Leaderboard

Well after 40 years of playing, Mrs JPJ bought me a beginners book of reading the dots and an introductory lesson with a local music school. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, especially as I’m working with ‘proper’ musicians these days. So yes, this 54 year old is going back to school and I couldn’t be more excited 😎

I'm not going to try and work out how much a little piece of rubber would have saved me over the years!

I also think that Rutherford's role in the multi-12 string guitar thing that Genesis made their own was a massive factor in their freshness and originality.

1972 all original Fender Jazz, with the original case, she’s aged beautifully with great looking wear and checking all over, she was Olympic white but is now a gorgeous buttermilk colour with the most beautiful piece of tort I’ve seen, I think my soul was a small price to pay.

A bit weird to see Geddy in the Guardian. Like they've finally allowed in from the cold which is a bit ironic given Neil has stopped drumming. What are your favourites ? https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/24/geddy-lee-on-rush-greatest-songs

A Zon Sonus Standard 4 string bass and 6 Dunlop Ultex 2mm picks :-) I had a pair of lounge pyjama bottoms and a new scratchplate for my Precision on my list but it went a bit wonky........

Not a Morning Person myself... after a quiet day and a sedate couple of G&Ts it's time for a play. I've just started a policy of rotating my (now stable I hope) family of five basses, today it's the fretless, for the first time in a while. It's the smallest and heaviest of the five - I need to do some strength training before I gig it again 😞 Ps half an hour later - I'd forgotten how easy she is to play and how good she sounds! 🙂 🙂

Got nothing bass related today so pulled the trigger on an Orange 4 Stroke 500 as a gift from me to me 😂 Arrives Friday

My luthier friend dropped this in my lap last week. Part gift, part barter for preamp design work I've done for him. Purpleheart fingerboard, custom neo sidewinder pickups optimized for slide bass. The bottom knobs are a temporary set I put on so I could get started on the electronics package. I'll probably go with something blond to complement the pickup covers and headstock.

From my daughter. Main pressie from the wife was the Bassix EUB.

I made it until about 4pm when I heard this and had to whip out my bass

A huge part of Genesis was about having two guitars. Mike's role was just about unique. Something they also did was bring bass pedals to the fore.

This. That era (Permanent Waves in particular) is the point where they stopped being a mishmash of plagiarised influences and defined their own sound, to my ears. Never been one for picking "best" or even "favourite" tracks but if I wanted to play a track that represented Rush to someone who didn't know them, it would be Free Will from PW. Hits every defining Rush feature, for me. Re: the article itself - a bit of a shame that even after Rush being validated by an outrageously successful 40-year career, the Grauniad writer can't get past the sneery put-downs - "widdly-woo music" and the inevitable implication that musicianship & technically complex music are intrinsically valueless. Seems some dismal & dated music hack tropes are destined to never go away...

Stop getting Rush wrong! It's Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures that are the best. Not the bland synth Pop of the latter years.

Now now, what would the Nickelback museum need Geddy's basses for? 😉

How’s about this then, Santa’s only gone and got me tickets from the Friday at the palladium. So it doesn’t matter if I get the call or not, I’ll see you there.

Ah, you’re referring to the 1/4” amp output then, which will be at instrument level. Merry Christmas, Rock & Roll Killers!

As if you could buy eggs at this time of night on a Christmas Eve! 😂

Totally get what you mean Dribble is her middle name. Never got why she is so popular, although its seems she is more ‘hip’ than popular. Bland self indulgent wailing springs to mind.

Agreed, I get concerned when our band leader calls multiple 12 bar blues tunes. Thing is we have so much other material . However it's not my call. Blue PS: I'm in New Jersey over the holidays and had a chance to jam with my close childhood friend Doug. We started our first band when we were both 12 years old.

Roughly 108 days give or take..... shiny new Status series II to be flaunted, shamelessly, here as and when it arrives...... 🙏🏻😃

Hiya. Mug anyone is in the market for an Ampeg SVT this could be the best Christmas present ever! £999 from guitarguitar https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/07120610302928--ampeg-svt-vr-vintage-head

I have just complete a tremendous experience, ordered a bass for my 50th and it arrived early thanks to Alan. From start to finish Alan has been great. The bass on the other hand is fantastic. Full specs here: https://www.acguitars.co.uk/project/0328urecurve5/

Hope not but he may have had an accident or a family crisis.....

Geddy's book. And something else arriving later this week 😎

It’s the Hal Leonard one: https://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=696481&lid=8&keywords=Blues bass&searchcategory=00&subsiteid=7&

@CameronJ & @lemmywinks. Have just sat down for a more educated hours playing through the Fishman into the K12.2 using the Bass Amp preset and at Instrument level. It sounds great, I think I was just freaked out initially by just how loud it was so I was assuming I’d got it on an incorrect setting.

Oh yes, just sat down for an hour playing through the new rig, it is glorious.

If I had a 55-02 that I liked, I really would not spend time trying other basses. To me the electrics are 'consumables'... you can change, modify, replace. You can restore to original if you wish too. I used to own a 55-02, and I thought the electrics let it down a little. A little. That thing felt great in my hands, it was beautiful, one of those rare instruments that feel just right. Had I kept it (not really into 5 strings after all) I might have replaced pickups and preamp: for me 1st the bass must feel physically right, then I'll deal with the electrics. That's just me.

