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I'm a big NR and JH fan, so I'm a little biased. IMHO NR did a fantastic job with Jimi. There's a lot of stuff written wrongly over the years over he played/didn't play that. I've read a good number of books on the subject(s), and it's pretty safe that NR played on the first 2 albums, and parts of the 3rd (JH played a bit on EL, plus Jack Casady's on there too....the entire sessions are a bit of a haze to all involved! JH could have replaced Noel if he'd have wanted to, I'm sure - but he didn't. There's been loads of stuff also written over the years about he was also planning to dump Mitch, Billy Cox was going to quit....to do this, do that.....all we're left with are the actual events. Noel did leave in '69, management wanted them to reform early '70 (did a Rolling Stone interview), but it never happened. The management side of JH is worth reading in to - it is very, very sinister indeed. Noel and Mitch sold their rights long before the reissue era, and before dead rock stars became such big currency. Not surprised there was bitterness - the whole Experience Hendrix corporation....JH's half-sister (I believe they only met a handful, if that, of times) running the whole show, whilst even JH's real brother is shut out. Very nasty wranglings, whilst the pointless re-issues and digging keep on going, and the branding gets more and more ridiculous. Still, the original records are out there, together with some great live and session stuff. I for one love Noel's tone, his style, equally as much as I enjoy Billy Cox's more traditional approach. Two different players for two different eras.

So you think something like the video below involves no artistic talent to create? Really?
 You should maybe invite this guy along to some of your pub gigs, let him see what true artistic creativity looks like... PS: all made with sampled YouTube clips.

We had band rehearsal last night and, well, I was really busy this week so I didn't get a proper amount of time to learn the new songs. It was suggested that we learn Footloose, but if I'm honest, I couldn't get into the song no matter how much I tried. Mods, can you help with my Loggins trouble?

All our valve amps 100w and upwards are 100% built by us on site at HQ in Essex, Always have been and all being well Always will be. Happy for anyone to come and visit and watch one being built(BUILT not ASSEMBLED) from start to finish

I just bought a Squier VM fretless Precision off Grangur on this forum, and it's quite extraordinary. It has a very acceptable sound, is very playable, has an astonishingly straight neck, for a cheapo, which is fast and responsive to adjustment. It's well finished, the tuners are efficient at keeping the strings in tune (which is, after all, what you expect from tuners) and the bent metal bridge is easily adjustable and stable. The downsides are an overly light body, which means there's a bit of neck dive, and a slightly bland pickup. This is not just an adequate starter instrument, which is why I bought it. It's a good, giggable bass. And these things only cost just over £300 new. £300 is not a lot of money, really, for a musical instrument. £300 is what you can end up paying an emergency plumber (more in London). It's two months commuting, if you live in the city. It's three or four nights out. Six theatre tickets. Two tickets for the Rolling Stones. A third of an iphone. Now, cheap end stuff in the past has been utter crap. Anyone who started playing in the 60s and 70s will recall the unplayable garbage we were expected to start on. So, here's the question: is this purely a result of improved design, tech and production methods, or is someone somewhere not getting paid properly for their work?

Anyway, just to cheer everyone up here's the Ace of Spades album cover with some kittens on it.

But the thread was started to to prompt discussion both ways. Not just a slagging off thread...

There some options out there

Did they also factor in how much smaller Mars Bars are now compared to,say, the 1960s? If you play a short scale bass now, instead of a long scale back in the day, It would even out the conversion.

That's why you need to down some Lucozade before hand...

How about having a go at this classic I've only ever seen 2 pub bands pull it off (admittedly I was in one of them ) and it's a good bass work out as well as a favourite with the crowd who don't usually expect to hear it.

I've heard bands that don't use samples that have no artistic content!

10 staff may be, but an owner who never stops, sleeps or gets put off by anything, as long as there is coffee 😜. (Based on Mark Gooday’s FB activity)

If you ONLY use samples from preexisting pieces of music, and assemble them in a different way to create something new, that is creative by definition. Sometimes it's done lazily, sure, but no more so than lazy songwriters knocking out obvious progressions/cheesy lyrics.

