51m0n

[quote name='molan' post='423966' date='Mar 3 2009, 10:56 AM']I gigged with mine on Saturday.

Vaguely amusing little story from the interval of the gig when a bass player in the audience started talking to me. He told me had a newish Fender USA Jazz. I mentioned that whilst I liked the good old J bass I'd only ever owned one Fender and that was an old '70's Musicmaster.

He then proceeded to go through a long speech about how great Fenders were and took great pains to explain that if a US Standard was a bit expensive for me then I should consider the Mex basses as they were such great quality. I'm fairly sure that because I was using a tiny Benz Shuttle for amplification at the gig he thought I was a bit of a bass man on the cheap and that the MTD must have been some cheapo Korean thing.

I asked what he thought of my bass and he said it looked pretty. I said that it was a USA MTD and that he should try one if he got a chance.He said he'd look out for them in a fairly offhand way and I then casually mentioned that they were excellent but quite expensive - about £3K new but if he shopped around he might be lucky enough to find a used one for somewhere around the £2K mark. . .

His jaw dropped and and his mouth gaped open for ages - he then completely stuttered over his words for a minute or two and then quietly shuffled away, lol.


N.B. I really do like Fender J basses & I would never normally have tried to pull any sort of 'one-upmanship' trick like this (not least because the price of something may not be a true reflection of value & it's all subjective anyway) but he was very condescending in the way he was talking to me so I couldn't resist [/quote]

"Bwahahahahaaaaaaa

and frickin lazer beams pop out and everything!!!"

Cruel, mate - I mean he deserved it but cruel.

Nice

[quote name='molan' post='429341' date='Mar 9 2009, 01:32 PM']Umm, I'll have a cup of whatever you're having. . .


[/quote]

Do you take sugar with your mushroom soup then?

[quote name='alexclaber' post='429254' date='Mar 9 2009, 12:21 PM']My thought exactly - something off Plantation Lullabies.

Fantastic playing!

Alex[/quote]

Nice, I think she's quoting God Fear Money even if she didn't realise it.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY033jfPoNk&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY033jfPoNk...feature=related[/url]

The tone on that is unreal, how crunchy can you get????

Probably not everybodies cup of tea but I love it...

[quote name='wombatboter' post='429183' date='Mar 9 2009, 11:28 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVZpak6eqzQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVZpak6eqzQ[/url]

Features also her great feel and sound....[/quote]


That rocks, is it me or is she quoting another of her tracks through this???

Something damned similar to one of hers any way.

Could listen to her jam on two chords all day myself.

Love that kind of playing. Although its more fun to play than listen to if I'm really honest (I can attempt to play like that all week without getting in the slightest bit bored), that is absolutely dependent on a drummer who's great at working off the tiniest inflections and rhythmic pushes and what have you, a drum machine is not what you need

Cheers for posting though, I'm always after little bits of Meshell to cop the feel of (oo-er), love her funkier stuff, the introspective soul searching stuff I can live without...

I dont think £50 is expensive for a half decent little mixer.....

This is the Mix120, for the same price :wacko:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tapco-Mackie-Mix-120-Mixer_W0QQitemZ230328509561QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Mixers?hash=item230328509561&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tapco-Mackie-Mix-120...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url]

4 XLR inputs and 2 stereo line inputs, phantom power on XLR's.

I got a Korg DTR [b]2[/b]000 from Music King for £123 new.

I only got the 2000 cos it was as cheap there as some other places were doing the dtr1000.

It tracks really well. I've been running it after my compressor in line so as to use its mute functionality when tuning.

Does what it says on the tin frankly....

I would love to, just once, come up with a bass line as simple, elegant, 'right' and catchy as the one on Walking On The Moon.

Absolute class.

And some of the syncopation between his singing and playing have convinced me he is in fact an alien.

I have always been blown away by the Police, I was a wee nipper when I firs theard them on the Radio and even then I thought they were a cut above, although I couldn't have said why exactly.

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='421273' date='Feb 27 2009, 07:40 PM']The (possibly apocryphal) story behind the bassline is that someone suggested they have the two parts, and the session bassist really pushed for it, because then he'd be paid double for the session.[/quote]

It's all true, bassist is Herbie Flowers, and a nicer fella I've never met. He's got about a gazillion tales from sessions and this is just one of them....

Well there you go I like the Housemartins and a lot of the Beautiful South - there I said it.

You're all wrong, I'm right nah nah na nah naaaaahhh ppttthhhhhhhhhhffffffrrrpppp!

Glad this hasnt descended into complete silliness then!

This looks staggering though:-

[url="http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua=en&cat=1&vedi=95"]http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua...t=1&vedi=95[/url]

ooooh knobs and buttons and lights and channels and I'll get me coat (its the long brown mac)

Yeah the price rise is ridiculous. They claim that its entirely related to exchange rate, and yet the American market is paying less than ever........