None of the 1xxx or 2xxx have 3v circuitry, that was only used on the 5000-5006. The premiums all currently have 9v preamp, bass / mid / treble and a 2 or 3 band mid frequency switch. The 3v was on the 5000/4/5 which had bass/mid/mid freq/treble, but I have replaced the preamp with a glockenclang as treble didn't work (as it often didn't). Its a good upgrade. The premiums are basically the all same, mahogany bodies with a cap of something else, which makes the model, mostly all available in 4/5/6 string. I would love a 2605 but it doesn't really give me much over the 1605 (or 5005), and I wouldn't get rid of that and I am trying to cut down!

Smooth Hound wireless. Not used it at rehearsal/gig yet but after a couple of hours noodling around at home I'm already thinking of getting a second set just for the house!

I'd agree with that - when I was at Liverpool Uni, OMD were kind of the "house band" in the student union just as they were breaking through, and I loved the early stuff, especially "Messages". They were always pop, but I found the later material bland in the extreme Great times - Echo & the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, and Wah Heat! played there too as local bands just hitting it big, though one of my favourites were Original Mirrors who never did

The 300 to 6/7/800 (whatever it is these days) are all basically the same bass. Just the woods and electronics get a bit better the further you go up the price scale. They're all very good and although my Soundgear obsessed days are far gone, I still wouldn't hesitate with a lot of them. Thanks to the brilliant ergonomics I know that's one bass I can blind buy every time and it'll work for me. Saying that I think they're oversaturating these days with all the minor variations in body finishes and so on. The 655 in "ice black" or whatever, for example. Just another SR w/ Bartolinis that sounds good, but not great. If you can find one of the 6xx series ones in the brown stain finish with the Norstrand CND P/J pickups and active/passive switch, that's well worth the £6-700 price tag. Or just get the 300E for probably the best sub-£500 five string on the market. I'd also recommend looking at the TRBX from Yamaha which was very clearly their idea of an SR competitor when it dropped. Many good reviews on the TRBX305.

@lemmywinks I just noticed the Catbus on your icon, good move.

I have something coming today. Bear with.

I've not dared to open the cover on mine yet. Too much clearing up and food preparation going on, and I don't want to upset the good lady wife by spending the big day with my head in a book. I'll wait in anticipation of a quieter moment later on

I use the instrument level input on the QSC K10.2 from the amp output on the Fishman, works fine for me.

I may be able to sort you out with some spare D'addario cable if I can find it all out. I switched to George L's and no longer need it.

They may well do but they'd be overlooking the stunning Czech Euro basses. EBMM make a fine product, if a little middle-of-the-road and unexciting. However, the Spector Euro is an entirely different animal but I think, comparable in quality to a Musicman. At least their G string is as loud as the others! I must also commend the quality control at the Czech facility. It's always excellent. This was even more impressive a few years ago, when their basses cost about 60% of what they list for today. I can remember when I first played a Euro Spector, at Sound Control in Newcastle when they got two NT models in for £1000 each. They were really excellent and the novelty of playing an EMG P/J equipped bass was great. I was very much into Victor Wooten's 'A Show of Hands' tone and those Spectors just nailed that.

It's Christmas morning. 4.23am. I'm wide awake, listening to foxes howling somewhere close by. And an owl hooting. Woo-hooooooo. Woo-hooooooooo.

I'm guessing from these comments most if not all of you haven't played a 2018 Stingray Special? The new 3 band is quite different and along with the neo pick ups and 18 volt electronics make for a great experience. What you guys talking about the earlier 3 band compared with the 2 band are hearing is the filter cutting the boomy frequencies plus the way the mid is voiced. If you turn the mid down some way, boost bass and treble a little you'll get closer to the 2 band sound. You can get more bass response by moving the position you pluck the bass towards the neck - rather than over the pick up (such as where you pluck a Precision or even closer to the neck for instance). The Stingray has always had more bass and treble than a Precision - that was part of the point of it in the first place - giving the player more flexibility and ability to control their sound.

AKA "Duck Egg Blue"? (Nips off to buy some Bombay Duck eggs for breakfast. They're rare you know, like hen's teeth rare. I might settle for a duck lip sandwich instead.)

Just had a listen ... nice one Andy

Yes - I read an interview with him where he was saying that he’d specifically got a Fender Jazz from each year of production to see if he could hear any difference and see how they had changed, and came to the conclusion that “pre CBS” was a genuine difference in how the basses sound. I’m not a Fender fan either, but it’s a very personal project and it’s interesting to see his opinion. probably more interesting for those with a Fender and Rickenbacker interest tho

The buyer is probably another antique dealer.

You joke (perhaps...) but was in a guitar shop that had a secondhand Ray 34 in superb condition. Someone else was trying it out and it sounded rubbish through an MB CMD121P - weak and lacking. They put it back on the wall and left. I had a go and was unimpressed. Grabbed a sales person and asked if he would check the battery... lo and behold, it didn't even have one in it. He popped in a new one, I tried it out and it came home with me and was very pleased for the money I didn't actually keep it - neck was just a bit too chunky for me, but made some money on the sale (which is pretty much a first for me...).

Frank I love your convert's zeal! But have you seen what @Bridgehousehas recently dragged in with the cats? He is single handedly (well with both hands and a fork lift truck) rescuing rock n roll. Just in time for Christmas 😀

I had the opposite. Back in the early 70s I lusted after a Gibson Les Paul, but finances would not allow, so I bought an SG instead. It was a lovely instrument but I never lost the desire for the Holy Grail, the LP. I started playing guitar again in the late 80s and I decided I would have my dream. I was in the local music shop and the guy gave me the LP standard and plugged it in. It was awful, I hated the fat neck, the weight was just silly and access to the top frets was difficult . I put it back with a rueful smile and saved myself a lot of money. Lesson learned, don't put anything or anyone on a pedestal without knowing exactly what you are getting. Or, try and check its for you.