Malc62

[quote name='bassman2790' post='268034' date='Aug 22 2008, 05:13 PM']This thread and the "The One You Wish You'd Never Sold" thread have got me crying into my keyboard. I used to have a superb RB950 It played beautifully and had such a wide range of tones available as each of the humbuckers was coil tapped. I owned it for a couple of years but then sold it on and replaced it with a Yamaha BB414 of all things. I've seen posts on a couple of forums with a link to my photo on the Ibanez register asking anyone with information to the whereabouts of a similar bass to come forward. I really regret selling this bass as I realise that the chances of finding another are almost impossible. I can't believe I let it go...pass the kleenex[/quote] I had the '924 - very very similar to yours but the finish was cherry sunburst and front pickup was essentially a single coil in P mode. I too regrert selling mine and I'd still fancy getting another (ha!) The one I really wanted was the polar white MC924 as usd by Mike Porcaro in the "Rosanna" video, but I couldn't scare up enough money.

Memory gets a little confused at this point; Ibanez Roadstar 924 bass (named Lisa after the lady I was after) or Yamaha BB1100S, into either a Carlsbro Cobra 90 combo or Laney DP150 head and home-built cab. Haven't gigged on bass for a while, but still have my trusty Music Man StingRay (15 years) and Peavey MegaBass head / MegaBox Cab rig (17 years).

Just watched a Doobie Brothers video, and their bassist Skylark seems to tune down a whole tone. I tried detuning after getting rid of my 5-string but can't get on with it. I find that at some point I take my eye off the ball and move my fretting hand to get me a D, only to hit a C. I'm told it's due to having perfect pitch but I don't believe that's anything to do with it - I just couldn't be arsed to persevere.

The best/worst ever has to be Simon Le Bon's terrible high note on "A View To A Kill" at Live Aid. Check YouTube.

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='740634' date='Feb 10 2010, 08:59 AM']Remember the band Power Station? Bernard played on Get It On too... Tony Thompson on drums too. I think he died a while back.[/quote] Correct - Andy Taylor's now the only one still alive.

[quote name='SJA' post='741030' date='Feb 10 2010, 02:18 PM']a heads up for Chic/Nard fans- the book "Chic- the politics of disco" is going for £4.99 in Soho Original bookshop on Charing Cross road. there's also Collins' Need to know bass guitar inc. CD for £3.99.[/quote] Agree on "Chic And The Politics Of Disco" (by Daryl Easlea, in case you have to order it) - a nice read. Anybody else got Chic's "Live At The Budokan" LP and DVD? 'Nard was no slap monster...

[quote name='owen' post='740434' date='Feb 9 2010, 10:30 PM']Tell me more about Distance[/quote] The album is called "[b]Under The One Sky[/b]" and it was a one-off project produced by Bernard. Apart from himself, the other members of the band were Tony Thompson (drums), Eddie Maritinez (guitar), Jeff Bova (keyboards) and Robert Hart (lead vocals). It was originally recorded at the Power Station studios in 1989 and, as stated, I've just secured the CD version from Amazon. Twelve tracks, all written by various members of the band (apart from one co-written with Richard Drummie from Go West, but don't be put off by that); mostly straight-ahead guitar-heavy rock but two of the tracks are ballads and three have a particularly funky feel. The description sounds idiosyncratic but as you probably gathered, I quite like it!

[quote name='iconic' post='739659' date='Feb 9 2010, 08:08 AM']I'll hunt them down thanks for the tips... ....what amazes me about Mr Edwards playing is that [i]most [/i]of the basslines aren't that 'technical' and by that I mean 'difficult' for a newbie like me to play, but they just sound so great when he played them.... not many ghost notes, slaps or hammer's, mainly simple stuff played incredibly and effortlessly well.[/quote] I'm slowly getting around to converting my vinyl to mp3 - do you want a shout when I get around to the Chic stuff?

[quote name='Clarky' post='739501' date='Feb 8 2010, 10:33 PM']Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias ... if I am not mistaken But yeah, agreed![/quote] "...Bang your 'ead on a wall!"

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='739294' date='Feb 8 2010, 07:29 PM']It's got to be Bernard. Even if Nile played, he wouldn't sound anything like Bernard. Totally unique. I strongly recommend you listen to the 1992 album Chicism. Unbelievable production, and Bernard's playing and sound is awesome.[/quote] Agreed 100% on "Chicism", especially the opener "Chic Mystique". Also worth a listen are "Tongue In Chic" and "Take It Off" - no hit singles but some great grooves there.

