risingson

I'd take the '64 with little hesitation if cash was no object. It would go well with my drummer's Gretsch kit which is in pretty much the exact same colour.

I don't necessarily know if the really great bass players think that Fodera build a bass that's £6-7000 better than many other basses out there, and those that do are probably buying their instruments as status symbols as opposed to buying because they're genuinely in love with their instrument. I personally have only ever seen and never played one, so I couldn't comment too much but the brand name carries with it qualities that are clearly desirable to many of us, i.e. high quality craftsmanship, good playability, good sound, aesthetically pleasing looks (to some!). Whether you would want to pay nearly £10,000 is very much a personal choice, I wouldn't judge those who do though as I hear they play fantastically and are truly a custom build, even though they aren't really my thing at all.

I love Paul's playing a lot and have had the pleasure of meeting him and he really does know his stuff. But he is a bit faddy with gear, he's swapped and changed between a number of 5 strings (notably an F-Bass, Stingray 5's, AC's, a few others and now the Fodera). The point is that he sounds fantastic whatever he plays. I always love him most when he's on his 1966 Jazz. Also, I'd kill for his Aguilar setup!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1319741983' post='1418101'] Not until just now... sounds like a very, very big wasp. [/quote] Amazing! Yeh the OP's video was bad. It's not that people like that are giving bass players a bad name, just they certainly are fueling a stereotype that seems to wind a lot of us up... you know, the one that we're all frustrated guitar players

They look amazing! Not sure if I'll ever like the idea of playing a bass not made out of wood though. Nothing personal against other materials, I just knows what I likes.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1319545839' post='1415500'] No disrespect meant but if they want keyboards played why don't they employ a keyboard player?? - are they going to get horn players to play a synth that sounds like horns?? They devalue your talents as a bassplayer by asking you to play something else!! [/quote] It's another string to your bow. Also, if your keyboardist is occupied with playing something fairly intense on keys then it's going to be a great help if you're able to play synth.

Playing Synth Bass doesn't concern me at all, although I'll only play synth if its right for the song. I put some down today on a track we're recording. I much prefer to use a real synth than a pedal as well, much more control and much less faffing around etc.

[quote name='Kinder' timestamp='1318624618' post='1404645'] On a looooong train journey and listening to Fleetwood Mac. Made me think that The Chain is a pretty average song rescued by a fantastic bass break. Feel free to disagree but are there any other crap songs saved by great basslines? [/quote] The Chain is so very, very far from 'average'! I know it boils down to opinion and whatnot, but nothing that came off Rumours was average. In fact it was brilliant from start to finish.

[quote name='tonyclaret' timestamp='1318724184' post='1405657'] Thank god it ain't just me. Ive just got back from gigging tonight and probably had my worst gig ever. Second set just went totally pear shaped. Severe cramp in my fretting hand, pinky and middle finger totally locked together. Had this happen a couple of times previously but have always managed to shake it off pretty much immediately. Tonight was a different story, wanted the ground to swallow me up. Now I do have quite small hands and fingers and as a side thought wondering perhaps I need to change to a shorter neck, although ive been playing long scale for donkeys years. I don't know perhaps I need to go back to basics and re-evaluate my technique and kick out the bad habits. Any more advice is welcome. [/quote] Some advice to you is not alter your equipment in order to amend a problem that can be addressed with some very simple solutions. The neck or size of your bass is very unlikely to be the problem, I have small hands but never suffer from cramp on stage and I play regular scale basses with varied size necks. Before playing a gig: 1.) Don't eat salty foods in the few hours before a gig 2.) use potassium supplements or alternatively, try eating bananas 3.) invest in a powerball. A powerball is a weighted, rotating ball inside an outer shell that will aid the momentum in your wrist before gigs. They're very handy. 4) Most importantly, if you don't do anything else... warm up!! Scales, nothing too intense to begin with, then up the game a bit. Playing bass exerts a vast amount of pressure on your hands and wrists, and like any physical exercise it will require you to warm up your muscles if you want to perform to the best of your abilities!

I'm a bit guilty of loving this song as well as Pino's playing! He's my favourite player, but I'm a bit of a sucker for the overproduction on 80's tunes like this one. Mostly because of GTA Vice City.

I did a gig the other night with a Ray 5 (not mine) through a TC Electronics rig (also not mine), and was surprised at how much of a fundamental tone I got with it when I dialed in an appropriate EQ. Really nice is was. I like Rays but I've always had them down as too ballsey for what I usually play, however with a bit of EQ'ing this can soon be sorted out. I've heard Rays with flats on as well and they sound absolutely brilliant, really take the edge of their aggressiveness.

