1981 Gibson Victory Artist - restored!

Some of you may remember the bass I bought back in June - a Gibson Victory Artist.  Anyone paying attention will remember the awful cosmetic state it was in, but in case you need reminding, here are a couple of pics:



Well, on Wednesday I got it back from my good friend Rich who had performed his magic on the body and neck.  Please excuse the large burp of pics but all I can say is wow:

 

Hats off to Rich, he really has done an amazing job.  At the moment the bass is sitting on its own stand while the lacquer hardens some more and some neck adjustments settle down.  It sounds amazing, and now it looks amazing too.  The only down side to this bass is the weight - that all maple construction makes for a very heavy instrument.  To combat this I am waiting for a special strap to arrive which I hope will stop it from destroying my shoulder/back.

Another nail in Windows' coffin

I picked up a very cheap laptop a few months ago (a bit bashed, no battery or charger), but to cut a long story short I had a reasonable 2GB Intel Core Solo laptop up and running for about £50.  I decided to install Ubuntu on it and have a good go at it.

I used to dabble in Linux many years ago (usually Slackware) but always got frustrated with the software availability and the amount of time it took to fix something I broke if I was tinkering.  Things have changed since then - Ubuntu 10.10 is a very polished environment with good package management and both hardware support and software availability has improved greatly.

There are only a couple of things which prevent me from going to Ubuntu permanently.  One is the proprietary Windows based CCTV software which I need to keep for the installations I monitor.  The other main bugbear was Spotify.

I love Spotify - I don't mind ads and it's great for discovering new and old music alike.  Need to practice a set of tunes for a band - just queue them up.  Unfortunately a native Linux Spotify is only available to subscribers because they haven't found a way of delivering the ads yet.  However, I was surprised and pleased to read last night that Windows Spotify will work quite happily under WINE.  Bonus!  I gave it a go and apart from a bit of experimenting with audio settings (and having to go against the advice I found online) I got it working.  Sweet!

Now all I need is for the antiquated CCTV systems I referred to above to be replaced then it's bye bye Windows!

Gigography for 2008-2010

Happy new year everyone!  Being very much between things musically, I decided to look back at all the times I have graced the stage armed with a "big guitar".  Not prolific by any means over the past few years but here goes:

Me@The Lemon Tree 03/04/09 - photo: Andy Thorn

• 09/08@The Music Club (Open mic).  Personnel: Me, Jayne, Karel and Charlene.  Bass: Squier Bronco
• 04/10/08@The Tunnels with Sound System.  Personnel: Me, Jayne, Scott, Karel, Rich, Ben.  Bass: Squier Bronco

 

• 03/04/09 - @The Lemon Tree with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris, Carol.  Bass: Epiphone Les Paul Standard
• 22/04/09 - @Cafe Drummond with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris, Carol.  Bass: Epiphone Les Paul Standard
• 07/08/09 - @The Lemon Tree with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris, Carol.  Bass: Gibson G-3
• 30/08/09 - @The Tunnels with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris, Carol.  Bass: Gibson G-3

Panda Eyes@The Tunnels 09/04/10 - photo: Ryan Simpson

• 02/10 - @The Tunnels with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris.  Bass: Gibson G-3
• 25/03/10 - @Snafu with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris.  Bass: Gibson G-3
• 09/04/10 - @The Tunnels with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris.  Bass: Gibson G-3
• 29/05/10 - @The Moorings with Panda Eyes.  Personnel: Me, Marie-Claire, Jan, Chris.  Bass: G&L Tribute L-2000
• 02/10/10 - @The Tilted Wig with Mr. Flaxman and Friends.  Personnel: Me, Jayne, Mr. Flaxman.  Bass: Epiphone Les Paul Standard
• 09/10/10 - @The Tunnels with Sound System.  Personnel: Me, Jayne, Karel, Scott, Neil.  Bass - G&L Tribute L-2000
• 27/11/10 - @The Tilted Wig with Flaxman and the Hollowmen.  Personnel: Me, Jayne, Mr. Flaxman, Mr. Long Hair.  Bass: Danelectro Hodad

I make that 13 appearances on stage so far.  Oh well, I hope to get something sorted out in 2011 and add to that number.