RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

" Not suitable for metal" "Don't use a pick " "Most fretless players don't use lined fretless " These comments were in bass guitar mags back in the day . How times change ..

Have you considered the Moog Mariana iPad app , or the Moog minitaur ( hardware ) ? ?

This is one of my favourites 😬

Instead of my Black Friday purchase being delivered in jan 2025 ...it arrived yesterday via the Amazon ! Squier mini p bass £118.15 . Worth every penny . So I guess this is my best bass gear purchase of 2024. Condition immaculate , with no adjustment required . I can't hear any buzzing etc , but I am playing it low in the front room on my Roland Micro cube RX . I'm seriously thinking of ditchiing the long scales , and getting a short scale . A great little bass ..

The Bros documentary BBC4

The Anvil documentary

Hired Gun . Some kind of monster. ( If you disliked James and Lars, you would probably detest them now 🙂) The Jason Becker documentary is very moving .. The Hawkwind BBC 4 Documentary , and Fleetwood Mac ones are great also

Shocking shoddy workmanship there ..

That was really hard to watch in a sad way . You can see Nicko struggling . Bruce seemed to be as well imho. 50 years , huge achievement . Looking at this , I think they should call it a day .

Shame really . Awesome drummer and top bloke . Takes me back to when I was at home ( somewhere on time tour ) . Friends had a spare tkt at hammy O . They got chatting to Niko in the Duke of Cornwall pub next door . " get your A*se down here ! "Is what Niko shouted to me on the phone 🙂 so I did . Made it in time ! Seems sad to think of a replacement , temporary or otherwise . I'd say it'd be a British drummer fwiw . I do wonder how long they can go on for . Bruce looks gaunt with his own health issues , and his vocal range is more ltd obviously . They've done it all , but I wouldn't be too surprised if they called it a day within the next 5 years ,sad as it is ..

Thanks for the reassurance Reggaebass 😺👍. You made me laugh about the lamp , but I understand totally 😹 Something to look forward to ..😼

Getting a smaller bass for noodling about in the front room . A squier mini bass £118.15 . Usual price £169.99 Was thinking about an Ibanez mikro, or a solid body u bass, but this is cheap ( for a reason ) , and I couldn't I ignore . Arriving in the middle of January though ..

Great stuff! Saw the Tom Sawyer one also . It has reminded me to get the Behringher OBX Desktop synth next year . Or perhaps the GForce Oberheiim plug in. I tend not to bother with most plugins , but theis sounds good ..

I think I've mentioned my experience and thoughts previously . However ... Took me sometime to even learn a 4 string. Once I was gigging on a fairly regular basis, all good. I read long topics in the old Bassplayer mag 🇺🇸 Back in the early '90s . Treating the 4 stringers with baby steps . Very informative , and the thoight of ' if I get really good , maybe I should get one ' . Fast forward to around 2005 , friend said ' let's go to sound control .' ( new shop at the time in Totttenham ct Rd. So, I fell in love with a Schecter 5 string Stilletto Elite and purchased it . Cue the remarks from band mates in rehearsal ' you don't need a 5 string ' etc. I received sneering and snide remarks They didn't like its sound either . I managed to get to grips with it: quite easily. However working long hrs and being in 2 bands at the time , I was not confident of avoiding Les Dawson impressions so it stayed at home . This was due to me moving around on stage energetically . I just play at home now . I have a fretless which I took to a tech to tune B--E -A-D . I dabble in it now and again. I also have a Digitech Bass whammy which I use for effects . TBh, I think 5 strings are great ,and handy if you're confident on stage and less energetic . Having said that, if I were gigging now I'd just use the Bass Whammy and have done with it ! This is if you're not a regular in recording studios , and playing the Dog And Duck where most of the crowd wouldn't be bothered .

