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To my certain recollection the term vocalist has been around for years. It may now perhaps be gaining in popularity but I prefer the term: 'the annoying bastard at the front with his idiotic music stand and his crap jokes; who arrives last, leaves first and seldom buys a round; the man whose wife is in a permanent state of (i) illness (ii) vexation (iii) pregnancy; he who never scores a gig except free gigs; and his stupid hat.'

*whispers* Do it.. kill rock and roll, kill it.. go on.. kill it

I've been known to press the 'Post EQ' button after he's plugged it into my amp

I interviewed Frank some years ago along with David Ellefson and I have to say that they are both super nice guys. Really down to earth and chatty. You'd be forgiven for thinking you were just hanging out with a fellow BassChatter. Frank even got me a beer.

Not that it's my choice to make but I agree that the plain tops complement the burl top best. Do you have a position marker on them? (Thanks for the change of background) Andy, I'd go for a W shaped F hole and patent it PDQ. It looks like Norris is a little sensitive about his norrisole. Norris, I've now got a design for a hole shaped like a Cumberland sausage but I've got nowhere left to put the chuffing bridge! I hope you're happy with yourself.

Oh, they are compulsory to try As is the vanderkley cab and EICH 1000w head... Heheh...

Luckily I have a two-gig weekend that's going to keep me occupied. Otherwise, like a poorly-trained spaniel, I'd be chewing up the furniture. Seriously though, when I asked Andy to make me the bass the idea was always 'when it's done, it's done'. No time constraints.

The end is in sight? Neil will be struggling with "Is it done yet?" for the next few days....

Well - I'm out of excuses now...tomorrow is final sanding day and finishing starts at the weekend. The last job was to set the bridge at its final height, and that allows me to see how much leeway I have for the final curve of the top. It's not critical, but I would like the bridge plate to be at least partially sunken into the top and, ideally, flush. It makes no difference to the functionality, but I want to avoid the look of some bridges where they appear to be a bit of an afterthought. I used a Dremel precision router for the flatness and finished the edges with chisels. Like the pickup routs, I did the curved front corners with a 5mm drill, drilled to final depth, before routing the bulk out : That gives me a nice close fit and looks like it is supposed to be there: This done, it lets me pencil the 'flush level'... ...so I can see how deep to sand. The aim will be flush at the leading edge and curving down a touch to expose the bridge plate progressively towards the tailstock. I'm hoping that the weather stays dry tomorrow as it is a lot easier to do the final sand outside - especially when looking for sanding marks, glue overspill and unwanted dints. The Osmo has arrived so, all being well, I should be able to apply the first couple of sealing coats as well before the start of the weekend

Thanks Geoff,your lessons and videos were a big help when I got my EUB and now I'm reviewing some of them as I work on proper techniques for the DB...and having lots of fun too!

Despite being one of the bands I have seen the most times I still have to remind myself that David J of Bauhaus played fretless. One of the pleasures of old age this not remembering lark...

That`s why I always connect the DI cable to my Sansamp - a straight bass sound would decimate the sound of our band, much the same way as getting the guitarist to play his Les Paul with no gain.

That is the difference between musicians that have to work for their living and pampered over produced pop stars who think the sun shines out of their behinds because someone else wrote a hit song for them... .bit like footballers vs rugby players.

Bluejay, that is exactly the first thing that came to my mind! Reyalpssabginkcufecin! (one for the Anthrax fans there)

Compared to the hollowbody beauty above, my short scale is somewhat simple, yet a nice piece of candy... Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI, I got it in a trade two days ago. Nice piece! Makes a fine contrastb to my other "real" basses...

It's part of the lyrics for the song Angel Delight. Played by Dave Pegg, as with virtually every Fairport recording, on his trusty Fender Precision. The Ibanez is a recent acquisition.

This reminds me of my first bass from 1993 or so! Unfortunately, it was a dog - heavier than a Trace Elliot amp, with what appeared to be a ply-like neck! It was a 1969 Kay. Terrible. Yours looks great though! I’m getting all sentimental now - might go looking for a looky likey...

No..!

