meterman

I can't remember a time when HMRC (or anyone pretending to be them) have ever contacted me by phone. I haven't lived in the UK for years, so any contact I have with them now is by mail, recorded delivery only.

Ibanez used to make a great twin pickup single cut semi acoustic bass. It was offered in a really decent antique burst finish. I almost bought one instead of my (now gone) Hofner Violin bass, but by the time I realised the Hofner wasn't the best fit for me, Ibanez had discontinued the model I was after. I saw the bassist in a soul band using one at a festival and it sounded lovely, really deep and rounded, but still articulated tone wise. Probably had flats on it as well. Instant GAS moment! I can't remember the exact model number now but I think it was part of the AGB range. Almost certain it was a 30.5" scale bass, which aren't to everyone's taste, but it would have definitely been to mine. I very rarely see them for sale used, so they're either good enough that nobody wants to part with theirs, or they had some kind of design flaw and they're all in landfill now... I don't need for any other bass than the one I've got, but if one of these turned up at a decent price anywhere near me, I'd be tempted to get it, just because...

HMRC, if they meet the criteria? Reasons? Bloody hell, I could be posting them here all week 😂 But yeah, definitely HMRC. Pack of useless chancers.

Good question ^ Possibly the diminishing returns thing? With cymbals, the really cheap entry level ones will be made of simple pressed brass, and they'll sound like metal tea trays or something. No amount of amazing technique can hide that, they're always going to sound cheap and probably not last for too long. Intermediate cymbals will usually be made from brass with some bronze in the mix, or even nickel or another material. They'll be pressed and hammered to some degree and sold as 'B8' or sometimes 'B12' cymbals, and the quality is a bit like Squiers or Harley Benton - you might get lucky and get a really good one that punches above it's weight and price tag but equally you might get something that sounds a bit clangy. Ok for teenagers while they're saving up for the good stuff but you never know, sometimes you might find an absolute gem of a cymbal in the intermediate range. Top end cymbals (and some gongs and crotales and other orchestral stuff) will often be made from spun or cast bronze, and denoted as 'B20'. These can vary in sound enormously depending on the manufacturer but you'll probably not go far wrong with a top of the line Zildjian or Paiste or Bosphorus or similar. They're usually not cheap and some cymbals like the Italian made Spizzichino ones can easily command £2000 or £3000 each if they're hand hammered to a specific pitch. And players might wear cotton gloves just to handle them. In the used market, certain cymbals have 'one-off Wal prototype' status and people will search for years until one appears for sale somewhere, and then they'll pay whatever the asking price is because the chances of finding another one like it are pretty slim. I own a mix of good intermediate and some relatively rare top end cymbals, some of which correspond to notes on the piano, so the choice of what to use depends on what kind of music I'm playing, or even the key of the song. As BigRedX says, use what's appropriate for your music because that's the most important thing. You don't have to use inexpensive or super expensive gear as some kind of badge of honour, and many drummers won't, because usually the rest of the band won't notice anyway so what's the point? Oh, and a bit of patina on vintage cymbals is acceptable, but relicing decent cymbals (some people actually do it) is generally not the done thing. Okay, that's my cymbals Ted Talk for the day 😂 now I'm off to chop firewood. @Dad3353 could probably elucidate further on this, but basically, you usually get what you pay for with cymbals.

100% agree with this ^ With drummers it's slightly different because with cymbals, if you're looking for a particular ride cymbal sound, depending on your preferences you can spend maybe €500 to €3000 to get the exact sound you want. £500 on a pair of hi-hats is not uncommon either. It's very difficult to make a WalMart $60 brass cymbal pack sound anything other than what it is. Even if you're the greatest drummer in the world, your touch isn't going to improve cheap cymbals much. (Disclaimer: I was a classical percussionist, then a drummer, way before taking up the bass. And my bass is a Squier Precision with a Jazz neck on it. For £150 I have all the bass I'll probably ever need. But actual skilled bassists would find my setup too limited I think?)

It's also a problem for drummers, often in a working band, whether originals or covers, the cymbals alone could easily run to £2500 and that's before they've spent anything on drums or pedals or other hardware. Even a comprehensively filled stick bag might run to £300 or more. Certainly not unusual for a drummer to have £5000 worth of gear onstage with him. But they could easily get away with a £500-all-in kit, and many do. The same price dilemma affects most people that play instruments - "how much do I want, or need, to spend". Ultimately it's the choice of the individual musician, and how deep their pockets are, or if GAS is playing a part in the decision making process.