I wouldn't want to be the one who told him....................

I said artists that ONLY use samples. If they actually do something creative with them then that is different. Mate, Aussies don't drink Fosters, we export it to you to drink England has never recovered from the blunder of sending the convicts to the land of sun , surf, and good times. leaving the do gooders in dank depressing wet England lol

I haven't owned or played that specific one but I own a CV 50's P and have briefly played a CV 60's Jazz, I can say that they're great instruments. The big question will probably be, how are you with thick glossy necks? If you're exclusively a satin neck guy, you likely wont get on with them as the glossy finish is very thick. But, that being said, it's definitely worth having a wee shot on one to see how you like it.

It’s a tricky one with noise nuisance and to be honest, I’d probably side with the neighbours. I used to live in a townhouse with paper thin walls and we had major problems with noise from the neighbours. The problem is you’re always on edge. Every night we were just waiting for the drum and bass party next door to start. Partly due to this, I am now so mindful of how bass frequencies travel. We’ve all heard a boy racer from 2 miles away with the parcel shelf in his Corsa bouncing. If I’m not playing through my headphones, I’ll play through my rig sat on a gramma pad at truly quiet ‘radio’ levels. If ever I need to briefly crank something up to ‘vibration’ levels (testing cabs etc) I’d ensure that the neighbours were out or I’d set up in the garage on a concrete floor.

I loved the JJ Burnel sound, and his bass on the Stranglers first album "Rattus Norvegicus" was what first made me listen to the bass guitar So that's my contribution - not necessarily my fave album these days, but it's what got me into bass

Entitled "20 Iconic Bass Guitars", I'm thinking of making this available to BC members as a print in either A3 or A2 sizes providing I get enough interest... This image you're looking at is printed on bog standard A4 and really need to be seen in a bigger format, but you probably get the idea. Any criticism welcome...

Right time I got back on this. After not really getting time to do anything for a few months I plan on working on the Curlee over the weekend so hopefully some interesting updates to come.

The bassline is tricky if you want to play every note of the original, but i just did something similar still using those 16ths and to the untrained earhole, it sounded very similar.

You’ll be wanting chips as well?

Totally agree with that in relation to existing products. You might as well have donated to Live Aid back in the day Would guitar production not be a less contentious industry than say coffee though with its turf wars/gang assocation/cartels etc...I dunno.

Can't believe someone's posted this to be honest, back in my day these albums were like gold dust. I dare you not to grab your bass and start jamming to this as soon as you hear it.

I can concur that Marc's VM fretless was indeed a lovely bass, having bought it, & still is. Sorry Marc! I've not played many that are markedly better, although I admit I've never been near the £2K+ models of this world. Point is, for the money, it's pretty stupendous & we're lucky that such affordable instruments are so good these days. ^^ This. The question here is, how many of us would be prepared to pay say £100 more for the exact same bass it was ethically produced? I like to think I would if there were such a thing as fair trade manufacturers.

I think pickups & electrics will have a major influence on this. As will body-woods, I found that in general the ash-bodied Precisions I had were more aggressive sounding, where the alder-bodied ones have been fuller sounding (maybe just a bit more in the low mids). But pickups really change it, I`ve had 3 different pickups in one of my Precisions, and the difference it makes getting the right one is pretty amazing.

Of course many people aren't getting paid enough. Why on earth do you think multi-national companies do their manufacturing in countries without adequate employment regulations? Here's the rub though. Someone might only be earning 50 pence per hour to make a bass in a far off country. But that 50 pence per hour might actually be higher than the local average and without it they might starve. There are no easy answers though. If you struggle to eat then underpayment is better than no payment. On the flip side 1 company "over-paying" for the area (in other words paying an acceptable sum) might destabilise the local economy. You'll be wondering how Tesco can sell a whole chicken for a quid next.

