meterman

Extra drums / percussion seemed to be a thing for Hamish. I played live with him a couple of times and both times he had drums and two percussionists, of which I was one. Both times, three quarters of Young Gun Silver Fox formed the basis of his backing band and I was on percussion duties. The bassist used no pedals at all! Best time was playing all the AWB hits plus a bunch of other hits that Hamish had either written or played on. Doing “Pick Up The Pieces” and “I’m Every Woman” and “What You Gonna Do For Me”’ on the main stage closing a summer festival at Hyde Park was a real trip for me, I loved the AWB singles as a kid so it was ace to play them with the guy who wrote them on a big gig. It’s not super hi-res but I’m the skinhead third left in the pic: and in silhouette at the same gig: July 2017 I think it was?

Not at all, just not your bag. If you don’t like Yes or Zep, you’re never going to like Rush. I do like Yes and Zep (although not all of it, not by a long chalk) so I was already predisposed to Rush I guess. No, I really am - I had to repeat two years at school so it’s official! Don’t know if it’s weird to love Hendrix but find Cream boring? Or love pre-“Animals” Pink Floyd but not so much Gong? Or like Captain Beefheart but not Zappa, at all? They’re all phenomenally talented musicians in Yes, Led Zep, Rush, Cream, Zappa, etc, and I have tried to get into them but none of it works for me at all. I kinda wish it did because it might have widened my gigging possibilities over the years. But I can’t get into it. I do love seeing pictures of Neil Peart’s drums for some reason though..?

That’s where my problem is, there’s not a lot of rock that I like, and the rock music I do enjoy tends to be the fairly caveman kind of stuff. Stooges, not Yes for instance. I have tried with LZ and Rush, I’ve bought their albums but then quickly offloaded them. Not LZ or Rush’s problem at all, I’m just a simpleton 😂

I have a cut down set of the Jamerson La Bellas on my 25” scale precision copy. I cut them down at the tuners end and just hoped they wouldn’t unravel on the tuner posts. The E string slightly unravelled during the fitting but it’s been stable for about 10 years. There’s no way I would have cut down £50 strings if I hadn’t have found them in the pocket of a gigbag I’d bought second hand. But they work 👍

Robert Plant’s voice is the main thing getting in the way of me liking Led Zep. Same way that Janis Joplin’s voice is the thing that gets in the way of me liking Janis Joplin. People screeching does my head in. Geddy’s voice is one of two things getting in the way of me liking Rush, the other being their music. Super talented musicians but really not my cup of tea. Add in Geddy’s voice and it’s an instant earplugs situation for me. I have tried with Rush but... nope, no way.

Thank you, I’m not up on The Cribs music and couldn’t remember the bassist’s name 👍

Oh, and something by Mandrill would have to be in a funk curriculum, maybe this:

You are totally welcome! There was dozens of great funk compilations released around the late 90s / early 2000s which were a brilliant source of rare one-off singles or hard to find gems that were yet to appear on CD. I don’t know if they’re all on streaming sites now but they might well be on YouTube and they’re definitely worth a look. Total rabbit hole though, especially “Really Heavy Soul” for the inclusion of Funkadelic - “Come In Out Of The Rain”. Sparse, yet funky bassline, mostly on one note until the song starts to fade out, then the bassist goes full on Jamerson. One of those songs where you want to hear the band carry on jamming just for the bass playing.

Funk is a broad church but there’s some stuff that people classify as funk, that is definitely too smooth or slick to be properly dirty and funky. I’d take the raw stuff every time. Poets Of Rhythm for instance: or The Fabulous Counts: or Mickey & The Soul Generation: or The Wax Preachers: maybe Jungle Fire: or Cymande: or Leo Nocentelli from The Meters: ...and the obvious J.B’s, Sly & The Family Stone, early Parliament, Maceo & The Macks, Marva Whitney, Lyn Collins etc. I used to DJ in funk and soul clubs and things like Placebo (the 70s band) might be just on the right side of the jazz-funk thing and keep the dancers dancing but something like Steely Dan would clear the dance floor and you’d lose the crowd. Same thing with Prince or Cameo or something like that. But you could easy bring them back again with an Ike & Tina Turner 45... The bass on a lot of these kinds of records is often distorted and hard to cop exactly right without headphones on. And whether or not they’d make it into a “Funk Classics” study book, I couldn’t say. But they’re all funky AF.

