Cliff Edge

Country music in all its forms has been popular in the UK for many years. I don’t find that percentage strange.

My fingers are starting to look a bit misshapen, particularly on the the left, fretting, hand. However no serious pain, more an ache, as yet. I can still play as good, or bad, as ever. I’ve been taking calcium and vitamin D tablets for a couple of years but apart from stronger finger nails I haven’t notice any difference. I do have a pair of those magic gloves but rarely wear them. I do notice they feel better in the summer months and that is probably due to warmer weather and salads with Extra Virgin Olive Oil dressing. My wife is more seriously affected and has been for several years. She takes turmeric capsules but again it’s difficult to judge any effectiveness. She has recently started taking collagen powder and her hair has thickened up considerably. I just mention that in case anyone is interested.

Jerry Jones made excellent copies of the longhorns for several years, including the 6+baritone double neck. Sadly he sold up and moved on to something else.

I use a Focusrite interface but the Mac system sound settings should be the same. The output and input devices should be the same. So unless you can somehow get a Bluetooth signal from the interface it won’t work. Wired buds or headphones into the interface headphone port are the way to go. And you don’t need a DAW or similar to just play along to Spotify etc, the interface does it all.

Yes this place has cost me a bob or two as well. But I’m not complaining. I’ve picked up a lot of useful information and had a lot of fun here.

If you don’t mind going back in time and can find one, the Aria Proll TSB 650 is a great medium scale bass. Huge sound from two humbuckers with individual stacked volume and tone plus series/parallel switching. Bit on the heavy side, mine is 4.5kgs. but well balanced. Easy to play.

We can’t avoid getting old and part of it is the old memory starts to give off warnings at inappropriate times. I use playing music as a means to combat that. Hopefully.

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Tokai also sell bodies and necks for self builds back in the 70’s, 80’s. I seem to recall a guitarist of my acquaintance having a telecaster built using them.

Playing an electric bass, especially a solid body, acoustically is not a good idea. You end up plucking the strings too hard in order to hear yourself, which is a bad habit to get into. Plus you get blisters very quickly. Use an amp of some kind, even if it’s just a headphone amp.

Seconded. Excellent read.

I have SR900 and always used flats to good effect. Currently TI Jazz Flats, but they are a tad expensive so you may want something else. Unfortunately there are many to choose from, but I’m sure someone will be along shortly with alternatives. Good luck, you got a bargain.

Re pickups I put Nordstrand Big Singles in my SR900 in place of the original Bart’s. Made a big difference to the available sounds. Cannot fault the build quality of these Korean Ibanez SR’s.

Written by AI?

Never had a problem with my wedding ring.

I'm a bit late to this party but regarding pickup alignment, having recently acquired a 2006 4HH I noticed string alignment isn't perfect over both pickups. So I went online for images of similar instruments just to satisfy my curiosity. And in the majority of images, even up to the latest specials, it's quite unusual to find any with perfect alignment. Most are just like mine with the E and G strings slightly off. More so on the neck pickup. I have to say though it doesn't seem to have any impact on the sound.

re Rick Astley while the overall performance was great, to my old ears anyway his voice does occasionally lack the smooth effortless quality of others. He hits the notes ok but just not quite bright enough is the best I can describe it. Just my opinion, got nothing against the bloke otherwise.

Me neither. Wikipedia.

That was his “talent” on X Factor, which he didn’t win. Apparently before that he was in some tribute bands in Ibiza. He is one of those irritating people who did absolutely anything to become famous. And succeeded.

The whole festive Telly Specials thing requires a suspension of belief. Which takes away a bit of the seasonal magic. I’m also miffed there was no showing of White Christmas this year. Just as well I have a local copy.

I like playing 50 Ways and try to get it in every set list we do. Not many bands around here would even consider it.

Sorry to wander slightly off topic but for me Celebrity Come Dancing is in the same category. Wife likes the dancing but for me it’s the band and vocalists. I’m quite happy to just listen to the music. Couldn’t give a toss about the so called celebs. Rick Astley and band was a lot better than I anticipated last night and he was quite impressive on the drums.

Best this year a pristine black 2006 3eq EB MM Stingray 4 HH. Worst could be contentious, a set of Ernie Ball strap locks. Bloody awful design. Replaced with a black set of Jim Dunlops.

Golcar Brass Band. Nativity thing in Haworth village church which was packed to the rafters. The vicar dressed as an angel was MC. Frankly I think most people were in there sheltering from the rain. No photos, tuba in the bass register. I don’t normally like brass bands but they were on form with no bum notes and the audience joined in with the carols. Great atmosphere. First time I’ve been to anything like that in a very long time.

Banksy.

Very varied selection there.