Baloney Balderdash

I don't think it is fair to compare a Fela Kuti to a swastica t-shirt. Also if you can't relate to the song's lyrics, don't play it. This goes as far as I am concerned for everything. You are not going to do a song justice if you can't relate to it. And if all it is to you is a nice tune, maybe you are right that it would be disrespectful to play it. I would hope though that most people can empathize with other people's suffering no matter what color their skin happens to be and no matter where they happen to live.

"Hvide Mænd Spiller Afrobeat" (White Men Play Afrobeat) by the Danish band "Smag På Dig Selv" (Taste Yourself)

Yeah, definitely do not copy the accent and appearance, that would be pretty seriously cringe, and border parody. As always with covers, respect the original material, by doing it your way!

Quite on the contrary, music is an universal language, and I would call it a racist decision if fear of cultural-appropriation is the reason not to play it. But then again I am not a zealot woke, you'll have to ask one of them how it is even supposed to make sense. I am almost certain that Fela Kuti would be really happy about a British white person playing his music. Culture is if any just a social construct, break down some barriers!

Boss ME-90B

That seems rather extensive, a business card seems much more like it, should be a fraction of a millimeter.

Something is completely off here, you don't adjust string tension by adjusting the truss rod, neither do you adjust string action by turning the truss rod. And what is a credit card supposed to test in relation to truss rod adjustment? Try read or watch one of the many excellent setup guides you can find with a simple search on the internet. For now leave that truss rod alone! In fact don't touch your bass until you have read or watched a full guide thoroughly, and made sure you understand every aspect of it.

Just got the ESP/LTD B4JR bass in the door that I bought used Friday yesterday. It's a just 28.5" scale length short scale, with a Basswood body, and a Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard. And after a thorough setup, and having the stock pickups, which honestly sounded decent enough, for an EMG Geezer P pickup, it sounds non less than amazing. Really nice tone, both finger plucked and using a pick, and the sustain is pretty substantial too. Even the low E sounds great, despite the short scale length. It's also very light, the body being made of Basswood, which does make it prone to neck dive, but nothing a wide grapy strap can't solve. Now the bad things, when I got it it had one of the most horrible setups I ever saw, and with loose input jack socket, that was easily fixed though, however the nut slots are cut way too high, and it got some pretty sharp fret ends, that you can literally cut your hand on if you are not careful, and will probably have fixed that too at some point by a proper luthier. The thin U shaped neck will also take some getting used to, it is not exactly beefy, but it kind of feels that way, because the neck profile is so round. The frets are not perfectly leveled leveled, but still well enough that I can get it to my preferred string action (about 2mm (~5/64") low E string at 12th fret) without any issues or string buzz whatsoever. Truss rod works as it is supposed to, and neck seems stable. Tuners are not the best, but they work just fine. Here it is (excuse me for my old crappy digital camera): I got it for what equals about 30£, a deal I could simply not pass.

What's up with that?

I am really happy with my Ibanez Mikro Basses. And the GSRM20B model in Weathered Black finish even look pretty damn amazing: 28.6" scale length, and fits perfectly in a regular guitar gig bag. Current production models features an Okoume body, Maple neck and Purpleheart fretboard. Swap the stock pickups out with a P/J pair of EMG Geezer Butler or DiMarzio Model P/Model J, according to preferences and taste, and you are golden.

Does it do odd meters/time signatures? As intriguing and brilliant gadget it is, if not I have no use for it.

(Edit!!! I actually made 2 versions out of this, and changed my mind, so I swapped the song to enter this challenge for the other version, which is "They Called Him Stewart Stardust I" ) Please !!! IGNORE !!! this : Well, I can't seem to be able to delete the original track that I posted no matter what I do, but this is actually the one I want to enter the competition with (Edit 2 : Well, I ended up changing the address on SoundCloud for the track, but that solution didn't work at first for some odd reason, seems to work now, so these two posted tracks are actually the same anyway, I apologize for the confusion and the spam): "An alternate take of an ending scene for a fictive sci-fi western movie"... Solo bass, single track, 2nd take, improvisation, played on my 28.6" scale 4 string Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, converted to sort of a 4 string baritone slide guitar, tuned in an open B tuning, recorded through my "amp-less" setup directly into my Zoom H4n handheld recorder, and only edited through a simple Wav editor.

