Happy Jack

In NY earlier this year, went into Sam Ash to buy a pedal. The shop assistant was a bit past his sell-by, but then so am I, and he seemed like a knowledgable dude. 10 minutes in to chatting with him, someone else comes over and says "Hi Larry" and the penny dropped. I've never bought Hartke, but there's loads of stuff I've never bought. I was genuinely impressed with his obvious desire to stay in touch with real-world bass players though. Nice guy, too.

At a loose end last night I flicked through the BBC iPlayer and stumbled across http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00shyg4/young-guns-go-for-it-series-1-2-the-human-league#group=p0276q4x made in 1999. Hugely enjoyable and very entertaining. I was particularly taken with the idea of recruiting a new member for a band with the immortal line: "[i]We hear you have a slide collection[/i]." Well worth 30 minutes of anyone's time.

I've started looking out for the "other" definition of upside down, where you put the bridge on the headstock and the tuners by the control knobs ...

I can't help but feel that I should have a presence on this thread. You'll never prevent me from being Happy.

Hmmmm ... don't think so. Yes, I can see something floating about but it looks like more than one string. Besides, I'm pretty sure that bass has four strings. I'm even more sure that a player of his calibre wouldn't simply stop playing because one string was gone. Hell, I wouldn't!

Very hard to make out what happens there. There's a sound like a gunshot and then ... no bass. Did his bridge collapse?

Big fan of Joyce ...

What's the German for "It's a feature, sir"?

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' timestamp='1411651646' post='2561563'] Has anyone else noticed rusty nuts ... [/quote] I'm sure that Discreet will be along shortly.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1411648389' post='2561512'] I think that's what's known as a 'Dutch auction'. [/quote] And I'll bet the Dutch call it an 'English auction' ...

I always hoped that Happy Junior would take up bass, but he turned out to be dyscolexic.

One with frets perhaps?

Rendered damned-near unlistenable by that appalling drum sound ...

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1411398123' post='2559110'] As for knowing when to throw in your cliched rip-off parts.. [/quote] Bwahahahahahaha!!! I am SO going to have to come along to one of your gigs. Anyone who writes with such sublime Liam Gallagher-like arrogance and contempt must surely be a living GOD amongst bass players. You know, I'm looking forward to this already. Please could you post a list of your up-coming gigs so that some of us can come and worship at your altar?

The biggest debt I owe to Victor Wooten ... "you're never more than one fret away from a 'right note'".

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1411394003' post='2559038'] I know of a bass player who had a pet lick that he would use as a fill over many songs, the problem was is was a specific major fill which, when it was used over a minor progression, sounded plain wrong. [/quote] That's actually a far more persuasive argument, especially to those of us whose playing has "plateau'd". I have a (depressingly small) arsenal of licks I can drop into a bassline, and I've always wanted to be able to chuck new stuff in on the fly - yes, but what if it doesn't fit?

... with well-developed forearms and fingers. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CUSTOM-BUILT-8-STRING-BASS-GUITAR-CAN-BE-PLAYED-LIKE-A-DOUBLE-BASS-SEE-PHOTO-/301290307095?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item46264d3e17

Surprised no one has pointed out http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Takeharu-Bass-Guitar-MATSUMOKU-Made-in-Japan-Very-Rare-model-/121440069608?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c466467e8 Never even heard of Takeharu ...

And, of course, they help you to weigh things.

I'm guessing that it must be really good ... for metal.

The last Sunday afternoon gig we played was a couple of years back, on the same afternoon that Andy Murray played in his first Wimbledon Men's Singles Final and there was the British G.P. at Silverstone. [[color=#b22222][i]Note to Blue: In transatlantic terms, think of being up against the SuperBowl and a Mets/Yankees game[/i][/color].] There's been very little enthusiasm since then for playing to an empty room while everyone within 50 yards crowds around a paiur of TVs in the next bar.

In that state? Not a lot ... You might get £200 for it on eBay, but you'd need to be ready for it to sell for less. Bear in mind that, even in mint condition, it would still only be worth £500 or less. That bass is a long way from mint condition.

I'm thinking about those eBay ads which always start with: "If you're looking at this, then you already know about these ..."

That was originally a Hofner Artist, the Selmer import of the Model 185/E2. I can't quite make out the serial number on the reverse of the headstock, I have it as 1?72. If it's 1072 then that was a 1962 bass. Otherwise, it's a 1963. You will obviously have realised that the brass scratchplate and the pair of Jazz pickups are retro-fits, and the paint-job is almost certainly a re-fin. Other than that, it looks pretty much complete and original. +1 to Steve Russell, I owe most of my Hofner knowledge to the time I spent on his site once upon a time ...