Burns-bass

4 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Maybe it is maybe it isn't. You're using a subjective term though when you say better.Play a bunch of USA basses and Squier ones and you'll know for definite. The ultimate test would be a blindfold one. We go to Sainsbury's and see McVities Digestive Biscuits and we see the Sainsbury's own brand version. Guess which one most people will assume is superior before even sampling either packet?  Well McVities make both despite the lower price of Sainsbury's "version". Leo used ash and alder based on cheapness and availability. It was not a tonewood choice in the beginning. There's no magic there so if a Squier is poplar bodied for example there is no inherent disadvantage other than what the user places on it based on preconceptions and prior association.

Over the last 20 years I’ve had literally hundreds of basses. I realised it was all wasted in the end as all I need to do is just get a few guitars I love and use.
 

Happens to be a few USA Fenders, but could easily have been a Stingray or Shuker. But for the rigours of gigging I trust the USA ones the most.

This does my head in. 
 

https://www.jimmyegypt.com/fender-1973-jazz-bass-black-block-markers-3-color-sunburst-pre-owned?srsltid=AfmBOoopjVqdyrelLPtMO-6LMnepN2iFpW6y7HMswVNDJ1za1e2C5xmCOVY

The bridge and the pickguard are obviously replaced. Come on lads!

4 hours ago, Terry M. said:

But this simplicity and quality can exist in far-eastern produced Squiers at a fraction of the cost. Exactly how can Fender justify the much higher prices for essentially the same thing? I think with regards to sounds between boutique and Fender basses ,in many cases the "best" bass tone isn't what's required.I've been in situations where people just want the sound they're used to hearing on their favourite albums. It makes no difference to them if an alternative sounds "better". I'm not suggesting this applies to you personally but it's definitely out there.

Perhaps its all in my head (but I’m sure it isn’t) that the USA ones simply do sound and feel better.

The materials and components on a USA jazz and the build quality genuinely are higher. The modern ones much more so than the vintage ones (of which I have owned a lot of).

I appreciate they’re basic designs and you’re certainly paying a premium for the brand over something like Xotic, but god knows what I’d do with a preamp like that!

None of it really matters to 99% of the population, of course. My backup bass for double bass gigs is this £150 Bronco - which is fantastic.

37 minutes ago, la bam said:

The irony that they are inspiring youngsters to pick up guitars, basses and drums and play live...... Just as most of the physical shops selling them have shut down.

It’s all relative of course, but I don’t see Oasis inspiring that many kids nowadays. It’s going to be filled with middle aged men like me.

Friedn of mine is considering paying £450 for a Ticketmaster-approved resale ticket. 

World gone mad. 

Anyone there today, I hope you have an amazing time and that you can see over the sea of smartphones proving these people were there. 

28 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

It's a blues in F.

F7, Bb7 F7 /

Bb7 / F7 D7

Gm7 C7 F7 /

 

I don't normally do chords as the purpose of the transcriptions is to promote reading not learning theory. There are people/websites out there that do all that better than I can. I'm just dumb enough to sit there for hours transcribing details that no-one else can be bothered to look for.

Thanks for this. It makes perfect sense this way.

As sad as it sounds, as well as playing it, I’ll study these to see what he’s doing against a chord to try and understand it. 
 

I’ll just print it and write the chords at the top in pencil and we’re good. 
 

Appreciate it’s an improvised line!

11 hours ago, Bilbo said:

This one took me days - a bit of a roast. I think it would have been easier had I not Moised it! The bass sounds better in the original mix. The is the Reginald Veal bass part to the tune 'Blutain' from the 1996 Branford Marsalis Trio album, 'The Dark Keys' (was it really 30 years ago?). Veal's part is stunningly creative whilst retaining the core aspects of swing, sounding simultanously fresh and ancient. Jeff Watts is incredible also. A great album that is highly recommended. I wish I could have done these transcriptions 30 years ago.

 

https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blutain-branford-marsalis/

What a challenging transcription to have made! 

It's not just the notes, it's the feel too – what a player!

I have one request (and you can ignore me and throw stuff at the screen if you want). When you're doing these walking jazz transcriptions, could you put the chord at the top of the bar? That way I can sit there and try and figure out what he's doing as it relates to the key? (I know I can do this myself, and I do)

7 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

I find fender stuff laughably mediocre for the money, especially as you go up their ranges, the CS stuff being Hurracan money for a Hyundai Elantra equivalent. The options they give are fairly limited and the price so high, hard pass. I'd rather build my own from Warmoth. 

I've owned a ton of them over time, and played more, but I don't think I'd spend my own hard earned on one if I was after something like they offered.

