Muzz

Nooooo, but I've wanted one since about 1978. I do know that if I ever got one it will be proof that I have too much money... I have a very soft spot for pretty-much-redundant 8 and 12 strings: I got my first one (a Washburn B20-8) in the mid-80s, and I keep buying them, then realising they're next to useless for what I need, and selling them again...

I'm sure they're very well made (which puts them in company with a lot of luthiers out there - 'the finest'? Hmmmm...), but personally I wouldn't be seen dead with one.

I borrowed one...they're a Class D, they're not as heavy as the normal ABMs, but they are as bulky, which for me kinda defeated the point (tho I'm not a massive Ashdown tone fan)...I rather like the RMs, tho...

Most of the difficult ones are about getting the feel right as much as the notes: if there's lots of notes (like Hysteria* and the Chilis By The Way) and they're not kept in check, they sound like a car crash...a poor (or even average) drummer can do that, too...I'm lucky in that my main drummer is fantastic...although that means any pink torpedo-ups are down to me... 😕 At the opposite end of the scale, we do Hold Back The River, and though there's very few notes in it, it needs really good dynamics to ebb and flow properly. Same with Elbow's One Day Like This: octave E's only, doesn't get any simpler in terms of actual notes, but it's the feel, especially in a trio... * Oh, and starting this at the right speed, too...I always think I'm rushing, then it turns out when the drums start, I'm not...

Badgers: I used to work with a chap from a farming family in North Wales, and he'd go home at the weekends to help his Dad with the farm stuff. They were losing chickens at a rate to a fox being in the area, so his Dad had knocked up a cage/trap from wire mesh and 2x4s (something he'd used before) - his Dad didn't want to shoot the fox, the MO was always to trap it, drive it a long way away and release it. So they baited it and once it was dark settled down a way away to wait. After about an hour, they heard a kerfuffle, and set off with their torches at a trot. My friend told me the noise got louder the nearer they approached, his Dad was about ten yards in front of him, when suddenly his Dad shot back past him, all knees and elbows and accelerating, with the single cry of "stinky poo! It's a badger!". My friend followed suit, and the pair of them retreated to the house to sip tea and not make eye contact. They went back down in the morning and the badger had destroyed the cage completely, and given the 2x4s a good splintering, just to make the point...

I'd vote No, too...

I think 14 days would be just about long enough to work out what the holy hell all those knobs and switches do...plus, I'd be sitting/lying down, so the mahooosive weight wouldn't be so much of an issue...

Wait till Mr Hall sees the one on the right...he'll be all over him... 😀

Noooo, that's not how it works, at least IME; I've found that the rate of Pick Loss is directly proportional to how many you have: I buy them in 24s, and immediately lose half a dozen, whereas the last half dozen seem to hang around forever...until I buy some more...

If we use the formula 1 x guitar = 0.25 x bass, then you're golden...

Eight at the moment, tho three of those are cheapos in bits and haven't been touched in a lonnnng while. Three main gigging basses. Oh, and a Shuker build (still) underway...

A few years ago my other half bought a couple of tickets for the Hebden Trades Club - it's a great venue, and one of those 'Never heard of them, but we'll give them a try' kinda places. Young lad on his tod, just him and his acoustic. You know that goosebump thing when you're in the presence of The Real Thing*? I think tickets were £8, about 30 people there. We chatted to him afterwards and wished him well. I recall he was a big lad, very nice. It was George Ezra - next thing I heard from him gigging, he sold out the Manchester Arena... * Not the 70s disco band...tho we did accidentally audition their singer once...another story entirely. It didn't go well.

Not on the scale of some of the fantastic ones on here, but in the early 80s we used to rehearse at the Boardwalk, and some evenings we'd go to the Hacienda afterwards if there was a potentially interesting gig on, in the days before the DJs took over, and it was more often than not half-empty. One evening we were in the City Road pub opposite wondering whether to go, and my pal said "I heard it's some American bird shooting a dance video, she'll be miming..." so we all went 'Pffft' and didn't bother. Madonna.

Al. Not always the case, I'll admit, but it had to happen sooner or later... 😁

Finally, someone talking sense...

Love it...

Ohhhh, now there's a coincidence - I was just scouting around EBay for something like this to take on a holiday I've got booked, plus something to use for jam nights for the easiest possible load-in. I did some gigs in Italy a while back and borrowed a FrankenSteinberger thingy, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would... And a P pickup improves everything... 😁

Yup; I have a beeeeyoudiful Dingwall I never use; I know I'll regret selling it, but it's on my mind... I suppose I might look into trading it, as there's the excitement of getting a new bass in the deal, rather than just cash, which will be very quickly absorbed in Other Stuff...

In the spirit of the Covid-19 thread elsewhere, I can't see people being brave enough to go somewhere that most of the point is to handle something that lots of other people will have handled...

Having known a couple of farmers, I'd say kicking badgers is a pastime best indulged in by people who feel that two feet is one too many, and are keen to investigate the recreational opportunities offered by hopping everywhere...

That head...I just...can't... 🙁 It's like a very poor Wishbass, without any of the charm or actual manufacturing skillz...

We've had this with a couple of venues on the same main street; one gives us at least half a dozen Satdy night gigs a year, it's a great venue, pays well, the other ummms and ahhhhs about booking us, but then will phone up at short notice for the odd gig, usually on a Sunday night, when it's much deader. Guess which one got all arsey when the LL found out we were playing at the other... 🙄

That program is like a documentary for IT folk... 😁

Shows how much he thought of the band doing him a favour...I'd definitely 'forget' to do it next time... I'd agree with the premise that the more you're getting paid, the better you're looked after: wedding gigs (with a few exceptions, mostly because of arsey Wedding Planners getting involved) are a good example of this. The Charidee stuff is very often apologetically neglectful, sometimes bordering on exploitative (in those cases where most other people are getting paid)...