Cato

Unless you're very rich indeed then something like this only has use as an investment or a museum piece. Anything more than the most delicate and very occasional bedroom noodling is going to significantly devalue it. I imagine potential investors would be looking to buy it, stick it somewhere safe for a few years then sell it on for a few thousand pounds profit. Possibly at the moment it's priced too highly for that to be viable, or maybe the right person just hasn't come along yet.

I'm very happy with now. When I look back on my childhood in the 80's it's like some hazy black and white pre internet nightmare. I almost feel privileged to have been born at a time that allowed me to witness the human race move into a new technological era, its like crossing over from the stone age to the steam age, all in a couple of decades. Everythings better now, plus all that classic music from previous eras? It's never been so easy to find and listen to.

My guess is that people have probably been using similar techiques for as long as there have been stringed instruments. As to who was first out of Larry & Louis, I can believe that they both developed it separately, they both have very different styles, I'd say Larry is more melodic whilst Louis really took the rhythmic ghost notes thing to the next level.

I couldn't cope with it, some part of my brain kept screaming at me that it was all out of tune.

When it comes to film composers( who to me are very much the modern Mozarts and Beethovens) there's Morricone & John Williams and nobody else come close to matching their body of work.

Fender have discontinued the Marcus Jazz. It seems to have a bit of a mixed reputation, I loved the one I tried but I've heard a few people who seem not so keen. Apparently the 4 string was made in Japan whilst the 5 string was USA built, the 5 seems to have more fans. I'm hoping to try one of the new Elites myself. It's predecessor, the Deluxe, seems to have had a few problems, particularly that the N3 noiseless pickups weren't that noiseless. It'll be interesting to see if the next generation N4s have solved that problem.

Purely in terms of musicianship I thought 2nd Coming was their best album, I reckon Mani & John Squire listened to a lot of Led Zep before recording that one. The first album is an absolute classic though, I'd never heard anything like it. Waterfall is still one of my all time favourite tunes.

I really wanted to like it. But I couldn't.

There's no law that says that the equipment you own should reflect your personal opinion of your standard of playing. If that were so there'd be an awful lot of us playing Encores through Tandy combos. Especially as I reckon most of us on here would describe ourselves at best as 'Intermediate' even the guys the rest of know from the song and noodle challenges are actually sh!t hot. Don't be too down on yourself, its very hard to be objective about your own standard of playing. I'd wager most people would rate your playing higher than you do yourself.

I use the washers these days. You don't have to be jumping about like a loon for an unsecured strap to come off. It happened to me years ago at a band practice after I shrugged my shoulders in response to a question from the guitarist. Fortunately I had my left hand on the the neck and although the bass swung towards the ground like a massive pendulum, my grip held and there was no impact with the thinly carpeted concrete floor of the rehearsal room.

I've been listening to this whole album whilst sat in the sunshine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtQRBzSN9Vw Seems like a perfect combination.

Radiohead & me parted company after Kid A, I think more to do with my broadening musical tastes than because I stopped liking the band. I keep meaning to check out their later stuff, this seems decent enough although I do tend to find Thom Yorke's vocal style a bit samey by the time I get to the end of an album.

My favourite era was up to & including Mothers Milk. I didn't mind when they started chasing the mainstream from Blood Sugar Sex onwards, but I wasn't as keen though there's no denying they still made some outstanding music all the way up to By the Way. Stadium Arcadium was the moment they jumped the musical shark for me, its not a terrible album, its just incredibly bland & generic compared to what preceded it. Since then I've heard nothing from them to get me excited, including this new release. Again its not terrible, but its a long way from the hairs on the back of my neck excitement I used to get when I heard a new Chili's track. (All of this is strictly my opinion, opposing opinions are equally valid).

