SpondonBassed

YW

That's okay. I have made a note to delay laughing at the quip by roughly the time it took you to change your mind... Heeheehee. Are zithers tuned in courses too? I got a headache before I could get it around the different tunings. It says you can have one to fifty strings on a zither. Try fingering that bugger with a couple of shorts down you.

I am one of those who doesn't mind paying a little more and buying from a real shop that you can actually take the goods back to if they are faulty or in need of maintenance. I think you are right however, many customers are counting pennies. The future of high street shopping is not certain. We are still in a state of flux, the flexible and competitive nature of Internet sales being difficult to match. Until there is stability it is hard to see what would secure the future for a business starting up with premises to maintain. Are we really in a state of growth yet in the UK? We've had some unconvincing attempts by some institutions to say that we are. At the end of it the greatest rewards often come from trading in uncertain conditions to those who are nimble enough to adapt their businesses from day to day. I don't think a pop-up-shop business model would work for a musical outlet starting up but it might be the answer to supplement an established premises's business.

1. I still prefer to shop in real life from a physical outlet. Could be from a private dwelling as well as a showroom. Online listings are very useful but I am not comfortable with internet purchases unless from a major and trusted supplier. 2. Instruments, effects, amplifiers, yes. Sundries, no. 3. A decent selection of strings. 4. Up to fifteen miles from home. 5. Assuming a range of basses already, good lighting and a selection of strings right off the shelf.

I understand course tuning to mean tuning strings in groups or... courses. It is not the same as coarse tuning, which just sounds vulgar.

I'd like to replace the word odd in my previous comment with the word outrageous. Yes. That's why I find it hard to understand how an instrument with such a difference in string gauges adjacent to each other would be sold without being independently adjustable for each saddle. I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised when Leo's bridges were pairing different gauges on the same saddle for years and they're still popular.

You must be thinking of WILF - Wrinkly I'd Like to.... I should watch myself. I'm already eligible for SAGA insurance myself.

Funny that. I used to wonder if that was recognised as a chord myself. I also used to wonder if I could find a previously unheard of chord by chucking a few choir boys off of varying heights of step ladder simultaneously but I haven't been able to test that one yet.

Thanks. I knew I wasn't the only one.

That's odd. The 'net images I saw look like there isn't any staggering between the heavy and light gauges at each individual saddle. I wonder if the maker supplies own-brand strings that do intonate correctly? Otherwise, I can't see how they'd get away with it.

Good point, a bit sticky mind you but a good point none-the-less.

Yes. The strings being grouped by threes. I struggle to stop two adjacent strings on the same fret with some of my fretting fingers. It would take a bit of effort to span three at a time with my narrow fingertips every time I fret a note. I'd hate to imagine what it would be like if I really liked playing chords*. It seems like a tool for a specific job to me. Given a particular goal that would require a lot of pedal tweakage to achieve otherwise a twelve starts to make sense. I wouldn't think it is a sound that I'd want throughout the whole of a set. *I am assuming that a twelve is not best suited to chord playing bassists, generally speaking, although it seems to work for guitarists who have six groups of two...

In my case I only sat on the 'bike. I never even got to turn the motor over until the swelling went down a week later! @Happy Jack; It sounds like you'd need a massive sac(k) to accommodate your bulky peripherals.

The incident is one that I will never forget. The site of the sting was right on my glans! I modified the story slightly for laughs to compensate for the days of agony that I suffered. I'll let you imagine what sort of ribbing I got from the other campers. That was the last time I swung a leg over a motorbike whilst naked without checking the saddle first. Talk about motorcycle helmets... mine was a beaut for a while.

I understand your smugness. I was getting remarks along the same lines after a bee-sting to the scrote at a naturist campsite years ago.

Yes. A right old rip-off they were. If the vinyl was any thinner it'd be transparent.

When I was (very) young it was a revelation to me that the performers on TOTP were not actually performing for the most part. Everyone around me already knew! Before wireless the absence of instrument cables gave it away even if the vocalist was miming well. We were much more easily entertained back then. Now we're demanding a lot out of entertainment.

The above makes it look like you have a granny flat in your rucksack and you have a low opinion of her. For shame! Heeheehee I have a canvas bag in the style of a holdall but smaller. It's a little shy of eighteen inches in length and it holds cables, tuner, strings, a mains extension reel, some switch cleaner and nail clippers. I don't gig but if I did I imagine I'd have to be a lot more focussed about what gets carried in it than I am now. I'd consider a rucksack if I didn't already have a gig bag for my bass to put on my back. Although I have a hard case for the bass, it's not used for the walk to my local because it spoils my gait and I get problems with my neck as a result. As I have a gig bag for the bass that can be worn with shoulder straps I'm happy enough to carry the bag. If I was going in a vehicle, the hard case would be used and then the rucksack would be ideal. I suppose it is inevitable that I will get into pedals and other peripheral stuff which will make me rethink my luggage but I won't get a larger bag just now because I would tend to look for gear to fill it up. We'll soon be able to buy robotic luggage that follows us whilst looking like something cute out of a Japanese cartoon. Won't that be great?

I have a B2A and a bottle of Tippex. When I know the cash is in the post I'll Tippex in the missing '1' and send it to you. Heeheehee

Why have I suddenly got images of chimps, pianos, stairs and a nice cup of tea in my mind? I am impressed by the engineering behind bass twelves. That's as far as it goes for me I'm afraid. Five is more than enough for me to cope with. I'd imagine your damping skills have to be spot-on at all times.

YW

Damn. I was only thinking of commissioning a limited print run on the backs of fifty pairs of M&S Y-fronts when you posted that. Soggy chips now.

Oh?

Not at all. I'm getting the stuff that doesn't make it to print. Thanks one and all. One of the consequences of that incident when I was nine is that I have a real problem with authority figures. I have that for life. Often it is the case that someone well meaning will try to assume the upper hand when it is not asked for. In those cases I tend to I react poorly once that indefinable button has been pushed. No-one has, as yet, crossed that line with me here. I don't think it's likely someone would anyway. It's a fault of mine. I can blame no-one else for it. It's how I got through all the different schools I ended up in. I'd have been beaten to a pulp by bullies had I been any other way.