Grassie

You say plectrum, I say pick, let's call the whole thing off. Or something...

I call it a pick because I like to say "pick" rather than "plectrum". "Plectrum" is two syllables and therefore takes twice as long to say than "pick" does. 

I'm a busy man y'know...

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On 02/04/2018 at 13:38, Bean9seventy said:

no ,, i decided to open a thread on a comment posted on reddit ,, where a user said i said i was the 1st uk slapper , i did not say that , i was in the 1st Wave of players ,,

& the other comment also said i claim to have directly influenced MK ,,

yes i did go into his music shop,,  yes he wasn't into bass yet , yes buy seeing what we were trying to do on bass probably hastened MK to quit drums & get into slapping ,, but to be the direct main influence ? is out of context

there were other bass players MK saw much better than myself ,, but in those days there were only a handful ,, & i was one of them ,

thoughts & opinions ?

Basic Level 42 early history goes like this:

Mark King played drums in various Isle of Wight bands in the mid 70's, cover bands playing holiday camps and hotels. His path crossed with original L42 drummer Phil Gould, and both shared a love of progressive bands such as Return to Forever and Mahavishnu. They would sometimes share drum duties during gigs. Mark also played with Phil's brother Rowland (Boon) Gould.

At some point Phil Gould left the island to study at Guildhall, where he met Mike Lindup. Boon had travelled up to London to try to get gigs and Mark shortly followed for the same reason. At this point Mark was intent on becoming a drummer. 

Phil, Mark and Mike would get together in the evenings at Guildhall to jam on songs they knew and to try out ideas. Initially they had Dominic Miller on guitar but he stopped turning up for rehearsals and so they asked Boon to join instead. Mark was happy to try bass because he regarded PG as the better drummer and wanted to be in a band with his mates.

I have not read anywhere that MK picked up a bass because he heard some blokes playing in the shop he worked in. That is actually incredibly presumptious and more than likely a little inaccurate IMO.

Mark as always maintained his bass influences were Stanley Clarke, Colin Hodgkinson and Jack Bruce, and that his style of slap playing was a natural extension of his drumming skills i.e. playing polyrhythmic patterns between the two hands. 

The first bass line MK ever wrote was for "Love Meeting Love", a fingerstyle line, and Mark worked in Macari's, which is in Charing Cross Road.

😊

I think was released as a CD as well, I'm in the audience. 😊 A fantastic venue was Ryde Theatre, long since closed. 

1st band: We became very popular very quickly and it soon became apparent that we were gigging so much we didn't have time for rehearsing new songs. When the singer and drummer (who were an item) decided they wanted to go out as an acoustic duo with the drummer playing guitar, the rest of us questioned how this was possible when they couldn't find time for new songs with our full band. Cue massive argument outside a venue on a Sunday night and dummies spat all round. I still regret it to this day.

Band 2: Played with this lot for around 7 years, great bunch of guys, we played rock covers but the singer and lead guitarist wanted to do originals and push it to the point of getting into a studio and trying to get "famous". We managed to come up with two original songs which were absolute dog 5h1t and used to go down like a knackered lift when we played them in front of an audience. I've never wanted to write original songs within a band setting and have always enjoyed playing covers, so this push to become something we were incapable of was the tipping point for me, along with the increasing ego of the singer. 

Band 3: Rock covers again, very busy but the singer/guitarist had various issues including turning up late for gigs and leaving the rest of us to set up his PA system while he tuned his arsenal of guitars, changing guitars for nearly every song which would kill any momentum we had managed to build up with an audience - they would go and sit down while he checked his tuning on his newly chosen instrument, and his inability to recognise the fact that his volume knob on his amp could actually be turned anti clockwise. Incredibly loud and the reason we lost a couple of venues because of the volume. 3 years of this and I was done, and so was my hearing.

Band 4: An originals band (yes, I know what i said about band 2...) but these guys were serious and the songs were already written, I was replacing their previous bassist who had "commitment issues", I was told there was gigs coming up plus recording sessions at the singer's studio (which was an apple Mac set up in his bedroom). The gigs booked were all weekday evening gigs, unpaid and unattended. I was getting pushed to commit to gigs at the last minute when my day job were in the middle of changing my shift pattern so I couldn't say yes to anything until that was sorted. I sensed the leader was getting frustrated so I suggested that they would be better off finding someone who could commit the time and effort required. My name was swiftly (within the hour) removed from all social media pages, ads etc. and they got the guy I replaced back in.

