Bassfinger

Loving my MB4 in all black. Less than a hundred to buy new, Wilkinson tuners improve tuning stability, Warman pickup adds punch without sacrificing tone, skull knobs add panache. Less than a hundred and fiftey sheets and its perhaps the best sounding bass I own, but even in stock form it was an absolute belter. Also got the BeatBass. Comes out the same factory as the Epihone Viola, and it shows in the sound and finish. I looked at the Hofner Icon, but it was twice the price and no better in any tangible way. Another piece of cheapness with great cheer.

Oh aye, its a magnificent anti climax.

My last band just fizzled out. No bookings, vocallist took a sabbatical to train for a new career, then along came covid...it didn't even really fizzle, no one has said 'its over', it just ceased to be. Carlos Fandango and the Super Wide Wheels are simply no longer a thing.

Aha! It's you who keeps stealing the letter C from the local Canal Museum sign!

Sunshine Of Your Love.

So all these years Ive used Tortex Triangle 1.0 for the slight give, when all this time I should have been using picks that flex or move within a housing? Ive thrown my life away!

I like the Retrovibe stuff. Its a shame they do so few long scale basses.

Its fine if you use the correct tonecard.

Indeed. In my case I tried 3 x MIM Geddy Lee's, and one was head and shoulders above the other two for finish, feel and tone. I can't see this being 6 times better than whatnis already one of the nicest basses I've ever played.

Don't tell us you've shimmed a neck with a bottle of lemon oil?

Does it play 6 times better than a MIM Geddy Lee, or 3 times better than an MIA?

June Whitfield?

Hes not even the best bassist in his household.

Ridiculous. Im not even on the list and I know for a damn fact I can play their own songs better than some of them. I'll leave you guessing which ones 🤔

Id sooner shim than shave saddles, any day. Nothing wrong with shimmhng if its done correctly, and done with good reason. Just because some idiots also use shims doesnt mean there is anyrhing wrong with shimming per se.

Whike I don't doubt that jazzists are every bit as good as the next man or woman, I cant help feeling that statement is a little inaccurate. I'm sure plenty good enough to qualify as being up there with the best also indulge in ither types of music.

Inreresting. I do the opposite, middle and 3rd fingers glued to the other side of the pickup. Those are the ones that don't work proper like and that works well for just keeping them out the way. From that position I can pick play. I can use fu gers from there, but because middle finger is so inextricably linked to the 3rd it doesn't always do as I'd like, so im left with playing with forefinger and thumb. I can play like that, but its so limiting and frustrating compared to simply reverting to pick.

I had a minor falling out with one of our guitarists lately. He's religious - as am I as it happens - but he is quite rabid about his particular team and I'd inadvertently offended him with something id said. I was just about to tell him to ferk off when I realised that all things considered it was a pretty minor deal and we play well together, so just bit my tongue and apologised. He was polite enough about it, and reading stories like the OPs makes me realise that I actually have it pretty good, so probably best to just to roll with it. I'll just make sure im wearing my Hebrew IDF veterans T shirt next gig to get my own back and he wont even realise.

You can pluck with the pointy or rounded end for diffrrent tonds, or kind of stoke the string, or pluck with an oblique edge, all sorts of combinations and sounds. Very versatile if thats your bag.

We agree well in advance what were going to play, how we're going to play it, and/or what version we're going to emulate (ie, album, single, etc). If someone is going off on a tangent adding fills and phrases that don't exist within the structure of the agreed upon version then its inevitable someone will trip up. I'm a decent enough bassist, but I'm not especially fast on my feet when it comes to improvising to cover stuff like thst, so I would struggle in your shoes too. You're right, it needs to be sorted or your performance will be a car crash. He either needs to agree to keep his improv within the structure of the original, or he needs to go. Keeping him in, but allowing him to go all over the place on his own doesn't sound a viable option. You need to consider as well that venues all talk with one another. Theres a veritable underground of gossip, and if you're good you'll quickly have offers to play elsewhere. Kark up a few songs and the jungle drums will be ruthless with their reportage and that'll be the end of your live career. You need to persuade him, or he needs to go. Howmyou go about achieve either of those is for you to suss, but if his brother is the warbler you may not get a satisfactory response. That leaves you with 2 options - risk being associated with any major live clangers and the associated damage to reputation that will quickly bring the band, or walk yourself and try and find find an outfit with a grown up for a guitarist.

Id love to join the finger tone club, but I have no feeling in 2 fingers due to an old injury, and at best my playing is woeful. The good news is that I've learned to largely mimic the tone, if not the actual technique, to the point where listening to old recordings I can't tell which I was at that day. So I guess that, like a schoolboy looking up at his heroes, I'll have to remain an honourary member rather than a full member of this particular club.

Leo was so tight he probably squeaked. Rumours were that when they had a new building made that the factory he recovered the lino floor from the old one and used the material to make dot markers.

And word is Ringo is supposed to be a genuinely nice chap.

And I'm sure HRC have their meters professionally calibrated every year to ensure they are accurate and admissible in court as evidence for the defence...

Like playing bass, theres no substitute for time soent practicing, hundreds of hours if necessary. Im a pretty good singer but have a fairly deep voice and a narrow vocal range so I get to do the odd song that is too low for our vocalist, such as Hurt. Mrs Bassfinger is herself a trained singer and gives me some guidance but the crux of the matter is that nothing you do will work without significant time in the bank. Good luck.