SteveXFR

It'll come. Maybe next year.

I love a bit of Maiden (who doesn't) so listened to this documentary while working. I now realise that everyone I ever met in a pub who said "I used to play for Iron Maiden you know" was probably telling the truth. I like how Steve Harris says about all the guitarists "yeah, he was a great guitarist"

There's a lot of suggestions that Led Zeppelin were one of the originators of heavy metal but no mention of The Who. I would see The Who as having heavier music than Zeppelin especially with Bonhams drums and Entwistles bass.

Today was a tattoo day. We usually have a bit of hardcore punk playing but today we started with Sepultura. Since the new Gojira album has more than a hint of Sepultura's Roots album and the tattooist said she'd not heard them I suggested she put some on. It went down well and the ink was flowing in to my arm quickly. The drumming on this is pretty special.

It's a great song and it's probably influenced some metal bands but it's not metal. Listen to this and then listen to Iron Man by Black Sabbath and I think there's no doubt. Smoke on the water just doesn't rattle your guts in the same way.

I'm looking for a tube preamp to put in front of my Orange Terror to give me some extra tone shaping and a bit of tube dirt. The Two Notes Le Bass looks ideal but every review video I've seen is using it as a DI rather than in to an amp. Will it do what I want?

Zen Fascists will control you

Today has been a punk rock kind of day with Dead Kennedys blasting out in the car

Does anyone know of a good 4x12 or 4x10 cab sim cheap or free?

That has to be the greatest album cover of all time. Perfect for the album. I'd love to go to the museum and see the bass, it's the punk rock holy grail.

I was more worried about neck strength but as you mentioned, there's a lot of wood in there

That's not westcountry. The correct phrase is "Alright moy loverrr" or the more formal version "Ow be yon moy babber"

I tried Scott's bass lessons and got really bored really quickly. There's loads and loads of lessons and lots of pieces to play as exercises but there's no variety in the style of music. There's also a LOT of boring chat in the videos Scott presents himself. If you want a good drinking game watch any of his videos about bands and bassists and take a shot every time he says "holding down the low end". You'll be in hospital within 15 minutes. I found Mark at Talking Bass much better. More variety, straight to the point without waffling about his day, nice clear instruction and good presentation.

I'm using a bit of an odd tuning on my 5 string, drop A# so I'm tuning down the B string a semitone and tuning the other strings up a semitone. I'm using a fairly standard 5 string set with .45 to .130 gauges. Would I be better off dropping to a lighter gauge on all but the B (A#) string?

Back before the world ended there used to be regular steam punk events in town. It got to the point where you'd see them so often it just became a normal sight. I guess there must be quite a steam punk scene in town because they'd be wandering around town when there weren't events on. I guess it made a nice change from the hipsters in their vintage flying jackets and the estate agents in pink shirts with massive watches and orange skin. I've always wondered, is it healthier to steam your punk? Does it keep in the goodness?

Hi. Yep, really like the SUB. I've fitted a Darkglass preamp which has changed the eq to three band and allowed me to boost the mids. I'm using the 5 string for band stuff so I could really use a second one.

I did wonder whether that might be the case. I'll have a look at used Ray35's

I bought myself a cheap SUB ray 5 a few weeks back to see how I get on with it and use it for band duties. As it turns out, I really like it and could use a second 5 string so I'm not relying on one bass for band use. I was looking at the Sterling Ray 35 which is a bit over a grand but I've also realised I can get a full fat, US made Ernie Ball Stingray 5 from around 2005ish for similar money. Whatever I buy will be used for practice, gigs and recording so sound quality is the first priority. Is there much in it between these two models?

I once stole a stove pipe hat in the mosh pit at a Wildhearts gig. It was stolen from me shortly after by another thief

How do you know he didn't steal it?

@Kevsy71 So the only conclusive points there are Jamerson used a strap and played a Fender bass?

I guess I was mistaken. Maybe it changed, I'm sure they never used to get paid. Even half a million probably doesn't cover costs for some of them. I guess it probably costs an enormous amount for a band like Foo Fighters to charter a jet, fly over here with all their crew and equipment and play a show. They did it twice as well to play a tiny warm up show down at my local a few months earlier.

Pubs don't have to charge entry to profit from bands. They attract more people in who like to sing along to awful 80s pop songs and drink beer. There's some awful pubs around here that no one would go to if it wasn't for the bands on a Friday and Saturday night

As I see it, if a profit making event or venue is advertising live music as an attraction the band should always be paid. If a pub uses a band to get more people in to buy beer, it's only right the band gets a share of that extra profit

All of them. Even Kanye and according to him, he's the world's greatest rock star