Liverpool, England. The Beatles, The La's, one of the fiercest derby matches in football; a place I've visited a few times over the years. Some choice comments about its' citizens caused then Tory MP for Henley, Boris Johnson a headache. It's got its' good and bad points, like all big cities. It turns out my great-grandfather was a Liverpudlian! So just as I'm starting to feel some affinity to the place... ...Slade's last ever UK gig was at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. Before they set out on the ill-fated second US tour. While I was doing the research for the Jim Lea biog, I read Horace Panter's book 'Ska'd For Life', about his life and times with The Specials. It was a particularly disastrous gig at the self same venue which finished off that band. Then there's the episode at the Liverpool Empire which saw Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes chucked out of Deep Purple, effectively ending that band. Hmmm. Weird? Maybe. If I find any more incidences of Liverpool-related band implosions, I'm gonna have to start defining some sort of Merseyside band-Bermuda-triangle! Eek! So watch this space peeps...and in the meantime; be very wary of playing Liverpool! Or as Richard Richard says to Eddie Hitler: "You only like Liverpool 'cos it's got the word 'liver' in it, and that's got something to do with drinking!" Hear, hear. And I'll raise a glass to the passing of J.G.Ballard. I'm sure he'd appreciate.
Welcomed to the world, this Tuesday 24th March 2009, Sekhmet and I's latest addition, Lauchlan. Weighing in at 9lbs 6oz., this little chunk of a fella has the cynical eye and strong hands of a potential bassist. Thankfully, both of them are doing very well, and resting before entering the rammy that is our house. All my love goes to them both, and I can't wait to get them home!
Once you've removed the strings, chuck them into a pot. It's best to have a dedicated pot for this job, just a cheap one will do fine. After all, no-one wants beans on toast with added teflon flakes do they? That's to say nothing of rusty chicken soup, or Hollandaise sauce with a hint of nickel... Cover them with water, add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, and a couple of teaspoons of Bicarbonate of Soda. Even before it boils, you should get a nice fizzy reaction. Boil them for at least 15 minutes, but don't let the pot boil dry. While they're boiling away, get the grill (or better still the oven) up to a moderate temperature. If you're feeling peckish, now's the time for toast. Speaking of which; back in a mo'... ...that's better. Now where was I? Yes! Drain the strings, and lay them in the grill, still coiled up. Turn them over every 5 minutes or so, until they're completely dry. At no point in this process should they be any hotter than they were when they'd been boiled. If you can be arsed, turn the heat down a little each time you turn them, it'll help bring the grain structure of the metal back into line nice and gently. Which is nice. See? Millenia of good science debased in the name of the wanton hussy that is cheapskate-ism! Wonderful... Now we freeze them. Put them in something dry with a lid on. This will set the all important grain structure properly. An ordinary freezer will do, although I did once take advantage of my driving to put them in a freezer trailer with 20-odd tons of chicken at -25C. It's the next best thing to a pot of liquid oxygen. Except for the missing -248 degrees, and the faint aroma of poultry. So not really, then. Freeze them for at least 6 hours, overnight preferably. When you take them out, let them come back up to room temperature for a bit (half an hour usually does the trick), and just check there's no frost on there. If there is, just wipe it off. Restring, and tune up. You won't find them stretching quite as much as new strings, but they ought to be more-or-less as bright. Not a bad result for the outlay of a few bob, and a bit of bronze-age sciencing, I think you'll find. For the record, I find that D'Addario and DR strings boil up well; Ernie Ball aren't too bad - a bit hit and miss to be honest. Nickel Rotosounds don't fare well at all, but then they always felt to me like they'd already been boiled... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Just a little thought for the passing of Mitch Mitchell. The rock behind Hendrix, through Experience, and Band of Gypsys. So now there's no Experience left. Unless you count Chas Chandler, and Eddie Kramer, who were pretty central to the whole plot. My favourite quote of the man was, when asked how he got into the Experience : "I met Jimi in a sleazy little club, we knocked out some Chuck Berry numbers, and it kind of worked". Brilliant! But considering all the talented musicians who've died too young, at least since that dark day in 1970, there's one small thing that bothers me. What the fuck did we, as a race, do to deserve the continued existence of Cliff Richard? Just a thought...rock on Mitch. At least you went out undiminished.
