Jackroadkill

Hmmmm, for me it would be based on a pre-'65 Precision body , with nickel hardware. Finish would be a thin nitro in seafoam green, with a mint green scratchplate and a maple neck with spaghetti logo and truss rod adjustment at the head end. Pickups would be Bareknuckle '58 Split Coils. The E string would have a Hipshot BT7. It would come in a hard case covered with faux-alligator skin and lined in white velvet. Case candy would include a strap that matched the case.

This. I thought that whilst she's a much better singer than I could ever be in nine million years, whoever decided on that song and arrangement completely missed the point of it. Either that, or, worse, they didn't care. I also hate Marilyn Manson's cover of Tainted Love with a passion. Oh, while we're at it, I hate these covers we're inundated with these days, with faux-whimsical vocals and lackadaisical acoustic guitar arrangements, especially when they're of something that originally had a bit of oomph to it. They're typically found on TV ads and make me want to effin' spit.

I lent my pal my '58 LP Junior reissue about four years ago. Note to self, get it back at some point! I'll lend people gear if I know them well, but not just some div who couldn't be bothered to bring his own gear. Actually that reminds me of a story; a band I used to roadie for caused a bit of a stir on the mid-2000's UK extreme metal scene (not that much of a boast, really) and had a gig supporting some top Swedish death metal act in Eddie's No.8 in Brum. We turned up, loaded in etc, and there was no sign of the headliners anywhere. The venue staff hadn't seen them and we assumed they were a no-show. Eventually they turned up, looked around with an air of superior arrogance and said "Your equipment is not very good. We use it anyway as we have none." I politely thanked them for their interest and informed them that no, they wouldn't be using our gear. This caused a bit of a stir, and eventually somebody donated their band's gear, which said metal "gods" basically trashed. I couldn't believe the arrogance of the bastards, and said so. Imagine flying from Sweden to play a gig and not bringing (or organising) a single item of gear.... The mind boggles.

I think that's what should be done with any Floyd! In all seriousness, some gap-filling would be necessary but also quite enjoyable, I think.

My thinking exactly. Given that 80% of the work has been done for you you might as well just get that board sorted, whip the remains of the headstock off and get some bridge tuners on.

I think the big mod's already been decided for you, old chap!

Fender are showing both the Sonic and Affinity on their website, with the Affinities now north of two hundred quid; maybe the Sonic is now the entry point and the Affinity range has moved upwards?

No, but to look at him you might think he was. It's actually a sad story; he was the second son but his older brother (who would have had the farm if he'd survived) died in infancy. He inherited the farm when he was 18 because his dad died suddenly, having not wanted to be a farmer at all. He'd been playing music since his early teens and wanted to be a professional musician. His first studio was an old tape machine in one of the drier farm buildings. Eventually he decided that having a farm might have been hard work but it also meant that he could build a real studio on it, so he did.

I'm very lucky in that the farmer I work for build his own recording studio in his yard. It's self-contained and fully acoustically engineered and pretty well equipped. Each room is separated from the others by two sets of double-glazed patio doors, and in addition to the control room there's a vocal (or "dead") room, a wood-panelled room and a big, reverb-y live room, usually used for recording drums etc. I've been rehearsing there for years, in one band or another. I get to keep most of my gear there and it's ten quid an hour (we had to persuade him that £5 an hour wasn't enough!) to rehearse in the live room, with all the tea and coffee you can drink. It's getting a bit run-down in a place or two but it's a great space, and I suppose it became my musical home pretty much the first time I played there.

As others have said, it's possible but takes a lot of doing. There's also the copper coat underneath the chrome that would need removing, and then you have to get the new finish to stick down. Again, doable but more expensive than it would be worth. Just find a black bridge that suits your requirements and go with that.

What's the best hairbrush for metal?

Sadly you're both right; I used to frequent Denmark Street quite a bit in the late 1990's and it was very different then.

Oh, that's very nice indeed. I've not heard of A Strings before, but my step-daughter spends a lot of time in Ponty, so next time I happen to be there I'll go for a look.

https://www.basscentre.com/the-wapping-years.html

Wasn't it in Wapping?

Why can I only like this post once?!

I may be on the right track, then. The new strap will be here in a few days, so I should know by next practise.

Grrr, I'm still having trouble with this. At practise today I ended up having to use a pick for half of the material, and I usually only use one for a couple of songs. I did, however, have an idea. The strap on my main bass is quite short, and I felt the effects of plucking with my fingers much less on the bass that I use for Eb tuning, which has a longer strap. This means that the angle of my wrist is much less acute. I wonder if this angle is something to do with it - am I plucking in the wrong direction, for example, as a result of poor wrist technique? I've ordered a longer strap, so we'll see. Thanks, JRK

It depends on how much you like the bass, I suppose. I'm happy with mine, and both were a lot less than that. I'm not saying I wouldn't buy one for that money, just that I'm happy with what I have now.

I have an unnatural dislike of them, having not missed them in their heyday. They were poop then and they're still poop 20 years on.

The Status Symbol; essentially the same as the standard model but with a few bits picked out in shiny chrome; essentially a bass version of the Vauxhall Calibra.

The Fender Recidivism Bass; only to be played by Police tribute acts.

I've got a sort of anti-MPP story that piggybacks off another band's misfortune. I come from a small town in Wales/Whales with a lively but incestuous music scene (stop sniggering at the back!) and once you've played a few gigs you end up playing with pretty much everyone on the scene in the local area by some sort of patchouli-powered musical osmosis. I'd just formed a jam band, which we christened Rock 'Ard, with my flatmate, Ste, and we had a couple of rehearsals with a view to gigs etc down the line. Ste also played guitar in another band, Wylfa, with a few of our friends. Wylfa had a gig in the local pit, known as the Monty, so we all went along to see them. Long before stage time it became apparent that all was not well, as nobody could find their guitar player, P. Phonecalls were made, his regular haunts checked.... nothing. No P. Two minutes before stage time P arrived, absolutely steaming, wandered onstage and started blundering into everyone's gear, unplugging things etc. The band hurried onstage and started up. P just detuned his guitar, gurgled into the mic and generally made an derrière of himself. Ste tried turning P's amp down, but P was having none of it. He murdered the first two songs and then carefully put his guitar down and wandered off into the night. The band struggled through another song and came to a standstill. A hurried conference was had and Wylfa decided that they couldn't do the gig without P, but there was a roomful of punters who were getting good-naturedly rowdier by the minute, so what to do? Jazz Odyssey not being an option, Ste suggested a set by Rock 'Ard, as all members were in attendance. We only had about five songs, but we played the hell out of them. "Rock N Roll" lasted about fifteen minutes, as I recall. Still, it went down well - we actually got paid and some lovely young ladies danced in front of me for the whole set. P was eventually found trouserless behind the recycling bins in the town car park. He never played a gig again, sadly.

Fender Indecision Bass; takes thirty visits to Fender's website to actually build up the courage to buy one.

Well, you say that, but Paul Barker from Ministry played an acoustic bass onstage at The Big Day Out in Milton Keynes in July 1999. I don't know whether he did this often, but it worked on that day.