Dingus

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1407435583' post='2520570'] Im not sure how to break this to you?...... [/quote] Hang on a minute, aren't you the fella that claims to never have heard of Carole Kaye, Gail Ann Dorsey et al , but can work out from the fact that I have heard of them that I can't play bass very well ? That is quite a skill to have, Pete. In light of that gift , I should have known better than to think I could hide my conceited self-importance from you. ( It's hard to hide it from anybody, to be honest with you. I am quite important. You'll just have to deal with that .)

[quote name='Pixiechick23' timestamp='1407398589' post='2520040'] I don't think playing simply means playing badly at all, a lot of people get that mixed up. But I just wanted to know personal opinions, not who was better than who. But fair play to you, it's spiced up the thread a little [have no idea on the Stingray vs P, never played em... Only ever used roundwound too so I can't say on that either! lol] [/quote] I certainly don't want to sound pompous about it. I am truly glad that people enjoy these players for whatever reason, regardless of ability, but I just don't see how the absence of ability can automatically be a virtue in any situation . Going along those lines, why not go the whole hog and not play at all? Wouldn't that be even better ? It's just that I am passionate about women's issues and it upsets me when I see any woman , bass player or not, being rated purely as a sexual object. ( Unless the woman in question is unbelievably pert, nubile and dressed completely in skintight leather[i] a la[/i] Suzi Quatro, in which case they are fair game . ) To be fair though, there are male bass players who garner the same kind of overtly sexual hysteria from female Basschatters. The unbelievably hunky Dave Ellefson of Megadeath immediately springs to mind. Despite his advancing years and poorly-disguised hair loss, Dave's formidable picking technique has won him legions of devoted female followers. No wonder he spends his time travelling the world going from trade show to bass players convention , picking up more women admirers wherever he goes. It must be great to be Dave.

If this guy does a good job, includes a set of strings and return carriage for that price, it isn't such a bad deal, if you don't live near a decent guitar tech.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1407360956' post='2519885'] I think i know this guy. Or at least know of him. He does guitar lessons and minor repairs etc.... Never heard anything bad to be honest. I have heard some good things about his lessons etc... I'll double check it's the same guy. I'll be back. [/quote] But have you used him ? Is there something you want to tell us?

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1407361283' post='2519891'] "Most" people? How do you know? "Obviously"? How do you work that out? I'm willing to bet that anyone who lists Kim Deal or Gaye Advert as their favourite female bassist isn't going to be answering with "Marcus" or "Ox" when asked for their preferred male player. [/quote] I would say,judging from the comments on this thread so far that, reading between the lines, it is fair to say that most people do use different criteria for judging male and female bass players and assessing who is their favourite, whether they realize it or not . But if it sits easier with you, I would gladly change that assertion to " [i]many [/i]people have different criteria for assessing male and female bass players". I would still be making the same point. And who said that people who champion inept female bass players would choose technically adept male counterparts as their favoured choices ? You are jumping to conclusions there . They may well choose similarly inept male players , but for different reasons than the female ones they claim to enjoy .

I can see both sides of the argument, but ultimately I'm sure we would all want the same result, i.e the most possible money going to help people who are very ill. I would think though, that [u]with enough publicity[/u], a prize draw maybe would indeed get more cash in the end. Laudable charity motives set aside just for a moment, the price for this bass is all the more insane if you take a moment to consider that , as a bass player, Les doesn't really have a remarkable or particularly unique tone from any of his instruments. What is the Les Claypool sound ? Light gauge strings on any half-decent fancy woodwork boutique bass will get you very close. Regardless, I hope they make a heap of cash from this sale.

