Stub Mandrel

On 05/04/2024 at 17:06, Barking Spiders said:

 Is this acceptable? spaghetti and meatballs pizza?

He Is Come!

We are touched by his noodly appendages!

All my Fenders and Squiers must have Fender straps (they don't do squier ones 🤨). This one on my AVII 1960 P has a period correct Fender logo 😁 so counts as coordinated!

Blue

Red

Like @skidder652003 last night it was the huge pub, big audience but felt half empty. Bar manager (a drummer) apologised for it being quiet due to the weather but it was still more people than most places we play. Despite being a 'rock' demographic not much atmosphere to feed off although some folks danced or filmed us.

But odd night all round. Drummer forgot his cymbals and had 80 minute round trip to fetch them. But 7:30 start(!) We made 7:40, and were done two hours later! Even with our long pack up and long drive I got back to the local for 11:20 and somehow ended up mixing Jack Daniels and baby Guinness until 2am...

We all felt we weren't at our best, but t afterwards and half time got people saying it was good. And we got a booking at the break from the landlady of another pub and another landlord took a card. So we were probably ok but really didn't feel it!

That said, we had a couple of off piste improvisations that were fun, and I doubled a bit of Alex's solo on sharp dressed man - he started laughing and then I got cocky and fumbled...

I  did do some bvs, hopefully enough that people weren't wondering why on earth I had a microphone.

Oh ... and  a Frijid Pink style House ofvthe Rusing Sun.

I'd been playing Feeling Good for two years before I found out we were doing the Muse version...

The Lekato is embarrassingly good.

My brother reckons it makes his signal a bit 'hotter'.

I am very happy with my Orange Terror.

Easy to get a good sound, but not versatile- suits if you like the Orange sound.

Not the most technical, but Sabbath Bloody Sabbath starts as heavy as anyone else, then gets heavier for the bridge.

Pretty much defined stoner/doom metal as a genre in one song.

1 hour ago, snorkie635 said:

There's an original just north of £800 for sale in Vintage, Rare and Retro guitars at the moment. I am not affiliated in any way btw. 😎

£895 now... and get thee behind me,  I am signed up for the abstinence thread!

15 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

You forget than in many a bass players view here bass being anything but root notes is unnecessary flashy meaningless noise and heresy, regardless if it serves the song or not, according to these people it is simply by definition not possible to groove if you play more than just 1 note, and all songs should groove, if not they are simply to be categorized as meaningless noise!  

 

I don't subscribe to that view, but rather like the Amadeus clip there is some truth in the idea you can have too many notes. It's very hard to play fast or percussively and be expressive and melodic (although Wooten does in the clip above IMHO). But there are an uncountable multitude of middle ways between mindless shredding and plain root-notes, many of which are more interesting.

5 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

They've made a decent job of replicating the look of the originals - although the 24 fret, block inlay neck on the bass doesn't quite look 'right', to me.

Maybe, but I'm a sucker for a 'split' pickguard a la WEM/Burns. Nearly bought an original 60s WEM in a Manchester music shop a couple of years ago. Totally original it seemed, £700, don't know if that was fair, but it was a great bass to play.

<Edit> I think it was an original Rapier, like this one... in which case the 24 fret neck is correct!

 

4 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

I do hit the strings pretty hard. Maybe that's my problem. Geezer Butler manages to hit hard but he's a hell of a lot more talented than I am

That's one thing about the steering wheel exercise. It may sound silly, but as the wheel is slightly compliant but not rigid, it forces you to control your touch.

@Gasman, what a tough thing to go through. So sorry.

There seems to be considerable confusion between the roles of a producer and a sound engineer.

That said, I can imagine that inexperienced bands in a studio with an experienced engineer can get and benefit from more than just technical advice.

JHS have relaunched the Rapier brand. Nice retro looks at modest proices.

Has anyone seen one in the wild?

https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/rapier

https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/rapier/products/rapier-bass-guitar-daphne-blue

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

Winelight by Grover Washington jnr I like.

I have that album. I listened to it once.

"I'm not a pleasant plucker"

I pluck the steering wheel when I'm driving, two or three fingers. Aim for consistency and limited movement. Try not to crash.

Also focus on muting, not palm muting but using non-plucking fingers (especially ring finger) to selectively mute individual strings both unplayed ones or to damp a plucked string. Find an interesting riff/sound/feel and try and keep it up/move it around/across.

