Misdee

I've been listening to this remixed version for the last few days and I love it! I totally understand the authentic mono v remixed stereo debate, but the new remix certainly gives a startling insight into the recording and brings the music to life, to my sensibilities anyway. I love Paul McCartney's bass work, and listening this album I've really been struck by how great he was at playing between the kick and snare of Ringo's drumming. I love the sound of George Harrison's guitar on the early takes of Paperback Writer, too. Sounds like either his Gretsch or his Rickenbacker. I tried googling it but it got too complicated to find out the facts, such is the conjecture.

Sleeford Mods sound properly angry to me. The singer has the demeanor of a man who has just been DNA tested on the Jeremy Kyle Show and the results mean he now has to surrender half his Income Support every week to an obese mother-of-three called Tracy. Let's face it, both the guys from this band are probably no strangers to their local Citizens Advice Bureau. Maybe music doesn't sound as angry as some might expect because politics is now secondary to shopping in most people's lives. Political issues only become tangible crises when they affect the ability of the masses to buy the goods and services they want and feel they have a right to. As long as folks have access to the material things they desire they are relatively content.

I'm always reluctant to critique other people's playing, partly because I am acutely aware of my own shortcomings, and also because it's difficult to be complimentary without sounding patronising. Suffice to say then that there is nothing wrong with your playing in my estimation (with the addendum that even the best players can always find room for improvement), and you could easily get some work playing bass. On the advice of a big name bass player I once met socially, I used to record all my practice sessions and then listen back to them while I was doing housework ect. That probably sounds quite strange but it was very helpful in defining my shortcomings as a player. A guitarist I used to play with who had studied at Berklee was taught to do the same thing by his tutor while he was there,too. The tape doesn't lie, and if you are serious about playing for other people then you have to be as brutally honest about your own playing as the outside world will be.

Spector's are indeed great basses. I wish I had bought one when they were more affordable, although they were never that affordable, thinking about it. I've only tried the USA-made NS basses and they have consistently been epic and lived up to the hype. I would rate them amongst the best basses money can buy. Spector basses have their own sound. I would venture that the EMG pickups, combined with the maple body and neck-thru construction, are a significant part of that tone. I know Spector offer other options nowadays, but EMGs are synonymous with that classic aggressive Spector character.

I seem to remember paying around that for mine in 1985 , no case. They had a matching fretted and unlined fretless in the shop, and I agonized over which to buy, but eventually sanity prevailed and I chose the fretted version. Otherwise the next few years would have been a lot more out of tune!😄

The thing about Fender Custom Shop basses is they are making expensive recreations of their ordinary instruments, albeit vintage ones. And anyone who has played a lot of vintage Fenders knows they are a mixed bag, to put it mildly. It's not surprising that the CS basses are unpredictable, and Fender basses are very setup -dependent. Any Fender bass , Custom Shop or not, the difference between a good one and a bad one can quite often be a simple matter of adjustment.

I used to have a Ibanez Musician Bass back in the mid -1980s. I had wanted one for years and when I eventually got one I was so happy I couldn't sleep for two nights! Oh, for that level of excitement nowadays! They were pretty iconic basses at the time, what with Sting ( and lots of other top players) using them. It's a shame that Ibanez developed from the manufactured in Japan quality brand they were into what they are now. Basses like they used to make would be expensive nowadays, but it would be a price worth paying for instruments that were still the same level of quality as from their Golden Age.

The current cultural zeitgeist is more Taylor Swift, and that means contrived blandness and, above all, studious avoidance of real controversy. Don't do anything that could alienate a significant amount of consumers or sponsors.

Few things are more revolting than F anny Craddock's cooking. Even after all these years it's indelibly etched upon my memory. A culinary antidote to '70s nostalgia.

The BBOT has definitely got its own sound, and it's a very good sound It's more "open" in the treble and upper midrange. Hi mass bridges tend to sound a bit more compact to me. As others have mentioned though, the advantages of other designs is as much that they are more stable and more practical than the BBOT. Hi mass also bridges give noticeably more clarity and sustain higher up the neck, in my experience.

I'm not sure what craddock is, but it sounds a bit too close to haddock for my liking.

Doug Rauch. He is best known for his playing in Santana in the early to mid,1970s. Also played with Carly Simon Betty Davis, Lenny White, Billy Cobham and very briefly with David Bowie. A superb player and highly original bass player who was ahead of his time. He had the whole funky 16th note thing going long before the wider world was aware of Jaco, and he did some double thumping too. Unfortunately Doug became overwhelmed by drug problems and depression by the time he was 26, dropped out of the music business and died at 28 years old in 1979. One of the very best players of that era, for sure. By way of contrast, another one would be Chris Bostock who played with the JoBoxers in the early 1980s and a few other notables during that decade. Always liked his playing but he didn't go on to make very many more recordings.

