Is this a 'Sue Ryder bass' for our times?

How many people here remember the brief but entertaining Sue Ryder feeding frenzy?

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

I've always enjoyed his critique of films - but was unaware of his other talents.

I thought the brooch he wore on his teddy boy jacket throughout that TV series was a bit of a giveaway ...

If this is any indication of the standards in the merged pair, some of us will have to raise our game:

Pickup? Nah ... treat it like a kickdrum.

Sometimes I stick a proper kickdrum mic (on a small folding tripod) facing into the vent, but most frequently I put a cushion or a folded towel on the floor inside the cajon and rest a normal vocal mic there. Shure 57 works well for me (because I have one) but frankly, it's just a thump, innit?

The RV range from Red Audio will do a great job for you, and you buy a LOT of those for £200 ...

4 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

... would make a point of reminding everybody that he could play lower than my four string and that I wouldn't be missed ...

Amazing what you can achieve with an Octaver and the right attitude. 

German-built genuine Hofners are about 6lbs. Just saying.

Mind you, for that money you could buy a Lull anyway ...

@fretmeister  If you're anywhere near Harrow, you're welcome to come and spend a day trying my selection of medium-weight, light-weight, and uber-light-weight basses. Plus both my boat anchors.

5 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

It smells very much like you are the hired hand, and if the band ever takes off and there is serious money at stake then you'll find yourself excluded from any participation in the band's profits. 

Meanwhile, back in the real world ...

On 08/09/2018 at 14:14, TheGreek said:

Message from the seller.

New message from: renzo123456(257)   Some may like it, some not ... thats quite normal - opinions are always different , but none of these people have ever played it ...  I have read many good things about W. Kist guitars also, and in that time in 1980 a guitar costed 5.000 DM.  I'm not a member of that group, so I don't care ....

Hmmmmm. That's 5000DM, not €5000. It's a long time since I had to think in DM but I think that's about £1500, maybe less.

Truly lovely piece of marquetry but really not sure what it's actually for?

The whole  'Earthquaker' thing makes little sense on what sounds like a fairly standard 4-string bass, no matter how pretty it may be.

I thought you'd only just sold one, Mick?

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Usually "woohoo this is sounding great!"

Which almost inevitably leads to me cocking it up within the next 3 second. 

This. Absolutely this.

My very best mate from school was in the choir with me and anything musical, anything at all, that a pair of teenaged schoolboys could do we did together. 

We sang the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean and Simon & Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers as we walked to school, all of it in perfect harmony. We learned to play honky tonk piano duets and swopped guitar chords we'd discovered. The first-ever recording of me playing rock music was a duet with the two us thrashing out Caroline by Status Quo on a pair of cheap Spanish guitars.

He went to university and studied music while I got an office job in London. 30 years later I took up bass so he came round for a jam on guitar. Even as a newbie on bass who hadn't touched a musical instrument in over two decades, I could tell that he wasn't great.

His 60th was earlier this year. He'd joined a band and been playing with them for two years, and the band was going to play at his party. Their first set was dreadful and he was comfortably the weakest member of the band. Their second set was indescribably bad; I've routinely taken part in jam sessions where none of the musicians on stage have even met before which sounded  better than this.

When they finished playing, our chief interest was in finding a way of leaving fast enough that we could dodge the  "how did we sound?" question.

In answer to the OP, no, I've never done anything like he describes.

Late to the party, but so's Discreet so that's OK.  

I do this for fun. The money's nice and I do expect to be paid, but enjoying myself is way more important than the money.

[Cue lengthy and tangential posts by pro musician Basschatters explaining why I'm undermining their market and need to change my attitude.] 

In the OP's situation my only real questions would be:

1. Am I still enjoying playing this music with these bandmates?
2. If I devoted this particular time & effort to finding another band and then playing that music with those bandmates, would it be likely to be more fun?

If my limited career as a gigging musician has taught me anything, it's that every band has issues, every band has problems, every band has a list of reasons to make me want to throw my toys out of the pram and flounce. Which makes flouncing a less attractive option, since I know what I'll be walking into next ...

Please forgive the BC cliche of cliches, but I'm astonished to see this still here at this price.

New, this would cost you $3600 in the USA with nearly another $1000 to get it to your door, or over €4000 from Germany (and I suspect that's 'old stock' and the price will increase soon).

Can't see a current price at Bass Direct, which is where I bought my T5, but I'm guessing it must by now be north of £3500.

Now this guy may have found the answer: https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/one-bloke-band-available-t1105873.html

https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/rock-paniokey-boardist-t1105077.html

7 hours ago, mic mac moe said:

Holy Hannah!! How difficult can it be to pin down 4 people to rehearse?!?! 

I hope you have read through the Auditions In Hell thread? 

21 hours ago, zvirus said:

With all disrespect to Russians (as a Polish man who remembers 17.09.1939) -  too much vodka is not really great for designing and making musical instruments..... 

Can't argue with that, but it makes for great Modern Art ...

Ahead of the dream?

On 05/09/2018 at 21:48, scrumpymike said:

Not a bad effort but Neil Finn doesn't have the attack and edge of LB at his best - mind you neither does Buckingham himself nowadays.  Interesting to note that he's effectively been replaced by 3 guitarists.

I saw FM at the O2 a few years back, the reunion gig with Christine McVie rejoining. My three memories of that night were: (1) how wonderful John McVie's bass sounded, played onstage through a big stack of Orange AD1s with FoH actually taming the venue for bass, (2) how uncomfortable Christine McVie looked and how woodenly she played, and (3) that the whole evening rested on the shoulders of Lindsey Buckingham ... he was an absolute fireball of energy and enthusiasm and he carried the whole damned thing by himself.

All things are possible ...

23 minutes ago, White Cloud said:

I recall one occasion whereupon a really talented Fender player looked my Ric up and down and sneered, "Why don't you get a real bass!"

Talent has never necessarily gone hand-in-hand with intelligence, or indeed with basic politeness.

It will look great hung over my fireplace, like a hunting trophy.

8 hours ago, stewblack said:

Oh god. I'm in love with these Soviet bass stylings! Here's another favourite https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tonika-bass-Sverdlovsk-USSR-vintage-Rossia/192628465034?hash=item2cd98d1d8a:g:gwoAAOSwcTRa0wzL

Stew, you shouldn't have done that, you really shouldn't.

I've bought it. I just had to.

502 errors? I haven't even been counting ...