Rumblebass

[quote name='molan' post='922373' date='Aug 12 2010, 09:43 AM']Cheers Grahame - are you back out giging again?[/quote] No I'm happily retired from all things bass at the moment Barrie. All of my guitars & equipment have been sold. Who knows, I may get the urge again, but it would have to be something very special to tempt me back. All the best to you, and next time I'm Down South on the Electraglide, I'll give you a shout. Cheers Grahame

It's a tough call Barrie, in my 13pc Soul band days, we doubled our fee for NYE (£4k), but this was at an established venue which we'd played many times & always packed out. The same venue coughed up £10k for Millennium eve! If nothing else comes in, & you want to be out NYE, I'd take the money & play. If you hold out for more, you run the risk of ending up with nothing as you've already said. Put it to the democratic vote & go with what the majority of the Band want. (Mind you, this WAS always easier when there's 13 of you!) Hope you're well anyway,, long time no see! All the best, Grahame (FBB)

Excellent thread, has had me laughing all afternoon, I have had some shockers in my time, & someone even mentioned one that I did own, but nobody else had ever heard of them (Gherson Jazz!). I didn't dream it then! The most dissapointing bass I ever had was a genuine 1973 Gibson EB3 bass I bought when I had a spell in a Cream tribute band. I'd always wanted one anyway, having been a big Jim Lea fan, and the chance came to buy one. After a few gigs, I realised what a pile of sh*te it was, very heavy, the neck used to dive so much, I had to have a velcro strip on the underneath of the strap, and a matching one on my shoulder, just to keep the thing level, even then it used to almost pull my shirt from my back! Awful tone, ranging from muddy, to very muddy, to fart in the bath. I was obviously blinded by love when I first saw it & overlooked its deficiencies, but then I did exactly the same when I met the wife!! Cheers R.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='485995' date='May 12 2009, 01:58 PM']TI's fit the bill perfectly IME. They are flats though so you might not like them if your a rounds guy.[/quote] +1 for the T.I. flats, very soft feel & low tension. The best strings I've used (and I've tried loads!) Have all my basses strung with T.I. flats & won't use anything else now. Cheers R.

1. Jim Lea Slade ( Someone mentioned him before, seriously under rated in his day) 2. Phil Lynott Thin Lizzy 3. Tom Scholz Boston (Tom played everything on the studio albums, check out some of the bass lines!) 4. John Paul Jones Zep. 5. John Deacon Queen Honourable mentions to Roger Glover, Neil Murray, Norman Watt-Roy, Andy Fraser & loads of others I wnat to put in but haven't got time to type. R.

Roadrunner , Signed, Sealed, Delivered, River Deep, Mountain High were 3 that I always looked forward to playing live, but all of them are great! Jamerson & Babbitt rule!

Mark, Yes, would be very interested to hear how it fared. I'm in the same situation, having just off-loaded my 'arena size' rig, I now want something small, compact & portable but 'big-sounding' and I have the PJB stuff in mind. If it's good enough for Bob Babbitt I'm sure it will be good enough for me, but I'd be interested to hear how it went. R.

[quote name='JD1' post='116614' date='Jan 8 2008, 10:00 PM']Hey Rumble I had an Antoria EB3 copy around 1980 and I was / am a big fan of Jim Lea. Great bass and the quality was spot on, but I couldn't get away with the scale length - and I certainly couldn't play or sound like Jim.[/quote] Nice one JD1, Jim was much under-rated in his day, and doesn't get mentioned much when lists of the best bass players are compiled, but some of his lines are just awesome. Saw Slade live a couple of times & couldn't take my eyes off him. Also have owned a Gibson EB3 but I had to part company with it. Didn't like it at all, too heavy at the headstock. Bass used to drop like a stone when you let go of it! Even more reason to admire those EB0/EB3 players! Cheers R.

Antoria guitars hold a special place in my heart, since it was 'playing' one that got me into bass. Here's the story, in the early 70's my local youth club had a live band on every Friday night. One such Friday I was watching the band, and their bass player had a Cherry Antoria EB3 copy. I was (& am) a big Jim Lea fan (Slade). At this time (14 y.o.) I didn't own a bass, but wanted to learn. At the end of the night I was talking to the bass player & he let me have a plonk on his Antoria, through his Marshall amp & 4 x 12 cab. I did my bestest Radar Love lick on it, & thought I was in heaven! It may have been the biggest pile of crap ever, but to me it made my life! Straight out the next day & bought my 1st bass ( a Kay EB0 copy in sunburst ) £14.00 new! I still have it to this day. I was able to return the favour, 30 odd years later when my Band played their 20th Anniversary gig locally, I invited that bass player to the Show to see how far that spotty kid from the Youth Club had progressed, and let him have a bash on my GB Rumour through my mountainous EBS rig. Hopefully I made his day the way he made mine. Long live Antoria! Thanks for bearing with me while I rambled! Cheers R.

[quote name='PJ Phillips' post='115103' date='Jan 6 2008, 11:44 PM'][size=2][color="#808080"]Firstly, Happy New Year to you all. Already found two friends (Brooksy and Rumblebass) Am currently living in Harlow, Essex. Been playing forever and pro since 1988. Been a Warwick endorsee for twenty years (man and boy). Have played with many a band/artist over the years and have been around the world a few times playing and sometimes just miming on tele. A great gig if you can get one - the safety catch is removed at the airport! - Vodka at 6am? Go on then ... Would be great to hear from anyone local who teaches Steam Bass (the big fiddle). Would love a few lessons, really got a bee in my bonnet about getting one this year. Cheers, pj[/color][/size][/quote] Nice to have you back mate. Missed you dreadfully. Pint waiting when I see you! Cheers R.

My Band has been joined on stage by Martha Reeves (without The Vandella's), Edwin Starr, Ben E. King, and an incarnation of The Drifters (Ray Lewis's one I think). Also shared the bill with Paul Jones' Blues Band, (What a miserable person! Allegedly!) and John Otway (raving nutter) (Also allegedly!). And we also played at a function attended by John Prescott, although thats not a claim to fame, thats just embarrasment coming out! Jack Dee hosted an awards ceremony we were playing at (to$$er) allegedly, as did Paul Merton (nice guy) R.