Old Man Riva

During the first lockdown I ended up having a listen to a few bands I’d heard the name of (and people I knew rated/recommended) but had never gotten around to hearing anything by them. STP was one of those bands. Not all to my taste, but ended up liking a few bits and bobs, but I ended up really liking the bass parts. Even more so after I watched this. To me, he comes across as a really nice and humble guy, who is hugely talented. Well worth a watch…

Jeff Beck at the Albert Hall in May - originally scheduled for 2020, then rescheduled for 2021, then rescheduled for next month. Hopefully…

Been watching this a lot over the weekend. I’m a fan of the track in any event but this version blows me away for a number of reasons, not least Rachel Flowers contribution (worth mentioning that she lost her eyesight at a very young age and has gone on to master the guitar and piano/keys - even if you’re not a fan of ELP fan it’s certainly worth checking out her take on Keith Emerson’s parts/playing). Her guitar back and forth with Dweezil is excellent, but the real standout is her take on the mid-song vocal part (originally done by the Ikettes, and went right over the head of a perplexed Ike Turner when he first heard it!). Anyways, if songs about dental floss are your thing then this may be for you…

He played on The Magnificent Seven off Sandinista…

Segs (Ruts) would be up there, for me…

Have you looked at The Gallery website?

… I’m now off to spend the day obsessing about JPJ’s ‘odd’ E string. By 6.30 I’ll have experimented with an array of errant E strings and will be thoroughly frustrated that I still don’t sound like him!

The Pretenders debut album. I was (still am) a big fan of Pete Farndon’s playing on this record - nothing too fussy, but drove the tracks along perfectly. He also looked cool as… James Honeyman-Scott was such an underrated guitarist. Anyway, here’s the opening track (over 40yrs old and still sounds great!)…

Great job, they look brilliant!

I was genuinely anxious reading that! Glad it all worked out… (… and nice 5.15 reference!)

Was just pointing out the similarities between the headstocks (esp. decal and lollipops); the blocks I genuinely have no idea about! I must admit I’ve never seen that combination on a Fender before, other than Bobby Vega putting a discarded ‘60s Jazz neck on a Precision body, and some of the latest CS range that feature a P bass with a Jazz (blocks) neck. That said, with 60s Fenders nothing would surprise me!

Similar to a headstock on a 1968 Precision on Andy Baxter’s site in the past - lollipop tuners and pre TV logo…

I’ve got a ‘71 Precision with a Jazz neck and it has the Precision decal rather than a Jazz one. I’m fairly certain that was how it was done for factory/special orders…

Have you got a link to it? (not looking to buy, just curious!)

… certainly different from someone shouting, “shut the f**k up”!

Similar topic discussed in this video around the 9min mark. I’d never heard of it before. As someone who has never gone near adjusting a truss rod watching this made me feel ill!

David Live by David Bowie - Herbie Flowers not just supporting the songs but, in many cases, adding to them. He’s solid, groovy, funky, and makes a few wonderful excursions up the dusty end, whilst also adding chords and double-stops to boot. A wonderfully inspiring record on many levels and one that I’d point any aspiring bassist towards to get a handle on playing a number of different styles on one gig. Aladdin Sane by David Bowie - Trevor Bolder’s bass lines on the album are wonderful. The album contains an array of different styles (pop/rock stomp of The Jean Genie, groovy R’n’B of Watch That Man, torch song style of Lady Grinning Soul, and the avant-garde leanings of the title track et al) and Trevor nails them all, as per. As above, a wonderfully inspiring LP, and one for any bassist to listen to and hear standout lines across a myriad of different styles. Great production too!

Fascinating, that - thanks for posting. I actually found it therapeutic and calming to watch, in an odd sort of way!

One of the (many) things I loved about Bowie was his open approach to his own music, where he often chose to reinterpret his songs depending on his mood, the situation and/or the musicians he had with him at the time. The above LBIA is a great case in point. A much ‘harder’ version than, say, the more ‘polished’ opener to the Serious Moonlight gigs. I think it was his approach to the musicians that allowed for this - putting together the right musicians for a specific project by allowing them to play with their own personality - a band with Reeves Gabrels and Mike Garson in would never sound the same as one with Carlos Alomar and Dave Lebolt. He was brilliant at choosing the right musicians…

His playing on the whole album is right up there, for me. It’s an album that I absolutely love and part of the reason for that is the diversity of the material. His playing on each track, whatever style, adds so much to what are already wonderful pieces of music. It’s an album I’d point any aspiring bass player towards as a piece of work that one could learn so much from, in terms of bass playing (choice of notes, phrasing etc). Ditto Herbie Flowers on David Live…

My first proper case of GAS was after seeing Carmine Rojas play an ESP P/J bass on the Serious Moonlight tour. Up to that point I’d not seen a P/J configuration before. It was an amazing looking/sounding bass - with body, neck and headstock all finished in the same colour (black, I think). I think Earl Slick had the six string equivalent. Carmine Rojas also appeared with Nona Hendryx on Channel 4’s The Tube using the same bass a few years later. He also played with a pick, which I thought was pretty cool.

Help required! I bought a bass recently which was a bit of an impulse buy and I’ve since found it’s not quite me - when will I ever learn?! Anyhow, rather than looking to sell/trade it I think I’d like to donate it to a charity that gives young people a chance to try/play an instrument, who may not be in a position at the moment to do so - I’ve heard of this type of charity previously. I’ve scoured the internet and can’t find anything that suits - a small/local charity rather than, say, larger recognised charities is what I’m after. Anyone from the BC Collective know of anything that might fit the bill? Conversely if anyone knows of someone who could do with a bit of help starting up at the moment where the bass would be helpful to them then feel free to drop me a line. I’m now banning myself from music shops for the immediate future!!