All Activity

I was talked into doing an open mic session at the Craven Heifer in Stainforth on Thursday. I tend to dislike these things as I rarely know the songs and if often tends to be quite cliquey. Took along the 3d printed headless bass and a Strat (I have no shame) but left them in the car "just-in-case". It was incredibly tight to fit in a drummer (one toy bass drum, one Tom and one cymbal) but Bev knew how to play so small kit but workable, a PA perched on a chair and a mixer, two mics and needed to fit everything else in in an area about 2.5m by 2m. I sat out the first few sessions and was roped into more classic rock sessions. Cocaine, Green River Rising and a wonderful blues song I have never heard before but was about a train (that narrows it down). Never played them before but could see the music so started carefully and simply and built up. By the last song, was thoroughly enjoying myself so have now decided to attend more and stop being a dickhead about it. It certainly focuses the mind on picking things up quickly. Rob

Graham bought my EBS cab today. Very straightforward easy sale and a lovely guy too, with the same make and colour car as mine which made my first basschat service station meet a lot easier! Would happily buy or sell with Graham again in the future!

Guy Pratt. John Taylor.

In terms of iconic bass lines to popular songs and who played them, then I think my choice of photos would be Paul McCartney (Ths Beatles), Sting (The Police) and maybe someone like Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) or John Deacon (Queen) or James Jamerson (Motown/Marvin Gaye) or someone from the Disco era (Bernard Edwards/Louis Johnson). If it was my choice then it would be Pino Palladino, John Giblin and Jaco, be all out fretless bass and have contributions from Paul Webb (Talk Talk), Derek Forbes (Simple Minds), Sting (The Police), Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) and Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) to name a few. Now that would be a show 😂

To be fair; Playing fiddle and operating a camera must be quite difficult.

Looks like you’ve got a side gig here if you wanted it…

So if I found a cream or white telecaster body you could achieve a similar look? oh god…eBay is winking at me.

Lee Sklar.

Bruce Foxton or JJ Burnel

So which three bass players would we have wanted to select and analyse their own and others iconic bass lines? Can I start with Mr Paul McCartney? Who else?

Apples and Oranges - The Pink Floyd

They'll almost certainly leave out those who only stand to serve (the song). That's natural enough. Music fans like the bits that stand out for them in some way or other. Musicians however, like to peel back the layers of production to get at the nutritious kernel that is BASS. Sorry... just had a moment then. Nurse!

Brown Paper Bag - Roni Size/Reprazent

Sometimes I think it would be great to work in something other than IT. Then I remember how much I like food and shelter! Hats off to you both, but especially your wife the artist.

To be fair, the programme is called Greatest Bass lines, so I'm judging it by how great the basslines are. Peter Hook's basslines are sometimes memorable and therefore "iconic" to some people, but to me it does not follow they are necessarily great because of that. Dairylea is an "iconic" cheese but that doesn't make it a good quality one. If people enjoy it good luck to them, but don't try and tell me it's of the highest standard.

Sometimes more wisdom is shown by being aware of when not to overdo things and to support the song as a whole. To me it shows understanding of the song and the other instruments (inc vocals) as a whole.

Paper Bag - Fiona Apple

I thought the similar programme featuring Tina Weymouth was excellent.