TrevorR

I did a rehearsal/audition with a local country band where the previous bass player turned up with all his gear half way though because when, at the previous gig when he'd had a flounce, thrown toys out of the pram and announced that he was fed up with the band and didn't want anything to do with them any more... they'd actually taken him seriously... That was a bit awkward...

The Pro body is not far off the same shape and size as a Mk I if that helps. More angular, Fender style forearm and rib cage cutaways.

Nice!

The primary function (see what I did there) of a covers band is to entertain the audience and so, the set list should be drawn up with that in mind. In the band I played in we tried to ensure a high proportion of guaranteed floor fillers... SoF, Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, Mr Brightside, Don't Look Back In Anger, Dakota... all songs I'd not choose to listen to for pleasure. But they all went down a storm. Alongside them we had other songs I personally like and listen to that would also get a good reaction... Get It On, Lady Marmalade, Long Train Running, some Rock n Roll, some Beatles, Sunny Afternoon, You Really Got Me, Waterloo Sunset, What's Going On, Stand By Me, Town Called Malice, Going Underground... are any of those "trite" or "cliched"? Don't know but they are songs I personally liked. Main thing was that the audience loved them. I'm not that worried about what song I actually play and whether it's on my personal listening list (we never did do any Rush, Incognito, ELO, Yes, Horslips, After The Fire, Capercaillie or Gary Moore, all personal faves, many of which don't really do party tunes). However, I found that there was a huge amount of enjoyment in just playing a classic song, nailing it with the drummer and the rest of the band, watching the punters dancing and singing along and putting on a great show for them... irrespective of personal preference on individual songs. Gig after gig some of the best experiences I ever had were playing a couple of medleys we used to do during the final set... Hi Ho Silver Lining/Sweet Caroline, La Bamba/Twist and Shout and our big finish medley... Robbie Williams' Angels segued straight into Hey Jude. All cheesy as anything but great fun to play and play off an exuberant and tipsy audience. In particular, they loved a bit of a smooch to Angels which by the end of the song also incorporated manly arms around the shoulders swaying along... then when the band went... "...I'm loving angels instead... <rest> <rest> Hey Jude..." the place would erupt! The punters who were standing by the bar "Aawwww"-ing the smoochers would often literally run to the dance floor to join in the swaying, pint glasses in the air drunken singalong. Six trite and cheesy songs but... honestly, if that doesn't give you a kick each time you do it you pretty much have no soul!

[size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]Yes, as Verb says, my recollection was that a contact on the footswitch was a signal for a relay in the amp to flip position rather than a hard open or closed circuit running from the amp to the footswitch and back again. [/color][color=#000000]If that makes sense. Hence using a momentary rather than latching switch.[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]Different principle to say, a killswitch, where the audio signal runs through the switch itself.[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]Happy to be proved wrong, of course. [/color][/font][/size]

PS Windsor - 40 mins train ride from London... Visit the castle (if the flag is flying then the queen is at home!), visit Eton College, stroll by the Thames and feed the swans all within 20 minutes stroll of each other...

With three days you'll need to limit what you do. Truro, the main city in Cornwall is 5 hours solid drive from London and that's before you do any actual sight seeing. London and surrounds will more than occupy three days... Plan a 2 week vacation some time, then you'll have more options... [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]PS Cornwall and Wales… VERY different places/countries (if the Cornish Nationalists are to be believed) and neither indigenous populations would take kindly to being confused… lol [/color][/font][/size]

If I recall, the TE is a couple of momentary switches rather than latching but I could be wrong. If they are latching then it should probably work. If not and they're momentary it shouldn't be too tricky a mod?

London... The London Eye is amazing. Walk along the South Bank of the Thames from Westminster to Tower Bridge. You'll walk past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Royal Festival Hall, Shakespeare's Globe, St Paul's Cathedral, HMS Belfast, The Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern (pop in there for a look around for free) and the Tower Of London. Walk from Parliament Square, down Whitehall past Downing Street, past the Cenotaph, past Horseguards Parade to Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column (pop into the National Gallery, also free). Hang a left under Admiralty Arch and walk through St James's Park down to Buckingham Palace. Go to Horseguards Parade any morning at 11am for their changing of the guard. Much much better than the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. That is 100 yards away behind a fence and a 30 deep crowd of tourists - you'll barely see a thing. At Horseguards you'll be about 20 feet away from the horse mounted honour guards of the Household Cavalry with just a rope in the way (#bestkeptsecret) My fave music venue in London is Green Note in Camden - great for Americana, blues, folk and other roots music. Nice veggie food and organic beer too. I also like the Borderline in Soho, near a Tottenham Court Road, depending who is on... Go to the last minute ticket booth in Leicester Square, queue up and see a West End theatre show or musical.

