Rich

You'll have to spoil your paper. No, I said SPOIL. Not soil. Eww.

Exactly the same choices as mine cheers!

Tough choice between the majesty of Barry's OHMSS, and Chris Cornell's epic vocal contribution to Casino Royale. The oldie won a toss of the coin.

I started off in 1982 with a '65 Höfner Artist II and Goodmans 1x15 cab bought from my metalword teacher and a 15w amp made with the help of my physics teacher. It all sounded dreadful but it was a start. I still have the bass After leaving school, I graduated to a Columbus Jazz**, Phoenix PHA-1 amp and a Sound City 4x12 cab. Weighed a ton but I was finally audible. Used this combination until '86 when my wonderful parents bought me a Laney Pro-Bass 4x10 combo for my 21st. I will never forget the sheer joy and excitement of driving up to Tempo Soundhouse in Hanwell to collect it. Shortly after that, a mate tipped me off that Hamer's Music in Reading had a Wal hanging on the wall for £330... yup, I still have it . The Laney served me faithfully and faultlessly for many years, eventually replaced by a Carlsbro Delta rig (not my wisest move). ** this was stolen by a supposed friend to whom I lent it and who promptly moved out of town leaving neither forwarding address nor bass behind. If you're reading this, Mike Haigh, you're a weasel-faced thieving dopehead **** and I'd like my bass back please.

Take That + Rick Astley at the NIA last night. Yes, I know... What can I say, it was a fait accompli. Highlights: Rick Astley's voice. He's a million trillion miles from the spotty git of yore, his singing is now a joy to listen to. Such a rich, souly voice. Plus he came across as genuinely delighted and excited to be there, which is always a bonus. TT's stage show, the lighting and effects etc. Quite simply mindboggling, the finest indoor visual spectacle I've ever seen. Both bands; top-drawer talent giving their very best. Lee Pomeroy on bass for TT, didn't catch RA's bassist's name. EDIT: his name is Julian Cox. Very capable chap. Lows: The sound. Dreadful. I didn't hear a single note of bass all night, it was all a bit of a mush apart from the vox. And I was sat/stood 10ft from the desk too. Mind you, the place is an absolute barn so it's probably not surprising. Screechy idiots full of prosecco, either yelling conversations at each other or screaming at the band. SHUT. THE. FCK. UP. I didn't come here to listen to YOU, you witless harpies. I hope your hangovers are near-fatal this morning.

Nurse, my pills...

Is the action high because the bridge saddles are bottomed out? If so, a shim and a set-up for starters I'd say. In fact a set-up for definite, shim or not. If it's still not nice to play after that, then shift it on.

Is anyone going to see Kiss on their 32nd Reunion/Farewell tour next year?

BRAND NEW MODEL for 2052! GibsonCorp™ (an OCP® Company) are proud to unveil the GIBSON™ LES PAUL©! In an exciting new very slightly different shade of Yellow®! everything else is exactly the same as it's been for the last 100 years

Who is better at slap, the Mark King hologram or the Flea hologram?

If I thought I could get the existing finish repaired or a refinish in the same colours without breaking the bank, I'd definitely do it. It's an utterly gorgeous colour. Yes! I found this last night, after playing for a while it got really uncomfortable. It's definitely Dremel time.

That's what I've been using. To try to clarify things, I did a version of it for myself: If anyone knows of a schematic diagram for the actual circuit on the PCB, I'd love to get hold of one. In its current format with the EMG circuit, I've kept both switches in place to avoid an unsightly hole; the dual tone switch works as before and sounds great, and I've just made the active on/off into a simple kill switch for the moment.

Update update: I've fitted the EMG guts and it's huuuuge sounds absolutely awesome. Yeah, but I'd have to tipp-ex out the 'A' from the trussrod cover

Update: Well, despite my best efforts with a new set of switches and a review of the wiring, the active innards remain unresponsive. I think my next move will be to strip it out carefully and replace it with an EMG BTS control I've got lurking around. I can run it at 18v like the original Westone circuit.

Nice to see my stairs are being put to good use

Just watched it on iPlayer. Oish. That was a bit grim.

Ooh. I shall be following this with interest. Might do a similar thing myself.

@scrumpymike has been organizing South West bashes for the last 3 years and they are turning out to be roaring successes. This year's was completely brilliant, more and more guys are turning up each year. Might be worth tapping him for advice/suggestions?

I've got some that I could let go without much of a backward glance, a couple that would be a real struggle, and two that are going to my grave with me.

Dave is a diamond geezer and has one of the best gigs in the world. The list of artists he's played with on Later... is jawdropping. Is it just me, or was anyone else expecting him to have a much deeper voice, given that he's about 9ft tall?

Will do, but... don't hold your breath waiting

Donkey's years ago, a couple of work colleagues (who had just become an item) went to Glasto. I was quite jealous as it was a good lineup that year with loads of bands I'd love to have seen. When they arrived back in the office I was dying to know who they'd seen. Every time I named a band, they said "nah, didn't see them either". Turned out they had spent the entire weekend in their tent smoking weed and banging each other's brains out.

That's an Austin Allegro that I would own in a heartbeat. I'd love to have a Performer bass.