Happy Jack

So I'm playing Walton WMC last night. I'm on a boomy wooden stage, despite my Gramma pad, running my Mike Lull Thunderbird through a Matamp into a Barefaced 610 (can't remember its name, Alex keeps changing them ) and I've ended up with the treble on max and the bass rolled right off. The TBird now sounds acceptable. Then it's time to try out my new (well, newly-purchased) Ibanez Rickenfaker. But of course I leave the controls unchanged. Silvie's camera has compressed the f***out of the outrageous bass tone but this will give you a glimpse of it. It's much clearer after 2:20 when I flicked the selector switch from Both to Bridge. http://youtu.be/JHK_cOeegRk Can a Rickenfaker give you a genuine 'clank'? Oh yes, big time.

Yes, but Howard Goodall could fart into a paper bag and it would still be a great documentary ...

Understood. But this is a link to a specialist after-market pickup, not to a bass. There comes a point where due caution becomes sheer paranoia. If John Hall wants to come after me, I'm ready. And laughing at him, especially since I just bought a gorgeous 1970s Ibanez Rickenfaker. I've actually had two very expensive and totally genuine Rickenbackers. Neither of them were as nice as the Ibanez. Mods, feel free to open a dialogue if you disagree with me.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/polycell-trade-polyfilla-all-purpose-ready-mix-filler-white-2kg/29114?kpid=29114&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%2520Listing%2520Ads-_-Sales%2520Tracking-_-sales%2520tracking%2520url&gclid=CjwKEAjwvMnJBRCO2NSu-Puc6AUSJAAf-OSU92uy-j9vKcqo4-AczK_tUKyb3uX-O5YcdJzal9BDjxoCmnXw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN-Q1-ufodQCFSgh0wodkHcIdQ

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1496407943' post='3311182'] I've played a whole gig with the guitarist tuned about 20 cents sharp compared with the bass because of a tuner problem, and the only person who spotted anything was the drummer who was behind both amps and could her how appealing it sounded and kept telling us to tune up. Of course our tuners told us that we were perfectly in tune (just not with each other). [/quote] [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1496411367' post='3311235'] How on earth can you not instantly notice that you have a string tuned to the wrong note? [/quote] Bin there. Dun that. I was playing with a Spanish singer-songwriter, experienced musician, good guy. I was on DB and I was really, really struggling with my intonation. It didn't matter how hard I concentrated, I was always off-pitch with his guitar. We played our first gig together and it was the same problem throughout. As a newbie to DB I just assumed naturally it was down to my playing. At the next rehearsal I played with a Korg Pitchblack permanently on so I KNEW I was playing the right notes, and I challenged him instead. We checked our tuners. Mine was set to 440. His was set to 432. He never came up with a convincing explanation for that ...

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1496404600' post='3311120'] His reply was to make sure the beginning and end are perfectly in time, along with any whole group rests in the song and no one will notice what goes in the middle. [/quote] Troo, dat. The vast majority of punters don't hear you or what you're playing. They hear the music in their heads instead. The know how the song sounds, so that's what they hear. Unless you do something utterly catastrophic.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1496398368' post='3311047'] But Les Paul had been using multitrack recorders for many years before Sgt Pepper.... [/quote] Yup, Les Paul undeniably got there first, and in so many contexts. Unbelievable guy. But. How many people followed his lead? There were some, of course, but most pop music (by which I'd guess I mean 99%) did not go that route for the next ten years. Then the Beatles did it, and then most pop music (by which I'd guess I mean 99%) copied them. Can you see the difference?

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1496395068' post='3311009'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN75im_us4k[/media] Fixed. I just took the "s" out of "https". Thanks but I said crossovers not mash-ups. Playing songs out of their expected genre in other words. Mash-ups, whilst being quite clever Trevor, are not something I'd spend much time with. PS; Is it me or does Rick Astley get extra stick on this forum? [/quote] I'll see your Nirvana/Astley, and raise you a Seven Nation/Eurythmics: http://youtu.be/hT5eJwgAtvY

Oh come on Dave, how can a bunch of The World's Great Drummers possibly know more than The Usual Beatle-hating Suspects here on Basschat?

[quote name='Yukimajou' timestamp='1496222283' post='3309601'] This [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3deQXzV-qTk"]You Tube video[/url] of Ray talking about Riders ... [/quote] Yes, I saw that video some time ago. I'm sure that Ray Manzarek is a lovely fella with a terrific fund of stories, but it's pretty clear that some of these stories have ... erm ... [i]improved [/i]over the years. Jerry Scheff in 1971 was a fully-trained musician on several instruments and a very experienced and highly sought-after session player. The idea that he would struggle with a two-chord bass line moving between Em and A is utterly ludicrous. How ludicrous? Well that's one of my favourite songs and one of favourite bass lines. When I first learned to play bass (not as long ago as you might think) I was playing this bassline within months of first picking up the instrument. I'm no musical prodigy, and nowhere near as talented as Jerry Scheff. I'm also not a fully-trained musician. Bizarrely, I'm not even a highly sought-after session player. Life is so unfair. As Jimi Hendrix once said, you shouldn't believe everything you find on the Internet.

