ezbass

Thigher Love - Steve Winwood

ABACAB(acus) - Genesis

Ride Like The Wind - Christopher Cross

Coming from guitar (I know - burn the witch!), I was determined to play with my fingers because I wanted to make a complete break from the skinny stringed beast. Decades later, I still predominantly use my fingers, but i have been known to play gigs with a pick just for poops and giggles and always use one if the song demands that tone (anything by The Jam or Yes for instance). I like the attack you get with a pick and in a dense mix it can really help focus the sound. I know a really good sound engineer who prefers a pick played bass for that very reason. Having played guitar (🔥🧙) for so long with a pick, I already had good pick technique, so it’s not a chore on bass at all, the only difference being the type of pick used (I prefer thick on guitar, thinner on bass).

Kenny’s in Dundee is much the same, the basses are in a sort of corridor, probably no more than a dozen or so total. Perth has nothing other than a secondhand store that falls under the general heading of Crack Converters. Fortunately for me, Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh (Costorphine really) is only 90 minutes away, which is only half an hour more than Dundee from where I am and was well worth the visit I made last time.

I went Sharpie for my home made pedals.

Into The Valley - The Skids

Joe Le Taxi -Vanessa Paradis

Try a little vegetable oil on a cotton bud.

Let’s be honest, solo bass work generally is a bit meh. The only solo album by a bass player I have ever heard that is is really listenable is Roscoe Beck’s Walk On, because there is only one short bass interlude (it’s hardly a solo) and the rest is just well written songs, well performed and well produced. However, this is not the question asked in the thread title, so my answer to that is Les Claypool.

I love a Fluke meter. I had one when I was field engineer and I was spending someone else’s money, great bit of kit. Now I have something sad from Maplin’s, does the job, but it isn’t brilliant (rather like Maplin’s).

I'm no luthier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had a Telecaster where the nut was off centre and the string would pull off of the fretboard. A quick search on YT and I just knocked it out, added the 2 spots of CA and repositioned. A little shaping on the now overhanging edge with a nail file and a little building up on the opposite side with CA and all was good. I don't think I'm up to buying a blank and cutting it, not to mention having to then having to buy specialist tools that would see very limited use.

Just a couple of spots of CA on the underside, IIRC. Makes removing it again not too difficult.

I tried that once with a very neck diving P, it worked but I didn’t like the feel.

Including taxes? Looks lovely, hope it arrives on time.

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

That is rather splendid, great production and playing.

It is a pleasant surprise when respected players turn out to be nice, ordinary folk, albeit, or even in spite of, being in exceptional circumstances. Way too many buy into their own hype and become divas, or just plain arseholes. I’ve witnessed the polar opposites at bass and guitar shows: super, down to earth guys (take a bow Lee Sklar) and far less pleasant folk.

That is very sad news, always seemed a great guy from his posts; he will be missed. 😢

The Gap -Thompson Twins

Just my own point of view, with nothing other than instinct to support it: More vintage instruments appearing on the market could just be down to the grim reaper coming to claim the ageing owners and their estate divesting the asset. All the time notable players are picking them up and telling the community how great they are (the basses, not the artist), the market will continue.

The grass is always greener on the other side. The problem is, when you get there, it’s often the same grass as you already had. You have a good vintage bass, unless there’s something inherently wrong with it, replacing it with another one doesn’t seem a great move. You obviously have a great chassis in the Sandberg, why not swap out the electric components for something more to your taste. This way, you have a nice vintage bass and a backup that you’re happy with and can take out when you don’t feel right taking out the ‘71.

Barbados - Typically Tropical