Sitting reading my Morning Star, this fine sunny Mayday, I couldn't help but smirk. The reason? Hope that the 'yoof of today' isn't lost. Now, working in a paper shop in a nice middle class area brings me into direct, daily contact with Daily Mail and Express (or the Hatemail and the Sexpest as I like to think of them) reading types. Only last week, I had a brief to-and-fro with a Tory regular, who reckoned that the striking workers at Grangemouth were malingering chancers who ought to be fired. References to Reagan and Thatcher are never far from his mouth in these situations; the motion was not allowed to stand... So imagine my surprise when some of the paperboys collared the manager to push for a pay increase. They actually organised this among themselves! One of them had come to me on Saturday to run the idea past me. He did look slightly worried when I wholeheartedly endorsed the idea; come to that, I'm sure he edged towards the door when I expressed my delight at their 'discovery' of collectivism, and my amusement that the deed would be done on Mayday. International Workers' Day n'est-ce pas? All levity aside, I'm genuinely pleased that they organised, decided on their aims, formed negotiating tactics (we'll go to the shop along the road...lol), and an exit plan (we really will go to the shop along the road...rofl). If a bunch of 13 year old kids can do it, why the fuck are we putting up with the erosion of workers' rights here, and elsewhere? Check out the situation in Sweden (of all places!) for an eye-opener. They got a damn good deal; carried along on a tide of enthusiasm, I did roughly the same. The chances of a pay rise and a new radio for me are, however, slim. So, isolated, in a non-union shop, and part of an uber-capitalist tightwad system, I'm gonna have to take the only option I have: leave! Wonder if the shop along the road pays better? At least they have a radio... Happy Mayday to all. Now who's gettin' the beers in? I'm thirsty!
AAAAAhhhh, what to say? Tonight, I have a big grin I can't shake. Saturday, I went shopping for some shoes for the kids, and did the inevitable giving in to the voices in me head. One was telling me to definitely nip into the pawnshop, another was telling me not - it would just end in disappointment and/or tears. Again. 'Ah fuck it' thinks I and trots in. For 30 seconds. Honestly, that's all it was. But there in a glass case was a tatty old wah. £30...hmmm tempting...hang on...the CryBaby badge looks bigger than the one on bro-in-law's Dunlop...must be old...really old. Resist. Having deliberated, and asked the gear forum, I went for it. When the guy handed me it, I was amazed how light it felt. And the worn out foot plate said 'Pescara' on it. Hold on, that's in ITALY. Old truck driving instincts die hard eh? I didn't even test it. Just paid the man and fucked off to get the bus, pronto. Gets home, opens it up, WHITE FASEL???!!!??? WTF? The various stages of research (thanks a million Sekhmet) pegged the age back to pre 1990 - no Dunlop code # on the PCB. Pre 1982 - it's not a Dunlop at all. It's a JEN, as used by Hendrix, Clapton, Beck and others back in the day. New battery, put it back together, plug it in presto, tonal nirvana. It's soooooo lovely, with so much swwwweeep, and no tone loss, it is the sexx. I'm gonna get bro-in-law's one round and let Jen sexx it up good. GCB95F? I can't be arsed to laugh. It even makes my Squier Tele sound goood. I'm still grinning. Even Eastenders can't wipe it off. That good. I'll put a sound sample up soon, when I have time. In the meantime - feel free to roundly abuse me for being such a jammy bastard. I won't care. I'll be trawling the charity shops for a white suit with biiiiig lapels and even bigggggger flares...ciao, baby!
Hope we all had a good Yule; plenty to drink and eat and good company. Sadly the Yule king couldn't fit my GAS list down the chimney, but maybe he'll try again next year...I best remember to leave the fire unlit then! So a good, happy and prosperous new year to one and all. Hopefully my 2008 will be better. (Better not tempt fate tho...) If I'm not back in before Hogmanay, all the best, and let's raise a glass to each other at the bells! Take care, Neil.
