dclaassen

A work colleague who has an R & B band has a bassist coming over from Italy to play a bunch of Jubilee gigs. Apparently, he is not bringing a bass, and plays a 5. I was asked if he could borrow mine. I initially said it was okay, but then had second thoughts and agreed he could use my Specter, but not the Pedulla. I don’t know anything about the bassist, and would not be at any of the gigs. I would never show up without my own instrument and am wondering why this guy would…sounds a bit dodgy to me. thoughts?

You would be surprised... "True Love Ways" is my favorite....but there are lots!

Little Feat may be one of the best bands ever... If Slash impressed BB King, that's good enough for me... Linda Ronstadt was a musical force of nature... I can listen to Lyle Lovett and his Large Band for a very long time... If he had lived longer, Buddy Holly would have been the King of Rock 'n Roll...

Having owned a very wide range of basses and also acoustic guitars, I think there is one common thread. Some instruments feel and sound sterile, or boring, or whatever. Others inspire you to play better because of the feedback you get and the response you get from subtle changes in your playing. I am convinced that each instrument has, for lack of a better work, a personality. Why else do some of you own several P basses? That personality is down to a combination of design, electronics, body and neck construction, strings, etc, plus some intangibles. Otherwise, why can you play two identical solid-body basses and they feel and/or sound different?

Whitney Houston was not the first to sing "I Will Always Love You"...it was written about Porter Wagoner, By Dolly Parton

1. Most British pop music is impossible to like, or even listen to...sorry, Heart radio 2. Slappers/tappers/harmonics guys are just abusing a perfectly good bass 3. The longer we go, historically, with rock music, the more pretentious it gets 4. It is okay to love simple music 5. The best songwriters write country music 6. Ron Carter may be the best bassist ever, period. 7. Stanley Clarke is 100x more musical than Jaco. 8. Only jazz musicians think it is okay to have 5 people listen to you try to sound like Miles Davis, and fail. Bebop is really boring unless you are a genius (and most of you really are not)

My new favorite is plugging into the headphone output on my Hartke, then panicking that no sound is coming out....input is on the other side....

And I would totally fight for your right to say so!

What name is on the headstock? And, a PJ (see above) is not a P-Bass..... Your Lakland is lovely...totally agree....and yet, not a P Bass...

But, Yet, NOT a P...:)

Sorry I don't have video or even a pic, but this is at our Students' Honor Jazz Seminar in Germany a few weeks ago. These are ages 15-18, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and I am playing my recently-acquired Specter lined fretless. It was nerve-racking reading that far up the dusty end! Everything Stays.WAV

I fret my basses out at the 12th fret and try to get the intonation spot on. The MPV does it easily, but the fretless is not quite in the same league. I want to be confident that a double-stop or a riff up on the dusty end sounds nice (so long as I play it nicely).

Old grumpy guy answer is that a Precision bass is made by Fender or Squier, says "Precision Bass" on the headstock (NOT delux/lite/whatever) has ONE split coil pickup (P/J is a P/J). Anything else is something else, at least to a bass player. Non-bassist probably think everything is just a guitar, so they do not count.....at all. Seriously, we need to be as careful as any professional about our terms. "Hand me that P bass" does not mean "hand me that 4/5/6/7 stringed instrument with 4 pickups, active electronics, and a Hello Kitty sticker". A G&L is not a P Bass. Fancy Euro copy...still not a P Bass. P basses are like Ford Model T's..unique, old fashioned, revered. I do wish I still had one because there is nothing quite like it for what it does. Hmmm....maybe I should sell everything off and find a nice old sunburst, rosewood example????

Hey, That song has an interesting journey through numerous famous and almost-famous sidemen...including the Classics IV

I'd love to do "Champagne Jam" and "Spooky" with the group I am currently in, but I don't think they would buy it. Funny how my stateside experiences are different....I suggested some Seger, and was asked who that was......

Yup....Eagles, Poco, Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, Neil Young, etc...what a bunch of losers, right......?....

I did not think ARS was that popular on this side of the pond....saw them live once in the Midwestern US. Paul Goddard was the real deal...played a Rick, I think....

Ronstadt’s band was the Stone Poneys. She had a lot to do with the formation of the Eagles, and toured with them and Pure Prairie League in the 70’s…I saw them in Denver…great concert! IMO, one of the most noteworthy musicians of that era and pretty much responsible for and entire genre of country/folk rock. Her documentary is well worth watching.

It is a strange business. I personally don't care that much about how a bass looks. It can, however, amaze me with how it plays or sounds. I don't know about anyone else, but I really don't notice how my bass looks when I am playing it. If I think it is pretty, more the better, but it is the sound that impresses me most.

Okay....send it on over...:)

My Pedulla MPV-5. Neck to die for, sustain for days, consistent tone and feel across all 5 strings. The best thing, however is how it responds to different playing techniques. I find that I don’t need to tweak controls to get the sound I want. I tried some other 5’s lately, I including some pretty expensive ones, and they don’t even come close.

Reminds me of this….used to have one…nice bass!

Great 2nd gig with the new band. The Rose and Crown in Elmsett….good crowd, played well, free drinks!