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No. Rock & Roll is dead as ärseholes. Anything new is either unlistenable or a tired retread. In fact, it's got so bad one can play 'Spot The Influences' Bingo for days on end. Metal is a self-referential Moebius loop of infinitely smaller and smaller sub-genres, each of which sounds - surprise, surprise - pretty much exactly like most of the others and is populated by hopelessly deluded, vacuous twits with tattoos and piercings who think they're 'dangerous' but pose as much threat as my Aunt Mabel's budgie. Who's dead. The budgie, that is. Though so is Aunt Mabel. She liked Glen Miller, y'know. In fact, Metal is now about as much fun as an exit wound from a Mossberg shotgun and as believable as a school Christmas play. The utter hopelessness of the protagonists shines through just as if each of them had written on their foreheads 'I'm more than a loser - I'm a gaping a$$hole of a loser who knows he's a loser but depends on other losers to keep giving him their money so he can carry on being a loser and not have to go back to his old day job as an artificial limb salesman for SW England and Wales". I'm not saying that 'Rock' was better in my day. It just was - in the sense that it existed at all - but now it doesn't exist beyond its function as a label hung off a t-shirt. Indeed, those old stagers who 'keep the rock flag flying high' (Black Star Riders, anyone?) are just as terminally pointless as - say - Greta Van Fleet who are forty years younger. If you don't believe me about old rock musicians, watch The Story Of Anvil. It's so sad, you just want to cut your wrists at the sheer desperation. Clive Dunn? Well, yes, rock in the 70's (strangely) co-existed in the pop charts with novelty songs and ballady dreck. But the singles charts were a sideline to the real action and Rock existed in its own far larger hinterland of albums and tours and TV sets going out of windows and sweet, sweet punani. Now the charts are a desert of homogeneously over-produced, knowing pop-bait for 11 year-old girls and very little of any note occurs beyond it, except among microscopically small groups of 'enthusiasts' who sit around saying 'Have you heard this? It's new and it's just like the Grateful Dead mashed up with Anthrax and Pat Metheny' and stroking their chins like a crew of smelly ol' jazzbos who've just found an unreleased Thelonius Monk session and are preparing to engage in a disgusting circle jerk of pseudo-scholarly delight. But it's not all bad: Rock isn't really 'Dead'. Rock has just been quietly shuffled into the old folks home and now sits in the day room with its friends Folk, Jazz, Ragtime and Swing, gumming away at a nice Digestive biscuit and slurping a cup of milky tea and saying' I'm still relevant, me. Oh, I've wee'd myself' while young people wander down the street outside doing something much more interesting than listening to Rock music like - I don't know - texting their idiot 'friends' or bullying their schoolmates into suicide or posting pictures of kittens. And if these kids do actually go to a gig, they and the sad, middle-aged has-beens around them don't listen, oh no, they all just film the gig through their phones and walk out afterwards and say 'Who was that we just saw?' And while Rock passes its twilight years in the Springfield Retirement Castle, the advertisers and the media and the record companies (f*ck you, Jimmy Iovine, f*ck you) have successfully cultured a clone from Rock's stinky, yellow toenail clippings and now that clone staggers around wearing a sandwich board that says 'Hi! I'm Rock! This musical experience was brought to you in association with (insert brand here)'. It would be a kindness if someone were to put a bullet into Rock & Roll. I'd do it with a song on my lips and that song would be 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' from the musical Oklahoma (Rodgers & Hammerstein: 1955).

Buy the pedal that you like the sound of. Strip it down and spray the case the correct shade of brown. Get a five year old kid to scribble all over it in crayon and clear coat over the top. When you reassemble it, if possible arrange the controls in a less obvious order and perhaps swap one of them with either the input or output jack. Give it a sexually suggestive name that would appeal to average 14 year old boy. Then you can tell everyone that it some ultra-rare boutique pedal that was made in a limited edition of 50.

Haven't forgotten about the finishing debrief, but just a quick update of ongoing progress. The finish has maybe 2 coats more to do. There's a lot of waiting around, though, when the varnish is dry enough to touch and handle but not dry enough to take the next coat. So in that time I've started on some of the other jobs. The bridge goes on last (you have to scrape away the finish that you've just spent weeks putting on!) but needs to be shaped to match the spheroidal shape of the top. This is where the old 'engineers blue' approach comes in - except you use blackboard chalk. I put a wide strip of easy peel masking tape where the bridge will go and gave it a liberal coating of chalk. Then placed the bridge on top and moved it around a couple of mm. Hey presto - the high spots: Then all you do is scrape where the chalk is and repeat (multiple times). Here it is after the first scraping: So same m.o. - now scrape these areas away. After about 8 iterations, I am getting there: So I know now that most of the area is making good contact. Just a final bit of tidying up and it will be ready to fit as soon as the final coats of finish have been applied. The colour won't change much now - it will just get glossier. Here's where we are at in overall look so far: So - all being well - a few more days of finish coats and drying and then I can move towards final steps

I know a drummer who can do this for you too ...