It strange isn't it. I've had a lot of the boutique stuff (Shuker, Alembic, etc) and I find that while they're all beautifully made they're complex to coax out a great sound, ofter over-engineered and, well, a bit ugly. 

The more gigs I play and the more varied music I'm asked  to work on, I value the simplicity and quality of the American Fenders I've had. 

10 hours ago, AGBFunkybassman said:

I played bass with a 'Pick' from early on in my bass Journey (Dont hate me) but I'm trying to be more rounded by  playing fingerstyle as well.

 

So when it comes to learning new scales or arpeggios I learn with pick first

 

After watching a few 'alternate picking Vs Raking Videos' I chose the raking option as it seemed more efficient to me, (was that a mistake !!)

 

So Ive noticed that with scales you end up back on the root on the (M) assuming you started on the (I) ......

 

Now are you then also supposed to learn the scale  starting from the (M) as well .. is that 'Correct technique' or just being a bit too obsessive ?

I’d say clarity of note is more important than which finger you use. It’s not like bowing a double bass. And remember, knowing 1 scale already puts you ahead of 50% of guitarists in theory knowledge.

8 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

You really have to treat the various mass produced Fenders the same way per model/series, in that you really need to try before you buy. You can usually find one diamond in a batch of 10-20. I've owned a lot over the years, and currently have a 2018 American Original Jazz, 2012 FSR Limited Edition Hand Stained Jazz & a 2016 American Elite Jazz, with a couple of Mex/USA Mustangs as well.

 

Generally speaking, the current higher end Mexican ranges (Vintera II & Player II Modified) are very good. They really seem to have bumped up quality a lot at the Enchilada plant. The American Standard/Professional series seems to go in two steps per series - the 2008s were great, whereas the updated 2012s with the custom shop pickups were a bit meh. The 2016 American Pros were great and the later Pro II less so. They seem to have a habit of making something great that appeals to the pros and then dumbing it down a bit to appeal to more players. (Obviously they're there to sell as many instruments as possible!)

 

In my own personal opinion, the peak for the 'Deluxe/Elite/Ultra' line was between the 2010 Deluxe (with N3 pickups) and the 2016 Elite. The Ultra models produced since are showing signs of production cost cutting, with a return to the cheaper neck construction with the skunk stripe at the back and top loaded truss rod. 

 

You'll have to ask someone else about the Custom Shop offerings. I have no experience. 

 

So yes, I do believe that you do benefit from the higher up ranges, but they are getting very expensive now and musicians' earnings aren't keeping up.

I found the FSR Fenders to be the best. The one I have is an absolutely amazing instrument. I was luck enough to try a few of them and picked the one I liked the best. 
 

I have two basses I will never sell and this is one of them. The rest I’m sort of ambivalent towards.

People will have different views, but I e gigged with Squiers, Mexican, Japanese and American jazz basses.

While all are great instruments (and some can be awful) the American higher end models sound better, are built better and come with a nice case.

Whether this is worth the premium, that’s a question of personal choice. But for me, my Professional series jazz basses is the best instrument I’ve used and we’ve done hundreds of gigs together.

5 minutes ago, Marvin said:

I did see the Lewis Capaldi set. I don't like or dislike his material, but he always seems a decent sort. 

 

I saw it the last time he played Glastonbury, when he had problems. Excellent that he's back and great to see the crowd get behind him. Being a bit soppy, it rather lovely all said.

I think it's impossible not to like him. My wife watched a documentary about him while I was (pretending) to read a book. He and his family seemed lovely people. 

22 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

The irony being that it was in fact a quasi religious experience until the BBC got their hands on it, certainly was when I first went in the 80's  

Big nostalgia marketing fest now. 

Simon Reynolds had this all nailed back in 2012.

8 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

The thing is that it just drives people further away from caring what the media say.
 

Which isn't a good thing in a world full of unmoderated social media junk. 
 

Bona fide news organisations at least carried some gravitas whether you agreed with their politics or not.
 

Nowadays it just seems a race to the bottom of clickbait and space-filling chaff. 

The BBC is to blame for this. They're trying to establish Glastonbury as some sort of quasi religious experience when it's just lots of people enjoying music in a field. If we expect every performer to deliver a generation-defining set, we're all going to be disappointed. But it's still just people playing music in a field which is sometimes great, oftentimes good, and sometimes truly dire.

I've been learning classical double bass recently (because that's what you do at 44) and that – and these transcriptions – have helped hugely. 

Just picked up a gig in a blue note jazz band and I was able to sight read the heads which impressed my friends, which is always good to see.

Just wanted to express my thanks, that's all.

30 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

In my time as a spark, I have seen a lot of fire or near fires through dodgy electrics.  Thankfully, I'm normally called before the house burns down.  Mostly, the thermal damage I see comes from

1) Placing a source of heat next to combustible material (halogen downlights fitted underneath joists or next to cables)

2) Loose connections

3) Overloading individual sockets or fused spurs, or multiple extension leads daisy chained.

 

I suppose if there is a thousand to one chance of disaster striking, it will strike eventually if a thousand people try the same bodge.

If more people phoned experts the world would be a safer place!

The wiring in our house (a former HMO) was declared incredibly dangerous by my friend (an electrician, obvs). We had the whole place redone just so we can sleep soundly at night.

I’m not an expert in anything, but there are some things I’d never take a risk with. 
 

We now take a plug tester to all our gigs, too, after the lead singer got a shock once.

30 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

So take the pencil out then.  Yes, it is possible (but rather unlikely) for disaster to strike if you take the tranny out but leave the pencil in.  Maybe, as an electrician I am used to seeing way worse but I would assume Mark isn't leaving the pencil stuck in the socket while using the pedal board.

Having worked for the fire service for several years, strange things really do happen… (I didn’t work as a firefighter, so thankfully didn’t have to respond!)

49 minutes ago, TimR said:

I can't work out if you're being serious or not. 😆

 

Just in case you are: Kids, don't do this! 

I think the PAT test sticker suggests this is a joke. 

On 27/06/2025 at 21:43, Louisfw said:

 

Yes I discovered his family name was Peakman and knew that he had issues with drinking. I wasn't going to share that but it seems it's well known out there already.

 

Here is an article I found in our local paper about Lorne from 7 years ago. A video too. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/meet-ex-homeless-man-who-1304951

 

It's all very sad that he is no longer with us and I don't doubt that although I never knew him, I'll think of him everytime I pick the guitar up 🙂

What a lovely story. I used to volunteer with a homeless charity and some of the stories are genuinely heartbreaking. Such a shame it never worked out for him, but there’s a reason why people pn the streets and it’s normally very sad.

I bought a bass that it turned out had been stolen. I met and spoke with the guy whose bass it was and I hand realised just how affected he was by the theft. Was a personal and physical assault.

Thankfully it was insured and he got the bass back and I got my cash back. As soon as I realised what had happened I couldn’t play the guitar with any pleasure.

20 minutes ago, Misdee said:

I'm certainly not angry, I can't speak for anybody else. I think what she said is very funny, even if it wasn't meant to be. Probably because it wasn't meant to be.

 

 

It’s pretty harmless stuff. You know what you’re doing…

1 hour ago, Misdee said:

Raye: "It's great to see so many genders out there!"

 

What, you mean both of them? Yes it's amazing isn't it. Thank goodness she isn't stupid.

Plenty of things to get angry about in the world but all this seems pretty harmless to me. We’re an inclusive community etc.

4 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

I guess so. Without a thread derail though it must be kind of obvious to most people now that there are deep structural issues with capitalism and neither right nor left have a solution. The best I hope for is not to turn on each other and make things even more ugly. So anyone preaching division or proposing violence as a solution whether with a guitar or ballot box can just fcuk off.

Depends on your view of art to reinforce the status who or challenge it. &nbsp
 

Someone earlier on described Glasto as a sunny and extended Jools Holland session. I reckon that’s not too far off the mark.

Anyway, off into the beautiful sunshine myself!
 

7 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

To an extent I agree, but kind of draw the line at supporting terrorists and paramilitary groups. I feel the same about people who  get all starstruck by gangsters and serial killers. Not much glamour or glory in being a terrible human being.

It’s all performative stuff, it’s very punk and all that.

And of course one man’s terrorist is another man’s revolutionary.

If you’re upsetting Keir Starmer and Kemi you’re doing alright by me.

(My tongue is very firmly in my cheek. Please do not consider this an endorsement for the IRA!)

26 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Problem is banning or censoring them just gives them a platform. I’d never heard of them before the recent controversy. Now I have. Still not listed to them. When interviewed they seem like confused puppies.

Weren’t we all in our 20s?

Joe Strummer et al all said stupid things in their time. Personally, I’m all for politics in music as a child of the 80s.

It’s better than the apparent apathy that’s prevalent among so many of them now. 

8 minutes ago, funkydoug said:

So expressing an opinion that is different from makes you think think I am probably either old and outdated or a niche obsessed nerd. Nice.

 

I go into today (as everyday) with an open mind  

I think it was a lighthearted joke, don’t take it too seriously.