SteveK

Paul, John, George and Ringo brought so much joy to millions. It's impossible to imagine a world without The Beatles.

Happy birthday, Paul. And thanks for enriching mine, and so many people's lives🎂🥂

Generally speaking, if you're getting rattles and buzzes at the higher frets, it's not just an action issue.

If I had that problem, I would give the truss rod a very slight tighten, just a 1/16 - 1/8 of a clockwise turn for now. You will then possibly need to raise the action.

Basically, you want to have buzzes equally over the entire fretboard, and then set the action to taste.

Edit: Just seen your comment that it's not a neck relief issue. seeing your video, I didn't really hear anything untoward. As you've found, playing nearer to the bridge will reduce any clank and clatter. It may just be a slight technique adjustment is needed.

The mini series Pistol (watched 3 episodes) has confirmed my long held belief: Malcolm McLaren could have got any 4 scruffy 'erberts together, told them to be angry and obnoxious, call them The Sex Pistols, and had success and notoriety.

4 hours ago, ubit said:

 

 

Are there any bands out there who can't relate to more or less every calamity that befalls Spinal Tap at some point in their musical careers?

Absolutely!

As great as TI Spinal Tap is - real life has a way of of creating more bizarre and more ludicrous situations, kind of out-Spinalling Spinal🤘

Is there a rock/pop musician alive that hasn't uttered, at some point, a variation on the words "This is soooo Spinal Tap"?

Late 70s I bought an aria SB1000, and early 80s an Ibanez MC924. I still have the SB1000. The MC924 lasted about 12 months before selling it. IMV It just didn't feel and sound like a proper bass.

I always felt that the Sex Pistols were taken far too seriously. The trailer looks to be a good example of that.

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

Yep. Guess we don't hear of any prog bands suing for plagiarism

I thought the same thing - don't recall Jethro Tull or Yes being sued🤘

Did this Switch fella bring the case himself? Or was it (as is usual) publisher against publisher?

Hopefully, for Switch, it's the latter😐

Listening to Ed Sheeran you'd think this was a new trend. When I started in the business, *cough* more than 45 years ago, there was already the oft used phrase, "Where there's a hit, there's a writ!"

3 hours ago, Rich said:

I agree 100%. I remember when Ox died, and the 'Oo announced their intention to carry on with the tour they were on... I felt this to be the wrong decision, and pretty disrespectful to boot, and said so on another music forum (I forget which one). I received a furious response from one American gentleman who said that I was callous to think that way, because if the tour was cancelled it would cost the insurers, merchandise people and hotdog sellers money. For me, that response pretty much summed up everything that's wrong with the music business.

To be fair, that response isn't unique to the music business.

FWIW I tend to agree with the "American gentleman".

Many thousands of people would have been adversely affected financially had the tour been cancelled. PT had to consider hundreds of peoples livelihoods (some of whom could have suffered serious financial problems), not to mention the many hundreds of thousands of punters who would have been out of pocket after paying for flights, hotels etc to see the show.

I'm pretty sure JE wouldn't have wanted The who to cancel.

It's a zombie thread, but it's an interesting question nonetheless.

Looking through the comments I'm surprised to see that some have said how similar they are🤔

I see nothing similar about them other than they were both in rock bands and made names for themselves.

Chris Squire was predominantly a pick player.

John Entwistle was known for his unusual finger style.

CS's bass parts were pretty much written and set in stone.

JE's bass parts were largely improvised.

CS's lines incorporated a mixture of pentatonics and diatonic scale tones*.

JE's lines leaned more towards the use of pentatonics*.

(* These are just my general perceptions - I haven't done an in depth study.)

They both had very different sounds.

I don't prefer one over the other - I was a fan of both!🙂

2 hours ago, thebrig said:

I used to go to bed reading the Bell's of Surbition catalogue of musical instruments, and I used to drool over the "Beatle" bass, but at 55 gns (£57.75p), it was way out of my price range.

Wow, I'd forgotten about the Bell's Catalogue. A friend of mine used to have a copy that he'd bring to school, and we'd pass it around in class (usually French lessons). This reminds me that I used to draw guitars all over my school books🤩. I think I still have those books somewhere... I'm off to see if I can find them😉

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

I was probably about 14 (that's close to 50 years ago now) when, at the house of a school friend, we went into his brother's bedroom and opened a case to reveal his brother's sunburst Precision. It was, and remains to this day, the most beautiful man-made thing on the planet. I never tire of looking at one.

