4000

Just now, wateroftyne said:

I’ll give you D&C, but Black Mountain Side is basically Trigger’s broom.

Of course it is. But it’s listed as being written by Jimmy Page. It wasn’t.
 

FWIW, Page is referred to in my band circles as Jimmy Plaige. 😉😂
 

12 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

Well.. Stairway, I guess. Any others?

Dazed and Confused - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazed_and_Confused_(song)

Black Mountain Side - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mountain_Side

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Led_Zeppelin_songs_written_or_inspired_by_others

They may have got away with Stairway, but given all the circumstances surrounding it, I was extremely surprised that they did. And I love Stairway, it remains my favourite Zep track. 

Chris May is a lovely man. I used to go up there quite a bit; he did the tour with me too. He also gave me a lift to the station when I bought a couple of basses once. We have differing ideas on instruments, tone and action height (he has said I use “guitar action”), but I’m sure we can both live with that. 😉

2 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

As an aside, I'm not sure how 'original' the original is. The words, aye, but apart from that iIt's a pretty standard country blues.

 

When people (not you, granted) have a go at Page / Plant pinching from old blues legends, it tends to be conveniently overlooked that said blues legend probably nicked the song from someone else.

 

 

It’s not just blues though, is it? They have quite a lot of form. 

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

I prefer this, the original, standing at a pithy 3.14 mins. IMO the LZ version goes on way too long without ever going anywhere, clocking in over 7 mins

 

 

How dare you suggest Jimmy Page didn’t write it? Don’t you know he wrote everything? 😂

Seriously, I much prefer the Zep version, even with Plant’s voice, which I’m not really a fan of. The Zep version is hypnotic, and I love hypnotic. 

I’ve only ever owned one PJ, which was an ‘88 (IIRC) Pedulla MVP. It was one of the best-sounding basses I’ve ever owned. And it had Barts in, which I normally hate! 

3 hours ago, cloudburst said:

And I think there was Azureglo too (blue to you and me).

 

CB

There certainly was. 

6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Records are like old friends, and the ritual of placing the vinyl and dropping the needle is a pleasure in itself.

 

 

I got rid of much of my vinyl and don’t even have a turntable set up (although I do own one), but this is it. It’s like a tea ceremony. It’s not just about drinking tea. 😉

10 hours ago, molan said:

I also like really thin and narrow necks. My Ritter is the thinnest I own. My Sei PJ is probably next. Interestingly, both are slightly shorter scale length as well, 33.3” & 33.5” respectively. 
 

With the higher end Foderas all being custom builds, I’ve seen all sorts of neck profiles. 
 

My old 83 and 86 were much narrower than ‘standard’ and great to play. The 83 was a JJ and I had a feeling it was based on a slinky early 60’s Fender. The 86 sounded nicer though. 
 

I also had one from around 2010 that had a very thin neck.

 

I did see Monarch with huge baseball bat of a neck ad well. I think Vinnie & Joey will build almost anything - although Joey told me they built something once they knew wouldn’t work but the customer insisted. As soon as he tried it, he realised they were right and it needed a huge amount of work to sort. Joey said there’s a kind of ‘invisible line’ that they wouldn’t cross after that experience. 

I defer to your greater experience of Foderas, but the Fodera necks I’ve played have all been kind of similar and not especially to my taste, although I’m sure that like you say they could build something that was. They’ve been ok, but nothing special. 

I do note your mention of an early ‘60s Fender though (I assume you mean a Jazz) and I simply don’t really get on that well with any Fender necks, from any era. The ‘60s Jazz necks are thin at the nut but otherwise not so much and I don’t spend a great deal of time around the nut. I don’t tend to like a pronounced taper either. I can play them, but they’re not my preference by any stretch. 
 

I tend to agree with what others have said re the sound too; the only Fodera guy I especially like sonically is Matt Garrison. I think Victor, for instance, has a horrible sound, no disrespect to his playing. 

53 minutes ago, molan said:

This is exactly it for me. There are certain basses that allow me to play things that I simply can’t on other ones. Fodera happens to be one of these. 
 

Ritter and Sei are the other two builders who do the same for me although, oddly, I tended to struggle a little more with my Alembics. 
 

That simple playability, in turn, increases my confidence and make my playing more fluent. 
 

 

Alembic - well, some of them (Epics, for instance, are far too chunky for me) - and many Sei basses for me, of the boutiques. However as I prefer a neck that is narrow all the way along and pretty thin front to back, anything with that kind of profile, very straight, with very low action, works for me. I don’t like flatter radius fingerboards though. There was nothing exceptional - for me - about any of the Fodera necks I’ve played. Obviously others may feel differently as it’s all very personal and I’m sure many wouldn’t get on with the sort of necks I like. 

1 hour ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

And the Fodera neck was too slim for me but that's just my preference.

 

That’s interesting as none of the Foderas that I’ve played have had what struck me as particularly slim necks. I love slim necks, FWIW. 

5 hours ago, peteb said:

 

The thing is that it probably would...! 

 

I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play. 

 

I changed my mind when first I played one. It played a lot worse than I expected. 😉 

Different pickups can make a huge difference. Whether or not you like that difference is another thing entirely; it’s a bit like whether you like sugar in your tea/coffee and if so, how much. I, for instance, tend not to like higher output pickups. YMMV. 

