Austin7

3 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Yeah maybe. But damn those things are ugly, and a lot more expensive to boot. 

I agree that they may be overpriced.  But they're so ugly they look good.  Plus, Jack Bruce played one on some of the songs on "Disraeli Gears."  Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring played a Longhorn for years.  Rinus became maybe dangerously attached to his emotionally, though.  On a U.S. tour, his Danelectro got stolen and he wouldn't even talk to anyone for three days.  

2 hours ago, Paul S said:

If you want short scale and lightweight, they won't come any lighter than a Danelectro Longhorn.  If you can live with the styling of course - the quirky shape was part of the attraction for me.

I like the Longhorns.  Also, a few years ago I got one of the Danelectro Hodads right before they quit making them.  I was able to get that on sale.  It looks like they may never put the Longhorns on sale, though.  After spending too much on some basses a few years ago, I have to be concerned about price more than I'd like.  

7 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Not sure of the exact weight. But it's quite light while still feeling sturdy. It's much lighter than a standard, say P bass. Its Also lighter than my Les Paul guitar. It's also really well balanced. I'd say about the same as a Strat style guitar. I'd say go for it. I'm really impressed with how punchy and beefy it is being short scale, and it's soooo easy to play. For the money I'd say you can't really go wrong with one of these. 

Thanks.  I've read several good reviews about it now.  I'm surprised it isn't priced a little higher.  

I've been thinking about getting one, too.  I have a neck problem because of whiplash injuries and usually play lightweight basses.  How much does this weigh?

I had no idea that a Burns could be so massive and heavy.  I like the look.  But I've never even seen one and I've seen many basses in my life.  I know someone from the Netherlands who has mentioned how much he likes them several times, though.  

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

To me it does. A lot of the sonic and functional character of those old instruments comes from the fact that electrics and hardware wasn't the same as the average Fender or Gibson.

For instance I have a 60 Burns Sonic Bass. Other than the innovative heelless neck joint there's nothing at all special about the shape of the bass. The character is in the sound which all down to particular pickups fitted and the way they are wired up. You can't do that if you're using off-the shelf parts.

That's George Harrison playing some kind of Burns bass on "She Said She Said" on the "Revolver" album.  I just read that the other day.  Not sure exactly why Paul McCartney left the session on that song.  It was the last song recorded on "Revolver."  I'm going to have to say I don't know much about Burns basses, though.  They're not very well known in the U.S.  

It's interesting.  But I'm not sure if there is anything about this that would make me prefer it to a Hofner Contemporary violin bass.  Still, if they included a case rather than just a gig bag, I might be a little more interested.  

On 04/08/2018 at 18:21, Bluewine said:

Way too many, would love to sell a few off.

 

Blue

Very nice basses.  

That's interesting.  I hadn't heard about that.  I like the way it looks.  

The Beatles did very well in this statistical analysis.

https://quartzy.qz.com/1133090/the-most-influential-pop-music-artists-of-all-time-according-to-social-network-analysis/

1 hour ago, mikel said:

Yep, I was born in 52 and for a few years the world revolved around Britain, because of the Beatles.

I'd say it was more than a few years.  

10 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

I never gave any thought to John's singing. I was listening to "The Beatles"

It was all Fab.

Blue

I considered all four to be equals.  However, John's singing did stand out to me.  His voice had a unique rawness to it.  Now that I look back at it, though, I have to take the minority position of viewing George as my favorite ex-Beatle, considering that his solo albums (especially "All Things Must Pass and "Living in the Material World") were my favorites.  

21 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I disagree with most of what you say, but will concede that George was a.. lazy guitarist. The rooftop concert. The 'All You Need Is Love' solo. Even McCartney and Lennon eclipse him at the end of the Abbey Road medley. But he was a bit off-the-wall, influenced the direction of the band and wrote handful of classics.

I strongly disagree re: Ringo. Even Bernard Purdie rates him enough to try to steal his credit.

McCartney's 'twee' stuff often has a bit of a sinister undercurrent which appeals to me, and I have no problems with Lennon's voice.