I'm all for posting up whatever really, no matter how many times its been covered, but the contentious issue of this subject tends to divide people into two camps: those who believe that the wood makes a difference, and those who think the difference is minimal. Me personally? If it sounds good, play it, if it doesn't, don't.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1318348382' post='1400967'] Edited to show a different perspective. [/quote] Edited to take my words out of context? Surely you've got something up your sleeve a bit better than that! We're not talking about cars here, although I suspect if you wanted a more apt car manufacturer you might have picked Ford.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1318342832' post='1400855'] The only thing that would make that P Bass any more boring would be a 'Keep Music Live' sticker. [/quote] Not seen one of those stickers. Presumably more hang ups about people rocking out in pubs? The P-Bass will always be boring for a small minority of people obviously, but for the majority of people they're where it all started and still sound as good today as they did 60 years ago or there abouts. It doesn't take a genius to see where this thread is going though, so there's not a lot of point arguing the toss.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1318325446' post='1400457'] Erm, no actually, because here is the ugliest bass in the world! [/quote] Ahh, the P-Bass. A classic design that will go down in the history books, as instantly recognisable today as it ever was. Nothing boring about it whatsoever

Welcome from a bloke who's actually off to Sweden tomorrow (9th time, definitely not the last, my Swedish is still terrible). I play over there very regularly, Mellerud tomorrow and in Scandinavium Gotëborg Saturday! A very warm welcome.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1317907435' post='1396038'] Charts or no charts won't really take away from that, or make a jot of difference with the quality of those guys. [Michel Camilo - New York Band, [b]with charts[/b] "Not Yet" comes to mind] [/quote] My mind was totally blown the first time I saw that, Anthony Jackson didn't drop a note.

[quote name='jakesbass' timestamp='1317904476' post='1395976'] Fair comment, and spurious was a poor turn of phrase on my part in relation to your view, it's just that I feel in general it certainly is the case that in music, far more often than should be the case, it is exactly what I said, a visual view of talent rather than musical excellence, especially where any form of commercialism is concerned, and to me that's a massive shame. [/quote] I couldn't agree more for the most part Jake. The visual aspect of a musical performance should come secondary to the strength of the musicians on stage in the first place.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1317853277' post='1395564'] [size=4]Its great news that Bass Direct is stocking Mike Lull basses. They are a class act.[/size] [size=4]I'm still loving my Lull PJ5. What a find.... thanks Clarky.... it's so easy to play and gives fantastic tone every night, right out of the case. I've had more compliments about the Lull than any other bass I've owned![/size] [/quote] Do let me know if you ever get round to selling it Chris, I love that bass.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1317834917' post='1395208'] So can no other bassist compare with Jamerson? [/quote] Correct Seriously though, there's no holds barred when it comes to forming your own opinion on stuff like this. But it becomes (IMV at least) insulting when people like Nina Simone get held up for comparison to someone like Madonna, just for example. Just because they worked in the same industry doesn't make their level of talent in any way comparable at all. Preference is another thing entirely.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1317829313' post='1395108'] You might aswell have chucked Kate Bush and Nina Simone in there too. [/quote] Nina Simone and Kate Bush were masters of their art, groundbreakers actually in their own respective ways. Jessie J and Gaga, sorry but no, neither compare.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1317806847' post='1394693'] Since when did Gaga not have a songwriting talent or voice? [/quote] Since she first entered the music industry unfortunately. I would argue very strongly against the undeniability of her songwriting talent and voice. It's just incredibly mediocre music... fair enough, she's made a lot of money doing what she's done and I respect it in many, many ways, but it's frustrating hearing her dominate the airwaves with total trash. There are considerably stronger talents out there that don't rely on gimickry, huge PR backing and million dollar stage shows to impress an audience, Jessie J's music stands up in this way I believe, even if it isn't my kind of music. She has a very obvious and raw talent.

I like her, not so much my kind of music but I'd prefer to see a million more girls like her make their way in the industry than see one more Lady Gaga. Jessie has a very obvious songwriting talent and a great voice too, so good luck to her.

For £750, I'd save a bit more and buy one of these:

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1317547625' post='1391616'] What this meant in practice was that, if Macca played piano on a song, then someone else had to play bass. [/quote] I would agree that it does look like this would be the case but looking at the credits from The White Album onwards, whilst Harrison does get credited for a lot of bass duties, McCartney does as well on many of the same tunes so it becomes quite hard to tell who played on what, what was doubled up etc. George Martin was all for trying new things. Actually this period of the Beatles would be my favourite for this very reason, I like the idea that they could be so interchangeable.