Kitsto

Completely agree - it's not a bass track but Sweet Lorraine from Magician's Birthday is still a brilliant song! David Byron died quite young, I think, which was a real shame - he had a great voice. I feel Mick Box is underrated and - although not sounding the same - is a stalwart Gibson Les Paul player like Mick Ralphs.

One of the principal tracks that got me on to bass as a teenager was Uriah Heep's "The Wizard" from their album "Demons & Wizards" with the brilliant cover artwork by Roger Dean. I loved the bass line - so bubbly and melodic; just beautiful. For the last 50 years I thought it was Gary Thain since he was the bass player in the band back then. But today I discovered it was Mark Clarke (I assumed his songwriting credit was because he was the lyricist since he wasn't in the band - how stupid is that!). I hadn't even heard of him. But - as you will all know - he was in Colosseum, recorded a couple of albums with Mountain and was also in Rainbow, briefly. And he's still going strong in JCM. I feel a real clod for not knowing of him, but really pleased that the bloke who played that brilliant bass line that inspired me all those years ago is still very much around.

When I used to gig I had two identical Tbirds that I wanted to get used roughly the same. So one was Scott and the other Virgil (after my favourite TV show as a kid) and each had a sticker of the character on the back to tell them apart.

Trite to say but I think it depends on the song. There's a v. interesting thread around at the moment about All Right Now. I personally think the original bass part is brilliantly original. Andy Fraser wrote the song and left the bass out of the verse completely! Then when it does come in it's this amazing stuttering frog burp. Then the bit under the solo is out of this world. I saw my mate's cover band play ARN and he had a busy bass player who wrecked the minimalism of the guitar solo by putting a million notes under and over it. It was just plain awful. But then if you take Why Dontcha by West Bruce & Laing, Jack Bruce's bass is all over Leslie West's riffing in some of the most melodic, fast, lead-style rock bass playing I've ever heard. And it lifts a so-so rocker into something wonderful.

I echo everything already said. Joined my first gigging band at 58. Arthritis forced me to give it up but I still play along to Karaoke Version UK downloads (excellent) and will play a full 'gig' of an evening sat in my chair at home, playing one song after another straight through. My conclusions: Bass lends itself to mature playing. Playing fast (unless it's in a jazz or fusion context) risks sounding too busy. It was Duck Dunn (IIRC) who said he tried to play as few notes as possible. That becomes easier with age. And your confidence and feel get better. I'm playing the best I ever have (age: 65) and enjoying it more than ever.

I think this is how classical music ensembles get together and function (a mate of mine plays bassoon in an amateur orchestra). They learn the music beforehand and there's an inherent democracy (in my mate's orchestra the members elect a committee which oversees the running of the orchestra, the repertoire and hires in the conductor).

But are these advertised basses actually selling? My impression from casting my eye over the basses-for-sale forum and Bass Bros is that a lot of stuff is just not moving at the prices asked. I see basses advertised at north of 2k and wonder who on earth is going to be buying them, given the cost-of-living crisis detailed above. I've never had expensive kit. When I used to gig I played my trusty ESP Ltd. I had two: one new at £450 and one 2nd hand at half that price. Bass Bros have one going for £425 which is sort of what I'd expect to pay now. I've only ever paid more than 1k for a bass once - and would never do that again (much as I love it). So people holding on to expensive basses thinking they've got an investment may find they haven't. Far more of us can afford a bass at £400 than three times that.

Apologies - nothing useful to say that hasn't already been said except that Karaoke Version has been a lifesaver for me. I didn't enjoy being in a band and KV has enabled me to play at home whenever I like without lugging equipment around or deferring to anyone else's setlist. I think the versions are terrific. Often the vocals sound as good as the original. KV are good at finding matching singers and in some cases better (I personally have never liked Brian Johnson's voice - the AC/DC tracks have somebody who sounds as gruff but clearer). Also, in my own head I'm back in a covers band so it's OK if the vocals aren't the original's. Since I'm now in my late 60s and becoming immobile, KV has enabled me to carry on playing. Also, once you've 'bought' a track you can go back and download different versions for free. And they often add a better version of an existing track and email you so you can download that for free too. They are forever adding new tracks and have on there tracks that I thought only I liked.

