Deep Thought

Me at a Charity do with a load of other bands last month. Good day. Looking scary, as I'm told I do when I'm onstage-I'm not, but I'm the frontman, so I feel I have to do something, scary is the best I can manage.

I have found that since I got my current setup (Shuker JJ Burnel, Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 with 2 neo Celestion-loaded Ashdown mini cabs), I stay out of music shops. I can't see the point any more, because I'm fairly unlikely to find anything that's going to beat what I've got. I am a Precision man at heart, the Shuker JJ is just a handbuilt Precision with a few improvements. I can't see me finding anything that I like better, and I can't justify owning more than one expensive bass-I was lucky to get this one! The only thing I did still fancy was a Rickenbacker, but a conversation recently with a bloke who'd owned and sold one has cured me of that one too. As for my rig, it has all the power I'm likely to need, and is lightweight enough that I don't dread load-ins and outs any more. There are things I could still do with-a similar amp to act as backup, and a better PA system (I'm the singer, so I own ours), but as for my bass rig, for the moment, I'm sorted. I love the idea of a big valve amp, but I don't want the size, weight or expense. It has, I have to say, taken away one of life's little pleasures. Those of you who say you wish you could be GAS-free, be careful what you wish for. I don't have it any more and to be honest I miss it.

Yep, balls for playing bowls, i.e. like Sir Francis Drake, used to be made of lignum vitae. It was used for bearings and the like too-in fact it was used for the glands in the propshaft tunnels of ships. I was reading the other day that the wartime aircraft carrier H.M.S. Illustrious had lignum vitae propshaft glands. As for picks, I think I'll stick with Dunlop nylon ones.

Black-I wish I knew why Fender insist on putting white scratchplates on black basses. I do have a cream one that looks quite nice.

Yeah, nylon Dunlop 1mm's, or Herco .75's. I like nylons ones as they have a bit of flex, and also a good grippy surface.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='824295' date='Apr 30 2010, 06:36 PM']JJ Burnell,and I'm frankly surprised only 2 other people have said the same.[/quote] Well I would have, but I think most people on here have heard me say it enough times. Others are Norman Watt-Roy and John Entwistle.

I have some nice blue ones from posh water on my JJ-Orangepeelneil recently very kindly supplied me with a second one to make up a set! I'd be interested in finding some black ones, although they would have to be the same type of stuff as the Grolsch ones-I've found ordinary rubber washers (shower fittings and the like) aren't stiff enough, and pull off too easily. I don't take my strap off, just put it in the case with them still on.

Can't comment on the Markbass, but I've had the GB 6.0 for over a year and absolutely love it. Admittedly I'm not one for much bottom end, but it certainly does what I need, plus I can carry my whole rig in one go if I have to. I would, and hopefully will, buy a second one as backup at some stage.

[quote name='MB1' post='815055' date='Apr 22 2010, 03:06 PM']MB1. ...You Sure your talking about basses here? Cassanova! [/quote] Ha, I wish-mind you, if you just left the 'b' off 'bass'....

I would say Ray Charles has gotta be in there somewhere. Zappa I have no problem with. Another I'd say has to be getting pretty close is John Paul Jones. I also hate to say it, 'cos I've hated much of his stuff (although I've grudgingly actually quite liked a couple of others), but another is Gary Barlow. And right out of left field, for me a vote goes to Mark E. Smith.

[quote name='Sean' post='814291' date='Apr 21 2010, 09:11 PM']no one I know of has had an Aerodyne they didn't love.[/quote] I didn't love the one I had. Didn't get on with the bound body-too uncomfortable.

It can happen, and not just with basses-you buy it, play it, and love it, and genuinely believe it's the greatest thing you've ever owned. Then you have it for a while, and the honeymoon period comes to an end, and you start noticing things you don't like which you didn't notice before, in your first flush of enthusiasm. Then something else comes along, the next Big Thing, and the first one has to go. Or perhaps you're searching for some particular sound or feel, and you're experimenting with different basses. Often you go through a few before you find what you're after. So it's not entirely ridiculous to be singing a bass's praises one week and selling it the next.