Interesting watching the close ups on Duck... simple simple line but every single note played with 100% commitment. We could all learn a thing or two from that...

How about, Bo-o-riss The Spider by the Who? And, I know that it started off its life on a fan club Christmas flexi-disc but The Beatles "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" made it onto the Past Masters CD and into The Beatles Complete. And, of course, Yellow Submarine.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1489961553' post='3261162'] Boy named sue and one piece at a time are also pretty comedic. [/quote] Beat me to it...

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[font="Calibri"][size="3"][color="#000000"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57polwFkEUc[/color][/size][/font]

Aladdin Sane/Diamond Dogs/Ziggy And Tin Machine I'll leave it to your discretion to work out which is which...

Wow, never realised that James Jamerson ever played with the Shadows. Can't wit to listen to the clip!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1489509814' post='3257546'] From Rush.com's "rig rundown" section, 1989: The colour-coding apparently helped him when he was breaking in a new ARP synthesiser and bass pedal arrangement. [/quote] Now you see, that's just typical of the ill informed rubbish that you see spouted on the internet as though it's fact. I mean, that photo has been obviously faked. EVERYONE knows that Geddy has never used that sort of band. They are patently heavy duty Post Office grade FLAT rubber bands in that photo. Any true Rush fan knows that Geddy uses incredibly thin, light Office-grade ROUND rubber bands. Get your facts right, mate!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1489488598' post='3257302'] And what about Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow? I think that the collectability of a particular bass depends very much on interesting players using that particular bass in preference to all others and not just as a passing phase like some of those mentioned above, who for me can just as easily be associated with other basses - like Martin Kemp who for me will always be associated with the Stingray he used in the early days when they were interesting rather than popular. [/quote] Leigh is another great player with a killer tone. But again on Pro and JG models rather than that later Custom models...

The singles chart as we know it no longer works because the model on which it is based has changed fundamentally. It uses to be based on a scarce, time-limited resource with an intrinsic and emotional cachet. Back then tracks were specifically chosen to be singles and only those counted for chart purposes. The then needed to be physically pressed and distributed but were only available to buy for a limited time -even the most popular. Eventually no more were pressed and the supply ran out. Therefore there was a constant churn of songs that could be chart co tenders and their chart life was strictly limited. Therefore you got the shape of the charts we used to know which gave an indication of which NEW songs were attracting the most purchases in any week. A proxy for popularity. Things are fundamentally different now. There is little of no selective or physical barrier which limits the contenders for a chart place. Any track can appear in the singles chart. So a whole album can be eligible at the same time - that could/would never have happened back in the day. It simply wasn't the business model. They also now exist pretty much eternally so may never naturally drop out of the chart through lack of supply. So there is no natural churn. Songs aren't bought they are consumed on Spotify so. Again there is no entry barrier. All this adds up to the Sheeran chart being an inevitability. I do know one person who is delighted though. My chum Amy who co-wrote four of the songs on the album!