[quote name='Yukimajou' timestamp='1496222283' post='3309601'] Jerry (their session bassist on all albums except the first) said that you couldn't play that and had to do some gymnastics with his fingers to play it. [/quote] Hmmmm. You've got that exactly the wrong way round. Far from playing "on all albums except the first", Jerry played on NO albums except the last. Close, though.

So it was a double divan bed? Did it have a headstock or a headboard?

Really sorry to hear that. Try buying a fretless Harley Benton bass uke from Thomann. I've routinely used one at DB gigs where there simply isn't the space for my DB. They're cheap, sound great, and actually work remarkably well as a DB substitute.

Still a great album.

Post a Wanted ad saying that your band needs to recruit two vocalists, a really tight rhythm guitarist, a keyboard player, a 3-piece brass section and some backing vocalists who like really short skirts. Sorted.

Piper? Seriously? I found that bloody hard to sit through as a teenager, I certainly couldn't/wouldn't bother now! [i]Bike [/i]was fun though. Strange Days is probably my least favourite Doors album (given me Morrison Hotel or LA Woman any day) but I accept that's merely a matter of taste.

Getting serious for a moment, and picking up on a couple of comments about being one age while 'thinking' much younger, something really has changed. I'm 60 (but 17 inside) and I have pretty clear memories of my parents and grandparents back in the 60s and 70s, plus of course people like teachers and neighbours and shop assistants etc. When they hit 40 my parents were definitely "middle aged" with all the accompanying cliches. They were already going out of shape physically at depressing speed, their minds were travelling in some pretty deep grooves (I'm trying not to call them ruts), they dressed and acted like their own parents, they were increasingly concerned about behaving in an appropriate manner. My grandparents were in their 60s by my earliest clear memories of them and they were, inevitably, even more so. In his mid-60s my grandfather (after whom I'm named, and who lived in the flat above us) was, quite simply, old. He dressed and moved like an old man, talked like an old man, and already had - at least metaphorically - one foot in the grave. I was amazed that he made it through to 76. Like I say, something has changed. Maybe it's medicine, or lifestyle, or attitude, or everything, but in every way that matters I have a more youthful outlook at 60 than my Dad had at 40. I'm in better shape physically, more flexible and open-minded in attitude, and I still barely think of myself as being even middle-aged, let alone getting old. My parents were unusual people for their time; they were considered to be forward-thinking and perhaps even a bit risque. If I then think about the people the same age as my parents - teachers, neighbours, shop assistants, etc. - it just gets much worse. At one level I find myself thinking - like so many others - where did it all go. But at another level I more often find myself thinking "Gone? Who says it's gone?".

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1496291379' post='3310217'] That means I was 14 when I purchased it. Blue [/quote] As a 10-year-old I couldn't afford it. Luckily, my Mum bought it for my 13-year-old brother. It's a perfect example of why the Beatles were so great. They were, and remain, completely accessible. My Mum thought they were a great pop group (she was 38 at the time) and loved [i]She's Leaving Home[/i]. My brother and I thought they were a great pop group and we loved the title track and [i]When I'm 64[/i] and [i]Lovely Rita [/i]and [i]Benefit of Mr. Kite[/i]. None of us 'got' [i]Lucy [/i]or [i]Day In The Life[/i]. Years later we realised that they were also a great rock band and that the 'difficult' songs were the best and most challenging ones. The album remains completely listenable today (how many other albums from 1967 would you seriously consider playing when you get home from work tonight?) and more than justifies its reputation as far as I'm concerned. Not my own personal favourite though (Abbey Road). Not even my second favourite (Revolver).

Given they they're all either flakes or fantasists (or both) it's hardly worth the bother of replying. I like to spread the love around, so I routinely gig ... erm, play ... erm, am involved with ... erm, have a vague connection with several bands outside my 'core' stuff. I check the Gumtree ads every day just in case something interesting pops up, and I usually do at least a handful of auditions each year, leading to at least a couple of "please join us" offers. Without exception, all these projects crash and burn. It's actually quite amusing trying to predict what the problem will be each time. FLAKES:[list] [*]Can't be arsed to learn the songs [*]Cancel rehearsals at the last minute [*]Think rehearsals are purely social occasions [*]Own unreliable or completely unsuitable kit [*]Don't have their own transport [*]Constantly borrow 'small stuff' like clip-on tuners and leads [*]Drop out of sight at load-in and/or load-out and then offer to help as you carry the last box [*]Don't know how to coil cables [*]Are easily led by fantasists [/list] FANTASISTS[list] [*]Think there's a market for their self-penned autobiographical dirges [*]Believe that gigs grow on trees and will just happen [*]Claim that being dreadful on several different instruments makes them multi-talented [*]Always reckon that the next band is the one that's going to make it big [*]Believe they will succeed because they "want it so badly" [*]Tend to fill their bands with flakes [/list]

I'm pretty sure that ninety-nine and a half per cent of us got it ...

Discolexia is a terrible thing, but it's not your job to try to cure it. If your singer can't hack singalongarock then he'll be a waste of space in your band. Painful as it may be, you'd be better off cancelling that gig, sacking the singer, and finding someone new. Can anyone else in the band sing?

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[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1496081043' post='3308645'] LOL , seller says it may be an 'Alan Entwistle' due to that being the only writing on the Bass..on the pickups! [/quote] http://www.entwistlepickups.com/

For this, I'd make an exception. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-classes/bass-guitar-lessons-with-high-profile-bass-player/1242848303