[quote name='FuNkShUi' post='723803' date='Jan 25 2010, 07:54 AM']This is what happened with our band. Never intended to play any weddings really. After playing one as a kind of favour, it all took off. We probably play one wedding a month, which is plenty for me. Only so much of "wonderful tonight" i can play!! So yeh, go out,play some shows and get your singer to make it known to whoever may be watching that you play functions/weddings etc. And, as everyone has said, a good bit of online marketing is sure to help! Just a quick side question. What seems to be the most popular choices of 'first songs' other wedding bands play? I'd say ours was definitly Wonderful Tonight. Although "Im Yours" is definitly getting to be a popular choice.[/quote] My mob get asked for Lonestar's "Maybe I'm Amazed" a fair bit.

[quote name='Huwberry' post='739253' date='Feb 8 2010, 06:56 PM']I'm starting to fully appreciate the genius of Edwards/Rogers. Starting with the Best of Chic. BTW that totally sounds like Bernard.[/quote] Good man! Talking of Bernard, many years ago I picked up a cassette (remember them?) in my local Our Price Records (remember them?) by a band called Distance. Someone recognised the names of Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson, and filed this album under "Soul & Funk". I got it home and discovered that it was arse-kicking rock! And Bernard [u]still[/u] sounded like himself. (I've recently got the CD version)

[quote name='iconic' post='739053' date='Feb 8 2010, 04:09 PM']....sure sounds like his touch 'n sound to me, but maybe wrong, I know that Nile Rogers [i]can[/i] play bass too? [/quote] Ive always assumed that 'Nard did all the bass work for The Chic Organisation. Also, I've heard a couple of Nile Rodgers' solo albums and I'm sure he didn't play bass on either of them. I'm sure that, like most guitarists, he can play bass to some degree (Bernard Edwards apparently taught Nile to play guitar the way he does). (Still awaiting my CD copy of Bernard Edwards' long-deleted solo LP "Glad To Be Here" - get your finger out, Amazon!!)

[quote name='4 candles' post='631750' date='Oct 20 2009, 07:19 PM']Howdy, A hypathetical question. If your wife(a non musician) gave you an ultimatum. Stop doing your gigs or we will have to part company. what would your answer be? bear in mind you live a very comfortable life with a good lookin girl(who you love dearly) who is also very pleasant and who has enough of her own money as not to drain your resources.[/quote] I'd have to answer her in Russian - i.e. something ending in "..off". Thankfully, Mrs 62 is a keen equestrienne with her own horse, so she'd no more ask me to cut the gigs than I would insist she had her horse put down.

Agree with the point about playing it like a fretted and not sliding all over the shop. The band still take the p*** out of me for an old demo tape on which I "enhanced" the song "The Lady Is A Tramp" by sliding up or down to virtually every note. Cringe city. My preference was always blank fingerboards rather than lined ones. Blank ones looked daunting at first until I figured that the side dots were exactly in line with where I had to put my fingers. Oh yes, and I don't know if I was making rod for my back, but I sometimes practised in a dark room. Mal

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='732374' date='Feb 1 2010, 11:01 PM']Been playing 9 years, haven't broken a string yet![/quote] I think I broke one about eighteen years ago! Thankfully never broke one on a gig. Since then I've changed them as soon as one goes dead - cost me a damn fortune over the years, though...

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='732519' date='Feb 2 2010, 08:10 AM']Never sitting - I don't gig sat down, so I don't practice sat down either (on the very odd occasions that I do, I find it hard going as the bass is significantly higher up & I find it quite uncomfortable). So... Stood up, Bass >> ADA MP-1 >> Alesis Quadraverb >> Tapco 6:2 mixer >> Headphones (Sennheiser HD-212). Also plugged into the mixer is a Tascam MP-BT1 acting as a portable jukebox. If it's 3:00am & I want to have a blow, I can, & the neighbours know nothing! When I first started out I had a Sharp twin tape deck "Ghetto Blaster" that had a 1/4" Mic input & turntable inputs too. Great piece of kit that was, need to get the heads replaced. Very rarely do I fire up the gig-rig to practice, depends on what I need to nail (usually the quieter stuff) - Shared accommodation can be a pain! Pete.[/quote] Agree on standing up - I practice the keyboards standing up too as I never sit down on gigs (just as well I don't gig as a drummer). Funnily enough, I've always practised the bass acoustically - only when I've nailed what I want to will I fire up the Line 6 to check how it's sounding. (That said, I do like to blast for the sake of it now and again.) Mal