Another dyed-in-the-wool fingerstyle player here. Back when I started playing , there was a very definite snobbery about pick versus fingers, and I was very much in the fingers camp. Over time though, I have really come to see the folly of that division, and I see picking as just another technique that can sound great , just like slapping. I wish I could use a pick better than I can currently, but it is just so alien to me. I have never owned a regular six string guitar , so that doesn't help either. Some things only sound right with a pick, especially a lot of pick-mute playing that can only really be executed that way. Not just the sound either, but the overall feel of a bassline changes radically with a pick. I am trying to improve with a pick , but it is slow progress at the moment, mostly because I don't practice it enough. It just seems so wrong.

[quote name='Pixiechick23' timestamp='1407226074' post='2518424'] This! ^^^ Guys, I asked who your fav female bass players were, not who you think plays bass better than who. Whether you like the simplicity [simple doesn't necessarily mean bad, regardless of what some may think] of Kim, or insane technical ability of someone who plays at crazy speed is irrelevant to this post. It was a simple enough question. [/quote] I merely wished to make the point that, isn't it interesting that most people obviously have very different criteria for who would be their favourite female bass player than for who would be their preferred male one ? That is all, and surely that observation is germane to the point of this thread. And just let me clarify, the opposition is not between people who play simply and those who have " insane technical ability". It is between those who play badly and those who play well. That is not at all the same thing, and it is very wrong to make that assumption. Besides which, what's wrong with bickering ? Lets face it , without it , Basschat would be pretty slim pickings. You should have been here when we had it out about whether Stingrays are better than P Basses or whether roundwound strings are better than flatwounds ( they are).

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1407186677' post='2518252'] 2+3 is 6 then, imo obviously, maths experts might disagree. 51 P basses were released in 1948, WW2 began in 1764 and they had lazer guns.... [/quote] Have you been on the Slim Fast again , Pete ?

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1407186202' post='2518239'] Actually what you really want is [i]fewer[/i] players inspired by Kim... Sorry if that's construed as bickering. I see it as education. Having read all this I'd hate to think what Dingus thinks of the player I nominated in an earlier post - she makes KD sound like Jaco. [/quote] I went to rough inner city comprehensive. We didn't do that whole less/fewer thing, probably because the teachers didn't know the difference. Evidently, I still don't know the difference. Besides which, if there can be more bass players, there can be less, hence the saying " more or less", even if it means one bass player is reduced in stature by some surgical means or another . And if that means we end up with fewer then job done, in my opinion .

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1407185066' post='2518214'] In your opinion.In your opinion.In your opinion.In your opinion.Just because you don't like something, it doesn't make it bad. FWIW I really really don't like the Pixies' music either. The difference is that I don't apparently consider myself as some sort of arbiter of what is/isn't *good*. [/quote] My friend , I seem to remember that we we have had this conversation before. But at the risk of repeating myself, it an established rhetorical convention that all contentious statements are an "opinion". The whole point is that you are stating an opinion. You can take that as a given. Saying " in my opinion" is not really necessary . The fact that an individual is making a statement on a contentious issue means that that statement is implicitly an opinion. Putting "in my opinion" afterwards is usually not appropriate specifically for that reason. That is an established rhetorical convention of the English language, and not of my making. Talking of women bass players, does anybody else remember this one from way back when : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvIydHPhb98

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1407182621' post='2518183'] What about some Hawkwind or Marillion? (Spoken in the voice of Neal from the Young Ones) [/quote] Was that chap in Marillion actually a woman? Well , they kept that quiet! Gail Ann Dorsey is indeed a great player , and a terrific singer too ( excellent musician all-round, in fact) . This has been posted before , but is worth posting again on this thread: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fsply_AyrU[/media]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407180639' post='2518143'] You're doing a great impression of someone that doesn't care. Most teenagers have a more mature attitude towards music they don't like than the one you're displaying here. I'm actually embarrassed on your behalf reading back some of your posts in this thread [/quote] Wow. With hindsight, I should have realized that my clumsy attempts to be clever and show off would fall flat on their face, especially in the face of the rapier-like wit and searing intelligence that which you obviously possess in abundance. Thanks for putting me firmly in my place. It will be a long time before I can show my face round here again after being the victim of that kind of cutting invective. You've made me look a right prat now. I don't know where to put myself. Then again, looking on the positive side of things, I might feel embarrassed now, but I know that in the longer-term I will thank you for the valuable life lesson you have just taught me. From now on I will look on you as a father figure and seek your council on anything I might want to say before shooting my mouth off with my silly "opinions". Maybe I have got some kind of undiagnosed medical condition like CIMDD ( Crap Indie Music Deficit Disorder)? More likely though, I just don't have your innate good taste and discernment when it comes to music. Is it a gift you were born with , or something you have learned through experience?

