Stub Mandrel

Plenty of nice drop-in holders that can only be loaded with the correct polarity.

Some people might say that's their business model...

I am wrong @Chienmortbb. The principle was invented in 1866 and well-known in the early 20th century due to industrial accidents. A working application was patented in 1960. I suppose that means the Cambridge approach isn't very novel...

It's a classic example of science fiction inspiring a technological development.

It always fascinates me how the smaller the instrument, the more rudimentary the bridge yet the more critical placement becomes for good intonation...

Not that novel...

I know what you mean. I've been to Hawkwind gigs 🙂

They'd better get started if they are going to approve, produce, distribute and dose peoplewith a vaccine and allow a week or two for it to achieve an immune reaction...

His wife comes from Glynneath. His new series is going to be a tie-in with Gavin & Stacey - Jackson's Baywatch.

Didn't you recognise the musicians in the Guardians vid?

And let's face it, the breadth of his musical career is exceptional!

You have to say one thing for the Hoff, his capacity for self-parody is infinite 🙂

I'm a Goofy Goober!

I'd forgotten Tangerine Dream. Just looked up Tangram for old times sake. Doesn't half sound like Tonto.

It's worth considering how the brain rewards problem-solving with a little burst of endorphins. So you get a little boost from things like: Recognising a song. Recognising an artist performing something you haven't heard before. Guessing what a song will do next. Spotting an unexpected pattern (e.g. anticipating a repeated change). Recognising a familiar element in a new piece. And so on. It's why these endless 'Taco Belle' sorry, pachabele medleys are so popular... Quite a lot of such things (but not all) involve recognition, so we tend to prefer new things that have an element of familiarity.

One of my personal favourite basslines is High Rise by Hawkwind. Each verse is something like AC, AD, BC or BD, but then there are some additional variations... I'm getting to the point of just randomising it which is what I suspect Adrian Shaw did...

As supplied fitted to my Flea bass which I realise I have now had for 11 months played nearly every other day on average (I even managed to gig it once before lockdown!) and though not as bright as they were still sound passable. As our birthdays are only 12 days apart I think we should get treated to a new set 🙂

Genderising is weird, you imagine people frotting these things... But I christened my B2 the 'Deathburger' and any bitsa/make since that is a 'Deathburger'.

Recommendation from my brother. Very retro but fresh as a daisy:

There is just one piece of music for the hic et nunc:

My thoughts on this continue to evolve. Learning other people's basslines is a good way to stretch my skills and develop my playing and understanding of music. Trying to come up with my own variations/ideas also helps me improve. In a band situation what matters is that solid foundation for what everyone else is doing, plus yes it does matter to get any signature bits right.

Your first new strings will be important as they will sound good and tend to colour how you feel about other types you try later. For that reason alone I would suggest something like a set of 50-105 nickel roundwounds. It's a sort of happy reference point from which you can try heavier or lighter gauges, different constructions and different materials. Plus they will certainly sound good on a P and sound good for a decent amount of time. Brand new strings will sound great, but that will fade after a while. Some people say flatwounds never lose their tone, others say they never had it in the first place. Coated strings last a long time, but I would say pay less and get ordinary strings so you can experiment with a few types of string over time. I recommend nickel roundwounds because although they are not as bright sounding as stainless steel they will keep their tone for longer which is important for a beginner as you don't want to be changing too regularly. Roundwounds are likely to be bit easier to play and will give you a wider sonic pallet; you can wind back the tone to emulate the sound of flatwounds. Equally important is gauge. 50-105 or 45-105 is a good place to start, 110 or above can be a bit of hard work for a beginner. 100 or less is very loose and only suits some basses and playing styles. Consider buying 'hardly used' sets of strings from the classified. These will let you compare gauges and styles. Also, when trying new strings, start off with your amp's tone controls set more or less flat, then tweak to get the sound you want. Lots of people start with the bass right up (because they want a 'solid' sound) and then struggle to get a sound they like.

I have no problem with the reissues etc. What I can't handle is the way Lemmy has become a sort of barbie doll substitute for people who probably haven't heard anything other than Ace of Spades. (He says wearing a shirt with Lemmy on the front...)

I was thinking of getting a 'bowed' sound...