Utter waste of time on a Precision-I had it on my '07 P and all it did was change the sound from full and punchy to thin and weedy. It came off at the earliest opportunity.

Black/white/maple Westone Concord I, which I still have-cost me £115 in about 1983 as I recall. first rig was a Peavey Century 100W head, with a pair of brand new Marshall 2X12 cabs. Was once told by a pro guitarist (from the band on the holiday camp where I worked) never to sell the head-but I did, and I got £120 for the whole rig.

Worst thing about being in a band, is being in a band. Playing is great, it's all the internal politics that takes it out of you. It astonishes me that there are bands out there who have been going for 30+ years. Keep on keeping on.

ZZ Top-Lagrange-piece of piss but I love it. Ram Jam-Black betty Killers-When You Were Young One of our own called Bad Omen.

I used to suffer from this quite a lot when we had a female singer-her taste wasn't the same as the rest of us, and compromises had to be made. We did 'Black Velvet', which I always hated as a song, although it does have a nice bassline-sadly I didn't have a fretless at the time. we also had to do a couple by Pink which were pretty 'orrible. Don't miss doing those. We're on the bill of a multi-band charity gig soon, finale is ensemble versions of 'Sweet Home Alabama' (we do that, but [i]nothing[/i] like the original), and 'Mustang Sally', which believe it or not I've had to learn.

I'm the bass player and lead vocalist with the Steely-eyed Missile Men. We are all from mid-Cornwall, and we're a three-piece playing blues/blues-rock and R'n'B. We've mostly been a covers band for the last two years, but lately we've been concentrating more on our own stuff, most of which seems to be more rock than blues, for some reason. Here's the MySpace:-http://www.myspace.com/thesteelyeyedmissilemen The three tracks here were recorded live early last year, all are original tracks-we've since been to the famous Sawmills Studio at Golant to record three tracks, which we plan to put on CD for sale at gigs. Been a bit quiet lately due to work/rota problems (all three of us are emergency ambulance staff), but we're back on track with a support gig for Blue on Black (well-established Cornish blues band-have supported the likes of Deep Purple and Walter Trout) on the 17th. On May 2nd we're on the bill with nine other bands at the Bridge on Wool in Wadebridge for a benefit gig in aid of Leukaemia-going to be a cracking night.

I agree on Schallers. I've had them on several basses, and am always having the screws come undone. Why they can't supply thicker screws is a mystery to me. The best result I had was when I drilled out the button and used the screws from the original button that the bass was supplied with. When I bought my Shuker, John offered to send me a set of Schallers for nothing (mine is an early JJ before he fitted them as standard). I decided to stick with Grolsch washers-my mate found me a nice blue one from a bottle of posh mineral water-I'm still trying to find a second one!

I rather like that myself-cheap too, I might be in the market for one of those soon.

I also have a tendency to stick my tongue out of the corner of my mouth (on the right!) during tricky bits-not whilst I'm singing, of course.

One thing I cannot do is just sit down and write a song-it has to happen when it happens. I don't play enough guitar to use it for writing, so I will usually come up with a bass line and wait for some lyrics to come to me-usually whilst driving at work! Other times music and lyrics will come to me simultaneously. I have to rely on the other guys in the band to come up with their parts, although sometimes I'll have an idea what I want the guitar and drums to do.

Gub, welcome from S'nozzle. There's a few boys from down this end on here. Florida_RRoe7_A (mate, you have to do something about that username! ) welcome also. I know what it's like getting back into playing after a long time away, but you'll soon pick it up and be fully au fait with what's about-I have forums like this to thank for getting me back into the swing four years ago. Which bit of Florida you in? Only been once (Orlando,of course)-loved it there.