EliasMooseblaster

I've never let it bother me...so I was a bit surprised when I first saw a thread about this over at TB, and the strong opinions being hurled back and forth! Bassist, bass player, bass guitarist, "the weird one," I'm quite happy with all of them. Yes, the instrument's role is entirely different from that of a conventional guitar, but then you wouldn't ask a double bass player if he or she played the same thing as the violinist or the cellist. (I have even been known to refer to "the guitars" when loading up the van, referring to our guitarist's and to my bass guitars...heresy, I know.)

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1456104089' post='2985485'] Any standout mistakes in particular from leeds or IoW? [/quote] There aren't a great many, to be fair - though listen out for Daltrey fluffing the lyrics in one of the later verses of [i]Go to the Mirror [/i]on the IoW performance! (And I seem to remember Townshend misses the high notes at the end of [i]I'm Free [/i]on both versions.)

It's probably safe to admit to liking them now, isn't it? I can remember getting a feeling that they were considered deeply uncool around the early 2000s, but I did enjoy those first two albums.

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1412526024' post='2569583'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg8-2mWfExI[/media] And this is another beaut- around 2mins 2secs. Tuning issues with bass as well as guitar too. [/quote] 'tis a great live album, though, isn't it? (I think my mother still has an original copy on vinyl!) There's a few live performances from the late '60s/'70s that are great in spite of the bum notes or forgotten lyrics - The Who at Leeds and the IoW I can almost listen out for the mistakes these days, and Deep Purple's [i]Made in Japan [/i]is a great "warts and all" recording. Nice to hear bands jamming a bit rather than just repeating all the songs verbatim.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1455539762' post='2979953'] But I also find him strangely entertaining. Not his music (although I do quite like Gold Digger and Stronger), just his bemusingly laughable cartoon persona. It’s like the mind of a 7 year-old boy transported into the body of a [s]grown man[/s]. gay fish [/quote] Fixed.

All I can do is facepalm. A while ago, I wrote a blog post in Mr West's defence (or, at least, saying that it was a bit over-the-top to ask that he be removed from the Glastonbury headline slot), on the grounds that he was just a bit of a prat, but otherwise quite harmless. I'm wondering whether recent developments are going to prove me wrong.

[quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1455291403' post='2977900'] Grand Magus. One of my fave bands but every song title and lyrical content is basically picked from the same pot of words: Steel, Iron, Fist, Silver, Hammer, Ravens, triumph, power. One of the one on the last album was called Steel Versus Steel. Bloody great band though. Listen if you like traditional style metal. [/quote] Ah, yes - I loved 'The Hunt,' especially the title track, but it does get very repetitive over the course of a whole album!

I don't know if I can describe the modern bass player, but I'm pretty sure I'm not one of them!

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1455265630' post='2977541'] Middle-aged, bitter and resentful of his lack of commercial success. Spends his days online denigrating those players who are younger, better looking and more successful. <Runs away fast> [/quote] Ha! Yes, if I were a few years older that would be me in a nutshell.

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1455194793' post='2976886'] As to pricing, even without tools you're probably looking at close to £600 in parts if you bought the Carvin neck through beam and decent quality hardware/pickups...that'd be a deposit on a custom! . [/quote] Yeah, the more I look into it, the more expensive it becomes. Previous builds, I managed to keep down to £2-300, but then I was happy to use a lot of inexpensive hardware - whereas on this I'd like a pair of T-bird pickups...and I'd probably want something more substantial than a "BBOT" bridge, for example! Plunger's advice above sounds quite sensible, though it then makes me wonder whether I'd have the time to fashion a quick-and-dirty neck out of softwood. Perhaps I would be better off approaching someone who does this professionally.

Is it me, or is it increasingly a problem with a lot of modern rock bands? I'm basing a lot of this on groups who are "breaking through/on the way up" that I've seen live (and not knowing their studio albums in many cases), but I've found a lot of them sound like they're repeating themselves after the second song. (Or am I just turning into a grumpy old git?)

Hi Manton, sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my OP. My fear of disappointment relates more to the configuration of the bass - I have no doubt that a custom builder would do a superb job, but I'm one of those naturally apprehensive people who would umm and ahh over such an idea before actually pulling the trigger on such an investment! Hence the prototyping idea, I guess - though I could easily end up spending a few hundred quid on that. And even then, knowing myself, if it was a disappointment I'd wonder whether to blame my own woodworking skills. (The idea is basically a Gibson hybrid - combining the bits I like best of a T-bird and a long-scale SG.)