Currently with two bands; one is a function style group playing regular pub and function gigs, quite eclectic and very good musicians. Good fun. The other is a jazz style band playing some standards and pop-jazz (think Caro Emerald) but this one is all rehearsals and no gigs apart from two paid ones that I organised, and some freebie parties. This one might be coming to an end for me, as no-one else seems that bothered about playing regular gigs.

I had a message last week about joining a new britpop covers band, which I'm considering....

😁

The Anchor, Cowes, Isle of Wight. Always busy, always a great crowd, always up for it.

And they pay better than most...😉

5 hours ago, tthiggins said:

Trades ?

Looking to replace with a P bass.... 😊

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Oooh that's nice. Good to hear Level 42 without all that mad pop and slap Mark King does. That was just a nice balance and very melodic.

Yep. A lot of people (bassists included) think he's just a one trick slap pony, but his finger style playing is sublime. Check out their True Colours album - the tracks "Seven Days" and "A Floating Life", which boasts an immense groove in the middle section. 

I love his playing. 😊

Is this a bass solo? Maybe. You decide... 😊

The W******y. When the owner says he can only pay you with burger and chips you know that it's time to say no thanks.

Alice In Chains. All of it.

This one is coming in at just under 5kg by my scales. 

***WITHDRAWN***

Sire Marcus Miller V7 4 string jazz bass. Vintage sunburst finish, maple neck, rosewood board with block pearl inlays, 18v active pre-amp (bass, treble, sweepable mids), pickup blend, master volume with stacked tone control, active/passive toggle switch (very handy), through-body stringing option, chrome pickup cover (which has been fitted, so there are screw holes...). Pretty sure everyone knows how great these basses are, and excellent quality for the money, comes with a case (one of those that isn't hard shell but is sturdier than a gig bag). 
Has been gigged (but not a lot), in excellent condition, I would prefer collection from the Isle of Wight or any of it's ferry ports (Portsmouth/Southampton/Lymington/Southsea) or I can (reluctantly) post at buyers expense.

I'd love this but I'll need to see my Sire V7 off first. Good luck with the sale. 😊

I use all 3 formats for listening to music - mp3/CD/vinyl, but overall I prefer CDs. I'm another one who likes to have the artwork/liner notes in my hand, and although vinyl is the ultimate format for the "whole package", the claim that it's sonically superior to CDs is a myth. 

Back in the day, when you routinely had to pay 15 quid for a CD, I thought nothing of the price and during the 90s I bought a lot of albums, at least one a week. A few years later I got rid of some that weren't getting played, and regretted it later on. Sites like Music Magpie are great because I can now spend £22 like I have his week on albums (Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Kyuss and Mad Season for anyone interested...😊). Even the price of new CDs makes owning physical copies more attractive - both Royal Blood albums for a tenner in HMV recently. 😁

Mooer'd right up mate...😊

Picked up both Royal Blood albums in HMV for a tenner the other day. 

Holy $h1t, what a perfect noise they make. 😊

Netflix has a Chicago documentary in their library right now. I watched it the other day, not really knowing much about the band other than the Cetera-sung ballads from the early 80s. 

Damn, those boys can play... 

😁

***SOLD***Here we have a stack-knob wiring kit from our very own KiOgon. I had this on my P/J for a couple of years, but decided ultimately is was a little too warm sounding for my taste. 

Artec pots, solder-less connections, caps are 0.1 on neck and .047 bridge (orange drop), switchcraft jack (which is missing the nut and washer unfortunately), plus two sets of knobs - chrome and black.

£50 delivered, Paypal is my preferred method of payment.

***SOLD***

11 minutes ago, rushbo said:

I have no technical advice to add to this thread, but I need to compliment you on an incredibly handsome bass. 

Thanks mate! 😊 She got her first gig last night, sounded great with the Dunlops on there, I'd forgotten how comfortable it is to play - I've been using my Sire V7 for gigs and although that too is a great sounding bass, they are a little on the heavy side. The P/J is a bit lighter but doesn't' feel insubstantial like some lighter basses. It certainly sounds heavy with the new pots. 😁

3 hours ago, Nodd said:

Hi Grassie, 

i'm on the look out for the oder style cover,

it differs by having more of a right angled transition from the vertical sides to the curved top.

More like |____| rather than(____)

the modern one is more curved generally, no doubt saves metal!

Is yours like that?any chance of a pic through it, showing front to back? 

Thanks, Nodd

Sorry Nodd, now sold. 

NOW SOLD!

Just now, AndyTravis said:

Ah...now then.

selling both of my pbasses 

Might sell better with a chrome pup cover on one of them...