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Now for sale in BC Marketplace!

1. I visited Franz Liszt's house in the Weimar Republic in the late 80s while I was a music student. Yes, yes, I know. He was out. Saw his Piano, though. Anyway, did you know that he totally knackered his tendons by taping wooden blocks in between his fingers in order to try and gain an even wider hand span? (Eejit!) 2. Also, is this the five minute argument, or the full half hour..?

Folks on Basschat seem to be baulking at the prospect of paying ninety quid for a set of Pino's signature strings, let alone a few grand for the bass. Like I said a while ago, three and a half grand for the standard version actually seems pretty reasonable to me considering what other EBMM basses cost nowadays. My concern would be how many enthusiastic amateurs with a few quid in their pockets are going to get carried away listening to vintage Pino from back in the '80's and buy the unlined fretless and then have it dawn on them how hard it is to actually play it in tune convincingly. It's easy to watch PIno play the bass be so beguiled by his effortless brilliance that you start to think it's achievable for mere mortals. Buying one of these basses could give some folks a rude awakening especially if they try it out on a gig. Back at the height of the fretless fad in the ,1980's I remember witnessing some shocking live performances from bass players who's enthusiasm outstripped their ability to play in tune.

So did I, nearly ordering one, but in the end, came back to my senses...

If a potential buyer has the required £4500 and likes how it plays/sounds/looks, then why not? Mark & Co at Bass Direct have obviously done their due diligence, so it's up to the potential buyer. Not my cup of tea at that money, but then again, I would never buy a vintage Fender. I like the newer, more reliable ones. 😁

Thank you, please LIKE my video, give my channel a follow and if you could, leave a positive message. I've shared this video today to groups with over 100K followers and have 9 likes. Honestly, it makes me feel like throwing in the towel when I see people would rather rant over some internet faker than support a 1 minute bass gear video

I was just one year behind (but I'm still here..! ).

Right, that's me finished mucking about with this bass, which has been christened the "Ratlet", because the budget was half what the original "Rat" bass cost (G4M LA Select + Lace Aluma P) I fitted a Sire/Reverend style 3 string retainer on the headstock, and I put a £19 Guyker bridge on it, just because it's fancier looking and it hides the ball ends of the strings. So at the beginning of this, my challenge to myself was to have a "giggable" bass for under £150 - all new parts, not including shipping costs. Final total cost = £144.67. Definitely "giggable" - I gigged it on Saturday night!

I'd played several different instruments in the past - piano, violin, marching drums, bugle, trumpet. If it hadn't been for a particularly vicious dental abscess, I might now be quite a reasonable trad jazz musician. But pain of that nature put me off in a big way. I tried guitar when I was a student, but found it really difficult to play chords as my thick stubby fingers kept getting tangled up with each other. I should really have gone for an acoustic, but I wanted an electric because, y'know, guitar. I suppose some lessons would have helped, but the grant (it was that long ago) wouldn't stretch to that. At the time, I was knocking about with the original bassist from the Dogs D'Amour. He tried to get me to take up bass, but me being me and Knowing It All, decided I was meant to be a guitard. Which it turned out I wasn't. I think a seed might have been planted, though. Fast-forward a few years and I was chatting to a friend on Facebook. She was making noises about learning some Thin Lizzy songs and I said I'd be up for learning bass. Don't ask me why - it just seemed a logical step, albeit one fuelled by rather a lot of home-brewed wine. The next day, I wandered into Dawson's Music and mumbled something about bass guitars. Shortly afterwards, I left with my first bass - an Ibanez GSR200. It just felt like it dropped into my hands and it instinctively felt right; I knew there and then that I'd discovered 'my' instrument. The Ibanez has since moved on - it went back in its case when I switched to a five-string Fender Jazz Deluxe. I still have it, although a five-string Sterling Stingray is my weapon of choice at the moment. I wish I'd listened to my friend's advice years ago. And I'm still rubbish on the guitar.

I've been here a while; those who know me have already read the story, not really worth repeating, in my opinion. Of course, if there's a general clamour, I could relent, but it would be on your heads.

I'd always wanted to learn to play something so I could play heavy music. I bought a guitar but due to various old hand injuries, I struggled to make some chord shapes then a work mate and member of this forum loaned me a Peavey International bass. I got on much better with the bass. I played in a metal band but that was killed by my own issues and I left the band and deeply regret it. I now play in an alt rock band which is ok but not really hitting the spot. I really want to play in a metal band again.

And when he was 16, it was my turn.

I wouldn’t call it a 62; more like a 57- Heinz.

I bought a laser from aliexpress for a fiver inc shipping. Powered by USB, works surprisingly well and adds some patterns and a few LED colours.

Nice sounds

I'll let you know next week My 6 string 30 inch arriving this Friday Can't wait

A relatively easy one for folk who are early on in their reading career but need something more than roots to play with. This is the complete Paul Martinez bass part to the tune 'Big Log' from the 1982 Robert Plant album, 'The Principle Of Moments'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/big-log-robert-plant/

Drummer only stood on 3 cables to get to his kit - that's progress

Ampeg Scrambler and TC Electronic Spark Booster are both worth checking out.

Best friend and I, guess we were around 15, both loved music so thght we'd have a go at playing it so got a couple of guitars ...Within a few months it became very clear he had a real talent for guitar.. plus he was tall and lean with long hair. I mean he looked like a rock God from the outset, meanwhile myself? Lets just say I didn't. So, I got an old bass but then equally realised that I could make it sing, or sound funky I suppose. Shortly afterwards we went our separate ways and never did play together in a band as such, and as great as he was he never did really take it much further than playing at home, whereas I've enjoyed a lifetime of playing bass in all sorts of situations.

I bought some black vinyl for my Atelier clear plate , and stuck it too the underside of my scratchplate .. it has a very slight texture as it’s not the topside but worked a treat