Just checked. It's gone 😞 It was on at £50 and to my untrained eye looked quite ornate. Found this. This was it: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB914GB916&q=florence+nightingale+hospice+"mandolin"&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjYgK2GiZv9AhXFi1wKHYkTC2AQ5t4CegQIRBAB&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25#imgrc=fDJV8Tm9eitrVM

I have given a couple of basses to nearby music colleges - they were very appreciative. If you're in rural Scotland it may be more difficult to find colleges within reach. Charities that have shops also sell online. So, just because a charity shop doesn't seem to sell basses, it doesn't mean they won't take it in and send it to head office to sell online. My local charity shop has a mandolin for sale online.

Who's Next Zep 4 Symbols Black Sabbath 4 followed by Demons & Wizards (U Heap) Heep) Yes Album After The Goldrush I was lucky enough to have an outstanding musical education courtesy of elder bro (he recorded this stuff for me on C90 cassettes - remember them?). Real education, not so much.

How terrific to see Dave Cousins mentioned. In the late 80s/early 90s Acoustic Strawbs were playing a local pavilion. I'd been a fan since the 70s so took my then wife along. At the interval I went out for a pee and found myself standing alongside DC at the urinals. I asked him if he'd dedicate a song to my wife, told him her name and, sure enough, during the second set he did!

Once saw Bill Wyman at an airport - we were sitting opposite each other on the bus to the plane. I asked him if he was Si Si Je Suis Un Rockstar. He said he was. At the top of the stairs he turned left for first class and me right for steerage. But I did extract a priceless nugget of useful info from him before we parted. At the time (early 80s) Zep had stopped and I was concerned about Page. I knew JP knew the Stones so I inquired of Mr Wyman as to how JP was. "He's fine," he said, "he's cut his hair." Wow, I thought, that's how rockstars are.

There have been a lot of useful discussions here on band dynamics and leadership. My own experience is that the setlist will generally be determined by the singer and guitarist (what one can actually sing and what the other is prepared to play). Drummers seem to be ignored on the basis that they aren't interested in melody, just banging things at different tempos (tempi?); and the bass player tends to be ignored full stop. I think we bass players tend to be fastidious about learning our parts. But in truth the others tend not to notice. I think I'd be inclined to rock up to rehearsals ready play root notes to any song recently 'suggested' and only get serious when it looks like a cert for the setlist. If challenged I'd say: 'No point in me learning the exact part unless I know for sure the rest of you want to play it.' Maybe a bit passive/aggressive. But it's amazing how many front people (vcls, gtr) are time wasters and feel they have the right to be at everyone else's expense (and no, I'm not bitter!). As for bass players making suggestions for the setlist that get accepted - don't get me started!

Wishbone Ash's Blowin' Free: Her hair was golden brown / Blowin' free like a donkey [corn field]

I withdraw my insistence that AC/DC's use of bagpipes should be allowed. It took just three words to make me see sense: Mull of Kintyre. You're right: no exceptions, even for heavy metal. Otherwise we'd have borderline cases - is Metallica doing a cover version of MoK allowed? (Obviously not. Not because of the bagpipes but because of the song.)

Unless the bagpipes are used by AC/DC.

Just on the subject of prog, a mate took me to see Crimson at the Albert Hall about five years back with the mighty Tony Levin on bass and chapman stick and Mr Fripp in a suit looking like a ticket collector, sat at an upturned, opened packing case with the three drummers ranged a tier below in front. It was fine (they played a bit of Red, my fave KC album after Starless & Bible Black) but it was only when watching his vlogs (called something like 'At home with RF') that I realised why I don't really like most of their music. He insists on keeping his guitars tuned to C and then playing fast but unmelodic arpeggiated passages for 5-10 minutes at a time, like exercises. I know this is serious music and I ought to, you know, make the effort and like it. But I just don't.

