meterman

I had a copy of that one as my touring melodica for years. I think it was about £30 from Hobgoblin. Went badly out of tune eventually but it did get a lot of use. I did get a similar replacement a while back but I can’t remember if it had a brand name or not now. Found a blue 37-key one on ebay for £25-£30. Not as nice as a Suzuki model but it’s fine for what I need. 👍

Forgot a local female bass player - Patrice Carrie from the French band Rinôçérôse. Brilliant live and on record.

I flipping love sober coloured gear! Honestly though, the likes of Muse and Rush leave me stone cold, but music with a bit of space, like dub reggae, or bands that leave a lot of room in their music (like Khruangbin) do it for me all day long. Their drummer is one of my favourites too. Depending on your taste / outlook / medication (delete as applicable) I get how they could be either hypnotic or boring live. Their new album with Vieux Farka Toure is beautiful, I reckon.

I’m still looking for a Hohner Alto melodica, the red one. Or a Hohner Pianica with keys rather than buttons. Melodica gas is definitely a thing!

Would agree with everyone on your list and add: Gina Birch (The Raincoats) Clare Kenny (Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Sinéad O’Connor, Brian Eno etc) Rose Simpson (Incredible String Band) Naomi Yang (Galaxie 500) Britta Phillips (Luna, Ben Lee) I’m not really fussed who plays in what band or on what record or tour or online video. But if I like them and they make me want them pick up my bass then I’m a fan. Laura Lee from Khruangbin particularly inspires me at the moment. Don’t give a toss about the nylon wigs or the onstage costume changes but her basslines totally do it for me 👍

Thank you @Beedster - I really appreciate that 🙏

That is really kind, I appreciate it thank you 🙏 When the 7” comes out I’ll let folks know.

I apologise because I forgot about this, but for @Reggaebass and @Nail Soup and anyone who might have been interested, the finished record sounds like this: and the B-side is like this: It got released as a limited edition 5” lathe cut which plays at 45rpm. Not compatible with all turntables (particularly automatic ones) but it sounds fine on mine. I know people tend to moan about lathe cuts not being super hi-fi, or how mastering in mono is a waste of time in this day and age, or whatever, but they can laugh at how basic it sounds or cry into their half-speed mastered Steely Dan reissues for all I care. 😂 DJs have already played it in clubs, it made a profit on the first day of release and as long as it makes folks do monkey dancing when it comes out of a big sound system I’m happy. A label in the UK has already sent off the masters for a vinyl follow up, so... job done 👍 If anyone has doubts or second thoughts about whether or not what they’ve recorded is good enough to release, don’t sweat it just do it. Go with your instincts and crack on. Don’t fret about whether or not your music sounds ‘pro’ enough. It probably is. Just put it out there. And keep doing it. Anyhow. Hope everyone’s doing alright and looking after themselves. All the best to yers!

Quite jealous! I’ve always liked the look of these. Never seen one for sale though.

This popped up in my instagram feed, would it count? Personally I wouldn’t touch it with a stolen Richard but I’ve never been a fan of 1950’s kitchen cupboard formica.

Cannonball Adderley “Walk Tall” Pharoah Sanders “Thembi” Ramsey Lewis “Slippin’ Into Darkness” Jimmy Smith “Root Down” Yusef Lateef “Nubian Lady” Anyone covering any of these can play whatever bass line they like, but the original parts are killer.

Baby Huey.

Good luck with everything! 👍

Has anyone posted “Prisencolinensinainciusol” by Adriano Celentano yet? Phonetic gibberish written by Italians to mimic how an English language 4/4 disco funk belter might sound to non-English speakers. Confused? Don’t be. Just press play and turn the bass up. Superb sound for 1972. The part where the girl says “My ice lies senseless, and it also goes with miso. Ice” is about the only lyric I can decipher, but it’s a good one. “Ice”.

In the last 2 years: my45 (Germany) GZ Media (Czech Republic) Archer (Detroit, USA) Lathe To The Grave (Cardiff) Friends have used: DMS (UK) Mobineko Cram Distribution my45 Also, mates have used companies like: Vinyl Me Please for very short runs, but they aren’t cheap, like £35 a pop, easy. It’s probably cheaper to get 50 pressed, keep some copies for the band, and sell what’s left on Bandcamp to recoup pressing costs.

For vinyl I recently used MY45 who are based in Germany and am next considering using either vinyl-pressing.com (France) or Press On Vinyl (Middlesbrough, UK) depending on the finished project. For lathe cuts I’ve done a couple of runs this year with Lathe To The Grave, they’re based in Cardiff and the quality of their products is great. Indie labels like Fika and WIAIWYA have used them for short runs and they always sell out. They’re not expensive either. Mobineko do runs starting at 50 though. That’s got to be worth looking at.

There’s a number of companies who will press one single disc for you if you want. Full colour sleeve and inners and all. It’s expensive but it’s available. Some companies offer short runs of 50 or 100. And there’s also the lathe cut option, where you can have coloured vinyl pressings from one to maybe 30 or 40 and the turnaround time is pretty quick. I’ve had short runs of vinyl done in the past, and lathe cuts done too. Admittedly these were for sale but it’s not really difficult to organize. Loads of companies offer short runs as an option. I’ve got 30 singles being delivered next week. Few for family and friends and I’ll use the rest as promos for a proper release later in the year. I’m as low-tech as it gets and if I can do it you definitely can 👍

How small a run are you thinking of?

Actually, this: and “Psonic Psunspot” too.

I’ve had to bail on my Yes odyssey after listening to “Close To The Edge”. There’s a couple of songs on each of the first four albums I liked but not enough to properly draw me in. And they tended to be the songs that kept the noodly riffage to a minimum. Brilliant musicians, all of them, can’t argue with that, and I’m glad I gave them a listen, but my curiosity is satisfied for now at least. However if my meds wear off I might give Rick Wakeman’s “Arthur On Ice” a listen, just for laughs. Whilst wearing a cape, obviously.

De La Soul - “3 Feet High And Rising”. The whole lot, daft gameshow skits and everything 👍 Also, Max Romeo - “War Ina Babylon” and Boards Of Canada - “Music Has The Right To Children”. Too many to choose an absolute favourite.

Sorry to hear it might not work out for you with the VM Mustang, I really liked mine. Hope you find the perfect S S bass for you 👍

I just missed a Mikey Way signature Mustang, it was only €130 😮 The ad came up on a local site just as I was coming over to the UK. Would have been a train ride away for me but for that price I’d have done it. So they are still out there at bargain prices occasionally. Love my CV Mustang but I’d have had this as well though.

I learned when I was at school and played tuned percussion in the orchestra. Have only used it a couple of times in the last 35-40 years though, so I doubt I’d still be able to now. Always found ‘playing by ear’ faster for me. Sometimes I think I should have carried on with the reading, just so I could try orchestral work again, but all that seems light years away now 😂

I’ve got an Oly White CV Mustang bass now, and it’s my #1, I love it, although heavily glossed necks are defo my thing (phwoar). In retrospect, I should have kept the pickguard with the Mikey Way humbucker on it, and transferred it to my bitsa Mustang bass because it sounded superb, to me at least. Those Mikey Way Mustangs seem to go for crazy money now but if I could score one for £400 I definitely would. The pickup + ‘guard would be perfect on my CV.