RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

I remember reading negative comments in the bass magazines pre internet, especially the fender music master .

Original ones are sought after these days . Then again headless basses were getting the same comments more or less back then.

My, how things have changed ..

I often think about getting a short scale myself , and trading one of my basses for one . What put me off most of the time , was the '60s look.( That's me being an old metalhead 😬) . I still don't like hofners, and never will,but I'm warming to the completion mustang replicas these days . They do look small  to me , as I am not .  Getting used to 20 frets instead of 24  is a bit of a head spinner for me .

i should have got the badtz maru bass just for the fun value . If something similar comes up I'll nab it if I have funds etc

Thar bass looks good . Each to their own . If you like it play it ..lots .

36 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

 

As much as I like my Ibanez, I find the tone straight out of the instrument really bland but it's s really great starting point to build on with effects.

Good point , it brings me back to the '90s when the bass really cut through on a lot of metal albums .

One other thing I just thought of , is the boom in active preamps in basses in the late '80s onwards . Even my Washburn status has that "clang " to it . Having said that, it's a marmite sound . 

Playing devils advocate : why not change the precision for an Ibanez or Warwick ,or Schecter ?  You may not need a pedal .🤔🙂

Might as well mention EDF again ! They have updated their app , making a simple thing as giving a reading  complicated .

Plus , looking for the billing history is not as direct or straightforward as it was . They have stopped pestering me for a smart meter over the last ...2 weeks so I'll say no more not to jinx things 🤐

I don't know if I can say Royal Mail, as I still use them from time to time . Renewed my passport the day before Good Friday . Got replacement 7 days later , so that's excellent . 
 

However, trying ( and failing ) to get compensation when a couple of vinyl records I sold on fleabay were broken deliberately makes me detest them ! Plus a couple I ordered went missing o turned up way later . Thankfully mutual respect from myself and fellow fleabayers kept my 100% feedback intact .

I haven't flown with Ryan Air . Might develop sore arm syndrome . 
Having said that , if I did I think they'd be on the list here as the boss comes across as an arrogant tw@t!

He reminds me of Louis Walsh . 

11 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

Adele, her entire back catalogue. 

Every song seems to be about getting dumped. Not a single song about cooking a full English or having a booze fueled horizontal dancing session after a night out. Maybe there's a link there.

Not a fan myself , but Zander Zon does fantastic covers of her stuff on you tube . 

Overkill, obituary, Celtic frost , death? , prong,    sepultura  , Korn  , foo fighters ? 

I was listening to a few vol beat albums a few years ago . Something was missing ...guitar solos !

I don't know if anyone would know their stuff in the dog and duck etc . Just a thought ..

1 hour ago, Marky L said:

Did someone say White Rabbit?

 

Well, I've always enjoyed this post punk/psyche early 80's very messy self indulgent wig out by The Damned. Featuring some very up front Ric bass and lovely not quite in tune vocals by Dave Vanian. 

 

 

Well I got to 3 mins 45 secs , and this imho is much better than the original . 🙂👍

I blame Lionel Richie 

I had a skynard box set a long time ago . Dont bother with them now . 
I prefer Blackfoot . 

On 19/04/2024 at 11:21, Krysbass said:

There are too many songs to list that I'm utterly bored with, because they have long been played to death on radio and elsewhere.

 

But only two songs spring to mind that I hate with such a passion that they compel me to switch stations or turn them off when they are played:

• There Must be an Angel (playing with my heart) - Eurythmics
• Winner Takes it All - Abba

I'm an Abba fan , and have the cd box set of all their albums 😬

However , I do see where you are coming from . Overplayed on radio, although I'd say Dancing Queen ( or Quentin as my chellspecker just told me ) is the one that's played the most. I got bored of very quickly but don't mind it now.

As for Eurythmics , I agree with you . I don't get the big deal about them . 

9 hours ago, chriswareham said:

Ah, Manic Street Preachers.

 

The band that have been releasing the same one f*cking song their entire f*cking career.

 

I remember when the NME and Melody Maker journos first started claiming they were the next big thing, and saying they were the "new Clash". If the band member who used to mime on guitar hadn't disappeared, making said journos guilty about starting their "we built them up, we'll knock them down" ego w*nk, than they'd have been consigned to history a long time ago.

I must say , I totally agree with you 😂. I never got the big hype about them .

Back on track , I think that 'Design for life ' is absolute drivel . 

On the computer side of things , if this thread was started in the year 2000 then I would have put Apple first on the list .

This is because when I decided it was time to ' lesrn computers' / catch-up eith everything etc , I decided to go for an Apple IMac in lime green . ( possibly the first iMac ?)

