mikel

2 hours ago, Mickyk said:

Because he acquired them for basically nothing ,curtesy of the record company.

Did he? Doubt that.  Even so, if he liked beaten up basses he didn't have to destroy a new one to make it his, did he, he could have simply used his own.

On 24/12/2021 at 10:50, leroydiamond said:

Considering  the body of the bass guitar is coupled to the belly or lack there of, of the player, I wonder could the girth of the player impact on  the tone of the instrument?

Tone Cowp as we call it in Geordieland. The bigger the Cowp the meatier the tone. I do like a fat bass tone.

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

 

Yes, I was one of those 'rock dinosaurs' too  - really didn't like punk at the time, couldn't rationalise it as a 'proper' thing.  Now I totally see the value of it and enjoy listening to lots.  It's like music needs a sharp kick in the sweetmeats every now and then - Hendrix, Punk, Grunge.  Spice Girls.

Same here. Some Punk was great but most of it rubbish imo. Post Punk was more my thing. XTC, Clash, Talking Heads etc. Better songs, clever lyrics and more music

17 hours ago, Mickyk said:

That the one buddy,his quote was...

"I'd chucked my basses around before and didn't have any respect for them in the first place. The moment I got a new bass I'd get a hammer and start bashing it around." - Paul Simonon.

i saw the clash back in Derby(Kings Hall) in 1978 , i stood about 20 feet away from Paul,and everyone thought ,whats going on with Pauls bass it looks totally wrecked,and remember this was before Road Worn came into fashion,having delved into Pauls early bass exploits ,i now understand why.The lad was a great Player though,even if he had no respects for his instruments.

 

If he wanted a beaten up and neglected bass, why did he keep buying new ones then????

12 hours ago, chris_b said:

Does ageism count? I've been discriminated against many times on account of my age.

 

I guess that if the main objective to being in a band is to have a larf with their mates, then they're going to want potential "drinking partners" to apply. Proper musicians probably wouldn't be bothered, unless there were image considerations. Who gets the invite, or not, to an audition is hardly a matter for the law.

 

I really don't care who is in the band, men or women, as long as they pull their weight. The only thing that puts me off is smokers and people who can't be bothered to wash!

 

Now I'll probably be told off for discriminating against the smelly!

Oh yes. Not so much overtly but giving an age range of current members. But there again, being in my 60s, I wouldn't want to hang out with a few teenage morons. What would we talk about? My arthritis, their acne. Sometimes being given an age range or gender is a good thing. On the add in question, perhaps they are saying there are currently no women in the band, so any female interested can make up their mind if they wish to be part of what is currently an all male combo.

A mate of mine said back in 2012 that he believed CDs would die out and people would either download music or listen to vinyl. I laughed at him. But it seems he was correct. There is something about vinyl. The ritual, the cover and sleeve notes. The fact you listen to a whole side, in order. Also, I think, that on music recorded from the 60s to the 80s it just sounds better because it was produced to sound good on that medium. Luddite, me?

7 hours ago, peteb said:

 

The thing is that it probably would...! 

 

I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play. 

 

I have never played, with the exception of really cheap/poorly set up basses, that I believed were noticeably more difficult to play. Any half decent well set up instrument I have played was eminently playable regardless of whether or not I liked the amplified sound.

17 hours ago, WAYNESWORLD said:

For me this is just like anything else. Once an instrument  contains all the important stuff built to a good standard anything can be made to work for the individual requirements of the player via adjustment through a decent luthier.But in saying this we may ask why don’t we all do this.The answer is simple human nature,we have aspersions,marketing plays a part and other musicians influence our opinions despite the arguments to the contrary. If this was not true we would never see Fodera’s or equivalent quality instruments for sale .To the question asked. I am good enough to play a Fodera ? yes because I could afford to buy one .Would the purchase cost reflect my skill level? No. Should it ? Who cares.It’s a piece wood with strings and electronics .If it make a bass sound and is satisfying to the owner and fits its purpose jobs done.This does not stop you trying other things and spending as much as your happy with .Variation is the spice of life.The instrument does not define the player and there is no best just a lot of  people trying justify there choices with some who are incredibly happy having found what they have been looking for and unable to withhold there excitement. Long may these views continue as it will keep the music shops open and encourage future musicians.

