Paul S

It was great, Pete - one of those nights where you kind of float out of the venue feeling warm and buoyant with a ridiculous smile on your face. It was the first time I'd seen Steve Ferrone and Steve Pearce as a rhythm section - wow! Hamish is losing the power in his voice but, my oh my, he has got the funk. I saw what passes for the Average White Band quite a few years ago with Alan Corey and the original guitar player and at the time thought they were fab. Mrs S had seen AWB back in 980 (before she was Mrs S!) and said the current lot were OK but a bit 'lacking'. Then we saw Hamish Stuart and realised where the talent lay.

Indeed - to quote my hero, mentor and lifestyle coach, James T Kirk: 'Space: the final frontier'

First concert - Status Quo at the Queen's Hotel, Westcliff-on- Sea, 1972. Paper Plane had just been released as a single from the album Piledriver. Stood in front of the PA and the harmonica solo in Railroad caused immense pain in my head. I lost my hearing for 3 days and this event most likely accounts for my having to wear hearing aids. They were bloody good back then when RnB was alive and well. Last concert - Story Of The Guitar Heroes, Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, last week. Impressive how one guitar player can master so many different styles of playing. Best concert - difficult. Possibly Thin Lizzy Wembley 1978? Possibly Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms tour, Wembley, 1985 Possibly History Of The Eagles, O2, 2014. Possibly Bluesfest 2017 at the O2 with the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan on the same night. How can you compare? Worst concert - Christopher Cross at the Cliff's Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea last year. What was I thinking? Left at half time - only stayed that long so as not to disturb the people sitting next to us. Loudest concert - Lamb of God, supporting Heaven and Hell, Wembley 2007. Or possibly Deep Purple early in the Steve Morse years at the Cliff's Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea. If ever there was a mis-matched venue:band! Seen the most - Go West. Too many times to count. 20? Seen them wherever and whenever possible. Peter Cox has 'the' most amazing voice live and the current band are better than ever. When they played 'The Sun and The Moon' at the Apex Theatre, Ipswich 2017 it was possibly the finest live song performance I have ever heard. Most surprising - Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, O2 Shepherds Bush, 2019. Mrs S is a fan, I went purely to keep her company as I wasn't doing anything else. They blew me away. Next concert - Shakatak, Maritime Room, Cliff's Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea, couple of weeks' time. Been a fan since they started and try to see them whenever they are in striking distance which is sadly not often enough as they tour abroad mainly. Wish I would have seen - Deep Purple MkII. Saw MkIII on the Burn tour. Wish I could see again - Black Sabbath when they were at their peak.

I particularly like the Frankenstein cartoon. How did you fix that on - vinyl wrap? Sticker?

I have a cautionary tale about not ignoring alarm bells. I was at a loose end and auditioned with a band playing 80s rock/pop covers. Drummer was ex-pro and totally on it. Guitar player had a great touch. Keys was ostensibly the band leader but not very effective at either keys or leading. Male and female vox, both could sing and were young and attractive. It was clear there was chemistry between the singers, who were both married elsewhere with kids so I thought - this is all going to get messy when these two get together, so I declined. Fast forward a few months, they were still advertising and i was still at a loose end so I got back in touch. The drummer and I had kind of hit it off at the earlier audition so that was that. Spent 6 months getting material polished, spent a fortune on a demo, then 2 gigs into it the singers left their respective partners/families and, erm, it all got messy. Is there such a thing as having hindsight about foresight? 😁

To me it is one of the ugliest basses I have ever seen. But then again I like Precision basses.

Last year I sent a bass insured value of £1300 to the Netherlands for €49 via Eurosender, only took a couple of days too.

Speaking of the Maritime Room, I've seen Hamish Stuart there a few times. Last time it was his 360 band which counts amongst its members Steve Pearce on bass and Steve Ferrone on drums (Molly Duncan had just died, so it was a kind of happy/sad night for the band with lots of stories). The tightest, funkiest band you could ever wish to see at a venue that holds 200 at a squeeze.

I've just bought a new pa for my rock trio after taking advice from singer in my other band who knows things and also reading various threads on here. I got 2 x column speaker RCF Evox 8 units - B stock from Thomann that had absolutely no signs of use - and a Soundcraft Signature 16 mixer. The plan is that we will all go through the desk. None of the band, including me, have much clue about what we are doing so the idea of having a desk with everything on show rather than a digital and having to navigate through menu pages seemed appealing. Not used it in anger yet.

Bought a Hondo Alien from Mike in the most straightforward of transaction. He didn't realise he wanted to sell it, in fact, until I ask nicely. It arrived bound and gagged - I've never received a bass so well packed - the bass had bubblewrap inside the hard case, which was itself covered in a custom trimmed cardboard layer that was glued and taped closed. No way was this little fella going to get damaged. And it is in far better nick than I imagined. Thanks Mike, its been a pleasure

If there's nowt wrong with your back an old Trace Elliot head would sound fab. Trace amp and Supercompact my precise gigging rig for 3 or so years until my back got worse.

Had to look up her name - Janice-Marie Johnson.

The Country 2 Country weekend at the O2 Arena, Greenwich, 2015. I think it was the third year they did the C2C festival, not sure, but there were 4 acts each night. The headline act for the second night were Lady Antebellum, a relatively new 'crossover' country band who had a couple of successful singles in the UK but needed a lot of padding, including some covers, in the set. They were supported (3rd act on) by Jason Aldean, who is one of the biggest country rock stars in the US but virtually unknown in the UK - hence his listing. He totally and completely outclassed them in every single respect.

That settles that! 😁

Well, a decent chunk more than I would want to pay for one is not the same as 'a decent chunk more than it is worth'. 2 different things. I guess we all have a ceiling price in our heads when we look for something. For me this is just curiosity about a type of bass I haven't bought into yet, so I don't want to pay lots. It might be that that I won't ever find one for the sort of money I am prepared to punt on one and if that's the case then fair enough.

I was watching one on eBay that finished this morning - 70s CMI in scruffy, used condition but essentially sound. It fetched £410 which is a decent chunk more than I would want to pay for one.

I would like an old school monster tube head with a 4x12 cab. I'd also like to play prop forward for England. Some things are simply out of reach.

Just popped up on eBay, I had one of these for a while and it was marvellous. Pickups were fantastic and the neck was a little wider than the usual Jazz - 40mm if I recall. If I were in the market for a solid, cheap Jazz I'd be all over this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Japan-MIJ-Squier-Jazz-Bass-91-92-Model/153818903825?hash=item23d0523511:g:S0wAAOSwfsReNs9U

G&L do a replacement lightweight tuner as well - a direct fit on my Sterling 5 and, strangely, also a Peavey Foundation.

Enjoyed that! thanks for posting it.

Good stuff. Hopefully it will be a nice convenient day! Probably our nearest bash.

Depending upon date I'd be up for it. Maybe an Essex contingent could lift share?