RhysP

[quote name='jmccabe' post='605893' date='Sep 22 2009, 05:50 PM']I wouldn't put Mick Karn as underrated, I thought everyone thought he was brilliant :-)[/quote]
I don't - I've always thought his fretless playing is atrociously out of tune. He gets away with it though because he's all arty & "Avant garde", the ponce.

Yet another vote for the awesome Barry Adamson from me, and another player I would like to add to the list is Paul Gardiner from Tubeway Army.

Thomas Dolby wrote & produced that.

I played bass on some stuff that John Peel played on his show in the mid 90's.

He'll regret taking that gig when he finds that she's sold all his Foderas to buy crack.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='604386' date='Sep 21 2009, 11:55 AM']You mean to say you've not heard of Matt Garrison? No, me neither! [/quote]
Of course you've heard of him - he used to be the teacher on "Southpark"

[quote name='WalMan' post='604036' date='Sep 20 2009, 10:17 PM']Weighs a ton, probably something to do with the 5 PP3's it has inside it to run 2 x 18v preamps and the lights on the top of the neck.[/quote]
Do Alembics not come with the phantom powering module anymore then?
5 batteries is a bit silly.

Going by the title I thought this was going to be a thread about erectile dysfunction.......

[quote name='Balcro' post='604440' date='Sep 21 2009, 12:48 PM']Eeeuck! Is that really a bass in spalted pink dapple? I'm sorry, we obviously don't share the same taste in basses.[/quote]
There's no spalting on that bass at all, it's quilted maple.
As for the colour I think you'll probably find it's a natural finish & there's a colour cast on the photo.

Just a quickie - does anyone know if a Zon Legacy will fit a Hiscox Liteflite bass case?

I've compared the measurements on the Hiscox website & it could be a tight squeeze, but there's no shop in Cardiff that has one in stock so I can try it. I'd basically have to commit to buy one without knowing if it will fit which I don't want to do. They do a larger bass case but that will be much too big.
Cheers.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='602726' date='Sep 19 2009, 09:37 AM']Melissa Auf der Maur brushed by me in a corridor.......[/quote]
You LUCKY bastard!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='602361' date='Sep 18 2009, 05:08 PM']Anacrusis? Is that a disease?[/quote]
It sounds like the name of a Progressive Metal band.

I got up & played guitar with Todd Rundgren at a gig in the Kentish Town & Country Club in 1995. As I was strapping on the guitar I said "what key are we in Todd?" He replied with the key & I started playing. After a few notes it was pretty obvious that I'd misheard what his reply to my question was as I was nowhere even close to the notes I should have been playing.
I fumbled around the neck until I found a note that sounded OK & carried on with a not very good but at least in key solo, all the while being filmed by Todd with a handheld camera that projected my awful attempts onto some video screens.

If that wasn't embarrassing enough the gig was released as a commercial video, so I have my awful solo captured for posterity on film...... :blush:

I still get a kick out of the fact I played on stage with Todd though.

Somebody jump on this!!
A superb bass for a great price - anyone looking for a great fretless will love it. I've got a Zon fretless & it's fantastic.

[quote name='Rich' post='601248' date='Sep 17 2009, 12:56 PM']This thread is starting to morph into a cross between 2 old favourites... the age old anti/pro-covers band saga, and the "everything I like is great and everything else is sh!t" chestnut... [/quote]
I don't think anything "Anti-covers" has been said; I was merely commenting on an observation I've made on the forum where a percentage of people playing in covers bands don't seem to enjoy playing a lot of the material they do.
To me that seems strange, but if some people enjoy the interaction and reaction of an audience enough to compensate for playing songs they may not like then fair enough. Getting a great reaction from a crowd is one of the best feelings I've ever experienced.

[quote name='OldGit' post='601115' date='Sep 17 2009, 10:46 AM']Different strokes.....[/quote]
Oh totally, and please don't think I'm being snobby about the whole covers band thing.

