Burns-bass

I really like that.

I watched as much of it as I could handle. The entrepreneur makes a truly awful (but inevitable) call for deregulation and believes the debunked BS about trickle down economics. Gary came across as aggressive and stand-offish, which obscured what (to me) seemed reasonable demands. What the entrepreneur guy fails to understand is that the Government can – and should – create the conditions for an entrepreneurial culture, and that comes when the workforce is healthy, educated and mobile. All these things are enabled by increased government spending (either through taxation or borrowing) to create the conditions for an entrepreneurial culture. This point Gary makes by illustrating the massive increase in US domestic spending under Biden. The result? Their economy is going gangbusters. We're once again following a path of austerity which will cause our economy to stagnate, meaning we'll fall even more behind. The solution isn't to reduce regulation or taxes on the rich. Gary is an economist and can only apply this lens to every decision. He's brought out as some sort of firebrand, but he lacks the clarity of thought of someone like Ash Sarkar who is a much stronger and more persuasive communicator for the same message.

I reckon if I decided today to become a luthier and began my training, spent 4-5 years building basses and developing shapes and concepts, I’d still deliver a bass before Letts.

Reading music is like reading, well, anything. You have to build the fundamentals and for lots of people that can appear boring. Where music notation trumps tab is that you can provide details of expression and it's able to convey much more complex rhythm patterns. There's no hierarchy here. Music readers aren't going to be more or less creative, they just want to learn the skill of reading music. Some of it is to get work, I guess. But it doesn't have to be. Can just be for the love of doing something. (My dad started to learn Latin at 70, for example.)

Very nicely done. I read the book too, recently, and that was brilliant as well.

Great film!

It’s good advice, but going too fast (trying to sight read a Motown bass line, for example) before understanding the fundamentals will lead to disappointment and disillusionment. When it comes to sight reading - like anything else that’s both cerebral and physical - it’s better to build the fundamentals slowly and properly. My view, of course, but based on experience.

Far easier to claim they had a role in a terrorist attack that was perpetrated by Saudi funded, US-based network before invading I guess.

The advice I gave is what I used to teach my post-16 students. They all went on to read much better than I do!

There are two books I would recommend my students: Simplified Sight Reading by Josquin De Pres and Modern Reading Text bus Louis Bellson I used to use it alongside Walking Bass by Ed Friedland. (It contains loads of simple, clear and accessible sight reading examples and because it’s jazz it uses lots of chord tones as well). These will help you build a great foundation for reading. Then check out @Bilbo archive and work from there. Working with a teacher is best, but the principles are simple enough to learn. I used to do 15 minute focused practice every day. You’ll crack on really, really quickly.

The Boss WaZa can be a bit fiddly to set up. I followed a really good online tutorial that made it simple enough.

It’s a really good point. The WaZa is only the one I’ve used so encourage others to add their perspectives.

I gigged as a support act for Wilko and Norman played his Fender Jazz then (through my Hiwatt rig, which he seemed to enjoy!)

Boss WAZA air is the best solution, but it’s not cheap. There is a used set on here, I think. I found I used it a huge amount in the winter but less in the summer. So much so, that I went back to a wired setup.

I can attest to @NickA’s point. At a regular gig we do Friday I forgot my pedal board. Nothing to it but to plug straight into the amp and EQ on the fly. Only for two people who have seen us a lot come up and tell me that’s the best bass sound they’d heard from me in months. And no feedback either. Anyone want to buy an EBS pedal? (Joke)

If this is your logic, so is putting money into a tax-free investment vehicle like an ISA. Terms like "tax avoidance" are used pejoratively. Graveyard of ambition this country...

I think you’re implying it, which is fair enough. I just can’t live my life assuming the worst of everyone. Guess that why I’d make a terrible tax inspector! Tax is like rent. The more you pay, the better the place you get. I voted for Jeremy Corbyn (remember him?).

The Government does this by applying a 25% uplift to post tax pension contributions. This equals it pit, pretty much. Many of the “benefits” of running a Ltd company are created that way to enable people to deal with a variable income. Mine fluctuates widely across the year, for example. Britain is a strange place where economic growth is vital, yet we often treat business people as if they’re all on the take. Strange.

Making Tax Digital means we all have to use systems like Xero or Quickbooks. They’re fiddly and annoying.

I find VAT to be fiendishly complex and the systems we use to record it poorly designed. A friend of mine runs several shops with turnover exceeding £1m. He was investigated by HMRC and they treated him with respect and understanding. While there were inevitably discrepancies with VAT, they dealt with him as a professional - not as an adversary. In many case, my own included, I’m sure I mess up my tax at times. But I do my best - as do most business people. I do l use pension contributions to reduce my corporation tax bill. This isn’t a tax dodge but one of the (rapidly diminishing) benefits.