Stub Mandrel

Uniquest, I would say.

Back in my first incarnation as a bass player I always used an ELCB at my wall socket. I heard far too many scare stories. Not as fussy now as rules are tighter - some venues even have breaker sockets. But I have started taking a 4-way extension reel with a breaker fitted as a few places have felt less well maintained.

The requirements for small User to User services like Basschat look light touch and I would say thry are pretty much in place.

New nut? - sounds like essential maintenance. Refin? - Shamelessly unnecessary cosmetic job, OUT!

Less impressive that they have to teach to make ends meet!

I had no trouble finding a teacher at a Cardiff music school. WNO too.

I'm lucky, born in 62 I grew up to know both systems. I'm bilingual.

I did and it helped a lot.

I sincerely hope that you don't get handed an elf costume when you arrive...

My brother has one. Dave Brock played a Spectrum guitar for several years.

And bloody good fun song to play, don't care what anyone says!

Who says Goths never smile!

I've got Squier 40th Anniversary P and a Fender AVII 1960 P. The Fender cost five times as much, is "period correct" with all the details. Squoer made in China, Fender made in the USA. As far as sound and feel are concerned each is as good as the other.

The new band seems to have gelled really well. We have a google calendar and all work at getting gigs. Surprisingly we manage to do quite well even with us all being in other bands. Stuff like logo posters is done by me but with cycles of feedback through our anarchic whatsapp thread. We had a discussion of how we care four our instruments... all double entendres which culminated in our new t-shirt... this is our singist:

I gig because I want to not because I need to. Gig funds don't cover transport, gear and rehearsal costs, but I want to gig with gear I enjoy using.

Well played that man.

Last weekend the two guitarists actually remembered to stop playing after the third verse of Socks on Fire(place). I was so surprised they got it right I did that little slide down a bar late!

Addendum: Last night brought home how venues can affect your sound. Started off with a flat setting and moderate volume. Sound was loud and boomy, I ended up cutting bass more than ever before and boosting treble and adding a bit of mid. Gain in the normal spot but master volume lower than I would use in a rehearsal. The floor was stone under thin carpet, I was in front of a stone fireplace in a stone wall and the ceiling was little more than seven feet up. My cab is rear ported and that open fireplace must have acted as a resonant chamber. There must have been huge passive gain on the bottom end. Odd and took a few tries to get a decent sound.

It's actually incredibly easy to make a stonking PZM using a piezo capsule.

Last night was our final gig of 2024. The venue is nearly two hours away in rural Wales, but we had such a great night the previous time we were happy to go. It was brilliant, totally rammed with two parties. Loads of dancing from about two songs in. We did two one hour sets and only had energy for one encore. Landlord put three songs on Facebook live. The fairly young audience this time still loved our classic rock numbers. They want to book us 'more' next year and for the landlord's new pub Nearest we got to a Christmas song was "Socks on Fire(place)". Afterwards we gorged on leftover buffet. Mmm Stilton. I dropped the singest and his pa back and hit the sack at about 2:20. Woke up at 10:30 as Yodel delivered new broadband router. First decent sleep for a few days. Nice to end on a high note. But our poor lead guitarist and his wife amost ran out of petrol. Made it to the 24 hour garage in Brecon with 1 mile range left. Except it wasn't 24 hour so they slept in the car until 6:00 am...

The originals were celluloid. It is highly flammable (inflammable in the US) and shtinks over the decades. There's plenty of nice modern tort out there. Cheap modern eBay tobreplace broken 80s Japanese: 2019 Fender roadworn: 1980s Hohner, has since faded to an amazing volour but don't have a photo: 60s Fender Fender repro of 60s, allowing for different light very close to the one above:

The wonderful Ms. S. Has just secured tickets to Phil Cambell and the Bastard Sons at the O2. Apparently Alice Cooper and Judas Priest are playing too, which is a bonus.

Cheap ebay/amazon ones often look pretty vintage.

I think fitting those to the local weasel-dusters is A Very Good Idea, Piglet.