Rich

Our xmas song this year is based on Springsteen's 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town', with some cracking brass arrangements written by our MD. Love it.

I think this line from the article tells us all we need to know: "As we briefly toured the Eames’ immaculate and sparsely decorated home - framed portraits of Jered hung throughout..."

Worst purchase this year was a 6mm masonry drill bit, which resulted in me tearing the scapholunate ligament in my left wrist. That was in June and I've barely played since. Surgery coming up early next year. Best purchase was the set of Elixirs I bought in January which I've hardly had a chance to play.

Our xmas gig at a comedy/music venue in Briz. I only played the second set, due to my ongoing wrist ligament problems; our multi-instrumentalist git MD played bass on the 1st. He also took the encores, where I sang lead vocal on Try A Little Tenderness. It was the last gig with our current superb drummer Maff and also one of the ladysingers Sian. She's my bestest mate in the band and has a truly awesome voice, I'm going to really miss her Lots of fun and a great night tinged with sadness.

I would disagree on the importance of cabs. When I replaced my last Peavey 4x10 with an SWR Triad, the quality and richness of my bass tone went through the roof. That Triad was the single best cab I've ever had, apart from its 98lb weight

http://www.delano.de/sbc_4_he_s_4/sbc_4_he_s_4_details.html

In my 30+ years of serious gigging, there have been 2 occasions when I could have done with a backup amp. 1993ish, my old Laney 4x10 combo blew a speaker. Spent the rest of the gig sounding like an elderly flatulent rhino. Last year, my Shuttle 6 developed an intermittent cutting-out fault. Turned out that the preamp valve had worked its way partially out of the socket. Re-seated the valve, done.

What I'd like for xmas is that tomorrow morning: all the religious and political extremists from whatever sect/cult/faction/wing they might be will wake up and say "You know what? this is a right mug's game. I've had enough of this violence and bigotry crap". Peace and tolerance break out all over the world. a scientist somewhere shouts "eureka!" as his/her latest attempt at a cure for dementia proves totally successful. my bank balance suddenly becomes unbelievably huge. health, happiness and prosperity is guaranteed for my friends and loved ones There's a whole load of other things I'd like, but many of them are too overtly political in nature to mention.

I did that too! Were you there on the same day as me? Was he using his 'Chandlerised' pink Jazz?

The best Fender bass ever IMO.

...on Sky Arts right now. There's just been concert footage of Bonzo's Moby Dïck solos, now Dave Weckl is discussing/demonstrating Buddy Rich's style and approach. Fabulous, I am hooked.

Well I like mine, so poo to you with knobs on

And all the Wals too My Pro 2E has a scrawl in the neck pocket that may or may not be a signature together with the words 'Strawberry Red' (the body colour). Whether it's an appreciating asset or not is academic for me TBH, it's got such massive sentimental value for me that I'll probably never sell it anyway.

Good point. Right, has anyone got a polishing cloth for my crystal ball?

I see no reason why they won't keep appreciating. (See vintage Fenders, Gibbos, MMs, etc etc etc) 😄

Apart from anything else, the Wal is an appreciating investment. Mine is my pension plan

Re: screwholes... cocktail sticks, PVA glue and a shap blade for trimming.

Harley basses generally seem to punch well above their weight. There are plenty of happy JB and PB owners here, but I've seen little if any mention of the BZ range. They certainly have some good user reviews on Thomann. Anyone?

My current fretless squeeze... OLP Ray body, Jaydee neck with mostly-unlined ebony board, EMG-HZ pickup, as yet passive electrics. Future plans are to squeeze some sort of 3-band eq in there. For the moment, I'm loving it just as it is. It plays beautifully and sounds better.

I fully understand. I just wish that big events like this weren't always so London-centric.

It doesn't make any real difference to me which side of London it's on... it's still on the other side of the bleeding country to me

I play in a ska band. I thought I was a bass player. I never realised I was a thief, coloniser and oppressor too. Thanks for the heads up.

Or in other words, 'mission accomplished'

I've done the whole 1kW head + 2x4x10 cabs route and yes it sounds great. There's nothing like having a hefty 1.3 horsepower roaring away behind you. But my back's not getting any younger, so I'm quite happy to compromise my sound for the sake of a much easier life. FOH it all sounds the same anyway, once the engineer has finished mangling it. Ooh what a cynic.