h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nice.

I hope they sound as good as they look



Bassman

Oh no, not another soloist... I'm just going to sit in a corner and strum quietly to myself

PS. Welcome to the band, Njan

Thankyou.

That's a funny looking clarinet your Smiley friend is holding there. Which end do you blow into..?

*tickles Danny B with it*

Stop that!

*Fends Njan off with a Fender*

I used to know a guy who's CB handle was "Fender Bender"



Bassman

*continues ing Danny*

*s at Bassman*

Right...

*turns amp up to 11*

*blasts Njan away with power-chord*

*sulks in a corner*

*gets out one of his clarinets and sulks with it*

*swaps electric guitar for acoustic guitar*

*plays apologetic-sounding jazz riff, suitable for clarinet accompaniment*

*ears prick up*

*plays a mournful tune*

Whoa yeah! We've really got the place jumping now

*livens it up a bit*

* Bassman plugs in the 5 string and switches on his rig. (dosn't need to turn it up to 11, 700 watts is well powerful enough for this room) Starts slapping a nice little counter molody *

Good job this is my cyber amp, a direct copy of the real thing - the real version is at the Bass Centre in Wapping getting fixed!!



Bassman

*Njan gives the soloisticity (if that is, indeed, a syntactically correct adjective) a rest, leaving an opening for a solo line from someone else, and pipes down for a bit*

My rather expensive african blackwood clarinets are currently either in the post, or have arrived at the repairers somewhere outside London.

What happened to your amp?

It's got a combined transistor and valve pre amp stage. You use the transistor for clean punchy tones and the valve for distorted ones. You change between the two by the use of the "grind" pot. At the moment, when you dial in "grind" the output disappears.

I changed the valve (but the fault is still there) and have checked all the fuses and fusible resistors with a meter. Without having the circuit diagram, I am a little stuck, so I took it to someone who does this stuff day in day out. Should hear in a couple of days.

The V.U. meter is broken as well, so I've returned it for repair. The amp is 4 1/2 years old now, so it's not done too badly, it still looks in good nick externally.



Bassman

... I see... do you have a spare, in the meantime?

I was playing principal clarinet with a symphony orchestra for a week, and was foolish enough to leave my clarinets in their case in the venue we were using to rehearse (along with the rest of the orchestra's instruments), on the premise that the hall was "safe and locked". Unfortunately, it may have been safe and locked, but the management neglected to provide a temperature that was in any way static...

...and so I have a crack the length of my thumb that's formed in my Bb clarinet. (when wood's comfortably warm and then the temperature drops overnight, it gets unhappy and does things like that)

.. cool. My clarinets are booked in for repair on the 17th, so they're there a little early, but still.. I'm sure they'll do fine. *crosses his fingers*

~Greebo settles back to listen~

I've got 2 Basses, but only 1 amp. The good thing is I don't need it for a few weeks, coz we're not gigging, when we reherse I will play through the PA if I haven't got it back by then.



Bassman