Sometimes, I marvel at the ingenuity and industry shown by luthiers in using stuff other than wood to make the instruments we hold so dear. As an engineer myself, I've wowed at the magnesium MG bass, nearly bought an old ally necked Kramer ('cos it was identical to Alan Lancaster's one), GAS'd at plastic fantastics, and caressed carbon-graphite Status thro' necks as a wonder of the modern age. Brunel would be proud, I'm sure. I sometimes wonder why we're so reticent to explore these wonders, guitarists more than bassists, and stuff like the Rautia Flaxwood and the original Parker Fly has to stay niche, or go conventional to succeed. The best woods are running out, even PRS suffer. I don't fancy playing anything made of pine (tho' I s'pose you could bolt Steinberger parts onto an Ikea table top for hilarity value, and some jammin' with your tea and toast...*). This is an environmental matter, and it's about destruction of Brazilian rainforest; exploitation of the resources of third world countries. But conscience...damn you...I walk into a guitar shop last week, and there in front of me...Palo Escrito Tele...*drool*...Fender 10th Anniv. Custom Shop P-Bass...*drool*...maple top...oh well: I answered my own question didn't I? I didn't have two grand handy, so I bought the E-H Nano Clone instead. 20 quid well spent! Cheapskate? Me? Surely not...
*This is a genuinely weak pun alert. But you've already read it. Sorry. Should have put this at the top. Duhrrrr.....
*Too long for the 'reply' box in the blog below* "I was only joking" is possibly one of the most pathetic, and intellectually bankrupt arguments you can use. Weak. Your noob-hate rant has only become a joke retrospectively. You did nothing to point that out to the people who commented on it, up to and including me. The EQ thread was another good example. Quite apart from arbitrarily binning the universal language of audio engineers (sub, low-mid, mid, high-mid, etc.,) in favour of your piece of invention; the posters who came in before you and hijacked the thread for you never had it pointed out to them that you don't regard yourself as the self-appointed king of the BF. You were quite happy to be lauded in that way. Now, as I've been busy during my holiday, I haven't been in at all, so maybe there's been some Damascene revelation on your part that I haven't caught up on yet. I'll put a quid to a pinch of shit it hasn't happened, and I'll find another 14 T-bird/Marshall/Burton (other than the blog...fucking predictable...)/Big Muff hates. Change the fucking record, eh? So maybe it's not the transparent arrogance I clocked soon after I'd joined up (and was the reason I rejected your friend request out of hand, even tho' I had no friends at the time), maybe it's just the sin of omission. Still not good. So far as I'm concerned, youare a noob! You have what, 3 years playing? I have 17. But I'm not going to make a big play out of it; out of principle. I treat everyone I meet even handedly, and give all 100% respect until they prove otherwise. This has worked well for me, mostly. But people who've treated me to the scorn you pour on noobs have got theirs back x2 from me. (Including 5 orange artic drivers from Lanarkshire, who are the historic origins of the hillbillies. I took a real risk on that one, I could've got a fucking hiding...) So I find it best to treat people well from the outset. There's more chance of me getting something positive in future, than getting my hate back x2. Maybe you should try it. C'mon...a big old all-inclusive group hug for us experienced players...aww c'mon! Lets sally forth and make the world a better place, no? Oh, and by the way...Marshalls are crap etc., is it? Go check out the demo vid for the new VintageModern guitar amp on Marshall's website. The bassist's playing a Lakland J into a...VBA400 and an 8x10. Go on, I dare you! Listen to it and tell me that isn't good! Still not a fan of J's myself, but that's pretty good. And that Lovecats vid that someone posted earlier? T-BIRD ROCKS! Always has done, always will do. But, I digress. I don't find anything funny in what you spout (although, I have to hand it to you for the Meg White / bassist suicide quip a while back. That was good...) so I still stand by my assertion that your sneering is dragging the whole thing down. And, no, approximately 86.2% of the upper primate population of the planet doesn't get my sense of humour, but absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. In the end, I don't really give a fuck. There's plenty other places to visit on the interweb. But being as I'm not solely a bassist, this corner of the interslice suits me fine; so I'd like to see it flourish. If anyone wants to listen to what I have to offer, I'll give willingly. If not, then at least I'd like to learn stuff; I just wish the atmos was a bit more conducive. Wonder why Jauqo III-X didn't hang around? Shame...I could've talked to that guy. But then, maybe he didn't like what he found! Funny that. Ball's in your court chief. Drop it? Draw a line under it? Argue it out? All fine with me.
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creepingjesus73's blogs, last updated : April 21, 2009
