Turdus

Interesting. Are you a fan of Killing Joke?

I've never been a big fan of solo Todd, and I can't stomach much Utopia these days..... they sound dated to me. So if I had to peel off 2 Rundgren/Utopia records, they would be: Utopia - Deface The Music. A brilliant tribute to the Beatles. They've taken major riffs, and redone them such that the songs sound original. They span the entire Beatles career at that. Ra - is this the earliest Utopia record? Don't matter.... it's so out there... Progressive, and experimental for sure.

That is cool. The last pic looks to have S/N stamped into fretboard. I had a Korina with same marking. I seem to recall this as being made in Florida, mid to late 90's. But I'm not 100% sure on that one.

Is her sense of rhythm any good? If she crumbled the bag, in time with the rest of the track, I'd say keep it.

Rainbow and MSG are hard rock.. not metal in my opinion. I'd go for "Long Live Rock and Roll", or "Rising" MSG, either the first or second. Real, late 70's, early 80's metal would be Saxon for sure. "Wheels Of Steel" or "Strong Arm Of the Law" This is a stretch, but Zebra is about the closest to Rush of any band I can think of. And that is strictly the first record only. They're almost more Zeppelin like. But in the early days people thought Rush sounded like Zep.

More of a fan of the "All The Worlds A Stage" version. More concise and powerful. That live link you posted there sounds like they are tuned down quite a bit. Sounds great though.

Excellent Bill... I like it! Good tones outta the Strat/Tele combo.

I've had the Sun wipe out my view of the tuner pedal many times. Cardboard and tape can make an effective shade. Not pretty, but it works.

What a great band! Anybody not familiar with these guys needs to give this track here a listen. It's what comes to my mind when I hear the name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sl3TQ-0dH0

Midnight Oil - everything from about 1979 to 1993. I'd forgotten just how great this band was. Punk, Power Pop, Politics.... I think they had it all.

I'd ask the seller if the fret edges are sharp. Bought something similar, last year, for my daughter. It's playable for sure. But could've used better fret work, lol.

Exactly.. but I think Skunk showed up first. In my opinion, they needed him probably about as much as the Eagles needed Joe Walsh. If you've got another 8 minutes to waste, this is another good one. Raw. I had no idea that the bass player sang the lead on Road Angel. When this video was shot, they already had several big hits, yet they act (and sound) like a hyped up, on fire, garage band. That's meant as a compliment. They're rockin' for sure.

I'm a huge fan of early Doobies. Came across this cool video. You've heard the song a million times. But pay attention for the last 3 seconds of the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuGWehnNAsE The dry ice is cool too. Be cooler if the vid ran a few extra seconds.

Thanks for the input gentlemen. I'll look into the suggestions.

XTC -- all I've ever known about them is their hits.... too quirky for me. Heard this song called "Earn Enough For Us". Lyrical content does not knock me out, but I thought the music was jangly and cool. I'd like to explore more, but definitely avoid the well known stuff. Suggestions?

Happy Birthday... two of the finest gents on this board.

A guy, who in my opinion, is up there with Squire and Lee is Dave Hope, of Kansas. Listen to their early records, focus on the bass, and you will hear it. Dude is a great player, and never mentioned anywhere, that I've seen.

Define "successful" cover band. My band is entering our 9th year of existence. Started as a 5 piece, and then became a 4 piece many years ago. 3 of us are original members. We don't play that often, but enough to get my jollies... once, maybe twice a month maximum. We have no following, except for cmatthes, lol, and we are thankful for him. There is the occasional band drama, but it is fairly short lived. Our song selection is classic rock, but it is high energy, and we attempt to make sure that anything new we learn (oldies, that is) contains a certain amount of sleaze to it. We use pro equipment, electronic drums, small amps, and a killer PA system. We don't wear shorts onstage... except for the one summer gig, where I got caught having to set up the headliner's PA. Once completed, their manager told me we were 5 minutes late in starting, lol... so I looked like a d'bag for that one, as they would not allow me to change. I should have just taken the shorts off. So I have no idea what makes a successful cover band. A 7 year run is pretty impressive to me. Most bands, around here, last 7 weeks to 7 months, maybe.

Surely they are part of the NWOBHM crowd. And with that, Saxon should be on the list.

I ran a straight edge down the fret board. Amazing that even though the neck looked good to me, there was a hump in the middle, so I fixed that a bit. Then, took it to a local repair guy, since I could not get the action where I like it. He said the neck has a slight pitch to the right. Also says the replacement nut was not properly slotted He's going to work on that. I should have it back later this week.

Chris... looks like a replacement nut, that is cut kinda high actually.

Let's say you play an F, first fret high E, and the note is choked. Every other note, on every string, plays fine. Is this generally caused by the next fret up not being level?

Shark Fin Pickle

Hmmm... you did not buy that Laney from me. But we've actually hooked up a few times. And remember that I've known your brother for about 25+ years, lol.

Michael Schenker... saw UFO without him in '79. He's coming to my area, in June... with Gary Barden. Not that he is all that old, but who knows if he'll return to the DC area.