RhysP

[quote name='TheRev' post='865820' date='Jun 13 2010, 11:45 AM']There's no secret to Danny's playing. All you have to do is practice for 6 hours a day and play every gig & session that's offered to you. Repeat this for about 30 years and hey presto! instant Danny Thompson. Easy.[/quote] I don't have 30 years left...........

It depends whether the signature model has some sensible & practical modifications to the "standard" model, and if it's a bass or guitar I'd consider using anyway. For example, I wouldn't buy a Geddy Lee Jazz because I don't like Jazz basses, even though I'm a huge Rush fan. I've had a few signature model guitars (Gretsch Brian Setzer & Elliot Easton models, Jackson Phil Collen model) which have been great instruments.

It makes me think of of Pete Way.

[quote name='henry norton' post='865502' date='Jun 12 2010, 08:27 PM']I remember passing up an opportunity to see Holdsworth when he was playing with Level 42 - I can't even remember why now [/quote] You didn't miss anything. I saw them & he just looked bored & embarrassed most of the evening. He certainly didn't get a chance to play the way he's famous for. The most memorable thing he did all night was mess up the guitar solo in "Lessons in Love"!!

[quote name='Alun' post='861005' date='Jun 8 2010, 02:05 PM']Saw them in cardiff last night and they were mind blowingly good. Jimmy Johnson's tone, direct into the PA, is unbelievably perfect.[/quote] [quote name='jakesbass' post='865474' date='Jun 12 2010, 07:43 PM']Alun I was there....! I don't know what you look like so couldn't say hello (otherwise I would have. I had a long chat with Jimmy at the Ronnies gig and he put me on the guest list for Cardiff (by chance I was visiting my brother who lives about 400yds from the globe). He's (Jimmy) a really lovely guy. I thought the sound was a bit duff in Cardiff but they coped with it amazingly well and the crowd in Cardiff gave them a hell of a lot more back than the Ronnies crowd. I thought the ensemble playing was fabulous.[/quote] I'd just like to say that I hate the pair of you. I'd have loved to have seen that gig but I'd have had to tell my sister that we weren't going to the Rush film & she'd have killed me. Did they have a good crowd then?

I'd buy one if I thought I could play it as well as Danny Thompson does. That, however, is extremely unlikely.....

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='849819' date='May 27 2010, 09:21 PM']Calvert? I met him years ago,and have a battered book signed by him (Hype). Think it was HMV . He was a great, smashing polite bloke. He was gonna busk in the subway in Hammersmith telling people not to buy Hawkwind records i i r c . Don't know if he did. Next day , we both walked past each other in green park. We were both scratching our heads in a 'haven't I seen you somewhere before?' moment.[/quote] Hawkwind were never the same without Calvert IMO. He was unique. His solo stuff is great too - "Captain Lockheed & the Starfighters" is a long-time favourite of mine.

That's pretty awesome - nice one!

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='861777' date='Jun 9 2010, 08:56 AM']But isn't that purple?[/quote] What, the Zon? It's a difficult colour to capture - I've seen pictures of it where you'd say it was definitely pink & others where it looks more purple. Let's say it's the pinky side of purple.

Pink bass? No problem. One of my favourite ever Zons: Yummy!

The old Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic bass is a huge great monster of an instrument & is very loud. I'd love to get my hands on one. The guy from The Violent Femmes uses one (his name escapes me for the moment but he's a great player).

[quote name='OldGit' post='861248' date='Jun 8 2010, 05:19 PM']all this stress for a 50 capacity? You probably don't need your proper stuff then, just take the new/old poo combo [/quote] For a 50 capacity venue you could probably manage with no amps at all.

[quote name='urbanx' post='861144' date='Jun 8 2010, 03:58 PM']We have hired this venue in question before, and they run a clever system: Venue & Tech hire (you have to use theirs) is £280. Venue capacity is 50 (plus bands). You cant really charge more than £5 for a venue that size... So even if you sell out it'll cost you £30...[/quote] You're giving yourself all this grief to play in a venue that holds 50 people? F*** that, it's never worth it.

For bass parts I'd go for a Moog Little Phatty or a secondhand Moog Prodigy. The Novation Bass Station is pretty good too. There was also somebody on here recently selling an Access Virus synth, which are great synths.

[quote name='rmshaw37' post='860848' date='Jun 8 2010, 11:58 AM']Can i just add that with these thousands of pounds worth of gear, does it not withstand abuse?[/quote] It shouldn't have to withstand "abuse", as abuse by definition means it's not being used properly.

I'd never lend any gear out in that situation, or most situations actually. I lent my Trace Elliot stuff to somebody once for a showcase gig they had in London. Luckily it didn't get damaged but came back to me minus all the covers with not even a "Sorry" or "We'll buy you some new ones".

It's just one of those things - just be glad all the sh*t isn't happening to you. I got together with some excellent musicians to form a band in September last year. It was the first time for a while & I was really looking forward to writing some original material & getting out playing it. We all played together really well from the offset & I thought it was going to be a long term thing. Come January this year I had to leave due to my own health taking a sudden & unexpected turn for the worse, and my father & mother both becoming seriously ill too. I let some really decent people down & still feel really bad about it, but there was just nothing I could do about it.

I saw Zawinul in Cardiff not that long before he died & it was a superb gig. Linley is a great player and the whole band, which also included Manolo Badrena on percussion, were just breathtakingly good. The support act was Bill Brufords Earthworks, and Phil Campbell from Motorhead was sat behind me. It don't get much better than that. Cardiff being the sh*tty cultural backwater that it is the hall was less than half full. Unbelievable.

I don't know about having to register as a business but you'd certainly have to register with the Inland Revenue as self employed, and declare any money you earn in your annual tax return.

[quote name='KevB' post='856277' date='Jun 3 2010, 04:55 PM']Rhinestone Cowboy. Don't ask. No really, just don't.[/quote] Nothing wrong with that - great song!

He's playing in Cardiff next Monday & it's the same night that I've got tickets for the Rush film - I'm absolutely gutted!

Has to be maple. All Fenders look sh*t with rosewood boards, basses & guitars. If my only musical instrument option was a Fender with a rosewood board it would make me so unhappy I would give up playing.

I've never broken a string on a bass or a guitar.