I get the box delivered , plus a free printer as part of the package . Plus an idiot proof cd rom showing you how to connect to the Internet . All good ...except it took weeks to get on the Internet ! 😡  Most of my mates were graphic designers and art directors . They were telling me it was my fault ,and I'm not doing it right . It goes on . Then one of my friends visits me and solves  the problem which should never have been . He contacted BT who informed him that Apple had changed their phone no. that connects me to the provider I wished to use . Plus of course that was the first year of osx from os9 which was a big deal at the time .That was another issue which I'll  leave . 
Things got much better with the iPad ,it has to be said . 
 

I still hate them. The latest annoyance being after every endless update , Bluetooth is switched on ! 

Unfortunately they can't really be dead to me , as I still use a few Apple products 😮‍💨

2 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

 

**edited to say , I'm sick of those cd digipacks / booklets ** only because of the space they take up .

2 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

 

I was one of the ' suckers' who started to sell vinyl records when I replaced them with CDs . 
Having said that , I had way too much at the time , and in terms of moving into smaller accommodation to live I did the right thing ' 'downsizing ' the record collection . I was also getting pretty miffed at having to adjust the belt on my old turntable to play 7" singles . I'm glad they're gone . I do have a selection of 12" s though, which I play on my current turntable which doesn't need the platter removed to play them .

I offloaded a hell of a lot of albums and 12" on fleabay over the last 2 years. However, I have made a decision to only have "the best "albums and 12" of my favourite artists  and not everything on record as I have them on cd anyway. Much tidier inn my flat.I have roughly a handful that I want , but even they may get pressed again . ( Rush Counterparts for example) . I did purchase vinyl remasters of a couple of albums I sold in the past , so not all sad . That wasn't on RSD . 

I notice that certain record stores do invite people to contact them on the following Monday after RSD to see if there's anything left.

It's a bit like trying to obtain a ticket for a gig . Can't be doing with that . 
Plus some of those RSD albums are still available . 
 

I went to our local record store pre covid 😷and that was good . Not too much of a queue , and a few ciders afterwards 🙂

If my local friend suggests it again , then I'd probably do it but I'm not bothered either way 

A friend of mine queued up early in the morning for an album by Propagabda. ( not the great sparks album)

He was telling me that the staff at the store gave him a ticket to write down the artists he was interested in . He then got to the till ,and the album was waiting for him at the counter awaiting paynent . All good . A bit like ordering breakfast from McDonalds I guess.

nothing of interest for me this year . Maybe next year 🙂

2 hours ago, lowdown said:

 

Haha...I really like the George Benson version of White Rabbit.

 

😁

 

 

 

 

Compared to the original, that's a masterpiece . A bit long though 🙂

54 minutes ago, rmorris said:

 

The WR fightback starts here 😳

3 hours ago, casapete said:

 

 

Good that we all have diverse views on this topic though. 😄

This is true 🙂 . Good to see the variation 

10 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

 

White Rabbit is def among the worst tunes that get regular spins on PR. Just whizzed through the playlist of the last week and I surprised myself with the realisation relatively few songs actually bug me enough to turn off the radio including Werewolves of London (just extremely repetitive), Crazy Nights/Strutter/ Love Gun by Kiss, Ol Rag Blues by Quo, Small Town by John Mellencamp, Blue Collar Man by Styx, Love is a battlefield by Pat Benatar and Radioactive by The Firm.  Come to think of it White Rabbit might be worse than any of these.

It is ! It starts off like something you'd hear on a 1970's figure skating competition with its tedious slow buildup. Then the morbid depression kicks in ...

Regarding metal briefly ; back in the '80s ( maiden mentioned already) it was all priest ,Queensryche , helloweeen , king diamond etc 

Then Venom ( and others) reversed the trend , and now so many sound like an angry Alsatian . 
 

Back on topic ; Son of a preacher man ...awful..awful..awful 

I nearly forgot you keep me hanging on . I purchased a cover version from the Rods . Not even tongue in cheek 

They seemed to be actually serious about that version 🤮

27 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

 

That's quite a claim. I've heard Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Train on planet rock

I haven't heard of train ( out of touch probably 🙂). I've heard stuff from kid rock and Lenny kravitz, but at least they have some bounce compared to that . The woman making noises really does encourage people to swallow razor blades . 

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

 

It's just downright horrible hippy shyt3, mainly due to the monotonous female vocal. This is what you get when people avoid the draft. Some people talk about (Jefferson) Starship as if it was several steps below its predecessor. I'd rather have We Built This City.

Thank you 🙂👍

It sounds like something Reeves and Mortimer could have ' covered ' in shooting stars . Poor imitation of a screaming banshee ..