I’ve toured with a session player who sometimes took out re-logoed Squiers to gigs he wouldn’t want to take a vintage Fender to. Decent gigs as well, JTQ, Incognito, Paul Weller etc. Otherwise I remember seeing Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys playing a white Squier Vista Musicmaster at T In The Park festival in ‘98. Also the bassist from indie band The Cribs who had a signature Squier bass, Joe Dart briefly used a borrowed and modded CV precision, Mikey Way had his signature Mustang, the bassist (and guitarist) from Los Angeles cumbia-punk band Thee Commons played and endorsed Squiers, although they’re with Fender now. Frank Bello had a signature Squier bass, so did Mike Dirnt although he had signature Fenders as well. Have seen many bands at big festivals where the bassists are using Squier Jaguar basses too. There’s probably loads of others but these spring to mind right now.

If I was any good with power tools I’d already have done this ⬆️ Always wondered about how good they are for the money 💰

I absolutely love this - “Gorffennaf” - it’s the best Welsh language cover version of a 1969 Italian pop hit you will hear this week 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇮🇹 👍 Cardiff lad signed to a German record label, with Brazilians and Americans in his band and is produced by a French guy. That’s normal, right?

If I could just randomly find one of these in a forest, I’d join the club straight away. Wanted one in the 80’s but never had the available money. And they don’t seem to be getting any cheaper now. My main acoustic is a 1985 Ibanez and it’s superb, a Blazer or Roadstar would compliment it nicely 👍

The original 60s Mustangs had adjustable foam mutes for each string which were fixed into the body where those four screw holes are at the top. I’ve never seen the mutes on any of the reissues so I don’t get why the bridge plate still needs to be that big. The late 1990s Squier Vista Musicmaster bridge design would look better imho. Kind of like a 4-saddle string through affair. Not sure why that hasn’t been repeated elsewhere in the Fender range? Or maybe it has and I’ve missed it?

“Scott’s Big Lasagnas” Massive multi-layered pasta dishes to be eaten whilst wearing gloves.As long as I don’t have to listen to slap bass while I’m eating I’m already interested 😛

Chiming in with the herd here, but the JMJ Mustangs really are very good instruments indeed. I almost bought one from GAK when I still lived in the UK, it felt and sounded like an excellent example of all the 1960s Mustangs I’d played previously and certainly better than the 70s ones I’d owned. Black finish wasn’t an option then otherwise I might have handed my bank card over! Yes, the relicing isn’t to everyone’s taste (me included) and yes the lack of upper fret access will definitely be an issue for players who are used to 20+ frets on their basses, but if you’re in the market for a Mustang - vintage or otherwise - they’re well worth it imho 👍

They’re not always everyone’s cup of tea but I’ll never forget Rick Z lending one of my bandmates a vintage Precision to do a studio session with, and he didn’t really even know the guy, he just figured if he was with us it would be okay. Didn’t ask for a deposit or anything. That’s pretty amazing behaviour for a vintage guitar shop!

Although that’s a decent chunk of money, that is definitely a handsome bass 👍 I bought a few guitars and amps from them over the years when I lived in west London, always liked visiting their shop.

The Telecaster bass 😛 Do I need it? No. Do I want it? 200% Yes!

Not for bass but I’ve taken guitars abroad on tour in Hiscox Liteflite cases many times. In and out of aeroplane holds no problem. I’ve had 20 years out of one of mine and the only thing I ever had to replace was one of the round buttons that act as feet on the underside of the case. Plus, on most tours I’ve done where air travel is involved, bassists seem to use Hiscox cases too. They’re not the cheapest option but they’re definitely worth it 👍

I’m pretty much sorted for everything I need, musically, but I still wouldn’t say no to: a Fender JMJ Mustang, in black, some replacement stack knob double pots to restore my Danelectro DC59, an MXR Phase 90, a looper of some kind, and an Alesis Midiverb II to replace the one that got nicked a few years ago. Decent pint of Guinness wouldn’t go a miss, either. But other than that I’m sorted.

I remember when Fender did that semi acoustic Precision, I liked the look of them. A Jazz version would be cool imho 😎

I love my cheapie Squier jazz bass, it plays and records really well, it’s charcoal frost metallic, it’s lightweight with no neck dive, and it looks good with tort, or black or parchment pickguards... BUT I wish it had a ‘blocks & binding’ neck like the 40th Anniversary Gold edition Squier jazz has got. I love blocks and binding on jazz basses. If I ever find one of those 40th anniversary basses, I’ll buy it for the neck and put it on the charcoal frost metallic one.

Mucky Bongo, you say? Phwoar, got any pictures?