And the 1970s were WORSE! [b][size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]Best selling single of the 1970s[/color][/font][/size][/b] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]1 "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls' School" Wings [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]2 "Rivers of Babylon"/"Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]3 "You're the One That I Want" John Travolta and Olivia Newton John [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]4 "Mary's Boy Child" Boney M. [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]5 "Summer Nights" John Travolta and Olivia Newton John [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]6 "Y.M.C.A." Village People [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]7 "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]8 "Heart of Glass" Blondie [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]9 "Bright Eyes" Art Garfunkel [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]10 "Don't Give Up on Us" David Soul [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]11 "I Love You Love Me Love" Gary Glitter [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]12 "Merry Xmas Everybody" Slade [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]13 "Save Your Kisses for Me" Brotherhood of Man [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]14 "Eye Level" Simon Park Orchestra [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]15 "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" Little Jimmy Osmond [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]16 "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" Pink Floyd [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]17 "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" Julie Covington [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]18 "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" The New Seekers [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]19 "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" Dawn featuring Tony Orlando [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]20 "Under the Moon of Love" Showaddywaddy [/color][/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]The truth is, the charts have ALWAYS been rubbish. Here is the full top 5 best-selling singles of the 60s in the UK and the rest of the non-Beatles top 20. This is NOT the list that the music journo in one of those would “I Heart The 60s” clip shows would predict. And not what any of us would predict…[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]No Who, no Rolling Stones, no Animals, no Yardbirds no[font=Arial][color=#222222] Dylan, no Byrds, no Stax, no Motown[/color][/font]…[/color][/font][/size] [b][size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]Best-selling singles of the 1960s in the UK[/color][/font][/size][/b] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]1 [/color][color=#000000]"She Loves You" Beatles, The[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]2 [/color][color=#000000]"I Want to Hold Your Hand" Beatles, The [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]3 [/color][color=#000000]"Tears" Dodd, Ken [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]4 [/color][color=#000000]"Can't Buy Me Love" Beatles, The [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]5 [/color][color=#000000]"I Feel Fine" Beatles, The [/color][/font][/size][size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000] [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]6 [/color][color=#000000]" The Carnival Is Over" Seekers, The [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]8 [/color][color=#000000]"Release Me" Humperdinck, Engelbert [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]9 [/color][color=#000000]"It's Now or Never" Presley, Elvis [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]10 [/color][color=#000000]"Green, Green Grass of Home" Jones, Tom [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]11 [/color][color=#000000]"The Last Waltz" Humperdinck, Engelbert [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]12 [/color][color=#000000]"Stranger on the Shore" Bilk, Acker [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]13 [/color][color=#000000]"I Remember You" Ifield, Frank [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]14 [/color][color=#000000]"TheThe Young Ones" Richard, Cliff and The Shadows [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]15 [/color][color=#000000]"Sugar, Sugar" Archies, The [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]16 [/color][color=#000000]" TheThe Next Time" / "Bachelor Boy" Richard, Cliff and The Shadows[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]17 [/color][color=#000000]"Telstar" Tornados, The [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]19 [/color][color=#000000]"Two Little Boys" Harris, Rolf [/color][/font][/size]

[quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1489415066' post='3256697'] not introducing an effects loop just a simple way of getting a di signal from the power amp of the jcm so no vtdi needed in the chain. [/quote] Aaaah...

But apparently they have half an album all but done... and due to do some more soon... yay!

100% agreed on Alan Spenner. Only excluded because he never really played the Custom Series which the others listed above all used (tho some also had JGs and Pros too). Many things go in phases and desirability waxes and wanes. Certainly Wals had a glory days period in the 80s, were a bit less prominent in the 90s and gained more widespread notoriety and appeal in the 2000s again.

[size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]It’s funny the way in which you hear Wals being referenced in terms of the big 3… Mick, Geddy and Justin as if that is the gamut of the Wal sound.[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"] [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]For me whilst I enjoy Geddy’s late 80s/early 90s sound and the bits of Mick’s fretless I have heard (Japan were never a huge part of my listening list and I can’t honestly hum any tune by Tool) they represent for me only the tiniest corner of what a Wal is capable of. And it’s their ability to sculpt a host of different tonalities which has always been a huge draw for me (fingers arguments notwithstanding).[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"] [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]Think of other notable Wal users and their tones… Flea on BSSM, Bruce Thomas on Elvis Costello’s “Punch the Clock”, Laurence Cottle with his Big Band, with The Alan Parsons Project or with Black Sabbath, Macca on Flowers in the Dirt or the Light Fantastic Live Album, Martin Kemp with Spandau Ballet, John Illsley with Dire Straits, Percy Jones with Brand X, Jeff Ament with Pearl Jam, Greg Lake on the ELP Black Moon album… all broadly different examples of tones that a Wal is capable of producing.[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"] [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]Back on topic, though, it was interesting to see what happened with the second hand price of Wal basses in the two or three year hiatus between Pete Stevens finally retiring and Paul Herman restarting production. If I recall the highest I saw a pretty standard Wal model go for was around $9500 dollars (around £7500 at the time – a decade ago now). It will be interesting to see how other luthier brands go when their makers stop making. However, as others have said, I suspect it will also be driven by distinctives around design. Zemaitis basses were already goig to silly prices before Tony Zemaitis. Real Zemaitis guitars and basses are now eye-wateringly expensive. And if any instrument had a distinctive USP they were one.[/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"] [/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font="Calibri"][color="#000000"]At least the future of Wal seems secure for the foreseeable.[/color][/font][/size]