Now you tell me!!!!! 😮

Here are the plain knobs - they will lighten a touch when the oil has dried. @SpondonBassed - please note that I SOMETIMES take notice of what you say ref the background The comparison is here: Personally, I prefer the plainer ones on the actual bass - my eye is drawn to the top and not the knobs - but, whatever, Neil will be given both sets

Well it has taken a while, but I've finally had time to give my Burns Barracuda Bass a proper work out including a rehearsal with the band. First the obligatory photos: While it shares a lot in common with the Squier being a Bass VI, in many ways it is a very different instrument, especially when it comes to the pickups and electrics. The wider neck is much more comfortable for me than the narrow Squier. However it is not as wide as the specifications would lead you to believe. Nut width is 45mm, but the actual string spacing between the two E strings is only 38mm, a mere 3mm more than the Squier, and the strings are very obviously set in from the fingerboard edges. The difference is enough to make the neck feel more comfortable overall, but if the string spacing made full use of the available nut width, it would be even more useful to me. The fingerboard is bound in fake MoP which looks great, but doesn't make the dots particularly easy to see in subdued lighting conditions - as I discovered the first time I took this bass into the rehearsal room. At the other end things are less good. The overall string spacing at the bridge is only 52mm compared with 55mm on the Squier, so while it is easier to form chord shapes on the neck without inadvertently muting strings with my fingers, picking the correct string cleanly is a lot harder. For the first week I was constantly missing strings or playing the wrong one. This is one of the problems when the hardware for a Bass VI has been appropriated from a guitar design. The Squier Bass VI might look like it's been cobbled together from bits left over from the Fender Jaguar, but all the important parts have been suitably altered to suit the nature of the instrument. The bridge on the Barracuda appears to be exactly the same as that on the Marvin Guitar and consequently the spacing here is really a bit too narrow for a Bass VI. The relatively narrow bridge also means that the outer string get further way from the edge of the fingerboard as you move up the neck. On the other hand the vibrato mechanism is a lot more useful than the one on the Squier. It's smoother feeling has a noticeable effect on all the strings and has less of a tendency to put the instrument out of tune. Overall the Barracuda is (for me) easier to play than the Squier, but it really needs to have a correspondingly wider string spacing at the bridge to match that of the nut for optimum comfort. The other interesting thing is that despite looking bigger and chunkier than the Squier Bass VI, both basses weigh the same (4.3kg on my scales) the Barracuda feels lighter on the strap and is definitely more comfortable to wear for a 2-3 hour rehearsal. When it come to the pickups and electronics there's a lot more variation between the Barracuda and the Squier Bass VI. The Barracuda has a standard Strat-type pickup selector with the conventional 5 options. However pulling up the tone control nearest the jack socket automatically activates the neck pick up irrespective of the position of the 5-way switch. I was a bit worried that the "in-between" pickup positions might sound a bit weedy, put while there is some thinning of tone, it's all very usable and all the positions work well in a band mix. At the moment I'm favouring either the bridge or middle pickup solo'd or the bridge and neck pickups together depending on the band mix. What is much better than the Squier is that the instrument has a lot of clarity without it being at the expense of the bottom end. To that end if you want to be playing surf-style bass this could well be the bass for you. There's plenty of twang and oomph available, and at the same time should it be required. As you can probably tell, while the Burns Barracuda still isn't ideal for me it's a lot more suitable than the Squier Bass VI. It is usable straight out of the case (it comes with a rather nice Burns branded hard case) without needing to shim the neck or replace the strings, and the bridge/vibrato unit while not being as wide as would be ideal is overall a lot more suitable for a bass instrument than the Squier. I think this bass will be fine for me at the moment, until I can afford to have something mode more specifically for my needs.

I’ve got the remastered (most recent remaster - there’s been a couple) of LED Zeppelin II and IV on vinyl and they sound awesome; much better than the originals in terms of mix clarity and dynamics. I think if they’re done well then it’s a ‘no harm, no foul’ situation.

Even with the import duty & electrical problem, that's a bargain. Lovely example of vintage MIJ class, that's a Fujigen Gakki build, like Ibanez of the same era & MIJ Fenders & Squiers. Since this is turning into a MIJ P copy love-in, here are my two: Daion Performer, from around 1980-ish, made by Yamaki Gakki: Ibanez 2366B, Fujigen Gakki, from 1972-73 as far as I can work out: Both lovely basses - but I don't really play Precisions so I certainly don't need two! Anyone want a very old, very, very rare Ibanez?

Wow. No biggie, I recognise your tone from some of the "sales assistants" in multiple shops that ultimately went bust due to lack of customer loyalty as a result of awful customer service😁

Yes, that is the attitude that a lot of music shops had when I was young many years ago, and why no-one was that worried when a lot of them closed down.

(You gotta compared and contrast, right?)

Maybe they don't spend enough time worrying and debating these important terminological distinctions , typical vocalist attitude , singers would care 😁

always loved Bobby Vega

After reading this, I think in retrospect I got incredibly lucky. I put an ad in Lemonrock 10 years ago this month. First reply was my guitarist, the second my drummer, we all got togeather a week later for a rehersal of 6 songs and we're still togeather after 10 years and probably 3-400 paid gigs. Is that unusual?

