Jackroadkill

Years ago, I was a moderator on an air rifle forum (don't worry, I'm fully recovered). There would be howls of genuine rage issued every time someone stated that they preferred the .177 calibre over the .22 or vice-versa; such arguments would be pursued with all the zeal of the Great Schism of 1054, and the combatants would only pause to unite when someone mentioned the existence of .20 and .25 calibres, before battle would be rejoined, insults would be exchanged and I'd have to put grown men on the naughty step. I suspect I may have found the bass-playing equivalent.

Having been in several originals bands over the years and currently being in the only covers band I've ever been part of I can say this: People like local covers bands more than local originals bands, at least in terms of Friday night activities. My band doesn't do what you'd call standards, either, but the fact that at least a few people in the audience will know each song at the very least seems to make a big difference.

I'm torn - I love the shape, SFG is my joint favourite Fender colour (along with CAR), and I love that this bass comes in a proper full scale. I love the idea of a big chunky neck.... It looks beautiful. I could even (probably) get used to the stupid reverse tuners. The big problem for me is the sound. Now, I like a big fat hairy bass tone, but I wonder if I'd feel constrained by only having that sound available... I mean, potentially one could replace the tone cap and pot with ones that are likely to give a brighter sound, but I wouldn't want to do much more than that. Certainly not mucking about changing pickups etc. I guess I'll have to try one in the flesh - although where I might get to do that in rural mid-Wales I don't know!

Typical of both Kiss and Gibson; over-priced shite that the world doesn't need.

Ah, bu66er! It didn't occur to me to see if any BC'ers would be be interested....

Resting beach Face! Rose Tattoo, by the Dropkick Murphys?

Funnily enough that's my musical ambition, too.

We played this afternoon at the Shropshire Tattoo Show. In some ways a tough gig, because the audience were there for the ink, not the music, but we were made to feel very welcome and were well looked after, which is always a huge lift. We played pretty well on a very small stage, despite the room being very hot indeed and the sound was pretty good too. This was our first gig playing a split set, which meant re-ordering the songs to suit, but I think it worked well. We got talking to one of the exhibitors who is organising another tattoo show in Wrexham in November - he and his wife loved our act and he asked us if we'd consider playing there. It's a great feeling getting another booking at a gig, I always feel. I look very grumpy, but that's just a bad case of RBF!

You're welcome, EZ!

There was (well, still may well be) a High Wycombe R'n'B band called The Mafia that went through many iterations throughout the years but was led by a chap called John MacKay, who played a Wal - made in town, of course - and the classic line-up featured Chris Dennis and Mark "The Thunder From Windsor" Freeman. All three were superb musicians and their sets were always brilliant. Often they'd be joined by local faces onstage, one of whom was known as American John, an African-American gob-iron player of serious mettle. One time the band, plus American John, were playing at the Flint and there was some kind of ruckus between two groups (something is telling me local yoofs and bikers, but I could be wrong) as the band were breaking down and packing their gear back into their vehicles. Much glass was broken, and it escalated to the point where the cops were called, and Thames Valley's finest arrived just as American John was making his way out with some gear, doing his best to avoid the flying glasses, traffic cones and fists. They screamed up in a van, leapt out, grabbed John and buggered off, leaving the scrap to continue. As they threw him in the van he was heard to ask "Is this some kind of Black thing?" as the poor bloke was the only non-white face present. He'd not been involved in the fighting at all, but was the only arrest made.

Are you sure you're a Goth?!

Been there a million times! My brother and I still shout "....'Ave you seen them f***ing TROUUUUU.......ZZZZEERRRS!" at each other, twenty five years after it was shouted at me by a disbelieving Chief upon spotting my PVC jeans. You and I could probably compare war stories in this vein for days on end.

Having a listen now. It reminds me a lot of some of the music we'd have heard at Slimelight when I were nobbut a young 'un - superb!

Excellent - the scene of 1996's Mafia riot!

I wish there was more Goth over this way. We're right out in the sticks and the best way to get gigs is to play at Young Farmers Club dances, where they will riot if you don't play Hi Ho Silver Lining, Summer of '69 and Don't Look Back In Anger.

I saw this offer too, and I really want one.... We're a bit thin, wallet-wise, in our house at the moment, so I suspect I'll miss out on the deal. Glad that they're a good bass, though - they look superb from my laptop.

A man after my own heart, sir.

This stuff, categorically!

Did you used to play the White Horse in High Wycombe in about 1998?

Can someone make a device the stop the other guys in the band from widdling/blast-beating/talking/meditating etc between songs at rehearsal, please?

When I had my first taste of what happens to a band when there's sniff of label interest things went sour. I'd formed a band in the early '00s with (someone who I thought was) a friend and we'd done local gigs etc. He was an inveterate networker / social climber, and we had a rock/metal show on our local radio station, which he used as a vehicle to get to know people at record companies. The band wasn't bad, but in retrospect it wasn't anything that special either and would have needed a lot of work to come up to the standard we already thought it was at. My "friend" sent copies of our demo (remember that?!) to dozens of record companies and one of them showed some interest. Not in a "sign here, boys, and we'll make you rock stars" way, more of a "let's see if we can pan any flakes of gold out of this crap" kind of way, and at that moment things went berserk inside the band. My friend and the singer/bass player (I was foolishly on guitar at that point) decided that rather than continue to learn our craft and write songs that sounded like us, they'd rather churn out awful nu-metal lite dross that aped what was selling well at that time. There was talk of things like "albums containing 14 potential singles" and other hideous cringe-worthy nonsense. The punk in me snapped at that point and I left by escaping out of the toilet window at rehearsal. The band continued in various iterations and I watched them become more desperate as time went on until the "friend" made one too many feck-ups and had to run back to Canada with his tail between his legs. At that point I was heartily sick of the whole idea of "making it" and didn't play again for two years. I've never been interested in being a professional musician ever since, which is lucky, because I don't have the drive or the talent.

Aye, they're like an airborne buzzsaw, aren't they?!

Agreed; superb cover.

Actually, I'd like someone to market a power supply that works by magic and cuts mains leads out of the equation.