Leaderboard

In my experience the recorded music scene in the 80's was full of fantastic bands playing great songs. The local gig scene (London and the SE) was vibrant and there were more gigs than a band could fit in the diary. The audiences were lively, interested and enthusiastic. Most of the gigs we played were full. IME the 80's was a great time for music.

First time the drummer came in at the right moment?

My fault entirely.... Way back in the 60s, at a pub in Nottm, we were using their PA, with what passed as a sound desk on the stage next to my drums. Being a drummer, I had no idea how these worked, but the vocalist asked me to turn the whole thing up. Right next to the desk, mounted on the wall, were the burglar alarm controls. The PA volume didn’t increase, but about ten minutes later, the boys in blue arrived........ We never played at that venue again, for some reason

the older I get the more I think that is true, one of the reasons I don't go to many gigs anymore is the idiots I have to put up with when in a big crowd, and why anybody would want to go to Glastonbury is totally beyond me edit, don't mind a big crowd when I'm playing a gig though

Seems like Atelier Z basses are a bit rare occurence on this forum so I thought about writing a bit about my recent purchase Having owned quite a few Japaneese basses over the years, mainly ones from the Fujigen factory like Yamaha TRB, Ibanez Prestiges, FGN basses, Fenders but others like a Sadowsky Metro as well, I have long been an admirer of the quality of the craftmanship that is put into these instruments over there. There is a bunch of smaller 'boutique' workshops like Atelier, Sugi, Devise that produce basses of the highst quality and standards - with prices to match. I've been long eyeing Atelier basses as I like their take on the classic Fender jazz design and they seem to carry everything that I like in these modern 'superjazz' basses. There are so many brands to choose from if one is heading into this direction and the options are almost endless, but I wanted to have something which is a bit unique here in Europe and wanted to know the next level of CIJ basses. So after months of checking out Ikebe's website (one of Japans biggest instrument store) this bass came up, I had the funds, the stars aligned and I made the purchase and imported this home. This was my second time dealing with Ikebe and I have to say they are top notch in customer service. It was a seamless transaction. Anyway, on to the most important thing. The bass is a Atelier Z M265 custom model. The M265 is basically their '70 5 string jazz bass. Ash body, one piece maple neck/board with block inlays and binding. they use in-house Atelier pickups and a selection of 2 band preamps. Hadware is a high mass Atelier bridge and Gotoh tuners. This custom M265 is a bit different, most notably in that it has a 3 band EQ (Bartonlini) and abalone inlays plus a brown red burst finish (which is more like amber in real life, the pics show this a bit more red that actually is) It is quite light and is a joy to play, the neck is really comfortable. It balances really well, that was one of my concerns as I was not able to try and see. I especially like the clean pickguard, it lets the grain shine through. The sound is a bit of a tipical '70 ash/maple, quite clean, sweet deeps with great highs and the slap is like Miller, only I don't have the chops.... It can get gritty if I dig in and it reacts very well to the different dinamics. The mid cut/boost is a nice addition, can't remember every having a jazz with a mid control but certainly helps at certain situations with the slightly scooped ash/maple sound. I bougth this bass untried and without ever trying an Atelier bass but it delivered on its promise big time. These above are my initial observations and for the time being I am very happy and a bit relieved as this distance purchase turned out great. Of course just like with other basses only time will tell how we are going to be in the long run. And now the pics (taken by Ikebe)

My Alpher got assembled yesterday. One piece swamp ash body Crotch English Walnut top with matching headstock Roasted maple neck with a bit of flame Rocklite fingerboard Nordstrand Blades Passive with 4 way selector for the Blademan Neutrik locking jack Hipshot hardware Looks better than I had imagined!

The ones made in Yorkshire are branded Ibagum.

And the song goes on for FAR too long anyway ... just suggest they chop out the whole Slash-solo nonsense that makes up the second half of it.

You dont necessarily have to play the fluffy bits. Would a tute help ?

It's amazing how wrong this sentence becomes just by adding the word 'on' into it

That would be nice. Although the last few deliveries from Andertons have been several weeks late - for brand new products anyway. It's almost my birthday and I've actually managed to get the family to fund this! First bass related prezzie from them for decades!

Easy. Musima, made behind the Iron Curtain in the old DDR: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-and-Rare-1980s-MUSIMA-Action-Bass-P-bass-DDR-Japan-/253386997413 NEXT!

Half Man Half Biscuit: All I Want For Christmas Echo & The Bunnymen: Killing Moon

You really need a spectral analyzer to decide if something works for you? Wouldn't it be faster to just listen? The pedal is voiced to dUg's specs and he doesn't like the extra high end he hears through the big systems he plays through. The interview demo he does with Pete Thorn he is using the XLR out and there is no shortage of high end. The unit does have a treble control and if you look at his actual settings in the manual he has the highs set around 10 o'clock. The pedal has no shortage of high end. Again, it's a dUg Pinnick signature pedal so that should give you an idea of the type of tones it has. It's a pretty cool little pedal. If it's a sound you think you can use, give it a go. If it doesn't work for you, send it back.

Aibanizu

Well, this looks quite promising.

Mickey was in for his cheekbones, if I recall correctly. And most excellent cheekbones they were; man looked like a Mills and Boon cover walking down the street

The 90s did it already...

False beard, a decent wig and a girdle. Done.