I think the lighter wood on the yin/yang (maple? Chestnut? Maybe even Myrtle?) is a lovely bit of wood. And although not shown, I love the look of the Matt Garrison model. But the one at the top…….just no. It’s trying far too hard.

FWIW, I’ve played several Foderas and not been impressed by any of them, and not because I don’t like boutique basses. The ones I’ve played haven’t come remotely close to the ‘best of the rest’ (e.g. Alembic, Sei) IMO. I remember playing a buckeye Fodera on the stand at Bass Day and I vastly preferred an Everson on Paul Everson’s stand, which to me was far easier to play, better built and much better looking. As usual, YMMV; a musical instrument is a very personal thing, so this just my opinion. 
 

I do however note Molan’s comment about them all being different, which is something I appreciate.

Just now, tegs07 said:

Bit harsh. It would make a lovely coffee table.

Not in my house it wouldn’t.😉😂

1 hour ago, Machines said:

 

Rarely bothered by Fodera's, but that is a work of art.

Eye of the beholder and all that. I think it’s hideous.😂

I quite like OHM, but I don’t love it. I prefer everything they’ve done since, certainly with JF; to me it lacks the nuance and fragility of the JF albums. I’m not overly keen Mothers Milk either; I really don’t like the production on that for starters. 
 

When I went to the States last - around 18 years ago - we were at Heathrow and Dave Navarro walked past in front of me, literally about 5 feet away. I was too surprised to say anything other than a stuttered “Dave Navarro!” to my partner. 😂

Beautiful. One of the few basses I’ve wanted but never owned. Love the early Thumbs. 

3 hours ago, Raymondo said:

I'm afraid I can't help with memories of your Dad but I wish you all the best in your endeavours;  Dementia is a horrible illness.

 

 

I second this. Wishing you both all the best. 
 

I do however have a copy upstairs of “What Bass” by your dad and Tony Bacon, which I used to refer to a lot in the old days. I found some of the stuff in it very helpful, certainly pre-Internet. The section on fretless and fingerboard radius actually helped me identify what it was I preferred about certain fretted basses and the Problem Solving section helped my early forays into setup immeasurably. Tell your dad thanks from me. 

As an aside, my band plays Lancaster quite often. 

As per the other Special thread, stunning. Love the colour. 

On 06/02/2022 at 11:59, Maude said:

 

I do like both, but I prefer the old. It's not that difficult. 

I like white basses and I like black ones, but I prefer white. 

I like them both equally. I also like black basses and white basses equally. 😉 But I prefer blue ones. 😁

59 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

But sometimes, the most interesting lines are made by people who don't know what the f3ck they're doing and in doing so they not only break the rules but don't even know what the rules are. 

 

Oh God, I thought I was finally rid of that…..🤮

9 minutes ago, Doddy said:

He did say that in an old issue of Bass Player but he's since released 3 excellent solo albums (4 if you count the live album), that completely negate that quote.

 

 

Fair enough, but it was just an example. I’ve known many musicians who that would still apply to. My dad (and many of the musicians he played with) played jazz all his life but couldn’t have written a tune if you’d put a gun to his head. 

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

 

Tosh. You won't paint great pictures if you don't know how to combine the colours at your disposal.

 

Knowing your notes is what every good bass player does from Dusty Hill to Jaco.

 

You'll play interesting lines more regularly if you know the notes that fit and can put them together in interesting ways.

The thing is though, it’s the “in interesting ways” bit that counts. It’s certainly my experience that some people just are more naturally ‘musical’ than others. I’ve known many musicians, including a surprising number of jazz musicians and classical musicians, who really know their theory back to front but still struggle to create anything particularly melodic or harmonically interesting. And I’ve known quite a few musicians who are really creative with melody and harmony, particularly when it comes to songwriting, but do it instinctively and with no/little knowledge of the theory behind it.
 

The ideal is to both know your stuff and be creative with it, but for most it’s just not as cut and dried as that. I seem to remember Brian Beller, IIRC, once lamenting the fact that whenever he tried to write music all that came out was La Cucaracha. 😂 Whereas McCartney and Lennon seem to have coped ok. 😉

I certainly found in art school that the more I learned, the more my technique improved, but the narrower my horizons became. Obviously everyone is different. But I also remember Adrian Legg saying something to the effect - I forget the exact words - that it takes a strong personality to survive the academic. 
 

Going back to something I think BigRedX said, most of what I write I hear in my head first and then I have to translate that to various instruments. My other method is to sing everything first and then translate that. I only really resort to theory if I’m a bit stuck with something, which isn’t often. Obviously YMMV. 

3 hours ago, EssentialTension said:

 

Most people don't even know it's a bass guitar.

 

 

This is very true.
 

Even where they do, of all the many basses I’ve played live, only my Rics are consistently recognised/commented on, subsequent discussions showing usually due to Macca/Lemmy/Bruce Foxton playing them (strangely never Geddy or Chris). Someone once asked if my Warwick Dolphin was an Alembic. Nobody ever said anything about my actual Alembics, or the Wals, Seis, Fenders, Statii, etc etc. I’m sure hardly anyone would have a clue what a Fodera was, other than (almost) a hat. 😉