Sorry to disappoint Big Red but sadly the last week or few has been a bit hectic, we have 2 members of staff at the CES show this week and last moment preparations for that meant despite long days last week we fell behind on some bits and then you are forever playing catch up. We are also finishing off the final aspects of the new 2018 products which launch in 2 weeks at the NAMM show. Also today we launched our new website which for the first time we have done totally in house so this has also been a huge drain on us. Then new Ashdown 2018 brochure to complete and get to the printers before Friday or it won’t make the show. Take in that this is on top of the regular day to day running of the company of which we deal with 68 countries, January is always a more hectic month that most mainly down to the NAMM/CES shows and the deadlines that launching products there imposes. Lastly whatever your view/impresssion of us we are but we are a small family company consisting of 10 people from top to bottom. We generally always try to keep on top of answering everything that comes our way but when these days that consists of Emails, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Basschat and more most of which are dealt with by only 1 or two people it can sometimes mean our replies/interventions take a few more days than normal at certain times of year. Hope that helps to explain the delay, we never knowingly ignore an issue as should be seconded by many of the members here. I’ll hopefully get chance to respond to the more specific b social issues tomorrow.

Oh hey, cool! I was at that gig Really, really entertaining stuff, regardless of how much of it is sequenced. The massive acid house flag was being passed around the audience the whole time - it's amazing that no-one hit the disco ball in the middle of the ceiling with it.

But not good for jazz. I’ve only recently been forgiven for wearing a red jacket.

Mixed cab setups can sound fine. The question is whether or not a pair of mismatched cabs works better than a pair of matched cabs. The only way one can know that is to try A+B, A+A and B+B side by side. The sealed 4x8 may have better highs than the ported, but if it does it's not because it's sealed, it's because the drivers have better midrange response. Predicting if that's the case [i]should[/i] be a simple matter, you'd just look at the frequency response charts for the speakers. Unfortunately, manufacturers have a very low opinion of their customers, thinking them too daft to be able to make heads or tails of a frequency response chart, so they don't provide them.

Sold my Octave pedal to Kev. Everything went nice and smooth. Thanks.

Bought a Markbass 801 from Kev, very happy with it, really nice to do business with. Otis

thanks KEV all pack nicely all received .thanks

2nd deal done with Kev & highly recommended as before

Bought some strings from Kev. Excellent.

Bought a Streamer off Kev. Great guy to deal with, was accommodating with the transaction and willing to meet me at Wolverhampton rail station (no mean feat as I wouldn't have liked to get that bass in a flight case on a train!). Nice guy, totally trustworthy with great comms. Cheers bud

Sold a pedal to Kev, total gent! Deal with confidence

Bought a Proton Filter from Kev - such a straightforward and easy transaction! Item arrived very quickly too and was exactly as described/well packed - a great guy to deal with and would definitely deal with again.

The Purple Black Duck wins through on yet another bass trade with me. As always and now expected, Kev is a true pro at getting these deals sorted swiftly and with no fuss. Must be our 4th or 5th major trade and always simple. Cheers Kev Will send you a pic for your birthday ;-) Col

Bought some Auroras from Kev. Perfect transaction - highly recommended. cheers Shaun

Bought Kevs darkglass b7k, great guy to deal with and it the pedal was perfectly as described!

Kev bought a pedal from me. Easy transaction. Cheers! Shep

Just got Kev's old LS-2 off the postie. Top bloke, got it sent out as quick as possible and didn't even wait for the cheque to clear. Cheers mate!

Just sold Kev my modded blue beaver, fast payment and a good bloke to deal with

Done a couple of deals with Kev, recently, and would happily deal with him again. in fact i would've done if I'd been quicker off the mark when he had the status up for sale!! Top Bloke.

Bought the ToneFactor Omega Fuzz from him, top bloke to deal with. Well packaged as well. Although, little bit of drama, the label got wet, luckly the postie was the regular so knew who lives where on my street!