Another solution that nobody seems to have mentioned is to embrace the situation. Cocktail gigs, to be precise. I spent a period where I would turn up to a wedding lunch, conference dinner or some such with a guitar and an amp, set up in a quiet corner where I wouldn't get disturbed or jostled, and spend an hour or two playing pretty much whatever I fancied for as long as I fancied playing it; as long as I played something that punters would recognise once in a while that was enough. Nobody's really listening to what you're doing as they have much more important things to do and talk about; but as long as they know it's there everybody's happy. Not exciting for either player or audience, but if you're any good at it you can make fairly decent money (at one point I was asking - and getting - £150+ an hour), and you don't have to share the gig fee with anyone. You do have to approach it in a professional manner though, both as regards material and technique - just rocking up and bashing out any old shite won't get you many return gigs. Oh, and most places will have a dress code of some sort as well. I now await the flak from the 'if I had to do that I'd have given up years ago' brigade. Before you do chirp though, remember this: there are many ways to earn a living in the music business; screaming to be heard over a room full of noisily inebriated and disinterested ne'er-do-wells is only one of them. If bass is the only instrument you play (covered in a forum topic recently) it may be more of an issue of course...

You are right, Trash Metal like Heavy Metal was awful in the 80's : certainly the worst recordings ever, absolutely crap sounding, totally lacking inspiration and, even worst, dressed like sissies. And I was more on the metal side in the early eighties than on the jazz scene.

Seller is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot...

But is he even in the top 100 maracca players in pop. He can't hold a candle to Davey Jones of the Monkees.

Love that there's now more than just the Elwood. The Frog is a great looking bass. I'm tempted by this a lot!

The prices don’t help with this though, price put most ordinary people and what are you left with? I love the stones but would I pay £100 for a ticket? No way, I can see five up and coming bands for the same money and probably 5-10 interesting support acts as well.

The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary Sisters of Mercy: Alice Fields of the Nephilim: Moonchild

Having recently extended my "cover/tribute" activity by adding a Pearl Jam gig I needed to re-acquire an 8 string bass. After some great advice (including advice originating from this here pasture) I was tipped on a ridiculously good deal on a new old stock ESP/LTD B208FM. I paid a fraction what they normally cost (I paid €400). A bass like this one: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B208STBLK--esp-ltd-b-208-8-string-see-thru-black It is not the prettiest, although it is better looking than the Dean Rhapsody 8 I used to own. The preamp and pickups are all ESP/LTD own design and I must admit they sound very good considering the cost of the bass. The neck is quite slim for an 8 string neck so very playable. What suprised me the most however was the build quality of this Indonesian made instrument, I had never owned or even touched an LTD previously, it really is very very good value for money. So, if you need to play Cheap Trick/ Kings X / Pearl Jam songs that feature a 12 or 8 string, this should be one to consider. That is all

Yeah, they have a greatful dead type following. Great for the jam band fan. Blue

I think the problem with entry level digital is that manufacturers are trying to deliver something at a cut price. Look at the XR12. Incredibly feature rich and unbelievably cheap. It has a built in router. Now given that a typical quality router would cost nearly half the selling price of the xr12 you can see where the savings have been made. Prosumer desks haven't even got routers built in. It's merely a means of getting people going. Of course people can expect too much. Sometimes I think it would be better if routers didn't come bolted onto mixers out the box full stop!

I think the guys priced it too high. If it were @ £100.00-150.00 I think more would take a leap of faith and if its any good the news will spread faster. I like the idea of it though. Walking about the house with ear phones on and this thing strapped to my back. "whats that dear? sorry cant hear you. Im playing with my vibrating strap on." I've had a go on the platform thing by Porter-Davies which is excellent fun but again its a lot of lolly for the discerning weekend warrior IMO. Too much for me to justify on it anyway. If my regular job consisted of touring and using IEM though I would have probably brought this (back beat) by now.

Yes!

Thanks @D'Addario UK I'll look into a heavier set

Strangely I'm not much interested in combining music and comedy. For me it's a bit like jam and cheese. Unless it's John Otway, who nearly gave me a seizure at the Acoustic Festival last year. If we're talking musicians rather than songwriters (although he is one), currently I'd say Martin Simpson. Always incredible tone and as tasteful as it gets. Hoping to see him live soon. If we're talking songwriters, then the list would be way too long by half.

Christ alive, that's a lovely-looking instrument.

Bloody worth it though

If it had been a maple board, I'd have stuck with maple headstock, but done like this - which looks great, by the way - definitely cream to match the body for my money

Beautiful. A touch of Bill Nelson...

incredible line up!

I used to have a Musicman Sabre with fretted and fretless Gordon necks. The fretless had a brass slap plate at the end of the fretboard which brightened up the slap sound a little but also protected the end of the fretboard. If I was going down the fretless route again I would have one fitted.

Some great tunes, definitely my era Don't forget the 2 tone movement was also in full swing by then. I caught the Beat live on Sunday, still sounding good.

Looks nice, that. Worth a punt I’d say, probably will be fairly easy to sell in the UK if you don’t get on with it, given it’s a familiar style.

I can't get my head round the people who shell out for a ticket and then film the whole thing on their phone, presumably so they can load it up on Youtube. Sometimes it seems that demonstrating/bragging to the world that you were at an event is more important than experiencing it. Saw Floyd at Wembley a few years back and the stadium was lit up by mobile phones which to be honest, ruined the event for us.

Wow - the ultimate humiliation - being pulled off stage by your Mum! He's not a singer, he's just a very naughty boy..........etc.

I never had a budget in mind but was minded to do it on a budget. Then I thought about and really wanted that Thunderbird sound, so a set of genuine pick ups was acquired, from then it seemed stupid to put cheap stuff on. I think I am around £230 at the moment and will be £260-280 when finished but that will be with genuine pickups, KiOgon custom loom, hipshot ultralights, decent heavyweight bridge so a decent spec. I barely drink, don’t smoke etc etc so see it as my hobby expenditure and have really loved doing it.