Shaggy

Briefly lived just down the road from there (Angus St) - good venue

[quote name='Clarky' post='302013' date='Oct 8 2008, 11:22 AM']Spooky, I just thought that and had saved the very same pic of Phil LYnott from google images to post on here

Are you me by any chance?[/quote]
Jeez, I don't think so..........are you crap at dancing and do you collect obscure tankards? Also you do seem to have some of my basses, including a Rick - Thinking of putting a mirror guard on that in fact (Jetglo with knackered white p/g) But where are my others, eh?

2 slick deals with Mr eubassix within a week – new set of DR strings and a Korg Pandora PX4B. Top guy, sent the stuff quicker than probably anyone I’ve ever dealt with, and remained stubbornly good-humoured in the face of my obsessive/compulsive tendency to haggle (see market scene of [i]Life of Brian[/i]; “[i]what, ten dinarii for this fine gourd, me with fifteen children to feed[/i]”…...etc etc)
Deal with in confidence, plus he gets lots of goodies from shows (which I can never be bothered to go to)

+1 on BWB, but a mirror guard is so cool .......

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='300220' date='Oct 5 2008, 11:30 PM']I have a 1984 BC Rich Eagle that has the P/P configuration and it sounds fantastic! Admittedly, the pick ups are nice old vintage DiMarzios but nevertheless, I think there's a lot to be said for that configuration.

In this particular case, there is one volume pot for each pick up and one master tone control.. Oh, and it's passive.

There are no buzz or humming issues and you can blend the levels of the pick ups any which way you like.. Very simple to use and very versatile.[/quote]
+1 on the Eagle – BC Riches are considered pointy “metal” basses now, but back in the late ‘70’s / early ‘80’s they were in the same league as Alembic, making hand-made boutique instruments, with custom electronics. The P at the bridge definitely gives more punch than a J. I thought they were all active though! (switchable to passive)
I’m sure there were some other ‘80’s basses that were P / P – Kramer or Westone maybe??? Would be a good DIY project on a cheap P-bass.

You have to try both ways and see what feels most natural, especially playing continuously for an hour or so.
My left-handed son (13) has just started on bass, and immediately went for playing right handed, I didn't push him either way
Personally I'm thinking of getting a left-handed Wal and playing it upside down as they're the only remotely affordable ones I ever see!

[quote name='Hamster' post='295911' date='Sep 30 2008, 09:40 PM']as compared with relicing, which is the practice of applying new lice to replace the old lice. [/quote]



[quote name='Monz' post='295942' date='Sep 30 2008, 10:00 PM']I chopped the ends off my middle and ring fingers left hand last October in a work accident and I have found a way round it over the last year... and yes I regulally use my little finger to "bridge" two strings you just have to find a way I had o play with just index and pinkie for 6 months, it's amazing what you can do if the drive is there

PS for those of you that are wondering, they did sew them back on but they don't feel like they used to lol[/quote]
Didn't the same thing happen to Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath? Didn't seem to hold him back any!

Didn't the Beatles play Shea Stadium with only Vox AC30's?

My first one home made, probabaly 10W max. It blew up.

+1 on Cocobolo, rosewood (Brazilian "Rio" the finest), European/American walnut, wenge.
Thuja is nice too, used it on my custom "Stingray" (pre-EB MM neck), looks lighter in the pic than it is because of flash. Used African blackwood for the fretless f/b, which is lovely but a phenomenally heavy wood!

PM sent

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='288091' date='Sep 20 2008, 05:12 PM']I have ritter gigbag for my thunderbird - perhaps an RD would fit in one of those? RockBass have a range of oversize bass gigbags as well.[/quote]
Anything meant for a T'bird should fit an RD. The original case is the size of a small pool table!

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='285862' date='Sep 17 2008, 01:55 PM']Nice one - let us know how you get on with it?

I have never used one but was waiting in the wings if you didn't take the one of Higgie!!!

Cheers

Mark[/quote]
Will do Mark, although TBH I've got nothing to compare it to!