[quote name='smileegee' post='733205' date='Feb 2 2010, 05:31 PM']I looking to put some EMG J set on my Mexican fender Jazz % string plus a bad ass 5 bridge. As anyone done this? How was after the changes? Thanks Gee.[/quote] I too have a Mexi Jazz (only 4 string), upon which I've just installed a set of EMGs plus a Badass II bridge. In my opinion the EMGs made it a great recording bass and it sounds fab through my small Line 6 combo (not stuck it through my Peavey gig rig yet). To me the sound is "slightly different" rather than "better", although it still sounds like a Jazz, and I definitely perceive an increase in sustain thanx to the Badass. I don't personally think you can go wrong with the modifications - you can always restore it if the result doesn't do it for you. I'd do it. Mal

The one I've always thought of is in Smokey Robinson's "Tears Of A Clown" - first bass sequence in the third verse. Dunno if it was Mr Jamerson or someone else, but shouldn't that Bb have been a B?

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='735216' date='Feb 4 2010, 04:31 PM']Every guitarist does this at some point in their life. Some do it all the time. Huw Lloyd Langton's been popping in and out of Hawkwind virtually since the start.[/quote] Wasn't it Jeremy Spencer who left a Fleetwood Mac session and has never touched base with them since?

[quote name='AndyMartin' post='732742' date='Feb 2 2010, 11:54 AM']I'm amazed you're still sticking it out. It seems that as far as the guitarist is concerned it you are not a band member but a hired hand. I've been in that situation myself in only one band out of all the bands I've been in and it was completely soul destroying. Being told to play this or that bassline and if I deviate from it it's "why are you playing that" pissed me off more than anything else I've experienced in a band ever. Above all else band members should have a degree of mutual respect for each other and it sounds like that is completely lacking. If you are a hired hand then you should be asking the "band leader" how much he is going to pay you for your time. It also sounds like one of your main reasons for staying in this band is that you lack confidence in your own ability. That's something most musicians go through at some time or another, I know I did for many years. It's the fear of not being able to find another band so you stay unhappy in the one you're in. It's easy for someone to say you should tell them to stick it but once you are not in a band it feels like a much bigger hill to climb to get back in one. Unfortunately only experience will build your confidence but in a few years you will look back and think "Why the hell did I stay with that twat for so long". The only way to overcome that is to just get out and look. Put ads or answer ads in Partysounds, Gumtree, Musofinder, Adtrader, Bandmix and JoinMyBand and just communicate with other musicians. You will usually be talking by email so you're not under any pressure or obligation to go along with anything. Just remember there are more bands and people looking for bassists than there are bassists available. In no time at all you will find other people with a better attitude who you will get along with socially just as well, and if it doesn't work out there is always another band around the corner and you will have more experience on your playing CV.[/quote] Hear hear. In a previous band, only once did the band leader tell me what lines to play - I walked after that.

In my "live" bass-playing days, I was always one of these poor sods whose hands sweated a lot when playing, so most strings lasted me about two gigs if I was very lucky. To that end, it didn't matter whether I spent twelve quid or twenty quid (this was years ago!). I tried out these gold-plated jobbies (Maxima Gold) which cost twice as much and were meant to last for aeons, but they weren't much better for me so I've stuck to Elites to this day. (40-100's my gauge - tried the Super-Light 30-90 - ugh). Mal

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='737609' date='Feb 6 2010, 08:53 PM']I have often considered getting a 62 P then I remember I dont have 5 grand - I have a one-string banjo the same age as me but thats not something i want to go into on this forum. BB[/quote] Hear hear - I'm of the same vintage myself. We didn't really have that much choice then, when you consider what was about in the seventies when I started playing...

[quote name='bubinga5' post='723637' date='Jan 24 2010, 10:22 PM']tis funny, i dont think ive ever seen a yellow bass?[/quote] I had one in the early nineties - a Jaydee Mark King (Pearl Series). When I came to PX it for a sky blue Music Man StingRay (which I still use), the shop only gave me £300 against it on account of the colour. I later discovered it hadn't sold after about a year and they eventually let it go for £300! If I'd known... I suppose while I'm in nostaligia mode, I have to mention the pink Schecter strat I bought from the same shop and used quite happily until the comments and insinuations became too much. Some people...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='707390' date='Jan 10 2010, 09:43 AM']Trawling through Thomann and saw this: Holy crap. WTF? Sometimes you have to question where bass-manufacturers's heads are at. P[/quote] Did you say "Holy Crap" or "Total Crap"?