play semi-quavers at 400bpm. Once it became clear that Mr Gwizdala was prey to a somewhat agitated posting style some of our number (Beefy, Waldo and other reprobates who shall not be named ) took the opportunity to push his buttons. The outcome was that the fleet-fingered stylist very visibly took his business elsewhere on at least two occasions. I cannot deny that I may accidentally have exacerbated matters the second time round when I misunderstood the nature of Mr Gwizdala's relationship with BGM and made what I genuinely believed to be certain helpful suggestions, subsequent to which the musically-gifted sporter of Foderas formally handed in his ticket and hoyed himself back to Talkbass where I suppose he prospers to this day. While the 'knuckle-draggers' may have stoked tensions I must therefore admit to having been the last person to see the victim alive, so to speak. That said, our glorious and handsome leader Ped may have left his dabs on the matter after an in-person meeting with the bass luminary which ended in a welter of confusion about a matter of bodily fluids. [color=#ffffe0].[/color]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1483932311' post='3211217'] Doing my first DEP gig this Saturday night which means I have work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. [/quote] Good for you, chap. Best wishes and let us know how it goes.

One band I knew, they ran a highly organised kitty / equipment fund where if someone left they were entitled to draw out what they'd put in less a percentage for depreciation. They even allowed for inflation and wrote everything down in a little book they all countersigned after every deposit / withdrawal. The system worked fine until the lead singer ran off with the guitarist's wife, whereupon all hell broke loose. Moral: systems are great but people will always find a way to f**k things up.

I know. Thing is, we had the whole thing structured to underline our disdain for misogyny, hatred and division. Four of us, OK? * Two whites, one black, one from mid-east. * One gay, one straight, one bi-sexual, one straight-edge celibate * A Christian, a Jew , a Muslim and an atheist who'd previously been a pantheist which was a bit of a jolt for him, having to go straight through monotheism without stopping. * A vegan, a vegetarian, a fruitarian and a carnivore who spurned vegetables. It would have been a Blue Mink-styled 'Melting Pot' of hope for the 21st century if a bunch of fascist snowflakes hadn't ruined everything.

Horribly true to life. I laughed till the tears ran down my leg.

I recently started a band where two of us are tiny people and two of us are giants. As soon as I posted our band shot on Facebook I was overwhelmed with accusations of 'heightism' and bigotry. The twitterverse went mental and West Midlands Police cautioned me for possible 'hate crimes'. The band has now split up before fulfilling anywhere near its potential. So thanks a bundle, world. We could have changed society's prejudices but it's too late now. C**ts.

In my youth and early adulthood I was (for reasons which are not germane to the debate) required to attend performances at the Birmingham Jazz Centre Society (as it was then known). Mr Gallagher's description of several blokes studiously ignoring the audience while diligently playing in different keys and tempos at the same time fits my recollections quite precisely. I suppose there may have been a 'good' act among them but on this point memory fails me as it often does these days. Perhaps Jazz is different now. I do hope so.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1483658976' post='3209182'] Their Vocalese LP is exquisite. [/quote] I've been known to listen to it in the shower.

Of course, there was never the remotest chance that a thread with the word 'bigot' in the title might [i]ever [/i]turn political. [color=#faebd7].[/color]

Another convert here

[b][size=3]Woolly[/size][/b] [size=3][b]Musical[/b][/size]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1483407775' post='3206954'] I'd be very hesitant to to audition as I have no touring experience.[/quote] Unless they particularly specify 'touring experience [u]essential[/u]' why not audition anyway? Just tip up with your bass(es) and whatever else they want you to bring. * You make some contacts and meet some new people * You meet some other bass-players and possibly get to talk about dep opportunities * It's a nice day out doing something you like. Go and have a nice cup of tea afterwards and maybe feed the ducks. Do it. G'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan g'wan.

Seems to me that the 'bigotry' stuff at the start of the post is there as a lead-in to a heartfelt if entirely conventional wail about being rejected by bands (or impeded from applying) because of one's years on the planet being greater in total than the combined age of the rollicking pups who placed the ad. I don't think band ageism has got anything to do with competence or lack thereof. It's because peppy young things don't want to spend time hanging out with people who remind them of their dad, may possibly smell of wee and gig a teeny rig because of their bad back. The other thing is that older men have usually lost whatever good looks they had by the time they're thirty and the mythical record company will immediately finger any uglies or crumblies as a no-no and demand their ejection before pen hits paper. Keeping coffin-dodgers out of bands is good commercial sense. Music is an outpost of fashion and fashion is all about looking cute. Put three trim, handsome lads onstage alongside a superannuated warthog dressed like a sack of sh*t tied up in the middle and audience members from the age of 5 to 65 will point and laugh and cry 'Who is that silly old fool up there, prancing around like a spavined eejit? Who is he? Do tell?' and filming it on their smartphones and tweeting it as '!!!This OAP is in the wrong band!!!' And rightly so. Once past a certain age one should put aside childish things like 'being in a band' and focus on technique, performance and a mastery of one's instrument. Once achieved, one should establish a loose collective with like-minded geriatrics and play jazz. I understand that it's big in Felixstowe so I can't see why it can't be rolled out on a national basis. [color=#ffffe0].[/color]