Paul S

Indeed, a fine job. Maude has a whole raft of skills that , when being handed out, missed me completely.

I don't have one, was only thinking out loud after seeing a couple on eBay recently. Probably give it a miss...

Good grief!! And look where he is putting it!!. Anyway, back to the song.

Thank you, Jon. Talked me out of it. However, those L'il Richards look interesting! I had no idea they existed. Off the peg the slab body would be a deal breaker but if one came up secondhand it could be worth butchering!

A turd that can be polished or best flushed away? Just wondering if it might be worth investing in a change of bridge and pickups, purely to get a playable, lightweight, short scale faker.

Amen. Remarkable technique.

Friday night, one of my band's monthly 'residency' gigs at The Shamrock in Ipswich. Very quiet. Only one of our regulars turned up, good old Harry who comes to every single gig. Only one other face I recognised. Different bar staff - seemed like a different gig. They've even fixed the dodgy power socket! Usual revolving door of punters, a handful hung around but we didn't get the usual atmosphere building up. Still, I got parked nearby, traffic to and from was light and we got paid. Next up is this coming Thursday 1st, we are 'headlining' a 3 band 'blues and brews' evening at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket. Potentially a great night

Change of line up, one of the bands has pulled out and been replaced. This Thursday! My lot are finisihing off the night.

Trouble is you all live in Southampton

Combined 'who did you see live last' and 'who are you seeing live next'. Go West, one of this household's fave bands, are touring with Wet Wet Wet at the moment. That is the bass player and guitar player from Wet Wet Wet plus a new singer. I saw the Wets years ago and, to my undying surprise, thought they were stunningly good. We see Go West whenever they are within striking distance and have done for years. Peter Cox is probably my favourite male singer of those I have seem live, he has a certain quality about his voice that gets better as he ages (unbelievably he's 68 now!) And the current band are as good as any he and Drummie have had except maybe for the brief period they had Alan Murphy on guitar. So, last night it was the Regent Theatre in Ipswich. I like going there - sound is usually fab and the seats are relatively comfy The nearby car park is cheap, if you get there early there are loads of spaces, fabulous tiny Indian restaurant right next door. Loads of charity shops in town to pass the time. Last night the sound was actually a little off but Go West turned in a great performance, they were on second and finished the night. On first were the Wets. All I can say is that without Marti Pellow they are a husk of a band, his voice (lost it now, sadly) and stage presence clearly carried them. New bloke can sing but everything else was a whole pile of wrong. Rinse and repat later in the week. Kind of hoping the Wets are on second so we can leave early.

Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks is heavy, it's how it feels for you that matters. For my fragile back anything over 8.5lbs/3.9kg is too heavy.

A few years ago I was in a rock covers band called The Wayward Sons (before we morphed into a Bon Jovi Tribute band - another story). At that time another band was using that name as well (we were first!) and they ended up being quite famous. Anyway for one gig we played over the pa the spooky version of 'Carry On My Wayward Son that I think had been used in one of those goth TV shows before kicking off with a shorterned version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir (which again had been used as a TV theme for something), which then went into Rock and Roll. Went down like a Led balloon so we didn't bother again.

I see what you did there, Ben...

Sorry about this. He refuses point blank to come home. I stand by the back door shaking his packet of treats but will he come in? Will he heck. Too busy shark surfing with his favourite missile.

Funny how they vary - I bought a PB Shorty soon after they came out and straight out of the box gigged it. No sharp ends apart from the nut, tuners aren't perfect but hold tune, no truss rod issues at all. I changed the pickguard to black 'cos I don't like white ones. Then a while later I changed the pickup to a Tonerider 'cos I wanted a bit more bite and beef but, tbf to the stock one, it was a fine vintage tone. I'd buy one of these new ones except that my existing one has it all sorted. It is a mystery how they do this. Actually, no, it is a miracle.

That's probably an exact fit for one of those Cleartone Conversions...

As a person who believes scales are a piece of kitchen equipment, all I have ever done is copy and paste bass lines for songs I am learning. Whenever I have learnt a new song, I try to learn the bass line as it was recorded - if I can - the main bits and all the fills. Eventually all those fills and runs have kind of stuck so, if the occasion demands it, I can paste together what I know in new and appropriate ways. But, really, knowing how the original goes and copying it can't be criticised.

... and the damned things haven't been in stock since.

Basses are personal things. There are many reasons why I wouldn't go anywhere near that bass, weight is way down the list

Wow. Any chance the whole band would like to relocate to south-east Essex. Say, Basildon?

I would second this. I recently got one for my blues rock trio and it is absolutely spot on for the genre. It can sing, growl or thud.

I've still not decided what I admire most about MDP Cleartone Conversions. The quality of the luthiership, the accompanying prose (well, he is a published author) or the leap of imagination required to dream these things up.

If it is something a bit tasty you are after Maruszczyk do a few 32" scale models. There is a Jake (Precision) on eBay at the moment https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276221082559?hash=item40500f3bbf:g:SNMAAOSwsHlldeTW&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8N3fxSWRfGRpBDeV6P7LmugV3ClfujM1MDYun8s8vDbnOOj3wDx4enD%2Bg%2BzSrqbG39sHV3Syx%2Bfc2UrnsWVeiPWNhhsv1N1AiPv2Y5w07g3nkYwtAajEXYA8vdOsBPOQ%2BgEkHit4%2BarSroPMy0S3%2Fe3TFOijEWDbY57b52caCA9h125lr%2FjFIO2DAKTbYkW6GIV%2FkRHpZr8Ifczvpn4nEfn4b3BRbeQHvxDEnLWQJ6Mrn4D%2BmXpeWV44F1ArdNLzNpwy0AoIwh60qwmPYPocNjXm4YOg%2BzKr5Oa6baNRx3rvnYwkogaJkiTLW3nekujcOQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR97giNCjYw I had a Westone Concord for a while. Perceived as a budget model but actually a damned fine bass. Superb pickup, really powerful. One on eBay at the moment (nothing to do with me) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276280325964?hash=item405397374c:g:RvAAAOSwHMtloU5g&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0Fu%2BFFtPYqA%2FG8FsVyY0yT%2FgI4XBZtaqALUEovxa37ogt5oiE52A2fKNQ6DH1W5GNmjgxDqGKWaKPNQM3YbY9nitgWIb6fkBhJlWL8TScpbw420RHB0sIHm%2FVs0eDUDwgTCqUtxLWwju%2Fn6xgYdM0KmUPf5eAkjDqA0wyN5lgsV2J6C%2BYD53nDzVqxZ5jH2d%2BN93f2X2NaeQ2JPj9mi7mvpzFgjks8BdvQlJnldh6DzFVuhDCUaq8WrBMWe18YG1Y%2FxQamc6UBl6holqaUNoOa8%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9zgiNCjYw Double cutaway body shape 32" scales would include Aria Pro II CSB series, Hondo HB1015, which often have DiMarzio pickups and always have fabulous necks (heavy, though)

Sorry! I thought this might be a thread about parliament. As you were.

Deep Purple 'Made In Japan' Highway Star Child in Time Smoke on the Water.