 

Ok, that all reads rather unfortunately, so I'll quit while I'm behind.

That's how it was in the "olden days"! Those first impressions stay with you 😊

Changing tack slightly... Whenever I see a photo of Buddy Holly with his sunburst Strat - it always looks to me like someone from the 50s playing something left on Earth by an extra terrestrial.🤩

34 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Now that is a nice looking P bass

Thanks, although the purists would likely give me good ticking off for modding(?) it😁

It still sounds and plays as well as it did on the day I bought it.

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

That was a really nice post.

I remember our local music shop having the J & P versions of the Fender Antigua basses on display.

I was stunned by the looks of them but never managed to buy one. 

Over the many many years i always return to J basses after trying other styles. 

Dave

Thanks Dave, I quite enjoyed going back, remembering those days as I was writing🙂

32 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

Never mind all that old cobblers. Let's see it!! 🙂

😄

In the early 80s I went through a period of tinkering with it, so, sad to say, it's had a few mods(?):

DIY respray (no longer sunburst🙁)

Refret & relacquered neck

Badass bridge

Couple of micro switches - series/parallel & switchable tone

Apart from that it's all original😁

Anyway, here it is in all its bastardised glory...

Triple post🤪

Double post 😳

Quote

Has anyone bought a bass on a whim just cos of its looks?

Looking through the comments, I'm feeling really old (which, of course, I am)

In my day, when there was very little choice, my friends and myself (who were attempting to form a band, but as 13 year olds couldn't afford any decent instruments) would religiously watch TOTP, and salivate over our chosen instruments when they appeared. The majority of basses on show were P basses - they just looked so futuristic and "other-worldly"!

Imagine when we got word that our local music store had got one in and it was on display in the window. I spent what seemed like hours standing outside that shop, drooling over that sunburst P bass.

It took me about 4 years before I was in a position to indulge in the ultimate retail therapy and actually buy one... on the "never never", of course!

For about the first year It lived in the corner of my bedroom, so If I woke up in the middle of the night, I could turn the light on and admire its wonderful curves.

Now, 53 years later, that very same P bass is on view in my lounge. It's served me well, and continues to do so🙂

It was the single most important purchase of my life! I can't say it was "on a whim", but it was most certainly "cos of its looks"

A great track from a sublime album.

19 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

For years I played the intro and verse to Gimme Some Lovin'  as  i - i -  i - i - i - iv.  

 

Oh, the shame 

Hands up all those that have just hummed that to themselves, or reached for their bass🎸

FWIW I think you may have actually improved on a classic🤩

PHOTOCOPY SETLISTS! This goes a long way to eliminating the possibility of counting a song in and the guitarist playing a completely different song from the rest of the band. It's quite staggering how long a band will glare at each other in a confused state... while continuing to play.

There are certainly different characteristics to the sound of the same note on different strings. Over the years I've adapted how I play to incorporate that phenomenon and take advantage of it.

eg: If I want to play an ascending phrase or riff that has a bit more power I might start with C on the E string.

If I want it to sound cleaner and brighter I might start it with C on the A string.

8 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I like good melodies. IMO the best 2 lines in Rock are; 

 

She was just seventeen.

You know what I mean.

 

Shakespeare would have been proud to have written that.

If not for John that second line would have been entirely different.

I think every musician has a tendency to focus on their chosen instrument. Isn't that normal?

FWIW When I hear an interesting track for the first time I find myself analysing it, trying to figure out why it's making my foot tap, why it's drawing me in and moving me.

My focus will flit from one instrument to another in an attempt to solve the riddle. Being a bass player it makes sense to give a little more of my attention to the bass elements of a given track. Some of this is done consciously, and some subconsciously. I usually find myself humming the bass line rather than the top line.

If you search for anything on Amazon and select "sort by price: High to Low", you'll find some unbelievable prices. Ex: Single Toothbrush for nearly £2,000 😲 You'll need to get in quick though... they only have 5 left in stock!

40 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

Does my post only show that? To me it looks like there's some text with it.

jimmy, your post was fine.

I was going to quote your post and add my text but hit "submit" by accident. By the time I was able to edit and add to my comment I lost my flow🤪. I tried to delete the entire post, but, on my phone, was unable to delete the quote box. On my laptop I was able to delete the whole thing🙂

Anyway, back on topic: Man bands rule OK 🤘😉