Well, I was going to play one of the albums yesterday to start with. Alas , there was a scraping noise on my turntable ! New belt ordered , and received this morning . I'll fit it on tomorrow , and give it a spin . I have all the Rush releases. The album which I like the least , seems to be Snakes And Arrows. Far Cry is brilliant though ! I like Vapour Trails . I have to be in the mood for clockwork Angels , but a good album nonetheless . I find Test For Echo,patchy . Starts off great . As for Presto , Alex Lifeson went a bit too much U2 in the solos imho . Roll The Bones to a while to grow on me . I do wonder how Rush can improve the thin production of those 2 albums 🤔. I don't think I'd buy the remastered versions if they released them , as I have the various remastered Cd's . I have a Japanese copy of Presto on cd which is the best of the bunch of those imho . Enough for now ..

Good thinking Batman ! Just done that 🤦‍♂️😬

Counterparts would be my recommendation! 😼

I don't believe they are . Thee vinyl is weighty and heavy though. Just checked Rhino website 🦏,and still available if anyone's interested . Agree about Presto . I will give it a spin later . The album that is most popular in this boxset is of course Counterparts ! That apparently , was their first album to be marketed heavily for cd release . That album on vinyl is not cheap , so I'm glad to eventually get it .

Finally ..

**feet courtesy of ET **

It was too early this morning to do an unboxing type of video . It was 8.15am and I was just about to have a shower., and this turned up via DHL! Times are tough , but on 5th of November I had to make a somewhat rash decision while in bed . 🛏️ . I couldn't see UK currency , so had to ask Rhino 🦏what the chances of this being available in the UK. This was after trawling the internet with no success . I didn't have to pay import duties or anything like that thankfully . It's now sold out as it's ltd edition of 3,000 copies . Tbh it shouldn't really be unavailable in this country , and I don't know why it isn't . I feel sorry for those who didn't get one. That may change . Who knows ? Anyway thought I'd share 🙂

Great stuff! Don't miss Testament or Kreator on the same bill ! 😼👍

The Moog Minitaur is great . Especially if you want a small desktop synth . Lots of presets if you're into that kind of thing . You need a midi / usb keyboard though which may or may not be what you want . I'd avoid the Korg ms-20 mini ,as the build quality is very poor. Like the moog grandmother ( which is big and chunky) , it is semi modular which may be off putting for some .

Mmmm... I did consider getting one of these a while back . Everyone's views may vary on tone etc, but to me it sounds a cross between a Warwick and a Hohner headless cricket bat that I had . I had heard of and seen Washburn Force ..but never a headless one ! Thanks for that info and pic. It looks like it would fall into the full body Hohner Jack Bass category imho . It sounds to me that the sound that would suit your requirements headless wise, is the Washburn Status . You may have had one but anyway , compared to the sounds I've heard from the Artisan the Washburn status is like a slap in the face You would be noticed for sure ! I have one . On my headless journey , I had a Steinberger XM2 . Pricey now , and the sound was great also . I decided to sell , because it was great for pick playing but not much else for my needs . Possibly the string spacing was too narrow for me . It replaced my Hohner professional which a friend told me it sounded like a tuba ! Action and feel were good , but I didn't think replacing th3 EMG Select pickups would be worthwhile and too much of a gamble . My Jack Daniel's Bass feels like the Hohner , but has a bit more bite to it . I have a fretless made by mybass , and got it set to B-E-A-D . The feel is great and the Bassline Humbuckers sound good . I think sometimes about getting a 5 string , but I have a Digitech Bass Whammy which is bulky ! I play at home only ,so not too big a deal . I did think about the Ibanez healdless basses. Cheapest one is made of Basswood Body . It seems like Cort manufacture the same type of necks ( and possibly the rest ) in Indonesia . The sound seems similar to the Cort in places . I've heard demos from Nate Navarro and Low End Lobster . Some Basschatters changed the pickups on the Ibanez for Aguilar ones and raved about the improvements . Have you considered changing your amp ? ( A bit extreme ) Or possibly get something like a Zoom B3 or similar ? If there is a shop near you to tryout your bass in different amps , that may be something to consider, Times are hard right now , but just ideas that came to me while typing .