Jacqueslemac

Yes, I'll be there. With: Variax Warwick Corvette $$ Jaguar ..and my Aerodyne if anyone would like me to bring it? And my Orange Bass Terror and Zoot cab? How about pedals?

Don't forget my Variax. Last year I did an A/B test with the Rick setting against a real one, which was illuminating.

Well, there seems to be two or three copies around, so I'm happy to post my copy to whoever sends me a PM.

Finished! I have to say I found it dull and the "lexical tics" got to me after the first few hundred times. Who is next on the list?

In one of my bands we all agreed (well, told by the main guitarist actually) that gig money would be reinvested in kit (PA, monitors, speakers and cables and, when necessary, lights). The guitarists bought their own instrument and vocals mics and their own mic stands. The singer and drummer also bought their own mics and stands. The PA belongs to the whole band an - in theory - no-one else is allowed to use it. In practice, the guitarist lets his wife use it every now and again when she needs music for her belly dancing troupe. We agreed that if anyone left the band, they'd get an agreed proportion of the value of the PA, reflecting wear and tear etc. Funnily enough, I'm the only person in the band who doesn't plug anything into the PA (I don't do backing vocals, unlike everyone else). All I do is store it and transport it everywhere. On the other hand, without some kind of PA the band wouldn't get gigs, so I'm not too worried about the finances. In the other band, the lead guitarist is the main force in the band (although much less of a dictator than the one in my other band!). He does all the bookings, currently hires the PA and is talking about buying a PA for the band out of his own pocket. If he does this, I'll suggest he keeps more gig money than the rest of us to help pay for wear and tear of it. To my mind if you put money into the PA, whether it's up front or via gig money, then you also have a part-share in the PA, so have a say in who uses it and have a financial stake in it if you decide the leave the band. The best way to avoid trouble later is to have a good discussion about it beforehand and, if necessary, write the agreement down.

In my limited experience, the prices charged new do reflect real differences in the quality of wood, components and workmanship. And even though a CNC machine can operate the same wherever it is in the world, the ground rent and the wages of those paid to use and maintain them vary hugely. Whether or not the differences in quality justify the difference in cost is subjective. I buy almost all my basses secondhand, which does bring the difference down a fair bit. My Mexican Precision could well be twice as good as the Squier Precision I owned for a short time, but whether the MIA Jazz is six times as good is far less clear. That said, having bought the Squier I was very happy to let it go pretty quickly, while I have no intention of letting my Jazz go, ever.

Hello and welcome from a Corvette lover. I second the comment about Warwicks not currently holding their value. Mind you, if they did, perhaps I wouldn't be able to have three!

I have one copy at the moment.

I still am!

I'd like to add "memories". I didn't like Abba at all when their stuff was in the charts. When I hear it now, I quite like it, mainly because I remember what I was doing when it was on the radio first time round.

I'm off to France in the morning for a few days, but will post it as soon as I'm back.

Finished it! Dropzone, I reckon you're next.

Thanks for the comments. I'm trying hard to keep my collection the same size it is now. And succeeding at the moment. I bought my $$ from aphook, so I don't think it was your one, although who knows? I've not yet cracked the fretless thing, but the passive standard is getting more use than I thought it would. I bought it mainly as a back up for the $$, but it gets used as the main one in its own right too.

Warwicks are great! They don't keep their value at the moment, so you can pick up a real bargain. Don't go for a bubinga one if you're after light weight.

I was in London a couple of weeks ago and took a brief detour between work meetings to wander around Denmark Street. It's the first time I've been for a few years. Where have all the basses gone? The only shop I found with any had a good selection downstairs (although a brand new Warwick fretless had roundwound strings on and the fretboard was already looking pretty "used"). Still there were a few basses I hadn't seen in any of the several guitar shops in Norwich (why do we have so many in Norwich?). All in all, though, it's hardly the "UK's Tin Pan Alley" any more, is it? Unless you're in the market for a vintage guitar. Plenty of choice for those, but is that because wealthy Londoners buy them for their investment potential? However, I did end up chatting to a fellow bassist looking for a fretless. I told him to join up here because there's more choice and a lot of friendly, helpful and reliable people on here.

Yell if I'm wrong, but I think the list is: Mikegatward (but doesn't want it until the end of May) Paul J H Witterth Alyctes So, if you send me a PM, Paul J H, I'll post it to you.

Finished! Who's next?

Posted to Daz today.

Guess this one's died a death, then.

I have this book and am reading it now.