Chris2112

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='694675' date='Dec 28 2009, 08:25 AM']At the end of the day, Status is meant to be headless [/quote] And yet both the Statii I have owned have been headed (Stealth series I 6 string and a Matrix 4 string) and they've both been brilliant, particularly the Stealth!

Leave this bellend to his awful bass! Your goodwill has already been insulted enough, think no more of it!

[quote name='witterth' post='693289' date='Dec 25 2009, 08:34 AM']so what you really mean is, you got a discount? thats not really an endorsement deal is it?[/quote] I think this kind of thing goes on a lot. To me, a proper endorsement is an advert of Stuart Hamm holding your bass or leaning on your amp. Mind you, a lot of companies seem to package off these "from the source" discounts as endorsements, and add your name to an ever growing list of players that, no offence intended, no-one has heard of! I think it is taking advantage of young and naive musicians in a mild way, as they seem to believe they or their music is of some value to the company, whereas the company offering goods to be "endorsed" is only interested in the sale!

I am very much a supporter of headless basses. My first incredible bass was a Kubicki Ex-Factor, which isn't truely headless, but feels so in a sense. It had a thumb volute on the back of the "headstock" which made it really nice to hold, but there was no weight in the headstock because the tuners were by the bridge. I was a bit of a headless snob for a while, probably because the majority of the bass playing community unfairly called them a relic of the 1980's. As it happnes, I find that headless is still the smartest way to build a bass, however, a lot of the basses I like are simply headed. The Kubicki is long gone (sadly) but then the only other bass that compares to my Kubicki in terms of feeling "just right" is a Warwick Thumb, which is headed! So at the end of the day, in the great scheme of things I don't really think a bass being headed or headless matters! You'll find things that sound and feel great either way!

I just woke up in the night and thought "Bugger, if I hadn't sold my Spector that would have made an awesome fretless bass!"

The Warwick Dolphin I find to be a very special looking bass. Truely an adventurous design but one that works very well! The old through neck ones with Bartolini pickups are brilliant, I must buy one some day!

Ped, I think this is an excellent move and I have been hoping for this to become the rule for some time. It gives a level of transparency to marketplace sellers that we have never had before. So not only does it keep things fair by putting the snide and greedy practice of "pm me offers plz" to bed, it also makes the marketplace much more user friendly and streamlined! If you see a good bass for a good price now, you know you can buy outright rather than having to risk a silly bidding war behind closed doors! (Something I never even bothered getting into!). Cheers for a smart move and doing the right thing!

No one touches my bass gear or can stop me from playing it as it is in my room! Warwick Thumb through a Trace Elliot rig, nice and loud!

I've always thought he was a fantastic player who simply never got the hang of writing great or catchy tunes! I appreciate the skills he has, and the unique approach he has, but it always came off like a slightly poor version of Aphex Twin for me. His bass solo stuff is somewhat more amusing to me.

Yes, if you're looking to get into proper session playing, then superb ears and reading skills are essential. If you can't sit down with a track that is completely new to you and either work out the bassline from listening to a rough chord structure and click track or read it once or twice and be able to nail it then you're not going to go far. And, as has been said, because there are relatively few sessions on the go these days you've got to be fantastic, every time. I have been fortunate in that the few sessions I have played I've had the material well in advance so I was able to produce on the day of recording. Otherwise, I know for certain I couldn't cut it on the "real" session scene, yet I have no trouble finding my way around a bass guitar! Try and read of Jeff Berlin's articles online about session playing. He will tell you the harsh, ugly truth about just how dedicated, talented and lucky you have to be!

At a time when we are surrounded by cheap, vacuous crap like Joe McElderry, it is great to see a star with some actual star quality. But then, Mark King comes from days when things were better...

[quote name='chrisba' post='687531' date='Dec 17 2009, 05:24 PM']I went past a place called Air Guitars in a taxi earlier today. Couldn't tell you where, as I don't know Newcastle well, but I was going from Jury's Inn to the Airport. Didn't stop to have a look though.[/quote] That'll be on Moseley Street, and if you were going to the airport you'll have most likely travelled over Swan House roundabout and onto the central motorway and away! I was in there just a couple of days ago, the blokes who run it are alright but the stock is usually terrible. In McKays you'll find the occasional cool item, but really I just go in to see the owner. He's a bloke called Doug, absolutely fantastic. Hell of a guitarist too!

That was a hell of a bassline!