I started out playing with a pick. At that time I was listening to a lot of really fast aggressive thrash & punk stuff and a pick really suits that stlye. As my musical tastes broadened I stated trying to emulate other players, nearly all of whom played finger style so I made the switch to fingers. I still use a pick for skinny string so I've always sort of assumed that if I ever wanted to use a pick for anything on the bass it would be pretty effortless. However, having seen a couple of Bobby Vega videos recently and what he can do with a pick, particularly his muting and use of ghost notes I have realised that by comparison I would be like a chimp, blindly flailing away at the strings. Anyone who has a downer on pick players should check out a few Bobby Vega vids on youtube. He definitely made me rethink what's possible with a bit of plastic.

Not sure I'd count having the pickup cavities re-routed as 'light customising'. Was it just a case of getting a lower than low action, or were the strings originally clattering the pickups through normal use?

It can be a very useful resource but it does manage to convey the impression that humour is somehow frowned upon and that discussions about bass guitaring are no place for levity. That's the main reason I've never signed up.

[quote name='jonnybass' timestamp='1461134329' post='3031648'] I used dr hi beams since 1993 until 18 months ago, then switched to Dunlop super steels. Not sure which is better but I love the feel of super steels right now. [/quote] I've gone the other way, I went from Dunlop Super Brights to Hi Beams. I don't know if the Dunlops are super smooth but the texture of the Hi Beams felt really abrasive at first after the switch, to the point where I thought I was going to get blisters for the first time in about 25 years. I'm loving them now though.

Didn't he switch his endrsement to Dunlop Super Brights? Maybe the Fat Beams with the photograph are 'vintage' stock. Or maybe he endorses both and I don't know what I'm talking about?

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1460846189' post='3029335'] It's really funny, I'm always incredibly impressed with Wooten's playing, precision and his technical mastery of the instrument but I've still never heard any of his solo playing that's really moved me on an emotional level (unlike, say, Abe Laboriel's solo stuff which shares a lot of similar elements). One of those players I've tried hard to like/love but just never managed to. I always kinda feel like I ought to but it just never happens. [/quote] He's got a couple of gems from his solo albums but ,for me, Victor's best work is with the Flecktones where he's very much a bass player in a band as well as a virtuoso musician showing off his best chops. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tq7Bm6IM-g

My favourite Dee Dee quote about basses ( and the only one I'm aware of ) was something along the lines of 'I prefer maple boards because they bounce better'. I don't begrudge Fender giving him a signature model posthumously because I imagine his estate could do with the cash. I also think it's the prettiest precicion in the current range. I do think there's a smidge of hypocrisy from Fender in that they seem to be cashing in on his name now but never offered him any kind of endorsement while he was alive. Partly because at that time the Ramones, whilst a cult band with a strong following weren't seen as the hugely influential legends they are now, partly because at that time Fender liked to associate itself with virtuoso players & partly because Dee Dee was a massive drug addict.

I know nothing about Vantage but there's a hint of Alembic there which I find very attractive. Double P pickups are always intriguing too.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1460789522' post='3028696'] Bass played solo is like one of those blokes you see doing a marathon in a diving suit with lead boots. Novel and laudable to a point, but ultimately a futile exercise best achieved by another means. [/quote] I think bass solos can work, but the style in which they are played is important. The Victor Wooton stuff, where he seems to aproach it like a classical guitar works, jazz solos where it's used like a double bass seem to work and even the occasional slappy, tappy fill can sound great. But I agree with you in that examples like this just trying to play it like a distorted skinny stringer rarely sound anything other than awful.

My first 'proper' rig was an HA3500 through a Carlsbro 4x10. Sounded a lot better than my mates Trace Elliott combo.

To be fair there is an American tradition of having high profile guest performers slaughtering the national anthem at sporting events. There seems to be some sort of ongoing competition among the performers as to who can insert the most additional notes into the original piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHpXkyL6s0E

On the wiki page for 10538 Overture it says Weller sampled the riff for 'Changing Man'. Whether they actually mean sampled or whether Weller just had his band play it I don't know, but I would guess that the royalties were sorted out long ago.