I have to disagree that George was eclipsed on guitar on the Abbey Road medley.  His part has always been my favorite.  

As for Lennon's voice, to me it was always at the heart of the Beatles' overall sound.  I've noticed, however, that his voice seems to be criticized by critics who really dislike the Beatles.  A younger relative of mine would be a good example I've personally encountered whose dislike of Lennon's singing has been relentless through the years.  

Politician--Cream--Wheels of Fire

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1335535321' post='1632805']
Fair enough, I thought I saw something on the BBC website that labelled them Southern Rock..... maybe I dreamed it! It's pretty soulful stuff for sure.
[/quote]

It can be hard to label people. Ginger Baker insisted he was a jazz drummer, not a rock drummer, for instance. Many other examples could be given. In the case of the Alabama Shakes, what I'm hearing is essentially soul music. But if someone wants to label them Southern rock, that's perfectly understandable. From what I've read about them, that lead guitarist had a specific vision for them to take old soul music and interpret it their own way. I think that singer may actually be a rocker at heart. But when she sings, it comes out as soul music, in my opinion. As someone who has been around Southern rock all my life, I just tend to think of it as something quite a bit different from what they're doing. One thing is that in Southern rock songs there is a tendency for the drummer to play behind the beat. Another distinctive part of Southern rock is its blues rock sound. Also, it can have a very faint country influence. But to me it is far from being country or soul music. This is just my personal spin on it, not like something I would be able to prove by using any kind of formal method or anything like that. I'm going by feel, not necessarily pure logic per se. Also, when I use the term Southern rock, I'm referring to the Allman Brothers and that sort of thing rather than contemporary music.

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1335528027' post='1632638']
I'm not a big fan of Southern rock but I thought they were great, one of the best acts on Jools for while.

I reckon the bass player was pulling the faces because he probably came from country and western music and isn't used to playing such a busy bassline.
[/quote]

I wouldn't call what they're doing Southern rock. I view it much more as retro-soul. On the other hand, Duane Allman is the best representative of Southern rock that I can think of. He was directly involved with some of the best soul music of the 60s--the Muscle Shoals sound. So, the lines can be blurred.

I don't know the Alabama Shakes personally, but I'm familiar with that area. In fact, I noticed that studio where they recorded their first demo was the same studio where some friends and I recorded a demo in 2008. I'm impressed with them.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1334765826' post='1620926']
I'd put it towards recording a really good album in an excellent studio with a great producer.
[/quote]

Words of wisdom.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1334777648' post='1621225']
Exactly why I can't be bothered with active basses, but then I'm old school anyway... keep it simple, is my thing.
[/quote]

+1

Why I am here? Why am I posting articles from British publications that I know little about? In the wrong section, too, not in Off Topic where it belongs. I say this with complete sincerity: because spending even one more minute on TB might have caused me to go berserk.

I really did mean to post this in Off Topic. I honestly don't know how I ended up posting it here.

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1334439189' post='1616320']
Surely the only logical response is to invade Iran?
[/quote]

This topic is about ageism, not politics.

[url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2129622/Coachella-2012-David-Hasselhoff-59-Pierce-Brosnan-58-try-hip-Coachella-festival.html?ito=feeds-newsxml"]http://www.dailymail...o=feeds-newsxml[/url]

Have Pierce Brosnan and David Hasselhoff completely gone mad? Both were spotted at a music festival evidently trying to look "hip" and attempting to actually listen to rock music at the advanced ages of 58 and 59. Why weren't these men at an old folks home playing checkers and complaining about wrinkles and bad backs? Thank God the "Daily Mail" has brought the world this incredible story.

I was once in a studio in which the engineer made a joke that he had never heard of John Bonham. The drummer didn't quite catch everything that was said and believed that the engineer really hadn't heard of Bonham. He was so offended that he said he would refuse to ever be around that engineer again. I had known the drummer for years and doubt that I've ever seen him so serious. Fortunately, I was able to explain to him that it had only been an innocent joke on the engineer's part and, like the rest of the world, he did know of John Bonham.

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