Jackroadkill

I love playing the Clash's version of I Fought The Law, Holiday in Cambodia and Crazy Horses a lot at the moment. Well, before my injury...

Exactly, on all counts!

@Chienmortbb, @Mudpup and @dmccombe7 - there seems to be a good bit of calling it quits in the air at the moment, chaps. My band has folded too, and I'm gutted. My finger injury has forced a lay-off for me and I just want to get back in the saddle again. I hope this run of bands folding is just an anomaly and not the shape of things to come.

This has always been a favourite of mine. I did have to check that it was released in 92, though!

Well, tonight I actually played using all four fingers for the first time since the end of July! It hurt, my dexterity in that finger has gone to hell and I couldn't make it do anything like what I wanted it to do, really, but I played my bass... I'm feeling a bit overcome, really. Not like X-Factor "ohmygodthisissohugeeeee" overcome, but a bit of relief is definitely in evidence. I only played for five minutes as the skin is as thin as tissue paper, but I think that a few more minutes each day, or maybe every other day, should be a good start. The swelling is 90% down now and that weird hammer-head section in the second picture above is pretty much flattened out. Cheers, JRK

That's one of my pet hates; in my recently-defunct covers band I insisted that we had the set list agreed on and printed by the rehearsal prior to the gig. I would then print spares, because it seemed as if holding onto a bit of paper for a few days could be more challenging than it sounds. Anyway, we never went on without knowing exactly what we were playing, and when we did gigs that we knew were likely to run over/under we used to know in advance what songs we'd drop or add; it was the same for encores. Instrument and tuning changes were included on the set lists too. It may all be a bit anal but it grinds my gears something chronic to see a band faffing about trying to decide what to play. I know some bands have a pool of songs and the BL calls them on the fly, and I'd do this if circumstances allowed, but in my eyes it takes a lot of balls, a lot of organisation and a lot of being able to read the crowd on the fly.

Isn't that the control panel from a 1990's Soyuz capsule?!

That's a great cover. Much respect!

Some hazard tape or a rope light (suitable fastened down) can be good.

Great stuff - I was waiting for his name to crop up!

I live just down the road from Tony; he rebuilt my Les Paul a few times in my more exuberant younger days. He's still building, but I'm not sure under what name, as he's had a few names that he's traded under. Somewhere I have a Revellation neck and body without hardwear - I think it might be at my Mum's.

Keef Richards when he was in the Dirty Mac.

If you know, you know, eh?!

Absolutely brilliant - take no prisoners!

My feelings exactly. I don't understand why this seems to be a problem for some people!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!! Man, that's dedication!

She might not be as "good" as Marcus Miller/Jaco/Raphael/Donatello/Splinter/your favourite bass player from 40 years ago but she's much more in the current zeitgeist; I don't know her or her music but it's nice to see a bass player who's seen as both being part of a change in the established order of things and interesting enough to appeal to a demographic of future bass players who may otherwise not be exposed to the instrument.

Absocockinglutely.

When I was a youngster I had a Hohner B Bass V, which was essentially a Jack but with a head, five strings and a JJ active configuration. It was a milestone for me because that was the bass that made me realise that bass playing wasn't an easy job and that if I wanted to get better at it I'd have to work hard and actually learn my craft; so... I sold it and moved to rhythm guitar instead. Fast forward to 2022 and I sacked the guitar off, bought a Player P and am loving it. For me, those two are my milestones - neither posh, vintage, sought after or particularly special, but they're the ones that stick in my mind when I think about the countless instruments I've owned.

Okay, so this is the earliest juncture at which I felt I could provide meaningful picture without causing anyone to lose their dinner; It's all still very delicate as well as only having a small amount of feeling in it. I tried fretting a couple of notes just now and it didn't go well - it hurt like hell and I couldn't really feel what I was doing. Now, neither of these came as a surprise, as the skin is still really thin after the whole lot was sloughed off in a oner during a dressing-change a couple of weeks back. It's improving daily, though, which is good. A week ago the finger was about 3mm thicker front to back than it is in the above pictures, and it seems to be getting less swollen every day, although any decent activity with it causes the rate to slow. It's never going to look pretty but it does appear that given plenty of time and some faux-physio it'll come right. I have a gig in December (only with a local Scout group!) so I'd like to be able to play a little at that. Cheers, JRK

I draw the line at cutting nuts and dressing frets, but other than that I've never had any tech work done at all. This stems from having an enquiring mind as a youngster and being broke as an adult. I really enjoy the hands-on approach to my instruments and have always been happy with my own work on them.

Same here - I'd love a Mustang with a full-length scale.

I think the easiest way to look at it is like this: Ped's house, Ped's rules.

Hey, if anyone claims you're not up to snuff, you just send them to me and I'll put the buggers straight!

A set of rounds and, if you want to push the boat out a bit, an upgrade of the pots and cap can be good, too.