Jackroadkill

You guys seem like the sort of band our lot could share a stage with!

One that I love to hate is Can't You Hear Me Knocking; I love the song apart from that stupid conga and brass jam in the middle. That part sets my teeth on edge, and it just goes to show that heroin is bad for you.

I know the feeling well. I suppose the trick is to try not to worry about how long it took to find the bass and to just enjoy the experience in the moment.

And of that 97%, a large chunk is made up of Peter Steele's bass sound.

I absolutely love playing that song, and I'm hoping that Father Christmas might help me out with a chorus pedal for it.

Today it's Ginger and his mates:

Sad old Goth I may be, but I challenge anyone not to dig the bass (riffs and sound) in this song:

I've only been playing for a year, and not practising as much as I should due to life being busy etc etc, and I'm not very confident in terms of technical ability, but I've finally learned how to read tabs and during the last couple of months something has "clicked" in terms of understanding what the bass is there to do. I might not be a great bass player, but it makes me happy in a way that nothing else does, and I'm grateful for that.

Rehearsed last night and the band was cooking. You know those times when the songs play themselves? The only problem was that one of the guitarists has got himself a new (well, old, but new to him) amp and it's just horrible. Nasty, fizzy high gain sound that doesn't sit well with the rest of the band's sound. I'm working up to telling him that he needs to change his settings at the very least. I did make some suggestions last night but he didn't take them on board. This is his first band and he's not yet learned how a band's sound works. Anyway, apart from that it was great fun and confidence is high for the next gig.

For me it would be a fat bottom, a tight-ish waist and a rounded top half.

Now this is good to know; I'll be needing some pickups soon and have been wondering if the Toneriders are as good as they;re cracked up to be.

Napalm Death came to my old band's first gig , which was in a tiny pub in rural Wales. They weren't keen on the music but said we were very professional and did a great job.

Yes, a HPF's at the top of my shopping list, too.

I start with everything at 12 o'clock and go from there. If it's a turn-up-and-play type of gig I don't worry about my tone very much, but if there's a decent PA, an good engineer and a real soundcheck then I'll be a bit more fussy.

I've had a 15-year hiatus from gigging that came to and end in May. I was never, ever going to play in a band again, and then my friend tricked me into jamming with him, which became a non-gigging band. When that came to a natural end, I felt the pull, bought a bass and formed a covers band (something else I was never going to do). I'm having the most fun I've ever had with my pants on. You can put it down without having anything more on the agenda than just putting it down. Whatever you do, do what you fee is best for you at the time.

I love the disembodied wig hiding nearly out of shot.

I'd certainly regret buying one of those!

You ever tried persuading a recalcitrant billy to do something he doesn't want to do?

Very true; sheep naturally looked like long-haired goats, their wool being a sort of under-layer. Once humans had developed farming they bred the hair off and the wool quantity up. However, as we all know, sheep are twp and goats are the messengers of Satan.

That's a cool band you've got. Proper old-school punk sound.

You rang? I mean, sheep are my usual fare, but I could branch out a bit.

That's a lot posher than mine - in so many ways! If she opts for the bullet belt, make sure she points the rounds downwards; I made the mistake of pointing them upwards and they poked me relentlessly in the side of the neck. In true teenage rock-god-wannabe style I scorned the suggestion that correcting that might be a good idea.

My first bass was one of those, waaaay back in 1995; it cost me £115 and I loved it. However, as I knew nothing about gear at all, I would, wouldn't it?! I found out the body was plywood and started to go off it. I ended up covering it in paint and stickers and making it heavier by adding a belt of about 50 7.62mm dummy rounds to the strap and adding a home-made humbucker mounted on velcro under the strings.

That's great to hear!

Oh hell yes! That's a thing of beauty. One of the guitarists in my band has a CAR Telecaster and he's very keen to get me to buy a bass in the same colour - one like this would be ideal! How did it play at rehearsal?