lowregisterhead

I heard an inspired version of that very song by 'The Bikini Beach Band' who used to gig around South East London. I saw them at The Venue in New Cross in the 90's. Apparently the band were made up of London session guys, although I've never actually found who they were. Their schtick was that all the songs were instrumental (there wasn't even a mic onstage) with the melodies played with heavy use of the whammy bar in a D1ck Dale surf guitar style, and the band all dressed in flamenco outfits with fezez(?). It was simultaneously cool, absurd, hilarious and musically excellent! They also did a cracking version of the Manics 'Design For Life', IIRC...

Mike bought my Steinberger Spirit fretless, and was kind enough to brave the winter winds and Sunday motorists to come and collect it. Thanks for making the journey, enjoy the bass!

Pity he didn't take the time to plug the audio into the camera. The shop acoustics don't make it sound great!

Update: Andertons are getting a stock of the basses in at the end of this week (allegedly). They're not far from where I live, so when I got my money back from GAK, I went and put a deposit down on a EHB1005MS, so I can have first refusal. If it's not to my taste, they'll refund my deposit. Hopefully they will turn up! I'll report back once I've actually laid hands on one.

I've got several early Laklands, but they're certainly not Fender copies, other than the fact that every electric bass can trace its origins back to a Fender in some way. Neck profiles, string spacing, pickup and preamp configs, and scale lengths set them well apart from most Fenders, IMHO. I wasn't so taken with the first D Lakin basses, apart from the Shark, but the whole line disappeared so fast I never got a chance to try one out. The new range strikes me as being a bit of a backward step, and I think I know why - us bass players can be largely a pretty traditional bunch, and if he wants to sell a few units, Dan won't want to stray too far from the beaten track. Bit of a shame if you ask me, he's had some interesting ideas in the past.

https://www.dlakinbasses.com/

Sorry, the bird in the pearls needs a slap. And the drummer needs a metronome. The guitarist is great though...

I don't think it's worth the grief. If people can get apoplectic about Yorkshire tea, I can't imagine what would happen. I don't mind being a closet musical fascist, but I'm not putting my head above the parapet. The internet would probably implode.

Oooooh, don't tempt me! :-D

As promising as that sounds, I'll have to pass. I was once even offered tickets to see the real Steely Dan live, and turned them down because I was convinced that on some level I would be disappointed! Like I said, you shouldn't tinker with perfection... 🙂

This is what I can't bear - Steely Dan tribute acts. I've had my arm twisted into seeing one in the past (a friend was singing BVs with them) and it was hideous. The band were all great players individually, but it was grooveless, anodyne, and smug (look at us, aren't we hip) and these guys weren't even listening to each other. Full-on fret w@nk. I made excuses and left before my head exploded. You shouldn't tinker with perfection, IMHO. I'd even go as far as to say certain songs and even some artists just shouldn't be covered full stop. I won't start an argument by naming them, but suffice to say I have a list.

Like several others, I do cut my strings to length, but put a sharp 90 degree bend in them first, then cut them leaving about a 2cm tail that goes down the centre of the tuner post. I only started putting the bend in as a precaution after reading a similar article a few years ago about slipping windings on strings causing them to go dead, even though it's never actually happened to me in 40 years of playing. In fact I've always thought that overlapping windings are likely to cause tuning problems from the excess string moving on the tuner post, so cutting the string to a length that makes sure all the windings are in contact with the post should make tuning more stable. On the couple of occasions that I've had a dead string in a new set (naming no names) I've simply changed manufacturer. I've been using D'Addario EXLs for many years now, and have never had any issues with them. Each to his own though.

To quote Arnold Brown, "...and why not?"

Looks like they're fed through a loop of some sort at the front and clamped from behind, the excess string then being cut off cleanly. No need for hacking! 😉 At least there's a small projection at the tip to protect the singer from being poked in the ear by any rough ends, should you care about that! Not bothered myself. Most other headless basses don't have that feature, but the option of being able to use double ball ends would have be nice, I suppose. That said, the choice of double ball strings on the market is pretty limited, and they can be pricey. I'd reckon most would prefer to use the brand, type and gauge they're accustomed to.

Ismael bought my Bogart bass from me, and it was a really smooth transaction - excellent communication, fast payment. Thanks!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Magnum-1V-EQ-bass-in-stunning-condition/164073155938 A robust price, but looks in great nick.

Fantastic. That's a night you won't forget in a hurry...

Whilst I understand that occasionally posts on here can be a bit sarcastic, even pompous (and I've been guilty of it myself once or twice) please keep in mind that for every bass player that may have achieved the dizzy heights at which you are fortunate enough to have found yourself, there are many thousands who play in their bedrooms, in rehearsal bands, or whose peak of achievement might be a gig down their local pub. If you have done much better, you are to be applauded, admired, and even envied. But please show a bit more deference to those who are what could be termed in the lower echelons of the bass community. We far outnumber you. I'm a 'pro'. I played in a pub last week. I got paid a modest amount. I've also played in Hyde Park, on national TV in many different countries, and to crowds of 20,000 and more on numerous occasions. This may sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but I've never said any of this on here before, the reason being that it has nothing to do with anything. I'm a just bass player, and part of a community, as you are. If people do, in fact 'avoid this forum', it's for their own reasons, not because they're 'pros'.

I think that's what it's all about - they have the customer's money for weeks or longer until the item becomes available.

Don't worry, I will! 🙂

This is what I just emailed to them. As tempted as I was to be profane, I'm just not that kind of guy... :-) --------------------- Hi xxx Thank you for sending the refund (although of course with PayPal it will be at least another 5-7 working days until the funds are actually returned to my account). To say I’m bemused by this whole episode is an understatement. After making some enquiries I have discovered the following: 1) There is currently NO sale stock of Ibanez EHB basses in the UK. 2) Due to this, GAK’s online advertising of these instruments for sale as stock items is utterly misleading. 3) As no stock is expected to arrive at the UK distributors until late March at the earliest, it follows that none can have ‘failed quality control’ or have been sent back to the manufacturers from your suppliers as you stated in your email. As you may have gathered from the info above, it took very little effort to track down a contact number for Headstock Distribution and give them a call. They were very helpful. If you haven’t already heard from them, you should expect a call from their Product Manager shortly to discuss your company’s sales strategies, and apparent willingness to bring the quality of Ibanez products into question in an attempt to cover up your own dubious practices. It should also come as no surprise that I will never do business with GAK again. As a professional musician of many years standing, I also feel compelled to inform my many friends and colleagues of the standard of customer service they might expect from your company. Regards _____________