meterman

I was wondering how much love there is for Afrobeat 'round these parts? Not just the classic old school Fela Kuti and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou and The Funkees and Tony Allen etc, but also the modern day revival acts like Antibalas, Vaudou Game, Fanga, Newen Afrobeat, Bixiga 70 etc? I used to play percussion in an Afrobeat / Jazz hybrid outfit and it was some of the deepest, funkiest, most life-affirming music I've ever been involved in. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Please share some of your favourites, old and new, if you're a fan of this stuff. Afrobeat, African funk and soul, highlife, anything 😎 The band that kicked off the current revival was probably The Daktaris. Martin Perna and co. recorded just one studio LP before evolving into the band that became Antibalas, but that whole album is killer! The video is the most boring YT video ever but the basslines totally hit the spot 👍 Vaudou Game are a great live band, I saw them twice midway down the bill at festivals and they absolutely destroyed it for the poor bands that had to follow them: The Budos Band's output varies a lot, but when they're on an Afro tip they totally nail it: And from France, Fanga. They often had Tony Allen sit in with them and, again, a devastatingly funky live act: Please if you're into this stuff feel free to add your faves to the thread! Cheers - Lee

Sunday reggae thread update time! From Brazil, Buena Onda Reggae Club: and from darn sarf, The Skints. A band I was in supported them once and they were brilliant live, defo want to see them again: and a bit of an old school UK favourite on Greensleeves, Reggae Regular "It's Coming", the flipside of "Black Star Liner". Always loved the bass on this, he's pretty much freestyling it all the way through. Around 3:01 when the bass comes back in after a drop out it makes me smile every time: Enjoy, folks

The sun's trying to get out here, time for some tunes 👍 An old fave from the wonderfully named 10ft Ganja Plant: A classic from Joe Gibbs with one of my all time favourite basslines. Nice 'doorbell in dub' action too: Then an older fave from Lennie Hibbert: Then me doing a cheeky cover of Lennie Hibbert on a 4-track cassette recorder for a daft laugh. Lo-fi AF but it was fun to do: Let's hope the sun gets out eh?

I reckon I could probably get away with one bass for the rest of my days. And I'd be happy if it was the bass I've just bought, a MIJ Squier Bullet. I only have two sounds anyway - flats played near the neck and flats played near the bridge. Three sounds if you count playing with a pick. At one time I had 5 basses (USA Fender Bullet, a Squier Mustang, an infuriating Shaftesbury Tele style bass, a little Tanglewood EF-18 from a charity shop, and an unbranded short scale acoustic bass) but I sounded pretty much the same on all of them. Could have been the flats, but more than likely it's my lack of proper technique. That's my signature sound: lack of proper technique 😂 and I only need one bass for that!

Great minds, etc! 😎 I'm going to get one made, so when I've got it I'll share a pic or two. I'll need to get some black Mustang pickup covers as well...

GAS for me would be an Ampeg Portaflex as I don't currently own a dedicated bass amp. If it could be the old one from Vintage & Rare on Denmark Street that made everything sound amazing then that would be it. I've no room for one but I'd still looooove one! Also a Fender Telecaster bass. Don't need one and can't afford one but would still have one. Phwoar. And #3 would be non-bass related, a vintage Wurlitzer 106P electric piano, in orange please. Prices on these now are insane so I'll have to make do with my little Yamaha Reface CP. The Reface does the job but it's no Wurly!

Bought a MIJ Squier Bullet Bass from Gareth. Nice price, pro packaging, good communications, hassle-free delivery, 100% recommended. First class service, thanks Gareth 👍

Probably my old Hammond C3 and Leslie speaker cab. I'm not sentimental about gear, it's just tools for the job, and I'm not one for nostalgia but, my lord what a sound! I live in the tiniest apartment ever so wouldn't have room for it now

Okay, so I didn't expect to find one of these so soon but thanks to @gareth it's New Vintage Squier Bullet Bass Day! I used to have a USA Fender Bullet Bass Deluxe which, although a bit niche, was a great bass to play and was on some great records. When I had to sell it I was gutted, but on this forum I managed to score a MIJ Squier Bullet Bass. Which is even more niche, but I'm into the niche gear. So this little oddball beauty arrived this afternoon. I tore into the package and unwrapped it, and... it's blowing me away! I'm fully aware that most folks wouldn't have these on their radar because why would they? Who's gonna get excited by the combination of a cut-down Precision body with Mustang pickups and a fat AF Tele bass neck? Well, me. Yeah, I'm that weirdo First impressions: much lighter than my old USA Bullet bass but still feels super solid. The neck is a dead ringer for the USA Bullet neck and feels the same as my old one. Win! 👍 The tug bar is on the wrong side of the strings for me 'cause I pluck with the side of my thumb, but that's an easy move. Overall, I'm getting a great vibe off this already. Straight away I had to take off the roundwound strings and get some flats on there. Thought I'd experiment with a set of Fender 45-100 flats, they only cost me £14 so why not? Seemingly within a few minutes the stiffer string tension and higher action that I'm used to was there. Plugged it into the only amp I have (1970s Fender Vibro Champ) and started playing some Afrobeat and dub basslines. Lost a couple of hours, easy. Bonded with it instantly. Properly enjoyed meself. I'm looking forward to recording with it and eventually gigging it. Absolutely chuffed with it. So, big thanks to Gareth for hooking me up with this one, I flipping love it. Great bass + nice price + pro packaging + hassle free delivery = happy Meterman. Cheers Gareth 🙏