Here it is (you'll have to excuse my lousy old digital camera): And I love it! But not unconditionally. First of all it weights about a ton, being solid Maple, so after about half an hour of play my back starts to ache. Heavier than any of my basses, even my full scale Ash body one. Also I really don't like the bridge Seymour Duncan JB pickup, it sounds ok in single coil mode in conduction with the neck Seymour Duncan '59 pickup, and the neck pickup sounds ok soloed as well. But I am no doubt going to replace the pickups at some point, for a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, as this guitar was originally equipped with from stock, and then for the neck a Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz pickup. Also being used to playing bass for a long while I really struggle with the narrow string spacing, and have to mind my fingers constantly, also the thin strings got a tendency to carve into my fingers, so actually much harder physically to play for me than my bass. But I take some practice will help. Otherwise I absolutely love it, and is definitely pleased with the buy.

Order cancelled, as I found a guitar I really regret selling years back on the used market. A Westbury Deluxe, made on the legendary Matsumoko factory in Japan, sometime in the early 80's, and pretty rare find on the used market. My favorite guitar ever. It does not have the original Di'Marzio pickups, which is a bit of a shame, but still some decent Seymour Duncan ones. This is the beauty:

I have just ordered this beauty from Thomann: Bought from money I got from the Boss GT-1000CORE I just sold. Top: Spruce Back and sides: Sapele Bolt-on neck: Okoume Fingerboard: Purpleheart It's an Ibanez TCY621-BOT. I don't own a proper guitar and no Western guitar at all, but always loved the sound of the latter, and is a big fan of folk music. And listening to demos it sounds great, despite its smaller body, and the pickup sounds great as well. Should have it Thursday or Friday. Will post an update when I get it.

Sorry about the late answer, but somehow missed your reply. It is an artistic choice, born out of necessity you could say. Fact is that I only have means to record directly into my Zoom H4n right now, which means that the tracks will be 2 joint stereo track, a single track recording, which results in mono, hence the quite narrow stereo field. And I also only have means a editing that single track in a simple Wav editor. I do happen to like dense mixes and a lot of reverb and delay, that is just my production style, and this particular track needed a reverse delay, which was achieved by reversing the single tack, applying delay and then reversing the whole track again. If I had have more tracks I could use in stereo I would likely have used reverse delay on one track and slightly panned it to one side, leaving another copy of the same track more dry and with more compression applied panned slightly to the opposite side, for more clarity and depth. I also likely would have recorded cleaner and applied most effects post production, to get more control over the mix. Though I do think this simple production has it's own charms, and fits this particular track very well. To give an example of a typical production of mine, when I do have means to record several tracks and edit/produce in a DAW: Again a very dense mix, but the polar opposite in terms of being more maximalistic, rather than minimalistic. Or perhaps something more similar to the style of the track of the OP, but again a full production:

And done: A calm folky instrumental, that seems fitting for the picture and location of it, complete with backwards intro that mirrors the mirror lake of the image : Solo bass, single track, 3rd take, instrumental, played on my 28.6" scale 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, tuned in G# standard tuning (as in one half step bellow the upper 4 strings of a 6 string bass in regular B standard tuning, plus a high E), recorded through my "amp-less" setup directly into my Zoom H4n handheld recorder, and only edited through a simple Wav editor.

Just Like Anything - Jackson C. Frank

Math - Menfolk (a band I used to play bass in)

My Aria Pro II CSB-300 Cardinal Series, made on the legendary Matsumoku factory in Japan, sometime in the early 80's, that I bought recently: 32" scale length, Ash body, 3 piece Maple neck, with a Rosewood fretboard. After a thorough setup it plays non less than amazing, and sounds great! Definitely pleased with this buy! I did have to lower the bridge saddles as low as they go to get them to my preferred just about 2mm string action low E string 12th fret, but it is perfect as is now, so not really an issue. The pickup is a bit noisy when not touching any metal parts, so might need to shield it properly at some point, but as said, it does sound great, and is quiet, as long as touching metal parts or strings. Being used to playing 28.6" scale basses for the last past 10 years or so I am surprised how effortlessly this bass is to play. It does have a pretty chunky neck, but it is pretty narrow, with a string spacing of just 16.5mm, like my main 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass. Nice to finally have a bass again that can be tuned in regular E standard tuning, without compromising the tone. I am also positively surprised with how little fret wear it got, practically non. I have given it the name "Dud Bottomfeeder Sr.", after my 4 string Mikro, which is named "Dud Bottomfeeder II".

Joyo Moonbase Essentially a Tube Screamer with a clean blend, which is exactly what the original Ibanez Bass Tube Screamer is. Edit!: Just looked it up, seems I remember wrong, it doesn't actually have a clean blend, so it's just a Tube Screamer clone marketed for bass, which is strange cause most of Joyo's other drive offerings, designed with guitar in mind, actually works better for bass than this.

Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf

B#

A goblin?

To me it sounds thin, farty and mid scooped. But I digress... I suppose this is a somewhat thin tone too, but at the same time monterous, and very snappy and punchy, I love this P tone: