Rich

I thought the claret and blue stripes on Steve Harris' bass were a giveaway. As is of course the Hammers badge, when you can see it. Ah well.

Completely brilliant. Love the engineering in this, even if it is a bit Heath Robinson in places

Likewise Mr 'Arris's West Ham P.

Playing the main stage at Thrubfest is a real bucket lister.

Or maybe Nempnett Thrubwell. For non-SWers, yes it really is a place.

@BassApprentice 'tis done

Here's a complete list of all my bands' gigs for the rest of the year.

List now updated.

You've been to a few of my gigs then

Two things: Try as I might, I can't actually recall anyone ever claiming that more strings do make better music. And what exactly is 'better'? Is there a sliding scale of betterness? Who gets to decide if James Jamerson is officially better than Jimmy Haslip? Is it a competition? I play five, for two reasons. One, because I play with a lot of brass and an ability to go below E often comes in handy in our songs. And two, because it makes my life easier in general in that I can go across the neck rather than up and down it. You'll notice there's no "Three, because it means I'm better than a four string player".

I'm in two great bands with a whole load of lovely people, all of whom I count as good friends. Miss gigging? christ I feel like I've lost a limb or something. Can't wait to get out there again, BUT only when it's safe.

I've played 5s almost exclusively since 1994. So when I had my Shuker made in 2007, it was a bit of an obvious choice. I still have 4s, but they don't get much of a look-in.

Yes, I was gutted when he and Jeff Rich left Judie's band.

John Edwards on Judie Tzuke's "Road Noise". Great playing & a lovely snappy Alembic tone.

Moved to 'Effects'.

In fairness, I have two Klotz cables (both of which have inaccessible moulded plugs), of which I've used either one or both at almost every gig I've played since mid-1986. Never a single glitch.

I've taken to making my own. I've got a nice stockpile of Neutrik and Switchcraft jacks. My wireless lead is an OBBM, it's bombproof.

And an absolute bargain when you compare it to a Fender Custom Shop P...

A dreary minger that looks like 'the morning after'... If I was the sensitive type, I'd start to take this thread personally.

Anyone remember the Overwater C Bass? For those that don't... back in the 80s, Overwater produced a 36" scale version of their gorgeous Original bass tuned C-F-Bb-Eb. IIRC it was originally made as a custom instrument for Andrew Bodnar when he was in the Thompson Twins live band. This was before 5-string basses became ubiquitous, and bassists needed an instrument that would go down low enough to allow them to compete with the synth basslines that were all over music at the time. The C Bass was a good interim solution, but it didn't catch on particularly well and was soon discontinued, although I believe they'll make you one if you ask them nic£ly. I don't know if they were all fretless, but all the ones I've ever seen are.

That's excellent love it.