Those shorts weren't a great look...... :brow:

A big thanks for all the great posts on this; just to wrap it up, I went for Higgie’s original Mutron, hopefully coming soon.
So now skint AND about to get cadmium poisoning! But vintage cool maintained

Sorry guys, been away and incommunicado for the weekend - all PM's replied to

Wasn't going to bump (with no big fat woman no more) as I was quite happy to keep the old girl, but I'm now GAS-ing for Higgie's Mutron pedal.
£300 accepted for a lovely jubbly vintage valve thumper!

Considering a thread: "Poll - what should Shockwave's fiancee do next?"

[quote name='BigRedX' post='281421' date='Sep 10 2008, 09:18 PM']What's your budget?

If you can stretch to it a second hand Pedulla Buzz would be something to consider £600-1000 depending on condition and desperation of the seller.[/quote]
You just beat me to it! Wals are untouchable for fretless but way overpriced right now - if I was shopping in that price range it'd have to be a Pedulla.
Fenders can be lovely but IMO need either an ebony board conversion or a coated board - a really hard board and ultra-low profile nut (phnaar!) are crucial for sustain and a nice articulate sound.

[quote name='tauzero' post='280887' date='Sep 10 2008, 09:15 AM']How's your soldering? You could always build a [url="http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=112&Itemid=26"]Mutron replica[/url]...[/quote]
Dude, you may have found the perfect solution! I'm totally crap - I have the scorch-marks on my fingers to prove it - but my brother is a whizz at it (he's an electronics engineer with Siemens), in fact he built my very first amp all those years ago - it blew up the cab (2 speakers pilfered from my Dad's old radiogram mounted in an old wooden TV carcass) but that wasn't his fault.
Nice one!

Thanks fellas, really useful stuff here. I’d really love Higgie’s Mutron – always prefer the old and authentic option with gear (or as Mrs Shaggy prefers to call it; festering pile of old junk), but hard to justify that amount of dosh – I guess it may be the Pod after all, especially as I’ll no doubt think of some other effect I can’t possibly live without.
Hmmmmmmmmm……….

In 31 years of bass-playing I’ve only ever had one effects pedal – a Boss bass flanger, briefly used it for covering “Dancing in the Moonlight”, and gave it to a mate.
However, always fancied a decent envelope filter for doing some funk, the only one I’ve heard of is the Mutron. Any recommendations for a tidy pedal or rack unit? Don’t really want a multi unit like the Pod XT etc as I’d probably only use 0.0000000001% of its functions, but if that was the best solution then fine.
Sorry if this has been covered before!

He's "the man" as far as I'm concerned, and the reason I bought Shockwaves' Eagle NT as I really coveted BE's one back in the day. I had a discography for him I'll try and dig up, this is the piece from "Bass Player";

Bernard Edwards of Chic, Part 1
By Marco Passarelli | August, 2006


It’s the conundrum of many bassists, but in Bernard Edwards’s case it’s particularly poignant: How can a person create grooves so massive that they become emblazoned in our cultural consciousness, yet his name remains largely unknown? With Chic, Edwards brought a new sophistication to late-’70s disco with hits like “Le Freak” and “Good Times,” songs propelled by his stylish funk lines and guitarist Nile Rodgers’s signature chicken-scratch sound. Rodgers and Edwards, who co-founded the group, went on to write and produce hits for others, including the 1979 smash “We Are Family” for Sister Sledge and “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down” for Diana Ross. After Chic disbanded, Bernard produced tracks for Robert Palmer, the Power Station, Duran Duran, and Rod Stewart. Despite such an illustrious track record, Edwards’s name usually elicits a collective “Huh?” from non-bassists. But hum one of his signature bass lines and that blank look may quickly morph to a knowing grin.




For bassists, though, Edwards—who died ten years ago after collapsing onstage—is an icon. He elevated the role of bass with articulate, well-thought-out parts, deep musicality, and a distinctive playing style that became an integral part of the band’s unique sound. Rodgers says Chic worked hard to create that sound. “We analyzed the Brothers Johnson and Rufus with Chaka Khan, and we decided we needed to have a sound that people knew was Chic when they heard it. We spent a great deal of time working on that.” For inspiration, Bernard would also turn to Motown’s James Jamerson, Atlantic session great Jerry Jemmott, and Larry Graham, Sly & the Family Stone’s slap-and-pop pioneer. “He thought Larry Graham was unreal,” says Nile. “He just couldn’t believe that technique.” But Rodgers also remembers other musicians checking out Edwards’s unusual playing style. “When we were on the tour with the Brothers Johnson, I used to see them standing at the side of the stage staring and going, ‘How the hell is he doing that?’”