I find that even cheap, by instrument standards, basses are of a general high quality. Manufacturing processes mean necks are straight, intonation is spot on and electrics are reliable on mass produced instruments. Pickups are easy to change and come in any configuration you can think of so customising is easy. It might not look like a Chipendale table but a £300 bass with my choice of pickups and strings, set up perfectly by our local genius for £25, sounds and plays perfect for me. I doubt a custom built megga buck instrument would make me noticeably better. If you like a Fodera and have the cash then why not? I would prefer to spend it on hookers and Gin.

35 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

I do think all this is mostly inside our own heads. I'm playing with a band now (just rehearsing for the moment). I started off with my P bass, just to be one of the cool kids....nobody said a word. Oh, and it's a Mexican P, so maybe they looked at the headstock while I wasn't looking..:) 

 

Now, I am bringing my MPV, and the guys had no idea what it was. I explained about Michael Pedulla making them in a shop around Boston. "Ah, American..." was the reply...that was it. 

 

And this is okay with me. I don't really care if anyone ever comes up and says "Cool bass"....I DO care it the guys I play with like and respect what I bring to the group musically. I just feel I can do that a little better, and have more fun, on the "fancy" bass. Plus, it makes me smile. 

In a nutshell. If you care more about what others think about the name on the headstock then you need to have a word with yourself. 

8 hours ago, ianrendall said:

Our local, the Quicksilver Mail, regularly has a band in consisting of a number of post-Stackridge guys. The bass player turns up with a full all valve Ampeg stack and a vintage Jazz. I thought “wow, he must be good”. The funny thing is, me and my wife really do run the cattery down the road!

My first thought on musicians with megga expensive kit is "They must have lots of money" nothing more. If you like nice equipment, in any hobby, art or sport, then why not have it. Life is too short to worry about the "All the gear, no idea" brigade. 

Chris Squire. You could argue he "Only" sang harmony, but what harmony, and while playing those amazing bass lines. Oh, and Phil Lynott.

On 08/02/2022 at 08:31, ZilchWoolham said:

A lot of the replies here present a false dichotomy of all roots vs. fusion freak-out, but there are about a million different interesting things you could do in between those two extremes. 

As in "Playing for the song".

I always thought the sign of a great musician, on any instrument, was to play for the song, not to get all their chops out.

Aye the old....booked the wrong band thing. We played all original proggy type stuff in the early 70s, and avoided CIU clubs like the plague. We were booked to play one by an agent, so questioned him about it. "Its probably a private party for a younger audience" was his excuse. After setup, and a drink or two in the pub over the road, we come on stage to an audience of typical CIU regulars, average age about 55, and just look helplessly at each other. We did our usual first three songs and a couple of women of a certain age walk up scowling "Can you not play something we know?" as the tumbleweed rolled over the empty dance floor. Errr yes, no problem I lied. I introduced our next selfe penned song as "The new one by T Rex". It went down a storm and the dance floor filled up. I carried on introducing our songs as the new stuff by the current incumbents of the charts and the audience were happy enough. They must have thought we had our fingers on the pulse of popular music. Managed to avoid the clubs after that.

First gig with a band I was in with a bunch of old mates In 1970. We were invited to "Lighten up" half time at a local pub gig that a modern Jazz quartet were trying out a new set. This was before the days of cheap guitar tuners and it took us ages and ages to tune up by ear in the toilets. Pressing the headstock of the guitar against the door amplified the sound a lot. We eventually got the guitars and bass in tune and set up at the opposite end to the Jazzers. No guitar stands so we propped the guitars up against the bass drum. Our moment arrives and we walk on stage, the drummer whacks his BD to be sure his pedal is working, the guitars slide over and crash to the floor knocking all three out of tune. We shamefacedly spend what seemed like hours re tuning whilst the audience and the Jazz guys looked on with gathering amusement. What a night.