I'm going to stop now before I really start to rant, but its not on!!!!!!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='424995' date='Mar 4 2009, 12:57 PM']I just bought one of these in a moment of sheer extravagance!



Alex[/quote]

Tart

I use a Comfort Strapp, but I remove the extra bit off the top end cos otherwise I find the plastic D is right on my shoulder making it really not comfortable. Mind you I wear my bass around my ears according to some

Love my gear, really really happy with it all.

Wish I had about ten times as much time and energy to practice as I do (two kids, much DIY and work mean my 'free' time is about 1 evening a week from something like 9:30pm).

So my playing sucks compared to where I'd love it to be (some of you guys who post Garrison technique stuff on youtube are making me feel very very lowly indeed - you know who you are ), and my theory and application thereof is way off where it once was (thats what a loooong break does for you).

Still I'm going to plod on and try and get reading again as soon as I've got my head around the 5 string neck completely: its doing my brain in still, but at least its feeling far more normal than it did when I got it!

[quote name='Marky L' post='424106' date='Mar 3 2009, 01:50 PM']I get into an annoying routine of rubbing my fretting hand on the side of my trousers after every song. It started so I could wipe a bit of sweat off but is now a bit of a habit.[/quote]


Might be mistaken for a one handed Reeves trouser rubbing, there are bylaws around that kind of behaviour in some counties, so watch out!

[quote name='Linus27' post='424138' date='Mar 3 2009, 02:26 PM']I would not say U2 have done virtually nothing to extend the canon of popular music. So many bands have been influenced by U2. Radiohead, Coldplay, Snow Patrol for example. u2 themselves were influenced by The Ramones, The Beatles and Joy Division.[/quote]


You see once again you try and say one thing and I'm pretty sure I'm hearing a different meaning here.

I [b]think[/b] you are trying to say how much U2 have done to extend the canon of popular music, and yet the list you give of influenced bands is one that corresponds exactly to my list of thoroughly overrated drivel.

Wow, thats scarily accurate....

So if I liked U2 I might like Coldplay and Radiohead, or Snow Patrol?

Damned glad I am where I am on this one then!

[quote name='Linus27' post='424133' date='Mar 3 2009, 02:18 PM']Who cares, rice pudding is sh*t. Treacle Tart is so much better [/quote]

But what has treacle tart done for puddings as we know them that Rice pudding hasn't?

I bet more rice pudding variants have been sold than treacle tarts for a start...

[quote name='Linus27' post='424132' date='Mar 3 2009, 02:17 PM']I asked what other bands/groups you liked. Your reply was one group. This gave the impression that Motown was your thing. With the limitations to the internet and expression and the ease at assuming, my assumption was Motown was the genre you liked. If for example you said Iron Maiden or Girls Aloud, then again, due to the limitations with the internet, these answers would had given a totally different impression. What you should had done is said The Funk Brothers, Iron Maiden, Girls Aloud, Cliff Richard, Bo Didley, Duran Duran and Miles Davis. That way I would had been really confused and probably jumped off a tall building .... with my U2 records [/quote]




Best thing to do with those U2 records IMO mate

[quote name='P-T-P' post='424107' date='Mar 3 2009, 01:51 PM']As, to be honest, is the whole overrated argument. "One man's meat" and all that. I bet we couldn't even get 100% agreement as to what constitutes "being overrated."[/quote]

overrate
v overrate [əuvəˈreit]
to think that something is better, stronger, more valuable etc than it really is


No argument from me on that one.....

[quote name='P-T-P' post='424107' date='Mar 3 2009, 01:51 PM']Okay, like Motown, love U2.

There's a snag with the Funk Brother's comparison though because really, how many records did they sell when their record company and all it's artists upped and left for LA?

Don't get me wrong, these are masterful musicians, but people bought Marvin Gaye/Supremes/Temptations/Stevie Wonder records, not Funk Brother records. And virtually none of the songs on those records were written by the Funk Brothers. And if we're talking about marketing, Motown wasn't exactly backwards in that department and for every gem of a song that came out on that label, there was probably 100 banal offerings to accompany it.

I don't mean to put down the legacy of the Funk Brothers at all, but they were a backing band - an extraordinary one for sure - but a backing band nonetheless. Their presence and abilities no doubt helped towards the success of many records, but it was far from the only reason for those records' success.

When it comes to U2's record sales, most of everything they've achieved is down to them - their songs, their performance, their decisions on promotion, track orders, sleeve designs etc.

Having said all that, the whole sales argument is phoney.

As, to be honest, is the whole overrated argument. "One man's meat" and all that. I bet we couldn't even get 100% agreement as to what constitutes "being overrated."

What's annoying about it as a U2 fan is that it's always directed at U2 without it ever really being sought out, as evidenced by the beginnings of this whole thread. Okay, so some people don't like U2. I'm sure that's true of pretty much every band, but no other band really has people going out of their way to point out their dislike/hatred of them the way U2 does.[/quote]

He asked me who I thought was a great band, he didnt ask for any more than that.

The Funk Brothers were a great band.

