Russ

Have Ampeg addressed the SVT-7's reliability issues? I used to have one and loved how it sounded, but it crapped out on me during the first song at a gig and I haven't really trusted them since.

My current band and my previous band were both female-fronted rock/metal. Totally different energy with a girl up front rather than a bloke. I'll agree that good female rock singers (especially if they're prepared to put the work in to write and arrange originals) are rare as rocking horse s**t, so if you get a good one, hold onto her! Video time! Earthbound AD (current band): Evyltyde (previous band, back in the UK). Acoustic number, but I chose this video because I'm in it.

I don't think so - the ABM range are the more traditional, full-size class A amps, the Rootmasters are the smaller class D amps. Different markets, I think. Plus, it hasn't stopped GK, Mesa, Orange, Markbass, Ampeg, etc from doing it.

I don't play Ashdown any more, but I'd recommend them to anyone, mostly based on their customer service and general bulletproof-ness. I've owned two ABMs and a RM-800, all of them gave me years of good-sounding, problem-free service. If they ever come out with a valve preamp version of the RM-800, that'll be my next amp!

Never had the change to meet him, but back in the 1990s, back when I was still starting out, we corresponded a bit online. Lovely, encouraging guy, and one of the all-time fretless masters. RIP Mo. One of the unsung greats.

Barefaced don't have dealers. They sell direct, and will ship worldwide, assuming you're willing to pay! I've had my BT2 since 2013 and have no plans to part with it. It just keeps on delivering. The only way I'd be tempted to part from it would be to get the new BT3 - although I don't really like the new script-y logo!

When I get them (October-ish, apparently), I'll make sure there's a NBD thread for them! They're going to sound like Bongos though. They're both going to have Delano Xtender pickups (which sound very Music Man-ish when in parallel mode), coupled with a Noll 4-band preamp with the frequency centres adjusted to match the Bongo ones.

Two 6-string Maruszczyks.

Another vote for Jonathan at Feline. He maintained all my basses before I moved away, did some electronic transplants, and set up one of my basses that was nigh-on unplayable so that it's now pretty much the best-playing bass that I own!

I seem to recall the girl who played bass in Babylon Zoo was a member on Bassworld back in the day. No idea if she moved over to Basschat or if she's still here. Closest I can think of.

Been finding myself getting drawn into a lot of old (and not-so-old) goth stuff again recently. Recently rediscovered VNV Nation, Assemblage 23 and Wolfsheim, caught up with The Eden House, and have been listening to some of the old Peter Murphy stuff too (call me a bad goth, but I found most of the Bauhaus stuff almost unlistenable - his solo stuff is much better!). My wife used to be a major goth in her youth, and was a member of a "vampire court", where they all wore fangs and specially designed ankhs, arranged themselves into feudal houses, and got together in dark clubs to listen to goth music. One of her old vampire friends died recently, and we went along to the memorial, which was basically a goth club, but in the daytime. BigRedX and Cat Burrito - I'll be listening to more of your stuff later!

Lord Of The Lost actually covered Voyager's Promise. That seems to be a thing this year, the artists doing covers of the other artists!

I went to school with a kid who would pay other kids 50p for a scab so he could eat it. 😮

There's no autotune at work there. Certainly not on the lead vocals. Danny and Alex can sing. Here's a live performance of the tune from a couple of weeks back:

They tried to get selected last year too, with the song "Dreamer". They won the audience vote, but not the jury vote. This year, there was no public vote, and they got "appointed", probably because they got passed over last year!

I'm Team Aussie this year - one of my favourite bands are representing Australia - Voyager. They do a kind of synthpoppy take on prog-metal, I've been listening to them for quite a few years now, and they're bloody great. Their bass player Alex is also a monster player. This was their third try ad being nominated for Eurovision, and they got the nod! Here's the tune - it's a banger. And Alex's bass playthrough:

That's pretty much why I sold my bass. I lost my job, had rent to pay, and was on the hook for a £2k (would be closer to £3.5k today) custom bass that was in the process of being built for me. Couldn't justify keeping it at the time.

This was the bass that I mentioned above. It's a "pseudo-Sei" - back before I had the first of the four "proper" Seis that I've owned, this was made from a body/neck that I bought from Brandoni. It was extensively restyled by the Sei guys (mostly Chris McIntyre, back when he worked there), gained a new ebony fingerboard, a Bartolini MME pickup and a Kahler tremolo. I sold it back in 2002 to that musical instrument exchange place that used to be in Notting Hill, and haven't seen it since. I'd love to get it back, if it's still out there somewhere. It has significant sentimental value to me.

If all else fails, I’m sure the Alpher guys would make you another Mako that would be nigh-on identical. I’ve been in a similar situation - back in 2002 I sold a bass in order to get a better one, but it was never quite the same. The bass that I sold got me through some trying times, and I’ve not seen hide nor hair of that bass for over 20 years. I’m sure it’s still out there somewhere, but I can only hope that its subsequent owners got as much out of it as I did.

Nice find! Welcome to the Music Man Bogseat club. Here's three of my four Bongos.

Klos are getting into the replacement graphite neck game, since Status are no longer making them. Reasonably priced too. https://klosguitars.com/products/carbon-fiber-bass-neck-and-pickguard-upgrade-50-deposit

Yep, the Corvette's top horn is... priapic. Gone a bit heavy on the blue pills there. But yes, Bongos look like toilet seats. But I bought four of them, so I guess I can't fault Warwick Corvette fans too much...

The other guys in Lostprophets started another band with a different singer called No Devotion, playing a very different style of music, but they pretty much sank without trace. I get that it's tough if you're tainted by the reputation of a bad bandmate - this is not a particularly forgiving industry, especially when the crimes were as heinous and well-publicised as those Watkins was involved with. If, indeed, they were unaware of the depths of Watkins' depravity, I wish them well in their future musical endeavours and they shouldn't have to carry the burden of their association with him for the rest of their lives.

Oh Cliff, Sometimes it must be difficult, Not to feel as if, You really are a cliff. And fascists keep trying to push you over it. Are we the lemmings? Or are you Cliff. Or are you Cliff.

I choose to vote with my wallet. I will not further enrich people whose words or actions I find disagreeable by listening to, paying for or in any way “boosting” their output. This includes racists (Clapton, etc), paedos and perverts (Gary Glitter, Ian Watkins from Lostprophets, Townsend, Marilyn Manson, etc), far-right-wing nutjobs, conspiracy theorists, religious weirdos and fascist sympathisers (Morrissey, Waters, Ted Nugent, Dave Mustaine, Kid Rock and pretty much all American country music stars), Brexiteers (Daltrey/Townsend, Bruce Dickinson, Morrissey and so on) and those who promote violence and division. For some of the older bands and musicians, I’m prepared to acknowledge that their views and actions were of their time, not that this gives them a pass, but rather a context. Same as old Tom & Jerry cartoons, or the likes of Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson. Not sure I’d include Michael Jackson in that though. I’m sure that his activities were less-than-appropriate to everyone who didn’t live inside his weird little bubble, but he was hardly Ian Watkins.