The reason I replied to that particular post was that the poster was obviously unhappy about playing the songs, and there seem to be quite a few people on the forum who play in covers bands but really don't sound like they enjoy it.

The reason I don't play in a covers band is not for reasons of "artistic integrity" or any other such pretentious crap, it's because the material I'd have to play is, for the most part, stuff I just don't like.

I can see why they'd have to do it if it's their main source of income but if you're doing it "for fun" and you don't like the material then why do it?

Anyway, I'm derailing the thread here so I'll let everyone get back to it.

[quote name='The_D' post='601020' date='Sep 17 2009, 08:08 AM']Its like Blondi: One Way or Another or The feckin Killers one we do Mr Brightside. I keep askin to drop it and without fail it goes down a storm with people jumping on chairs and swinging pints about.

Our guitarist just looks at me and shrugs when we play it cause deep down I know we cant drop it [/quote]
That's why I could never play in a covers band. I could never play something I really don't like just because a bunch of gurning pissheads like to jump around to it. I'd rather play music I enjoy to an empty room.

I've been playing for 30 years & for 99% of that time I've thought about giving up because I think I'm crap - I'm my own harshest critic. I've mainly concentrated on keyboards & guitar the last few years. I'm crap at them both but seemed to get more enjoyment from them than I did from bass.

Part of the reason I joined Basschat was that I wondered whether it was time to hang the bass up once & for all. A few months after joining I've just bought a new bass & am possibly about to join my first new band for 20 years.

I spent hours today playing bass & went from feeling great about it to abject despair and back again. I do that because playing, and music generally, matters to me more than almost anything else in my life.

Are you buying new or secondhand?
If you're buying new then be aware that any manufacturers warranty you get won't be valid in this country.

Also, in case you don't know this, the VAT & import duty is calculated on the combined cost of the bass AND the postage.

I did it in 2005, and was really glad that I did.
We got back together to celebrate what would have been Chris our guitarists 40th birthday - he died from a brain tumour in 2001.
I left the band in less than amiable circumstances around 1992, and the reunion gave us all a chance to put some bad stuff aside (albeit temporarily with regard to one particular member) and remember Chris in a way we and his wife & children thought was appropriate.
We had three rehearsals which went really well, and we ended up writing a song that was, in my opinion, the best thing we ever wrote.
The gig itself was very emotional, especially for the guy that stood in for Chris on the guitar - he had replaced me on bass in the band & had been a good friend of Chris since school.
We played really well & the crowd, which was full of people who used to follow us years ago, loved it. It was very special & something of a surprise to hear people singing along with songs I hadn't played for over a decade.
Chris's wife & daughter loved it & it was great to reconnect with some old friends.

I think it sounds like that because he's playing it on an old precision, and probably with flatwound strings.

[quote name='chris_b' post='598841' date='Sep 14 2009, 11:21 PM'].....a didgeridoo player..........[/quote]
Oh Christ.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='598803' date='Sep 14 2009, 10:53 PM']Seventh Circle of Hell - Middle Ring:


Anyone recognise the gig?[/quote]
Cambridge Folk festival 1992 - the one in the middle is me. I woke up the following morning in a skip.


Talking of Hell - I was in a Pret a Manger in Oxford St on Saturday buying some sandwiches & a coffee. My bill came to £6.66 & the guy that served me laughed & pointed to his name badge - it said "Damien".

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='598675' date='Sep 14 2009, 08:44 PM']Am I getting the impression here that Jam nights are really blues nights? (I think my band played a 12 bar blues song once!)[/quote]
If you're idea of fun is playing a bloody walking bassline while some fat old guitarist plays endless clichéd pentatonic solos then you'll have a blast.

If you detest the blues as much as I do then most jam nights are the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Come on, own up - you must have at least been hoping to get a shag out of it...........

You could just use chrome Precision/Telecaster knobs a la Jaco Pastorious.

Rather predictably, my favourite bass shape is the Zon Legacy. I just think it's a great original design.
I also love the look of Rickenbacker 4001s.
And Thunderbirds.