Skybone

Bestiality - Phil Jupitus (to the tune of Sexuality by Billy Bragg)

Looked at the Nordstrand, but then I have a set of Gemini WaveRider's in the Walnut Faker in the avatar. Very nice sounds from them. Rickenbacker Bass Pickups (geminipickups.co.uk)

It should have the Push / Pull pot on the Tone control, is that pushed down or up? I use mine with both pickups on, but the neck volume turned down a bit. Sounds plenty ballsy to me. Plus, the neck pickup is reknown to be a bit weak for some reason. You could look at replacement pickups, Gemini Pickups in Wales do a couple of variants, hand wound & RWRP. Nice. There's also the Nordstrand Rickenbocker.

Pictures of Lily - The Who

Cort SCMS? Cort A5 PLus SCMS OPN, five string bass, bass,active. bartolini, hipshot - UK Basses specialist, Warwick, special offer, sale, London, Manchester, Birmingham, USA (bassdirect.co.uk)

Stutter Rap - Morris Minor and the Majors

Only managed to watch bits of it so far, but it's great Cutler's great, and KT Tunstall's a great presenter. Cutler is one of the brilliant British eccentrics, remember hearing some of his stuff on the John Peel show many moons ago.

Reality is Waiting for a Bus - Subhumans

Remember the guitar press singing their gushing praises on the Taylor when it came out. Let's face it, it's a Taylor, so it's going to be very good, but not the cheapest. The Godin's are serious bits of kit that don't get that much recognition or praise. Definitely worth trying. Should be relatively cheaper than the Taylor. Wouldn't be surprised if Yamaha make or made a thinline. Didn't Epiphone have a version of the Chet Atkins as well? The Ovation / Applause thin bowl (or whatever they call them) guitars are worth looking at too. Had an Applause for a while (Korean built Ovation - kind of like an Epiphone), very nice guitar that I probably should have kept. The US built Ovation guitars can go for silly money.

China In My Hands - T'Pau

No Cemetaries Here - Tragedy (no, not the BeeGee's tribute band, or anything remotely to do with BeeGee's)

Recorded the Ivor Cutler by KT Tunstall programme the other night. That's going to be entertaining.

I get the impression that the "essential backup" concept comes from function bands that will tend to play a couple of long sets on each booking, rather than for half an hour down at the Dog and Duck.

If you prefer the sound you get from the preamp pedal over that of your amp's preamp, then you can simply plug your pedal into the Effects Return socket. If you fancy adding another "flavour" to your amp sound, then add the preamp in front of your amp, and use it as an effect. I plug mine into the Effects Return on the amp.

I'd be looking at something like an Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro or Jack Casady, or maybe something like a PRS SE Kestrel.

Two Minutes to Midnight - Iron Maiden

Pink Cadillac - Bruce Springsteen or Natalie Cole

Trapped - Colonel Abrams

Stones From the Sky - Neurosis

I have heard about building a vent cover with baffles in, in order to break the straight path of the sound waves. For example, building a box cover for an air vent, and adding wooden slats into it at about 45 degree angles, on opposing faces, so that the air has to travel further, but you still get ventilation into the room.

One of the best basses that I ever owned cost me £50 off a mate. If I still had it, I could sell it for a damn sight more than I bought it for. There again, if I still had it, I wouldn't sell it. It was a Westone Thunder 1A. Saying that, I do really, really like the basses I have now.