They were responsible for all the musical hooks played on a gazillion sold albums.

Where did anyone state they needed to be anything other than a house band?

I stand by my point regarding what they did to extend the canon of popular music. Compared to which U2 have frankly done virtually nothing (IMO).

As for "how many records did they sell when their record company and all it's artists upped and left for LA? ", well thats just part of the criminal neglect they got as the musicians responsible for putting those songs out. Jamerson invented the basslines, no one wrote them out note for note for instance. So, yeah a lot of people put their creativity into them, and I would rather everyone involved had got what they deserved to out of the success; I dont believe that that happened, but I also believe that that doesn't actually detract from the importance and significance of The Funk Brothers in any way.

[quote name='Linus27' post='424087' date='Mar 3 2009, 01:25 PM']I think your looking to deep into some of my comments as half the stuff you have written above is assuming on what I was thinking which is clearly wrong. Oh and to answer your other question, I like Motown and U2. So much so that only the other day I was saying to dave_bass5 that I would like to play in a Motown covers band. So to answer your question, then Yes.. ME [/quote]

If I misunderstood you then I apologise, but thats how to came across when you said "If thats the genre of music you like then its unlikley you would be raving about U2.". Sounded like liking the Funk Brothers means you wouldnt expect me to like U2. What did you mean then????

Especially since you like both so much!?!?! Now you totally confused me.

Thats it, its all done, total class, no point trying to come close to that one, back to the day job; forever

Cheers, not much music rates the adjective sublime, but that does.

I've found that rubbing the side of your nose trick to get some greaseyness on the plucking fingers can really work before a particularly fast track....

[quote name='Linus27' post='424081' date='Mar 3 2009, 01:13 PM']Well, all I asked was I would be interested in hearing what music/bands you do consider good/great and well, thats all the answer you gave. Can't blame me for that one.[/quote]

No you were fine at that point, and I responded with a band that I consider truly great, and an inspiration to all musicians; this however:-

[quote name='Linus27' post='424015' date='Mar 3 2009, 11:57 AM']If thats the genre of music you like then its unlikley you would be raving about U2.[/quote]

Is the point where your comment became absurd, since you assumed that liking and admiring the Funk Brothers for any reason at all could in some way prevent me from liking U2, unless of course you consider liking Motown to probably mean I have more discerning taste than to like U2 (which I'm starting to believe may well be the case)

So is there anyone out there who likes Motown and U2?? or is Linus27 correct in his assumption that you can like one but not he other??????

Anybody??

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='424046' date='Mar 3 2009, 12:35 PM']Been avoiding the thread but seen it get cross referenced on here and also on other forums so I read the first page.

If you dont like U2 - get over it. Likewise Oasis. Seems to me a lot of you just hate success, which makes it cool to like Jaco in a reverse snobbery kind of way.

I think U2 made some great albums in the early years - and dont forget that they have been going for years and made lots and lots of albums, many more than other rubbish bands like Led Zep, Beatles and Floyd etc (joke). I am not surprised their creative juices have dried up with such a limited format.[/quote]

I've no problem with success, I love loads of successful artists.

Thats another sweeping generalisation from all you lovers of Oasis and U2 and the like; if I dont like artist blah, therefore I dont like success.

Rubbish. I dont like artist blah, they are, to me and many others, far more successful than anything I have heard from then would or should warrant IMO. Therefore they appear to be over rated.

Its not complicated, I dont like their stuff particularly as I dont see much to like, therefore I dont see the mass appeal. If they were reasonably successful I wouldn't comment, but they are staggeringly successful given the quality of their work, hence overrated.

Again I'll compare their music to the Funk Brothers since I thought of them already, and the Funk Brothers have better grooves, better tunes, more ideas, better "avg output" etc, just IMO, but thats all this is about anyway, my opinion versus yours.

Is liking the Funk Brothers reverse snobbery now?

What about Squarepusher, Plus Tech Squeeze Box, The Doors, Suicidal Tendencies, The Young Gods, The Stranglers, Corrosion of Conformity, Bare Naked Ladies, Bob Marley, Ramones, Beautiful South, Johnny Cash, Housemartins, The Banshees, Blondie, Madness, Talking Heads, Bjork, Michael Manring, Ruiner Severhead; I mean when is it reverse snobbery and when is it just something I like cos I like it and enjoy it and think its good music since I find more to move me and or interest me in it than anything I have heard to date from U2 (or Oasis)?

I really like the vast majority of output from all the bands I just mentioned, who are you to try and tell me I'm wrong to like or dislike any of them? Who are you to say that since I find less to like in the output of Oasis and or U2 I should think that they are not overrated when they patently are considered so great by so many, yet I find so little to like or admire in what they have produced.

Why am I not supposed to think that U2 are overrated? How is their music better than any of that I just mentioned? Just because more people bought into it?? That is your best and most complete argument to say they deserve all the hype so far. In that case enjoy your McDonalds, please remember you will be wanting to super size yours.....