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

But it's all those original idiosyncrasies that made the Who (up to Moon's death) musically interesting. The fact that none of the instruments (apart from the vocals) are playing their traditional roles.

 

Without that they are just another average rock band. It's more than obvious from the dullness of Townshend's solo stuff - same song writer, far less interesting music.

Agree 100%. The Who were exciting because of the styles of the individuals involved. Much like any other real "Band".

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Unless it's Jazz. 

What Jazz? Trad, bebop, modern, jazz rock etc etc?

2 hours ago, 4000 said:

Most creative musicians I know aren’t focussed on a genre at all, beyond what they’re doing at that moment in time. I always think that to assume that because someone is playing or is involved in a particular kind of music, that that’s all they’re interested in, is a bit strange, although we’re probably all guilty of it at some point. It’s like assuming that because someone is making pizza for their tea (or for a living), they only ever want to eat pizza. 😂

 

 

Agreed, music is music, you either enjoy a piece of music or you don't. Genre has nowt to do with it.

12 hours ago, Bunion said:

Here’s one of his herbal pipe 

Videos 

I do like this guys reactions and breakdowns been watching him for a few years now 

its nice as a classical composer he can break down the music properly rather than just listen and spout cow poop 😄

I would love to whisper in his classical composer ear..."Yes could do all that stuff, in a two and a half hour show, without the need for sheet music." Just a joke.

I wonder what he would have thought If he had seen them pull all that off live? It never ceased to amaze and excite me. Tell him that Chris did all the bass parts live on stage, while nailing the high harmony, and he would be beyond impressed.

On 21/05/2009 at 14:56, dalgliesh1990 said:

iv been playing guitar for 3 years now, but im getting bored of it and want play bass, i dont want to spend over 200 pounds and i dont want a "first bass" because ino they fall apart after a while, i need a bass that will withstand gigging and have a good sound. is the vintage v4 any good???? ino they make good guitars just wondering about bass

if not any other suggestions for guitars, preferably NOT squire

thanks

I have Vintage SG copy. Its excellent, cant fault the build or intonation. I gig it when playing 6 string.

On 21/12/2014 at 19:07, EBS_freak said:

Remember seeing him whilst I was uni - he did have that too cool for school swagger. Whilst technically not brilliant a bass player I think I'm probably not alone in thinking that some of his bass lines were sublime and were exactly what the song needed - girls and boys example. Blur I thought were a brilliant lineup of people. Dave Rowntree behind the drums... He's the definition of bland. How did that ever work? But it did.

On another blur related note, I'm bumped into graham coxen in Camden once. "You're Graham Coxen are you?" I asked.

"Yeah"

"Ah. Ok"

end of conversation.

Agreed. I always thought Blur were very creative and out there. Just taking their singles as examples, I was always interested to hear what they would come up with next. They are, or were, difficult to categorise, whereas some other acts at the time had two songs, a slow one and a fast one. Mr James? I love most of his lines and would be happy with 10% of his cool.

3 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

 

That ain't necessarily so! No matter what technical level a player is at, if they can't feel the funk they'll be fakin' it.

And as George said, "if you fake The Funk, your nose gotta grow!"

In other words,in order to properly play The Funk you've got to know and love it; The Funk not only moves, it can Re-move, ya dig?

That's why I didn't mention technique. Locking in with other musicians is all about feel, not technique. 

On 24/12/2021 at 21:43, Bassfinger said:

A left field suggestion,  one that caught the attention of ny bass orientated ear recently;

 

Stormwatch, Jethro Tull.

Good pick. Even more left field as John Glasscock was ill and its reported he only played on three tracks. Ian Anderson played bass on the rest.

Nah. If you have a good inbuilt sense of rhythm and can lock in with a drummer you can funk it with the best.