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I read this story on FB earlier (this is a direct quote, it is someone else writing in the first person, not me): "Twenty years ago, Charlie Watts did a week at Ronnie Scott's with his tentet. A hell of a line-up. Henry Lowther, Gerard Presencer, Mark Nightingale, Peter King, Julian Arguelles, Evan Parker, Brian Lemon. EVAN PARKER AND BRIAN LEMON in the same band. That's a combination that nobody would think of booking. Except for Charlie Watts. Why? Because that's who he liked and who he wanted. And of course, always, always, his childhood mate on bass, the wonderful, endlessly versatile Dave Green. My mate Joel Taylor, who's now high up on the Metro paper, was then a junior reporter at the Camden New Journal. He rang me "Want to come to Ronnie's free with me next week? I'm reviewing Charlie Watts". My response was swift and decisive. So the following week, there we were. We ordered a bottle of wine. When it arrived, we went to pay. "That's on the house." Nice. Second bottle. Same reply. Third bottle. You get the idea. Eventually, we needed to soak some of this up. We ordered a basket of chips. "That'll be £3.50". The following week, I saw Joel for a pint and he said "I've got to the bottom of the wine thing. Cindy Hacker (one of the club management, who handled the PR side) explained that Charlie Watts had said he'd foot the drinks bill of every journalist who came to see the show. When it came to the chips, we were on our own". I should add that it was a great night. That line-up delivered, and the drummer wasn't too shabby. Joel has reminded me tonight that, touchingly, Charlie peered round the curtain just before they went on to see if anyone was in. It was a sell-out for the whole run. It's clear that was the sort of man Charlie Watts was. Someone (possibly either Pete Cater or Brian Bennett) told me that when Ronnie and Pete King were having trouble, which happened a lot, due to Soho landlords and stuff, Charlie was always there. He'd put a band in for a week, pay them out of his own pocket and let Ronnie and Pete keep the door and the bar takings. He saved the club a few times that way. He played rock for a living, but played jazz for pleasure, and his way of paying it all back was to keep the premier jazz venue in the UK afloat, and to keep his mates in well-paid work. It's a sad day. Being a drummer is to be in the finest club of all, and we've lost one of the very best of all of us." Charlie Watts, a real class act.

Don't be ridiculous. Most of us are well past the first flush of youth. Many are even OAPs like me. For me, there's not a lot to do or say apart from feel sad about the news. We don't feel the need to rush into print. Respond how you wish and leave others to do the same.

Fun fact: the original photo depicts exactly what is wrong with this young man.

I'm already loving this Sandberg VS4. Satin black, rosewood fb with abalone. Superb balance either sat or standing. Nice wide fingerboard, but not full PBass width, 22 frets with really good access, flattish radius and (for me) the perfect string spacing High output passive pickups (anyone know what they are?). 30in scale (it's the strangely named "Lionel" edition). I'm a very happy chappy.

Isn’t it incredible how many people can feel the good vibes of a single person through our little community. Buying and selling here has always been a pleasure because it takes trust, and more often than not leads to friendship. Martin’s family are truly humbled by the fantastic showing of memories and tributes posted here. What an awesome endorsement of the community and what a tribute to Martin.

@lee650 and I raised a glass tonight x

I would have paid good money to be in the room when someone told Dave Grohl about it 😂

And let’s not forget he did get paid at the time, his $1 is clearly in the shot.

Deoxit D5 is the one that I use most days. Sorts out the noisiest most crackly pots in no time. Money well spent.

So I came home today to this……. (See pics) My 1984, serial 067 Streamer headstock (it was a glued repair) has miraculously let go…. The body has a minor dent at the bottom from my guitar rack, and obviously the bass is beheaded. Like Gibsons, the early Streamers were prone to breakage due to not having a volute. The break was pretty ugly and repaired by a monkey, but the bass sounds wonderful and glue is stronger than wood. So I used it quite often, never an issue. But since it has let go and I will probable never be able to sell anyway, I have hatched a cunning plan….. I could replace a large part of the top of neck and headstock with new wood, add some splines ….. basic traditional Gibson-esque surgery. But I am going to do something else….. I am going to use the wood of the headstock, graft that in place (keeping serial number intact) and turn the bass into a (semi) headless! Will post the plan/design here soon. But the plan is to go from beheaded to headless, using mostly original wood.

Not enough credit to @upside downer for the thread title. Way to go, sir

According to another article referenced in the above, he recreated the photograph 5 years ago and allegedly suggested to the photographer that he, Elden, should be naked. "I said to the photographer, 'Let's do it naked.' But he thought that would be weird, so I wore my swim shorts," Spencer told the New York Post. Money-grabbing twot

No, you have to bring your own

We've got our first post-lockdown gigs this weekend. At the last rehearsal I decided to make sure everything I would be using at the gig is working. Extension cab - no sound coming out of it at all Overdrive pedal - has developed a fault, I think it might be the switch. I fixed the cab - a wire had come out of its internal connector. It's back up and running. I haven't got time to tinker with the OD pedal so I took the opportunity to experiment with a different one and it arrived today. Moral of the story - in the excitement to get going again don't just rock up to your first gig back without checking ALL your gear, otherwise you might end up looking like a right berk

10 months later the bass has finally arrived... Overwater J5 Contemporary Figured Maple Top Ebony Fretboard Abalone Inlays Black/Grey Burst - Comes out more purple in photos Can't wait to plug it in later!