This ^ I had a rare moment of clarity after playing a £150 gig, with a 1968 Fender Telecaster, a Wurlitzer piano, à Hammond organ and Leslie speaker, an electric sitar and a stock '78 Fender Vibro Champ. I think all I was missing was the velvet cape, the 50" gong, and a wind machine. Oh, and loads of dry ice. 😂 Thousands of pounds worth of gear for a £150 gig. Bonkers! After that I started taking an MIM reissue rig out. The audience usually don't care or notice anyway. Even onstage sometimes the other players won't know the difference if they're not gear heads.

Hang on! The reissue is still going to have to be remastered. The original master was done by George Peckham and all the album tracks segued into each other. A bit like Sgt Pepper's or something. We've been having trouble with digital remastering, because a nanosecond of silence gets inserted between the segues. But when it's finally sorted I can PM you and try and get you a promo. No, not a parmo, a promo. 😉 Are you really from the 'boro? We were actually banned from playing anywhere in the town after headlining a multiple band all-dayer in 1988, where our behaviour was deemed 'unacceptable'. Not proud of it, but back then we were absolutely feral. I remember absolutely bricking it though, during the load out when a load of gadgies said they were going to kick our heads in. We managed to back them off, but that kind of thing happened all the time with us, wherever we went. Oddly enough we still got played on Radio Tees by Mark Page and a few others though. Different times, for sure.

Here you go! https://www.discogs.com/release/2771606-The-Prescriptions-Psychedelicatessen We were a bit shíte really, but when I was still on social media, random people would be getting in touch with pictures of bootlegged C-60's of demos, often with incorrect track titles, or people asking about lyrics or outtakes or whatever. Knocking out a reissue with the extra tracks and all that, it just puts the full stop on it forever. Which is the point of doing it 👍

Actually, thinking about it again - if I'd been a member of Pentangle and all the others were still alive I'd love to get the band back together, even if I had to just play the spoons or something. "Wedding Dress" - imagine playing that along with Danny Thompson and Terry Cox and the rest of them? Not arf!

My first proper band existed from 1988 to the end of 1993. We had a couple of records out, and got up to plenty mischief wherever possible. But after our final gig in November '93 we knew our moment had passed. Our album flopped miserably in the UK (it did okay elsewhere though, but not enough to sustain us) and we drifted apart. Within a year, all six of us were living in different towns or cities, doing different things of varying legality. Our sole album is being reissued next year in expanded CD form, with outtakes, demos, live bits, etc. We'd been approached regularly over the years to do a reissue and we always said "On yer bike!". But this time we said yes, mostly to shut people up, and on one condition - that we don't get back together and do gigs or anything else again. We're all clean living family types now, with estate cars, and labradors, and Waitrose bags for life, so revisiting a Class A's past where we were constantly getting into bother... it's just not worth the risk. None of us would be up for it. Some of us will meet up occasionally for a pint if I'm in the UK, but if the conversation turns towards having been in a band, we all get the shivers and laugh it off, then change the subject 😂

Same thing with certain vintage drum kits that came in amazing coloured wrap. Often the old wraps were beautiful, but also highly flammable, and the modern day equivalents are really difficult to match the old vintage ones. Especially the oyster pearl finishes, or moirés, even some of the Ludwig Strata or Slingerland Onyx finishes are notoriously hard to replicate. Decent vintage tort, however awful the chemicals involved were, can be spectacular when you find a good example on the right bass 👍

When I was in my first proper band (even though we'd morphed from being a typical bog standard zitty teenaged school band) we had really dodgy management. Two fellas that ran a nightclub. Something probably not very good happened, one of them fled the country and the other spent a couple of years in prison. First and last management we ever had, and they were deadbeats. Out of necessity I ended up becoming the one having to book the studios or rehearsal rooms, organise photo shoots, send demos off to labels and agencies, negotiate gig fees and backline specs, collect payment in cash after the show, write the set lists out, even had to lend our last drummer my drum kit, as he could really play but didn't have his own kit. (How come? Class A substances, mostly). I hated being the bands 'team coach'. But I did it all otherwise none of it would get done, which is what happens when your band are a bit flaky. If we'd had proper, decent management we might have stood a chance. That's the only thing I regret about that period. We had records out and did the things that proper bands do, but we never had anyone behind us to take care of the business side of it, so we never got anywhere. Except stoned When we split up I did solo gigs for a year, and organising just for myself was super easy in comparison. Then I drifted into sessions which was even easier and only occasionally had an agent over the next 25 years. Freelancing is an art in itself, same as leading a band is, or managing one, I reckon.

Chapeau, sir!

Nah, I'm not clever enough for that 😂 I wouldn't kick a MM Stingray out of bed though, toilet seat pickguard or not. They were a real GAS list instrument for me, until I realised a Squier Precision was about my level...