It's easy to be flippant but I wouldn't underestimate the difference screw holes can make. Screw holes make a Fender bass a de facto hollow body. Think of it as micro-chambering. There is bound to be differences in both tone and weight between screw hole basses and the ones Fender couldn't be arsed with. If you look closely at some of the Masterbuilt Custom Shop basses, the screw holes are quite exquisite. God is in the details. And if you think drilling a few simple holes is easy, wait until you need them drilling in your own head. Then tell me how easy it is.

I can't help but think that this might be the thin end of the wedge. Like Warwick basses and their wax finish that has to be laboriously maintained by the owner( the thin end of the wenge, you might say) which saves Warwick the trouble and expense of finishing their basses. It starts with a screw hole and before you know it you will have to route your own truss rod channel. I put it to you that Fender, stung by criticism of their dubious quality control, and, have developed a strategy to gradually make the customer increasingly responsible for the manufacturing process. Five years from now when you buy a Fender bass you will get a box of parts, a sheet of instructions and a good luck message that also functions as a legal disclaimer.

But definitely not the screw holes, apparently. So much for period-correct. To me, vintage Fenders have always been all about the screw holes.

Over the years a lot of top pro players have used Yamaha basses, and a fair few continue to do so. The players you mention are quite a roster just in themselves! I am, unfortunately, old enough to remember when the BB basses first came out in the late 1970s/ early 1980s and they were pretty high profile at the time. Paul McCartney, Lee Sklar, Jimmy Haslip, David Hungate, Abraham Laboriel, Paul Jackson and the bloke from Chas and Dave all had one, to name but a few. They were definitely prestige instruments at the time. Carlos Santana had popularized the SG2000 and Yamaha were looking to do the same for the BB bass. A lot of well known music was recorded with Yamaha basses. I really don't see them as an inferior brand at all. In fact I think they have quite an impressive heritage when it comes to who has used them and the tracks they are on.

To be fair, I think Fender's popularity is based on the fact that they are the originators of so much that we take for granted nowadays. Their invention and creativity is not to be underestimated. How much value for money they offer in the current UK market place is another matter in so much as their equipment is much less expensive in the USA and Fender are not responsible for the exchange rate and levels of taxation on retail goods in the UK. I know Fender quality control can be a bit(very) haphazard, but they are still in many ways the most important guitar company in the world. The strength of a company like Yamaha is that they have taken the innovation of companies like Fender, learnt from it and built upon it, creating their own identity in the process.

If someone asked me to recommend an decent quality instrument for a beginner I would always point them towards Yamaha as their first line of enquiry. By the same token, Yamaha pro-level gear is top-notch. I've played Yamaha basses that are easily as good as anything boutique builders have to offer, and they're more robust, on the whole. They make equally good guitars, drums, keyboards ect. Their recording studio and hi-fi equipment is very nice,too. As a brand, l don't think Yamaha has anything to prove to anybody.

In my experience basses are quite like shoes; if they are slightly uncomfortable when you first try them then after a while they will be so uncomfortable that you can't bear them anymore.

To me, Yamaha is a prestige brand, just like Fender, Gibson,et al. From entry level to high end, they can give most other manufacturers a run for their money.

Two grand is a lot of money to pay for something you are less than completely happy with. An instrument that is too heavy will always be too heavy and you will get little joy from playing it. Like many other folks, I have learnt from experience that getting a new Fender that ticks all the right boxes can be a bit of an odyssey. That said, it's by no means a set of problems and challenges exclusive to Fender.

I also like the look of the green one.

All my favourite female players have already been mentioned in this thread many times, so I won't reiterate that. Regarding why female bass players are not that numerous, if you look with a critical eye then contemporary music is just another example of an area where work roles still have a tendency to divide along gender lines. In the music business you are still far more likely to find a woman singer, (or backing singer) than drummer or bass player. There's no real reason for that except that social convention deems some roles as feminine and others as masculine. I don't think it's a conspiracy, more a persistent prejudice. Just like you still are more likely to encounter a male roofing contractor and a female nurse. A larger physical stature is a definite advantage in playing the bass, but not essential by any means. I'm a man of fairly slight build and it has never held me back my playing particularly. That said, since I got my first short scale bass a couple of years ago and enjoying how easy it is to play, it has occurred to me that that me playing that bass must be like a bigger bloke than me playing a long scale bass.

I also need to invent a credible narrative about why I need another Jazz Bass.

It's just enough money that it's not out of the question. If you consider that it's three grand for a Stingray nowadays, it's not that bad. Three and a half to five grand for a Custom Shop bass is more than I am prepared to pay for any Fender bass, and a good example of one of these basses would be a very acceptable substitute. The challenge now is (as ever) finding a light one that Fender have put together correctly.