Yes, Camel did The Snow Goose which I liked (for some stupid reason Camel and Caravan seemed to coalesce in my mind back then). Agree about Van Der Graaf - liked parts of H To He but that was it. Glad you mentioned Marillion - saw H at my local filling station (I live in Bucks) a few years back and have been getting into them lately - they really are a great band. EDIT I first came across Tubular Bells - long, long before it became big - because the coolest guy in my class at school used to listen to Zappa, Beefheart and Hendrix and thought Zep (my favourite band back then) were 'stupid'. He was also known to be the cleverest boy in the entire school. One day he came back from the record shop in town with Tub Bells under his arm. Had he listened to it? No. Why had he bought it then? 'Because with the number of instruments this bloke [Mike Oldfield] claims [on the back of the album] to have played, it must be good'. He was also a fan of the Bonzo Dogs so the fact that Viv Stanshall was on it probably swayed him. He was also into the Softs, Hatfield and Henry Cow. Happy days.

I grew up in the 70s so Yes, Floyd, Genesis, Tull, Crimson and ELP were standard fare. I couldn't get on with Soft Machine or Hatfield & The North (maybe they were more fusion?). I was aware of Gentle Giant and Greenslade but somehow never listened to them properly. One of my favourite bands was Strawbs and it was odd how they got labelled prog as if folk + rock = prog. I liked Supertramp but didn't consider them prog. Realise now I maybe should have done (at least on Crime). Have recently been re-immersing myself in Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge, Yessongs (played live that music has even more power) and Six Wives. Crumbs how great those albums were!

This is interesting. I used to keep each song's structure on a 3x5 card all clipped together in setlist order. I usually didn't need to refer to it but it was a reassuring prop. After I left the band the singer said to me some months later with an air of incredulity: 'The new bass player keeps notes, just like you!' When Ron Blair rejoined the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty recalled coming across Blair in the backstage canteen waiting to to go on for Blair's first gig back. Petty saw Blair was making notes. 'Writin' to your gal?' TP inquired in typical Pettyesque fashion. 'No, Tom. Making notes for the gig.' TP recalled walking away thinking to himself, 'Maan, this guy writes notes!' Is this a bassist thing to do, write notes?

This. I realised after a while in the covers band I was in that none of my suggestions were accepted. The singer had to decide if he could sing it and the guitarist whether he could be arsed to play it. However, the drummer had a right of veto: if he hated a song he'd deliberately wreck it by playing out of time. I, as bass, didn't count. But I did get my own back. The singer loved playing interminable Chicago blues. One of the several we did was a semitone down (B flat, I think). During a gig I nodded off, assumed this was the one we played flat and was a semitone out throughout. At the end we all looked at each other: it had sounded even worse than usual. But no one twigged it was me. For some reason we never played that number again.

I have a Goth which I bought to play halloween gigs with the band I was in back then. I already had a Tbird Pro (that one's active, the Goth is passive). I expected to sell the Goth when I left the band but it's really nice to play so I never did. But IIRC they don't go for much. I picked this up for maybe £250-300 in perfect nick. Maybe the Nikki Sixx connection would increase that. So it might not be worth lugging all the way to the UK.

Yes, music has that special ability to waft you back in time. I think it's why we have such an emotional response and tie to it. It's why we (I) worship the people who make the music that does this to us (me). And also why such worship is pointless - even though I still do it: top musicians put their trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us as Stephen King so memorably wrote about famous writers (himself included). Besides they usually have no better understanding of how they do what they do than a striker sticking the ball in the back of the net. It's why I play bass and have played in a band - to see what it was like (love playing bass; hated being in a band; no rock star alternative career daydream for me). EDIT: Reminds me of that Rush DVD (Rush In Rio?) where Alex Lifeson looks on bemused when fans break down in tears in front of him (and Geddy grouches round looking for a missing lucky stage shoe saying that this is definitely not documentary DVD material).