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1407176926' post='2518099'] I haven't heard of half of the players Dingus is spouting about but I know every player I met with similar views against anyone they didn't enjoy listening too was a terrible player themselves, not in their own opinion obviously, just sayin' [/quote] [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1407177272' post='2518101'] Dingus has been possessed by Inti Mahesh! £5 coming my way? [/quote] I thought Inti was O.K. You clown whores never gave him a fair chance because he didn't speak English as his first language and couldn't resist the chance to bully him off Basschat . He was a good bass player too, judging by his YT videos. I'm not that bad a player myself either, Pete.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407176876' post='2518098'] Here was me labouring under the impression that I liked the Pixies. Now of course I bow down to your superior artistic values and realise that in fact I don't like them at all. In fact, no one likes them and they definitely haven't written any songs that have influenced an entire generation of musicians. Please share the master list of worthy bands please, I'd like to know which of my cds I can keep and which ones I'll have to get rid of. [/quote] The Pixies are bloody awful in their own right, regardless of my superiority ( thanks for acknowledging that, by the way, your humility is a lesson to me ) . I couldn't care less what music you like or don't. You can listen to Run Rig as far as I am concerned but just because you like something, it doesn't make it good.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407173434' post='2518051'] And My favourite bass players are the ones who write songs I like the most. Like I said. Anyway, how do you define "the best" in terms of playing bass? Is Marcus Miller "the best" in comparison to Geddy Lee? Is James Jamerson "the best" in comparison to Paul Chambers? At somepoint it has to become about whose music you prefer. Nonsense, thats not what I said at all. What I said was that you don't have to be a great player to write great songs. Its quite clear that you really don't understand the influence of the Pixies. Their songs---not their attitude or ability---is what people were (and are) inspired by. [/quote] What is implicit in what you say in your previous post is that lack of musical ability is compensated for by great songwriting skills. The Pixes have neither musical ability or songwriting skills. It's just another average indie band making a racket. The rest is sophistry. They are a one-song band , and that monkey went to heaven a long, long time ago. I know because I was there at the time.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407173434' post='2518051'] And My favourite bass players are the ones who write songs I like the most. Like I said. Anyway, how do you define "the best" in terms of playing bass? Is Marcus Miller "the best" in comparison to Geddy Lee? Is James Jamerson "the best" in comparison to Paul Chambers? At somepoint it has to become about whose music you prefer. . [/quote] Good for you, but you seem to be confusing "best" with "superlative". But good bass players can "best" the playing of poorer ones.

One of my ex-girlfriends from a very long time ago is now a bass player in a moderately successful indie band. I am waiting for her name to come up in this thread with some dread. I can claim no credit whatsoever, for her taking up the bass though ; she had just got her first guitar when I met her and I tried to encourage her to give up playing to develop her home economics skills. Obviously , she paid no attention whatsoever. She could have had a nice semi-detached house almost paid for by now if she had listened to me, but instead she is still out there touring the world and wearing leather trousers, despite being in her forties now. How she must wistfully reflect on that decision from time to time.