Rodgers explains: “Bernard was a guitar player before he played the bass, but the last thing that he wanted to be was a bass player who used a pick. So he played with his forefinger and thumb, like he was holding a pick. He’d strike the string with the bottom and top of his finger. The strength of the low end comes from his thumb on top and the other three fingers curled up underneath, so he had the fattest pick you could ever imagine!” Bear in mind that it takes considerable time to build up the strength necessary for this technique. As Nile warns, “Bernard’s fingers would often bleed. If we played a two- or three-hour show, the blood would be dripping down the bass! But he was used to it; that’s how he played.”

Are you up for the challenge? Don’t worry; you can cop much of Edwards’s style with a soft pick or with regular fingerstyle playing. Examples 1a and 1b illustrate the main parts to Chic’s breakout hit, “Le Freak.” Nile Rodgers explains the song’s origins: “One night we were denied entrance to Studio 54, so we went around the corner to my place and started jamming. I came up with the riff because I was singing, ‘f*** off!’ to vent our frustration. Bernard just starting accenting the ‘f*** off!’ part.” Ex. 1a illustrates the expletive-laden line in question, which evolved into the chorus’s “Freak out!” Note how the part alternates between staccato downbeats and slide-offs. To usher in the verse line (Ex. 1b), Edwards plays an ultra-cool octave riff followed by a clever chromatic walk-up to the tonic. Relentlessly repetitive eighth- and 16th-note octaves were the disco norm of the time, but Edwards employed the octave as a stylish flourish. In the verse riff itself, Edwards used hammer-ons to mirror and embellish Rodgers’s scratch-guitar part, while continuing to incorporate the “Freak out” motif in his approach to the downbeat.

Ex. 2a shows the main chorus riff in Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” one of the biggest hits written and produced by Chic for another artist. Bernard’s catchy part accentuates how the chord changes anticipate each downbeat, while stressing the roots with slick beat three octave jumps. In Ex. 2b’s altered version, dig Bernard’s tasty, syncopated hammer-ons to the A7 chord tones. Ex. 2c shows the song’s verse bass line. The part’s busy bar 1 figure ushers in the vocal part, which starts on the “and” of three. In bar 2, Bernard’s crafty part provides rhythmic contrast to the bar 2’s syncopated vocal.

Next: Duran Duran’s John Taylor tells why Bernard Edwards was his hero, and the bass line that launched hip-hop.

Colliers Arms, Garnant, S,Wales Sat 6/9/08
A cosy pub we’ve played before. Our regular vocalist had to pull out, so local celeb Gary Pickford-Hopkins stepped in as “guest” vocalist / blues harp / rhythm guitar, he was the singer in “Man” and sang on a couple of Rick Wakeman’s albums among much else. Changed the regular set of R&B / rock to back-to-roots pure blues and rock n’ roll, absolute magic and the audience loved it. Working with a “pro” singer makes you realise how they can belt it out – I think he’d have been OK without the PA!

NB: Walbassist & Bassbod – yes that’s your old “P” – absolutely unchanged except for a new set of Fodera Diamonds. I use nothing else for this band – does it all, plays like a dream, and always sounds sweet.

[quote name='gary mac' post='277934' date='Sep 5 2008, 03:38 PM']Lovely Day by Bill Withers came on, so I picked up my bass to play along and finding it a bit of a challenge.[/quote]
Great song, but Guinness record for the most annoying outro ever. ([i]Enough!!! I get it!! Lovely Day! Now shut up!!!!!!![/i])
On a similar theme; Beautiful Day - U2
Almost anything by the Stylistics
Loving you - Minnie Ripperton
Sugar baby love - Rubettes
Any good funk, disco or Motown. In fact any cheesy '70's stuff, really!

Having recently traded a 360 for a 4001 I think the bass TRC is longer - could be wrong though! Maybe Rickysounds could tell you?
Fairly sure the older Ricks had TRC's with painted logos on white perspex anyway, so you could probably do a tidy DIY one. 20+ years ago I used to have a no-name P-bass copy and did a "F*cker" logo in "Fender" script on the headstock - fooled everyone until they looked twice....