Ooh, not arf! ❤️

Some absolute stormers in this thread!!! 😎 I've been blasting this Meters album all morning and it still sounds ace for a Tuesday afternoon: And have a bit of AWB for afters! Killer bass and guitar groove on this: Enjoy folks

@Reggaebass 's posting of Pablo Gad's "Hard Times" takes me back! I only have one of his 12" singles, "Trafalgar Square" which is good (see pic). Burning Rockers! Red vinyl! Yessss!!! But if you flip it over there's an absolute gem by Chereene - "To You Natty Dread" - 9 minutes of lovers rock vibes with some great spacy psychedelic dub touches 😎 which as far as I know hasn't been reissued or made available on any digital platform. It's a shame when great tunes slip through the net. But it's a great one to play along with and get lost in... Fill yer boots, dub fans : )

Okay, volume up! Couple of faves to start the week off: Lloyd Charmers "Have I Sinned" - it's sweet 70's pop reggae really, but the bassline and tubular bells elevate it to greatness for me 😎 ...then some Brazilian business - Orquestra Brasileira De Música Jamaicana "Dub Manifesto" ...and a bit of old school Sly Dunbar with Robbie Shakespeare, one of my favourite basslines, so much space 😎 Enjoy yer Monday everybody!

Lovely stuff! 👍

Here's a one from a while back, from a TV thing in Greece. I'm playing organ on this as we had a proper 'real' bassist at the time 😂 Can't wait to play live again. Or go back to Greece!

I'd say out of all the flats I've had on Mustangs, the La Bellas felt the most 'right' to me. Tension was just about right, the E had definition that wasn't there with other flats I'd tried. Can't help with rounds though, I haven't played with any for about 25 years 😆

La Bella make a set of flats specifically for Mustangs. I've had them on a couple of mine in the past and can't fault them. Not the cheapest, but you only buy them once

Bit of feelgood gear for yer Saturday morning! 🔥🔥🔥 Jr Thomas & The Volcanos 🔥🔥🔥 Deep vibe but such a light touch. I would LOVE to play in a band like this. And yes, I own the yellow vinyl

Excellent thread! I love reggae / ska / roots / rocksteady / dub / sound system culture and two of my all time favourite bass players are Family Man and Robbie Shakespeare. Some fantastic tunes in this thread! Here's something that came out a couple of months ago from an album of old school reggae stars covering modern day soul tunes. Projects like this can be a bit hit and miss but this one is ace. I'd recommend the whole album but reggae is catnip to me. Tabby Shaw from The Mighty Diamonds doing "This World (Is Going Up In Flames)" by the late Charles Bradley. Can't doubt his sincerity or his delivery on this and the groove is wicked. And because it's Friday and the sun is trying to break through, have a one hour mix of feelgood ska, reggae, roots and dub I put together a while back. If folks like King Stitt, Jackie Mittoo, The Silvertones, Max Romeo, Lloyd Charmers, Gregory Isaacs, Sly Dunbar, Peter Tosh, Joe Gibbs etc, float your boat then hit the play button 👍 Cheers - Lee

I got a Reface CP in the GAK sale and I use it a lot. The preset Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds are excellent. Would have bought the YC and CS as well but my pockets weren’t deep enough! Once you get used to the mini keys they’re great. And they can be hooked up to a midi keyboard if you want to use their sounds with a full sized keyboard. I see them a lot in studios and at gigs, they definitely seem to be popular.

I do like black basses, here's my old partscaster Squier Mustang. I had a black VM Mustang and a silver sparkle Mikey Way signature Mustang and took the best bits from both and ended up with a one-off black Squier Mustang with matching headstock. It was nice for a short scale, but lives in a mate's studio now. And someone out there has got a silver sparkle Mustang with a maple neck. That was nice too

@mcnach I played one of those '69 Thinline teles in a shop and was blown away by how good it was. Amazing quality for the price. I bought mine cheap on ebay to use as a back up guitar but it was better than my Fender tele. Could have just been the setup but I was chuffed for £150.

Can't speak for the Harley Benton tele's as I've never played one but a second hand Squier VM or CV Tele will defo get you there. I have a used Squier 72 Thinline Tele that I use as a touring guitar, it's a fuss-free workhorse instrument that plays and sounds great as-is with no mods whatsoever. Vintage tinted maple fingerboard, old school looks. Not the most exciting guitar to look at, but the build quality is really decent. And it cost £150 off ebay 👍

That's a beauty! If you can live with the target 'burst then I'd say leave it. The wood grain doesn't seem too prominent, and stripping poly out of a German carve is No. Fun. At. All. Clean it up and enjoy playing it! :)