I had a studio session just after everything opened up. Gear worked fine but when it came to pack down, I couldn't unplug the speaker cable from the cab, no matter how I twisted or pulled the plug. ....I'd forgotten that Neutrik connectors have a little slidey thing you have to pull back to unplug it.

There are 3 separate threads running simultaneously. This one, the Chatlie Watts has put in a dep thread and the notable deaths thread. However, it's not a competition about who is showing the right amount of grief.

I’m sure he gets recognised all the time from that shot…..

Talkbass has a slightly larger membership, I imagine...

I’m not the expert here but it looks like a Bb1100s

Good god that's squalid. You'd think they'd at least hose it down before taking pics. 🤢 No idea how I missed @Reggaebass' thread, this sort of thing being of interest to me - and it's a pity I did, because I think I've got a brass Kay trc at the bottom of a spares draw somewhere!

I really wouldn't use WD40 ! Servisol switch cleaner is good stuff with a good reputation, I've used that whenever I've needed to sort pots etc out.. Worked well on an old Lucas indicator switch in the motor too !

Can anyone please identify this bass or its nearest modern day equivalent? It's a Yamaha played by Dennis Bovell. I have searched through the Yamaha website and I cannot find an exact match so if anyone can suggest the nearest current equivalent that would be champion. For context I am a beginner and I am thinking for my first "proper" bass a Yamaha could be a good shout. I am looking to play dub/reggae and a Jazz type model is an obvious starting point but I am looking at possible alternatives.

I certainly find it easier fingerstyle, I tend to trill two or three fingers depending on whether it's fast triplets or 16ths. Ace of Spades is a doddle with fingers, at my absolute limit with a plecccy!

doesn't matter whether gear works or not, I still end up looking a berk!

There are exceptions but they are few

That's it. I'm getting one. The gas monster has been aroused once again.

Lol, it'll be a puppet show next!! 😂

People play bass with plicktrums 😳, whatever next 😂

That is class

I think that video was very fair and was at pains to attempt to temper the viewer's expectations of what an £89 guitar can be realistically expected to be - much more than I was expecting, given that they're in the selling business. They pointed out that the stock strings are the cheapest garbage and disclosed that they had restrung them for the video, they mentioned they were using amps and pedals which cost many times what the guitar did (which goes some way to explain how good it sounds in the video), they pointed out the limitations of the wraparound bridge/tailpiece, they pitched it almost exclusively at beginners and even discussed the financial of buying it to modify/upgrade and the ceiling you would hit of its basic construction and nature, they even said something like it was a 5/10 player (I think that's in the bit where they discuss the word "overwhelmed" and whether or not you can be underwhelmed or even simply whelmed). That's just what I remember from one watch through. Having watched the whole thing, I feel I'd be able to approach this guitar eyes open with a realistic expectation. I don't see how you could have gone wrong, unless you skipped all the talky bits and just listened to the playing? My point (in which I wrote far too much so no-one read it) was not that all cheap products are amazing these days - it was simply that today's cheapest instruments have never been closer to the mid/high range of the market. What would you have got for a tenner in 1975? Some Woolworths monstrosity that you didn't so much play as wrestle with? What would forty quid have got you in 1990? Not much, I'm guessing. I've never played this E1 (and I wouldn't know where to start) but I'm willing to say that it'll be better than anything you could get for the equivalent money in times past. Before I took up the bass, I owned an Epiphone Special II, early to mid nineties I think. I don't remember much about it, apart from pretty awful tuners with a lot of play in them but I do remember it put me off playing guitar for life so I thank it for (eventually) pointing me in the direction of where I am today.

The mostly American membership has a daily "thoughts and prayers" quota to fill.

The heart of the Stones has stopped

As a long time analogue synth user I can say with some certainty that you should never use switch cleaner in a pot. it will remove the conductive lubricant and the conductor will start to get scraped away. Use Deoxit - they do a cleaner and a lubricator - I forget the details but a web search will turn it up. To re-iterate (and at the risk of coming on all prescriptive!) If you use contact cleaner it will work initally as it will clear the dirt but also the pot lubricant and soon cause lasting damage to the pot. Often the best cure is just to turn the pot 10 or 20 times - that sometimes moves the dirt around in a way that sometimes resolves the problem ambiently!

I’ve done three gigs so far and been very careful however despite being double jabbed since March I got tested positive and have been ill with Covid for the last couple of weeks. I’ve not had flu before but guess it’s akin to that. I am no longer officially isolating but continue to experience fatigue and some congestion I also have no sense of smell or taste so I am still being very careful. As others have said it was great playing but as soon as people started drinking the rule book was torn up. I dread to know how I would have felt if I hadn’t been vaccinated so I’d encourage those who haven’t to go and get yourselves jabbed!

Very under rated (much like Ringo) and made the band swing.