I'm struggling. If I mention any names, it would really be because I don't enjoy the type of music they play. I like MOST music, although I'm heavily influenced by my mood.

The bass playing I like best includes a lot of blues-rock playing, but that's probably because it's the idiom I feel most comfortable with in my own playing - I listen to someone like Leo Lyons (a jazz bassist who ended up majoring in blues rock) and realise with some embarrassment just how hard I try to sound like him...

The fast, jazzy stuff (Jaco's more esoteric stuff, Joe Dart etc.) I struggle with, not so much because I can't play it very well, but because I don't get it musically so I struggle to understand where it's going and that takes away the pleasure in listening and the joy in playing (because if I try it becomes rote repetition if I copy or clichéd patterns if I try and improvise).

I suppose my pet hate is the way straight eighth root notes with a few other passing and grace notes have come to dominate so much popular music - does that mean I should suggest Adam Clayton? The thing I enjoy in 60s and 70s pop music in contrast is that so many songs have creative bass lines that make use of so much more than root-third-fifth-seventh, for me it even makes some 'bubblegum' songs of the sixties worth hearing.

11 hours ago, Paul S said:

I don't 'get' lots and lots of bass players' appeal, most of them have been mentioned more than once.  But here's one - and I fear this is a bit like telling an Irish joke in a Dublin pub - Lemmy.  I just don't get him or Motorhead.  Never have.  I kind of think 'Ace of Spades' is an OK tune but hardly enough to prop up a 40 year career.  To me it just proves how far having 'attitude' and a big gob can get you because, so far as I can see, he has no other attributes to warrant his Deity status.  Just the one bass sound and Janet and John song writing.  

 

 

I wondered when someone would mention Lemmy.

I would refer the Jury to his time with Hawkwind, especially Space Ritual.  Hawkwind music is not like that of other bands, while very now and then a song will be carried by the bass hook - Take Me To the River, for example, in many Hawkwind songs Lemmy's bassline was the primary melody, perhaps with rhythm guitar adding a bit of depth, in a way that set the mould for much of their future output.

And his greatest bit of Janet and John songwriting doesn't even have bass in it.

On 18/03/2024 at 14:29, Leonard Smalls said:

Talking of Stu Hamm you can see how he stacks up against some other bass players in this ultimate widdle-fest! For me he's nowhere near the best in this group - top 3 for me (apart from Stan) are Bunny Brunel, Billy Sheehan and Jimmy Johnson - none of whom do slappyclappy stuff...

 

It's interesting to see that Flea is the one who plays by far the most melodic and understated solo, if not the most technical.

5 hours ago, TimR said:

Quite. Anyone not tuning to an electronic tuner nowadays would get some odd looks. 

Feel very old. Last time I was in a studio, I used my tuning fork (A=440). Which I still have*.



*And it's spot on according to a rather unresponsive but usable Guitarman tuner.

5 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

For the guitarists very most probably.

There is a difference between perfect tuning and well tempered tuning. Some guitarists really notice it on the F# on the high E string, and tune by ear. But by a digital tuner it would be out.

IIRC it was an old jazz guitar trick, to tune slightly sharp (we're talking microtones here) as it made everyone else sound flat.

Let me fix that for you 😁

On 13/03/2024 at 19:46, agedhorse said:

The issue is where the leads enter the component body. That area is vulnerable to corrosion when the water is not deionized. The same applies to the solder on the PCB, the tin becomes sacrificial and corrodes. 
 

My experience is that even if it is working, down the road failure will be much higher.

The critical thing is avoiding exposure to any electric supply until dry. Washing in clean, if not deionised, water helps.

My daughter dropped an early iphone in an upland stream, I got it and switched it off within about ten seconds although the screen was already psychedelic. It went on to last years.

I've heard firsthand reports of boards being cleaned in dishwashers successfully, and rescued things saturated in coffee by washing them.

Most vulnerable are mechanical parts like switches, relays and potentiometers.  And edge connects if not gold plated .

5 minutes ago, casapete said:

On Saturday I’m going to see ‘Band of Friends’ featuring Gerry McAvoy on bass. 
Saw him with Rory Gallagher in the mid 70’s, so hope it will be an interesting evening. 

Seen them twice, my partner said the first was the best gig she's seen, and she's seen more gigs than most people.

1 hour ago, Franticsmurf said:

Bargoed? Take a GPS with you. 😁

If I'm not back here by Monday, send a search party...