SteveXFR

Education didn't really work for me when I was young. I failed just about every GCSE but then blagged my way in yo an apprenticeship and managed to achieve a distinction in every subject at college while my mates got drunk at lunch time and smoked weed and chatted up the hair and beauty girls. I also managed a grade A in A level maths in my 30's after getting a D in my GCSE. There's probably no single education plan to suit everyone and I don't think intelligence should ever be judged based on qualifications.

Our last cat had absolutely no personality so she was called Tiddles because it was the most generic, unimaginative cat I could think of. One of our dogs is Roxy because the rescue home named her. The other is Vinny because he was really weedy and scared of everything so I went for a tough sounding dog name. He's still scared of everything.

Cyclists who keep their helmet on while sat in a cafe. Are they expecting something to fall on their head? They do look a bit "special". Maybe its a mating thing, maybe the female cyclist sees your S-Works helmet and is attracted by it while the man in the Giro helmet gets no action. Its only lycra wearing road cyclist, Ive never seen mountain bikers or leisure cyclists leave their helmets on in cafes. Im a mountain biker, my helmet and gloves come off as soon as I've stopped.

What's been your favourite new album of 2025 I was thinking earlier and the amount of really good releases this year made it a tough choice but I think it has to be Thirst by Slow Crush. As well as my favourite new album of 2025, I think it could be my all time favourite shoegaze record. A single flower by We Lost The Sea, Gargantuan by Amplifier, Dust Eater by Dimscua and Cutting the throat of god by Ulcerate were also highlights

Every year I go to a progressive metal festival along with 9,999 other weirdos who can headbang perfectly in time to constantly changing time signatures. Im positive 95% play at least one instrument. There's definitely a market for prog music made for musicians.

Either prog or jazz fusion. Either way, music for musicians.

I bought it and used it for firewood

I need to learn to add more interest to my bass parts. When we're jamming ideas in the rehearsal room, I keep it simple and solid and tell myself ill add to it later but then never get around to it. I need to be a bit more lively on stage as well.

Classic rock radio stations who play "all the classic hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's" All of those stations have around a dozen songs they play on repeat and all of them have the same dozen songs. There are hundreds of songs they could play that fit their description but nope, they're all playing that same dozen songs over and over again only broken up by adverts for funeral plans, over 60's cruises and incontinence pants because they know their listeners aren't young.

I bought my daughter a Boss chorus for Christmas. Playing her Jazz bass in to MXR overdrive in to the chorus sounded amazing.

What style of music do you play? Lots of chorus sounds like it would be something very specific like shoegaze, post punk or alt rock.

Im afraid a lot of us are using that signature sound.

It looks like Warman don't make a 5 string soapbar although their website doesn't give any dimensions

They're actually not but this reminds me that it does have a pair of pickups from my old Zephyr. They are standard size but the 4 string International has 5 string pickups

I want to upgrade the weedy pickups in a 90's Peavey International with something with a bit more punch but want to keep costs down so thinking of the cheap Wilkinsons. Are they likely to be worth trying? https://reverb.com/uk/item/26036585-wilkinson-mwjh5-5-string-soapbar-passive-bass-humbucker-pickup-black

I played a sludge metal gig through an Elf once. My Orange wouldn't work when I got to the venue but the sound tech had an Elf so I used it. It was perfectly decent and survived 45 minutes at max volume which a lot of amps wouldn't do without overheating. Not bad for a compact head.

In my old style metal band Spector Euro 4 LX with eq centred both pickups on full. Two Notes Revolt on the dirt channel at 3/4 gain and mids boosted. Ashdown ABM600 with EQ flat and GK CX115 & CX210 cabs I tend to play lots of power chords or just very fast Lemmy inspired lines. With this set up I get a really nice tone almost like a cranked valve amp but without the maintenance bills or back injury. Im trying to work out my sound in my stoner/grunge band. I seem to be going towards my Yamaha BB with just a little dirt on it.

We bought my daughter a HB copy of a PRS guitar last year and its great. She was loaned a budget PRS (double the price of the HB) for a few months and preferred the HB. The only issue with it was the neck was really dry when it arrived but a couple applications of lemon oil and it was sorted.

Dopesmoker - Sleep

It was active and terrible. Decent quality paint but thats the only positive I can think of.

I really didn't like my Squier Affinity Jazz. It had sharp frets, tuners made of cheese and I could just never get it to play nicely. Without doubt the worst bass Ive owned. Id recommend looking for a used Ibanez SR305. You'll easily find one in budget and they're not just good for the price, they're just really good. They're light, comfortable, nice narrow neck and a big range of available tones. Peavey International V is also excellent but not too common. Surprisingly nice bass and I managed to find one for £150

After selling all my gear last year, all my gear has been bought this year. The worst is easy, a Fender Mexican standard Precision. I think it was just a bad one, I've had a few before but this one just sucked. I couldn't get a decent setup on it and it always sounded weak so its gone now. Best purchase is either my Spector Euro 4 LX which sounds incredible and is really nice to play and was a great price or my Yamaha BB1100S which I picked up for £450 and is the nicest playing bass I've owned and sounds great.

Mine is my lightweight bass! Its definitely lighter than my Spector and doesn't neck dive.

I took my BB1100S to band practice for the first time. We're playing something between stoner metal and grunge so pretty noisy and nasty. The BB actually sounded better than my Spector. Played through an Ashdown ABM600 and Gallien Kreuger CX212 & CX115 cabs, it had a nice growl to it and loads of bottom end with a nice midrange punch. I had it set to active with mids boosted and both pickups plus a bit of drive on the amp.

Im going to see them in April. What could be better than simple riffs and pointy hats?