When I worked cruise ships, there were musical acts on there of all ages. Young and old in the house show band(s), jazz trios and musical duos with folk in their 50s-60s and one fella in one group celebrated his 70th on the ship. You need to be fit to an extent you can launch a life boat or raft (for your own sanity) and you just need to be free of everyday life demands. If you can pick up and go for 3-6 months with no repercussions, then why not. There are worse jobs ;).

Thank you so much! On the day, we set up the interview and David came up to the studio. The original plan was for me to follow my guide questions, but we got engrossed in to a really long conversation instead. So much so that we actually ran in to the allotted soundcheck time! I didn't open my pad once throughout the interview itself but we certainly talked about some really cool stuff! Frank's interview was also meant to be in the studio but due to timings we couldn't get back in. My notes being behind a locked door, I was told that I would quiz him in front of the awaiting audience instead. Which was nerve wracking. Frank, ever the gentleman was more than pleased just to, as you say, shoot the breeze and talk about his bass tone and what's important to him as a musician. I'd have to say that although the interviews were for a magazine, for me, it was an opportunity to reach out and do exactly as you've said. Two memories I hold dear.

That would be an ecumenical matter.

Looks like you got a good buy there umcoo. I have something of a liking for those old, MIJ 70's / early 80's basses Just wondering whether the pots are actually duff - or whether it's just a bodge job with the wiring of those switches I think a complete new wiring loom would be a good idea - but definitely keep the original pickup - see if it's working, and see how it sounds A while back, I put a new neck on an old MIJ 70's / 80's bass (i couldn't tell what brand it was - someone had removed the logo on the old, broken neck) Anyhow, the wiring needed a tweak, the pots needed cleaning - but the pickup sounded superb.... wish I'd kept it now Good luck with this restoration project

This is a little known fact but the reason her words seem to end like that is because on the recorded versions every time she opened her mouth one of the crew teabaged her so it's not really her fault is it lol

I remember thinking in 2004 “what’s wrong with the microphone, sounds like the ends of her words are being cut off - can’t understand a word she’s saying” sounded like a normal singer who’s mouth was opening and closing at the wrong time with a broken jaw...

Hi all, Just to let you know I have a new post - this time I take a look at 'Reflections' by Diana Ross and The Supremes. Full transcription and video on the Jamerson Analysed site! - http://www.jamersonanalysed.co.uk/2018/07/reflections-diana-ross-and-supremes-1968.html Cheers, Chris.

Let's face it Dad, you are never going to like anything I post. All the things that you dislike about the Scissor Sisters are exactly the reasons why I prefer their version over the original. And it has the advantage of having stripped out all the po-faced pretentious muso twaddle of that Pink Floyd infuse into all their songs.

Again, don't be fooled - it's not as near done as it looks! But we are on the home straight. I've said before that I have a slightly unconventional way of going about things. Probably much less efficient than many, but it reduces the risk of me knack****g the functionality for style or vice-versa! The top hasn't been finally shaped yet - it's a bit flat-topped and thicker than final target. But making sure that it is going to be straight and intonate OK and just how much to lower the top where the bridge sits are all guestimates until the actual hardware and strings are in place. So that's generally what I do - I string it up and then I can see exactly what leeway I have, or what tweaks I need to make: The bridge area can drop down up to 3mm safely and the curvature from the centre line to the 'f' hole can increase a touch. The spacing (adjustable on this bridge) will be tweaked a touch to get the G just a little closer to the fretboard edge at the 24th. While it's strung up (these are temporary strings) I will also finish shape and sand the neck - being able to play it and really feel how the curvature of the profile works at all parts of the neck as I fine tune the shape makes a huge difference to judging when it's right. Last this is that I can see whether those knobs enhance or distract - I'm doing a second set to be able to do a live A/B comparison where the tops are the plainer poplar (same as the headstock plate). @Len_derby will have both sets and will be able to swop them around as often as he wants I'm hoping to do that extra sanding over the next few days and start the finishing process at the weekend - Osmo Polyx Satin is on its way as I type

In that case, they're working exactly as they should! 😁

Change one thing at a time.

And they're done, barring another couple of coats of finish:

Fast and nasty snap taken just before tonight’s gig

Ash over mahogany? The grain is lively (I meant to type “lovely” but that works too, lol!). I hope it’ll be a nice translucent finish.

Band rehearsal gear and the second is my man cave which was finished yesterday,still some work need to be done but you get my idea , hope you like it

And another from Donald Sam and Dave - I thank you | Bass Transcription | Donald "Duck" Dunn