Marvin

I happened across Alanis Morrisette in concert last night, I lasted less than one 'song'. Absolutely awful. The Pretenders was on after, that was alright. Nothing great.

Some of it's down to promoters not willing to take the risk as well. I follow Billy Sheehan on social media and he gets loads of grumbles from Australian fans complaining he doesn't do shows there. He explains that if a promoter is willing to book them he (and whatever band he's playing with) will play Oz

I used to have a defretted one of these many years ago. I was a bit silly and sold it really cheaply...to buy a fishing rod. Nice basses.

I don't think we need to go that far.

It's poor, and that's being kind. I agree with the points made regards Izzy. He gave the band its songwriting swagger. Without Izzy it's just not G'n'R. I'd love to see Adler back, but I think considering the beating he's given his body and mind with drug abuse he's simply not up to the task. Sometimes it's best just to call it a day.

Thank you. Although it's not quite that vibrant, the picture has been 'adjusted'. It's still a nice pickguard though.

For small up and coming UK bands, gigging around Europe was just an extension of gigging in the UK, it was the same circuit. It literally meant they were gigging all the time. I know of several who would pack their gear in a van (just like the old days) and gig small venues in France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium for several months. They'd even just pop back to the UK to do a week of gigs or a festival and then back across the channel. Being able to do that was like US bands who are able to just gig around the US. But that's all gone now. Visas, carnets etc, all extra cost that will make it totally unworkable for these bands to do what they were doing. Also having all those extra venues and audiences in throughout the EU made their band etc viable full stop. For the bands I'm talking about they don't have gear in other countries or are able to hire gear. Similar bands from the US with similar fan bases, ie. small, just don't tour or gig in the UK. It's too expensive. It's the same reason why the bands from the UK who'd easily gig a lot throughout the EU don't gig in the US.

That's because we don't have journalists in the UK anymore, who previously would have checked what was actually going on. Now we have persons who glibly repeat announcements, or what someone said on social media and pad it out with unresearched 'comment'. To be fair this govts green credentials just go up and up, they're always recycling announcements.

I genuinely hope Charlie recovers soon from his operation. The lead singer in my last band washes Charlie's windows and Mr Watts is a genuinely nice guy. Our singer actually gave him complimentary tickets for the gig we did at our local arts centre...this was in return for the VIP tickets he gave our singer for the Stones concert in Cardiff a few years back. Unfortunately Charlie doesn't venture out much so he didn't come to the gig, not that we really expected him to, he'd have just been mobbed by the audience. I think Steve Jordan is absolutely the right drummer to step in for Charlie. Picking a name that's known for being exceptional in A band doesn't mean they'd be right for playing in another band. They've got to have the right feel for that band to make it work for the players involved and ultimately the audience. I've always said, just because you put some decent players in a room together doesn't mean the end result will always work.

I was 10 when Gimme All Your Lovin' was released. I probably saw the video on Top Of The Pops...and being young thought it was a great song. I subsequently got my Dad to order me a ZZ Top album from his latest Britannia Music catalogue. The cassette that arrived was The Best Of ZZ Top, which to a 10 year olds ears was a 1000 miles from what I'd heard on TOTP. However, that's what I got into. I really loved early ZZ Top. I ended up getting Rio Grande Mud a few months later. So while my peers were listening to mid 80s British pop, I was listening to early 70s Texas Blues/Boogie. Several years later I bought the CD version of Rio Grande Mud. Unfortunately I got the remastered one, that was made to sound like Eliminator, so loads of reverb. Gimme All Your Lovin' is a very ZZ Top song, it's just got a ton of reverb on it and synths

I'll just stay in the dark 😎

It may have been already answered, but how do your points go up? I'm just intrigued to know

I've just watched the ZZ Top documentary on Netflix, it's a great watch. Just 3 humble guys who wanted to play their stuff. The sad part being now that Dusty Hill, who like the others comes across as a really lovely person, isn't with us anymore He leaves a fantastic legacy

...and then there were 3. I changed my strings yesterday on my Jazz type bass and tweaked the truss rod. The tension of the strings, new and old, were noticeably different and so was the neck relief. I ended up adjusting saddle height and intonation as well.

No, because I can't really play any other instrument. I occasionally look at a Strat and think, that'd be nice. But it'd be a waste of money because I can only just about play A, E, G and D chords...maybe occasionally C

What driver did you put in the Schroeder?

Absolutely gutted. I've always liked ZZ TOP, and have been lucky enough to see them live. This is very sad news, Dusty was damn cool

I'm with you. Mine makes me look/sound a lot more accomplished than I actually am

The Ibanez SR is a great bass, very comfortable to play, good sound. I had one, and was probably the easiest bass to play that I've owned. However, as @Bassassin pointed out, their value plummets like a stone. Having never played one of the Tanglewoods that you're currently using, I've only seen photos of them online, the neck looks quite chunky...I may be wrong. The Ibanez neck would feel very different if the Tanglewood is a bit on the chunky side, and it might be best to try one before committing.

My rehearsal conundrum has been resolved for me. I was trying to be diplomatic and compromise etc, I totally understood that the drummer was cautious with his partner being pregnant and the number of cases locally. However, the singer threw a hissy fit and went off on one about he didn't care about restrictions and we should just get on with it. Oddly the drummer agreed it was all a load of made up nonsense and then they agreed to leave it until the winter after the drummer's partner had given birth. I can't be bothered with people throwing hissy fits, so I'll just let them float off into the distance and I'll find something else. The irony is the singer has only ever done 2 gigs, and those were in the band I was in with him...I left suddenly because I had an offer from a better band. I felt bad at the time, I don't after today's toddler twaddle. One of the benefits of fishing...you don't have to put up with other people's temper tantrums.

Myself and some old band mates are trying to start a new band. Unfortunately there's been quite an outbreak of Covid in our, albeit small, town. Our drummer is very hesitant about rehearsing indoors as his partner is pregnant and he doesn't want her catching it. That's fine and totally reasonable, we'll be patient and wait. If we can find an outdoor space then we'll use that, not easy to find though. I've had both jabs, but as I said to him, that didn't stop me getting or paying on Covid. So we are where we are, I'm not one of those desperate musos that would play at the opening of an envelope.

My wife is far happier when I am in bands and playing gigs than when I go fishing. I'll leave it at that.

Someone found a use for those left over Wharfedale grills then.

I like mute buttons and clip lights. Actually the more lights the better for me, lots of lights. I used to have a rack mounted compressor as part of my set up, and only used one of the two channels. I still used to turn the dials to the point where the lights came on on the unused channel. LOTS OF LIGHTS!!!! Audiences think you're professional if you've got lots of lights on your gear...it's true.