I have a daft idea. Well, maybe not that daft. But a while ago, I conceived an idea of what my ideal custom bass might look like, and rather than splashing out a small fortune on a custom build to be disappointed by it, I wondered whether it would be worth building a prototype myself. With only limited carpentry experience, I'd aim to buy a neck. Easy enough to buy bolt-ons; I've built two basses this way from parts in the past. The bass I have in mind, however, is a neck-through design, and buying ready-built neck-throughs seems a little trickier. Anybody know of a place that might sell me one?

Is this going to go the same way as that 15-string monstrosity that keeps popping up on eBay, where every so often one of us will offer him £20 to put him out of his misery?

How's your EQ looking? If you're not already cutting the bass and opening up the treble a bit, that might be worth a try!

Depends how broadly you want to cast your net, of course, but you could argue that a storyline is sufficient, but not a necessary condition for a concept album. I'm sure some would contend that [i]The Who Sell Out [/i]qualifies as a concept album because it's based around a theme of making a studio album sound like a pirate radio station. Ditto Pink Floyd's [i]Wish You Were Here [/i]if one treats the whole thing as an extended tribute-to-Syd-and-analysis-of-the-music-business-that-chewed-him-up. [i]SMiLE [/i]and [i]Court of the Crimson King [/i]may also qualify under these criteria. Still, here's an example of one with a storyline, but which is definitely outside of the prog-rock umbrella that many fall under: [i]Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane[/i] (Definitely divided the fans; I loved it.)

[quote name='The Hat' timestamp='1454876492' post='2973873'] If I'm totally honest, I don't really like the look of it. I know that's really shallow, but ya got ya look at your bass and get excited ain't ya [/quote] Can't judge you for that - I liked my Warwick RB fretless until I saw a photo of me onstage with it and realised the small body looked like a child's toy on me! Promptly part-exed for a fretless Fender Jazz (which, to be fair, was also more to my liking in terms of tone).

A friend of mine seems to be very good at approaching bands after their set and chatting to them - she reports that Saint Jude were very friendly, as was Marcus Bonfanti (who played guitar with them for a while). I've not met many myself, but I do remember blues guitar virtuoso Matt Schofield being friendly and quite patient when I tried to discuss Albert Collins with him but mostly just looked like a squeeing fangirl trapped in a hairy bloke's body!

Rotosounds are particularly zingy, as rounds go - one of the main reasons I've used them so faithfully, though I do prefer the slightly warmer sound of the nickel-plated ones. A lot of people have suggested so far that it's part of the roundwound sound (underground, where the hounds abound), and I might even go so far as to suggest embracing it. Add a bit of grit to your sound and all the finger and fret noises can actually go some way to enhancing a nice, dirty bassline!

[quote name='GisserD' timestamp='1454588534' post='2971073'] it appears to have been sold??? best offer accepted.... [/quote] [quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1454588683' post='2971076'] has it? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TENNESSEE-15-STRING-EXTENDED-RANGE-BASS-/291674941903?"]http://www.ebay.co.u...-/291674941903?[/url] [/quote] I told you he had a job lot of them!

Update: the trailer has been released! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelOPA1Ou-Y

Some very nice entries so far, so I shall throw my hat in the ring: https://soundcloud.com/white_elephant/got-my-noodle-workin Hope you enjoy my dirty, dirty noodle.

It seems I'm not the only one who struggles to answer this question, due to not liking the output of both bands! I adore The Who, and it was The Ox's bass playing that made me realise I'd picked the right instrument. I've been blown away by the playing and tone of various bassists since then, but nobody else has had such a formative effect. Yes, on the other hand, I struggle with. I love a lot of prog-rock bands, I love the principles behind prog-rock, and I can see that Yes were doing some really exciting and challenging things musically...until they start singing, and I have to switch off. Which is a shame, because I can tell that Squire's tone and playing are excellent.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1454404756' post='2969311'] Agreed. There are loads of drummers out there which you havent played with yet, who may blow your socks off! However, if your band is in its final throws anyway,then you know what do do. [/quote] Also agreed - I say this as part of a band that's now had to change its lead singer twice. Each time we have managed to find someone who's actually enhanced our stage presence. Obviously we hope the current one won't leave, (because you never know when your luck's going to run out!) but it's proven to us that losing a band member isn't the end of the world.

Now I think about it, it must have been a few months since I last caught a gig, which is alarming. The last one I remember going to was Birdeatsbaby, at the Islington. Hana Piranha played the set before (who, it turns out, also plays violin for BEB); sadly I missed the opening set from Vienna Ditto. Apparently they were also very good, but we've got a gig with them coming up in March so I shall find out for myself then!