Paul S

I have a few of the Maruszczyk leather straps and they are the most comfortable padded straps I have ever bought. Various widths and finishes available, even one called Retro. Stocked at Bass Direct https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Maruszczyk_straps.html

I have massive affection for UFO - they were one of the first 'proper' rock bands I saw live. 1983 1973 (dimwit) at the Queen's Club in Westcliff. Phenomenon hadn't quite been released and a very young Michael Schenker made a huge impression, shirt off, patched jeans, flying V wedged between his legs, long hair dangling. Mogg and Way also shirts off running about like madmen. Saw them again some years later at the Roundhouse during one of their turbulent patches and Schenker stomped off for a bit. One of my favourie albums, apart from the first couple of early ones, is 'Walk On Water' during one of their brief reunions in the late 90s. They re-recorded 'Lights Out' and I think improved it. The track 'Pushed To The Limit' is just brilliant - Mogg's vocal is superb and the odd timings add real interest.

£39.99 for 2 on eBay, which is better than £109 for 4 according to my maths Like the idea of the frosted film, too. Thank you!

That is astonshingly bright for such little inexpensive things. They may well have been promoted up the interest order! Amazon saying £109 for 4, haven't checked anywhere else yet Thank you for posting about them!

They actually look really good. Can you sync them via the app? Edit, yes you can. Most interesting!

My story was quite similar except for going further along the blind alley. I decided aged 12 I wanted to be a pharmacist. I had a cousin who was a pharmacist and he seemed to be doing ok. So, cheerfully guided in that direction by the careers officer at school, I took the right Os and As, went to University, Did some work experience in my holidays, retail in Boots one year, in a hospital pharmacy dept the next. Hated it. Seemed to me, at the time, that 99.9% of the job was sprinkling tablets from a large bottle into a tablet counter then printing the label which didn't really seem interesting or challenging. I dropped out just before sitting my final exams, having completely lost interest. Not a popular decision at home

That would be my choice, too. £100 isn't budget in my book. But then I am a tightwad

Being a dyed in the wool tight wad I head down to the local charity shops and pick up a old lap top bag. Sometimes the zips work!

My little band are toying with the idea of maybe getting some lighting. Maybe. We only play small pubs, generally, when providing our own gear. Floor space is generally not vast, which kind of removes those party bars on stands from the equation. Don't want to spend lots. I've looked at LEDs that can clip onto pa stands etc but my eye was caught by this one - the Equinox SpectraPix Batten. 2 would suffice. They can stand upright, with a little end stand gizmo, can be connected via DMX cable to work together. Obvs don't need to have lots of chasing effects going on, looks like you can do what you like with the programming/good choice of presets - most likely simple colour washes. Does anyone use them? or anything similar that is around the same price? There would be around £150 for a pair, plus a bit for the end stands/cable/carry bag.

Davie, how would you say the Tonerider Precision Plus compares with the Entwistle PBXN? I believe you've had both.

I like the concept - band dressed as clowns doing a thrash metal cover of 'The Show Must Go On'

My blues rock trio Toredown played at the Shamrock pub in Ipswich last night. Only tiny but our favourite place to play, with slight uncertainty as it was the first time since a change of ownership. A lot of people came just to see us and a lot of new people stayed to watch us - we played very well, went down brilliantly, loads of the new faces came up at the end - has to be one of the most enjoyable gigs I've ever had. Guitarist Alan feeds on this and his playing was incandescent New owners loved us and asked if we could play there every month. We don't think we should or could but certainly we'll play there more regularly. A12 shut on the way home, diverted through country lanes, home at 2am, but it couldn't take the shine off the night really.

When I was in my teens, early-mid 70s, I used to occasionally jam with mates. Alan was on drums, Greg had a black Shaftsbury Les Paul, Dill had a MIJ Jazz bass copy, no idea of the make, and I had a guitar (a Hayman 2020 picked up in a pawn shop for £50!) We'd spend an afternoon trying to perfect Status Quo/Fleetwood Mac type RnB songs in a seemingly endless loop and often I'd swap my guitar for bass. Thinking about it, 50 years later (with a lengthy hiatus) I am still playing Fleetwood Mac type RnB tunes... I hope I'm getting better by now!

I don't know about unicorns but the mythical beast that springs to my mind is 'troll'.

Thanks. I was sort of hoping you'd say around 10lbs or similar. Interesting!

Just out of curiosity, you understand, how heavy are these Samurai basses?

My band Toredown are playing at the Shamrock pub in Ipswich tomorrow evening 23rd. Usually kick off around 9pm. If you like blues rock and guitar solos you'll like us Our favourite place to play, only small but we go down really well with a lot of people coming especially to see us. It has very recently changed hands and it was a huge relief when the new owners decided to keep it going as an irish bar and music pub.

I had one once, briefly. Lovely thing but passed on to someone who appreciated it more. Only slightly rarer than the rocking horse poo bass.

This is the most unicorn bass I can think of

Personally, I like to hear the music I grew up listening to played the same way as it was recorded. Far from 'might as well have stayed at home and put the record on' I like the fact that a bunch of musicians are on stage in front of me, live, recreating that sound. That is what I like about music, it is why I continue to see bands such as Simple Minds, as mentioned above, Go West, Level 42, Shakatak etc etc. Those songs are why I got into the bands in the first place and to hear those songs again, not a re-hash version, is why I want to see them. And, for me, as soon as they can't or don't continue to perform the original stuff in the same way, I bale out.

My set up is bass > wireless > tuner > TC Spectrodrive > desk, so very much set and forget at the back or side.

Pretty much ^^all of the above^^ is a good fit for my current situation except substitute the .73mm for 1mm

I saw Michael McDonald at Hammersmith in 2018. AFAIAC he was always one of those exceptionally gifted singers. There was something about his effortless, smoky falsetto that was almost divine in its quality. A spinkle of MM on Bvs would raise pretty much any tune. I'd never seen him live and was looking forward so much to seeing and hearing the master. In the end I wished I hadn't gone. He was straining and belting it out to reach the notes and all that quality I loved so much was lost in the effort. We left early.

The Strangers

Squeee