[quote name='tonyxtiger' timestamp='1407172215' post='2518040'] Very much enjoying this thread derailment but I'm in the Kim camp so I'll suggest Charlotte Cooper from The Subways around the time of their first album. A refreshing change from all the lady bassists who were nailed to one spot of the stage. Obviously men do that too but she was quite spunky. I shouldn't have said spunky. [/quote] You shouldn't have said" nailed" , either. I can feel the floodgates of innuendo opening...

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407171040' post='2518034'] You said she wasn't inspirational. She's inspired a lot of people whether you like it or not. Deal with it. It must be strange to live in a place where music is only enjoyable if it's difficult to play. [/quote] The point I made is that what is inspirational about Kim Deal is not her bass playing, it is her as a personality and herself entity outside of her musical contributions to any of her various projects . Put plainly, she can't really play the bass much , so what is there to inspire anybody in that respect ? What inspires people is the fact that she has become a prominent figure with very little tangible ability of any kind . She inspires people who aren't musical to have a go themselves because it looks attainable . That is very appealing message to a lot of people. You are absolutely right in that respect.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407169027' post='2518004'] The thread is "favourite" female bassist. Not "best" female bassist. If you asked me to name my favourite male bass players I doubt any of the names I'd mention would blow anyone away with technical ability. However, for many of us the single most important aspect of musicality is songwriting. Having chops is brilliant but for me writing killer songs is where its at. Kim Deal may well be a "lousy" bass player but hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) could sing you the bassline to dozens of Pixies songs. Lines don't have to be technically difficult to be brilliant. [/quote] The point is that my favourite female bass players are the ones that play bass the best, just the same as the male bass players I like . The rest is superfluous. No one has mentioned chops except you. Some good players have chops, some don't, because they do't need them to get their music across. But all good players can play. . To my sensibilities, The Pixies are notable as neither good musicians or good songwriters. They sound like a band you could see at a youth club for 50 pence or for free at a local pub . They are just another average indie band that got lucky and captured peoples imagination at a particular time , and they have traded on that initial success ever since. They are not a talented band, despite their longevity. You seem to equate lack of technical ability with some automatic compensation of good taste and populist appeal. That is completely erroneous. Bass lines don't have to be difficult to be effective, that is very true but just because a bass line is simple or minimalist in its' approach , that does not automatically bestow virtue or nobility upon it. That is one of the fashionable myths currently afflicting the world of bass.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1407169027' post='2518004'] I absolutely guarantee you that Kim Deal has inspired far more people to take up bass than at least five of the other bassists you name. [/quote] Why is that a good thing? Why should I celebrate or be thankful for that? Why do you see that as some kind of vindication for Kim Deal's lack of ability? Does the world really need more inept bass players? I want [i]less [/i]players inspired by Kim Deal and her ilk, not more.

[quote name='Pixiechick23' timestamp='1407146005' post='2517661'] My husband is after an electro acoustic bass. He's more of a guitar player than bassist but he does play both. Any recs on something that's decent but within the 200-250 price range? Can't really afford to go too expensive but he's been after one for quite a while and doesn't know where to start. Cheers lovelies! [/quote] I can't recommend any specific models as I haven't played any acoustic basses in ages, but if you get a chance to try before you buy, pay particular attention to how the E string sounds in relation to the other three strings regarding volume and overall tone. A lot of less expensive ABG's suffer from a noticeably weak output from the lowest string .

[quote name='indiegrungesound' timestamp='1407167259' post='2517978'] To be fair, I don't think Kim Deal has EVER said she was a Virtuoso Bass player. In fact-and I'm sure it's on YouTube somewhere-she's even on record on a BBC documentary series called "The Seven Ages of Rock" where she flat out states she's not and never will be a "real" bass player! [/quote] Yes, exactly right . She has based her career on her limitations, and good luck to her. I know this thread is about people's favourite female bass players, and like I have already stated , if people enjoy anybodies playing, regardless of ability, or feel inspired by their playing for whatever reason then that is a wonderful thing, but it is implicit in certain posts that some of the individuals concerned are accomplished players, when in fact, objectively, they are not.