mikel

I did have good luck with that. I told the courier what the store had told me, so he waited the two minutes while I checked. If he had not been prepared to wait two minutes I would have told him to sling his hook and not signed. Its simple. You are paying for a delivery. If you dont check its ok and sign for it then sadly the problems mount, cos you are in effect saying its fine by signing the delivery note. I worked in warehousing for a few years and If you signed for a delivery without at least giving it a visual check then you were in trouble if it proved to be damaged.

Quite. Its their job to deliver items, In good condition. Removal companies, at least the ones I have been involved with, manage to deliver huge amounts of delicate and breakable items with little in the way of problems and all the movers I have used are insured for breakages. If you have a company that moves stuff around for a living why not have insurance, one that states items should be reasonably well packaged. It would be a good pointer to me that they were a decent company. The last delivery I got the store informed me that I should open the package and ensure the item was intact before signing for it, even if that meant making the courier wait. So if it was damaged the store would replace or refund me and claim from the couriers.

Do fender not rely, almost exclusively on 60 year old guitar and bass designs? They even go to extremes to make some instruments look 60 years old ffs.

Why do people take such pleasure in the demise of a fine old instrument manufacturer? So they don't make a P bass, so what? The EB range was a standby of pub and club bands back in the late 60s and 70s.

Starting young is going to give the individual an advantage, to be sure, but not always. If the very young are learning simply because of the "Pushy Parent" syndrome, and they have no innate love of the activity, then it can be a hindrance as no one wants to be forced into doing something and they will probably give it up when they have that option. Talent, coupled with the desire to get the best out of that talent, is the unbeatable combination, If you have one without the other then even the 10,000 hour measure also means little.

Seems to be two distinct camps here so I will just add this. If it is important to you then the answer is yes, If it is not important and you have never bothered with reading and still play and gig, then the answer is no. Its quite simple really. A bit of a strange question If its important to you, so you answered your own question in that regard.

Not quite, If you are being creative you are by default coming up with something new, to you at least. Not simply playing lines you have played hundreds of times before.

Good points. I started drumming, on pots and pans, literally, in 1960. Drums were too expensive, noisy, space taking, and impossible to transport unless parents had a car. Most parents did not have cars. Jump forwards to now and little has changed, except I have transport and an electronic kit to practice on. Practice on the full kit is limited to band practice or gigs. Its part of the reason I took up bass as a second instrument, its great to be able to play at home on a real instrument any time I want without disturbing half the street. Feel lucky you can do that. Drums will always be my first love as nothing gets close to the feeling of driving a band and making people move and dance. If the beat's not right then the band's not right.

That's fine but would you not rather make up your own bass line than simply copy another note for note? Not that being able to read rules out creativity at all but I find it odd a musician would rather copy than create if the situation allows.

If the musicians you want to play with require a reader then yes, it is. If not then the none readers are good to go with everything else bass playing has to offer. Horses for courses. I have played in originals bands, covers, jazz and funk bands over the last 50 years and I cant read.

It was Soul that was popular. Its another question is it not? Any Jazz that was popular was by default pop. The same goes for "Classical" music. Lets not be musical snobs here. Pop is simply short for popular.

Surely all opinions on forums are just that, its a given. There are many artists on music who I believe to be average at best, but thats just my opinion and I try to keep " I dont agree with" posts to a minimum. She can be called the queen of soul because she made it popular and was lauded by her peers. You prefer someone else and that is your choice, the fact you are into soul music still dousnt make your opinion more relevant.

I have tinnitus and take precautions when playing, but to stop drinking a daily coffee or a couple of beers at the weekend would be too miserable a proposition. The conflicting and ever changing advice/warnings we get from various bodies and associations suggests to me that either they have no idea what they are talking about, or we should stop doing anything, except breathing. But with air pollution that is also a bad idea. Life has to be lived and a certain amount of wear and tear is to be expected as we get older. As long as I feel I am not abusing my mind and body I feel I will always be happier doing what I enjoy. I would never take caffeine tablets or a "Red Bull" type drink, having that much caffeine and sugar in one hit can only be detrimental.

Then why not call the bass a "Spleen" or any other random word if bass and bass drum is too difficult to understand? Its no more obscure than calling a bass drum a kick. The drummer in 1981 was probably being ironic. On another note, you have an amazing memory for dates re the drummer.

Personal taste init? Kirsty McColl's version of New England is the definitive IMO. The original was ok but he couldnt carry a song in a bucket. We do all covers but very few of them as the original recording. We Funk them up, or like Mercy by the Third Degree, a great Northern Soul version of the Duffy song. I dare say Dylan fans would not agree with your take on Hendrix's covers of his songs. Subjective. Personally Hendrix made the songs so much better, but what do I know?

Yep. Plectrum for the 50+ years I have been playing guitar and bass. Pick is yet another Americanism being absorbed into the musicians vocabulary, like "Kick" instead of bass drum. I have never kicked a bass drum, not intentionally anyway. And why do they call a drum stool a "Throne"? Those crazy Yanks.

It looks to have a truss rod cavity, is the truss rod included?

It's possible, but Oak is a heavy, heavy timber. It would prevent any neck dive I suppose.

+1 with that. Spend too much time with people your age or older and you begin to think, feel and act old. Spend most of your time with younger people and you tend to feel and think younger and be more mentally alert. I do, anyway.

Well If you are 60 this year Teenage Kicks is right from your era, you would have just been 20 when it was released, so why feel uncomfortable playing it?

Nail on head, sadly. Nah, I can't complain, I have played with some wonderful people and made some great friends through music. I am still 18 and high on life but I have no idea who that old git in the mirror is.

I am 66 and I find it is more likely bands are more mature in age, the exception seems to be originals bands and that's what I would expect. Kids should be angry, outsiders, have something to say, and music is one way to get it out. Me? I am just angry that I did not have a better private pension in place when I retired.

It was about violence and war in general. The Oliver in question was also a reference to the Oliver who was in charge of "Reserve Occupations" during 2nd WW. He decided who would not have to fight due to their occupation. Hence "Get yourself an occupation. The use of the N word is important to the song, it flags up the fact that lots of people and nationals are treated like scum by other administrations. Its a vocal slap in the face and a wake up call.

I always believed that Mr Costello was taking a pop at racists everywhere, ie ethnic clensing, by including the phrase "One less white n****r" Meaning, lots of people in different countries are seen as somehow lesser beings because they don't conform to a certain stereotype. Making the term n****r colourless. Might just be my take.