Picked this up today. Looks rather lovely but needs a lot of love. Cleaning, moisturising, massaging... part of the fun I guess. Original case and all the case candy is there too. Even some vintage LaBella strings, unusable but cool.

Nowt killed rock'n'roll... Because rock'n'roll is an idea, an attitude; just because there's not much of it in "the charts" mean nothing. The charts aren't really the charts anymore, not like when I were a lad - people find music in a thousand different ways and just because some of us old fools on a bass forum can't find new rock'n'roll doesn't mean it's dead. It just means it's changed, or not. Either way, moaning about it is much the same as saying "it's not as good as when I was young". If you're interested, go out and find it! Otherwise just stay in remembering the good old days, and how the youth don't respect anything any more, and how you could leave your door open etc...

I've watched this vid and I concur with its findings though I would add that the corporatisation and commoditisation of youthful rebellion might have something to do with it. For myself, I knew Rock & Roll was clinically dead when VW sponsored a Stones tour and brought out a Stones-logo'd Golf to go with it. See also: Fender headphones, £150 AC/DC tickets, Lady Gaga in 'A Star Is Born', Iggy Pop doing car insurance ads and that ghastly pervert Ed Sheeran with his stupid, tiny Martin stuffing up the charts with 18 songs out of the top 20 or something. Rock & Roll: I spit on your gravy.

And also to my playing... 🤔

Maybe if you heard your cabs from the audience/ back of the room, you might find the bottom end is just fine? I suspect that could be the case. Worth trying before parting with any cash? Frank.

Proper priorities!

My wife was asking me about this ‘bl**dy Slavinsky bass’ (Sadowsky) I’m saving up for and how much they are. So I started to tell her how much and that I could get a pre-owned one for X amount because ordering a new one direct would just be too much. Then she said ‘well it’s your 40th next year and our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up so why don’t you get an interest free loan and get a brand new one?’ On top of that, I was willing to sell my current bass to help fund it and she said ‘why don’t you keep it because you’ve always wanted to have more than one bass.’ I nearly fell off the bar stool.

Jazz?

Pish, there's plenty of interesting vibrant bands within metal, no there's not been any groundbreaking new genres in years, but where has there been? Plenty of bands are releasing great albums either paying homage to their heroes or developing new takes on established sounds. To pick a few examples from 2017/2018: Wolves In The Throne Room, Converge, Akercocke, Rolo Tomassi, Zeal & Ardor, Sleep, Ihsahn, OHHMS, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Oxbow, Dyscarnate, Conan, Sumac, Voices, Highland and SikTh have all released really good records. If metal doesn't appeal to you, fine, but maybe look a bit closer than the likes of Bring Me The Horizon before writing off an entire, wide-spanning genre.

I think that one of the main points of the video is not that there isn't a vibrant metal scene (and other sub-genres) because there obviously is, but that this has lost the thread (i.e. some sort of blues influence) that linked it to the music that proceeded it and with that, no longer has any relevance to the mainstream. Modern metal has a strong underground following, but does not have crossover appeal to non metalheads in the way that, say AC/DC did with Back In Black nearly 40 years ago. Also, even music that on the face of it seems very radical, is actually rather conservative - using a limited number of the same producers, recording techniques, sounds, etc...

I once went to the old Bass Centre in Wapping because they'd just had a new delivery in of Trace Elliot and there was a new combo I wanted to try out. They had so much stock that they'd had to make corridors of TE gear for people to walk down. So there I am, sitting on top of the TE combo I wanted to try and was idly fooling around with the intro of Wherever I Lay My Hat and trying to remember how it continued into the verse. Next thing I know there's someone soloing on fretless over my verse patterns. I thought it sounded quite cool so just kept playing a basic pattern whilst listening to the mysterious fretless player. Eventually I stopped and stood up to peer over the stack of cabs to discover my soloing partner was none other than Pino himself on an old fretless P bass! I was instantly embarrassed and ducked down behind the cab wall again, grabbed the combo and headed off to buy it. As I went past Pino said "those new Trace combos are really good, excellent choice'. I mumbled my thanks for his opinion and staggered off to pay for it (no such thing as neo speakers those days so it weighed a ton!).

I'll just leave this here...32" scale; under-sized, chambered body; Haussel pickups and John East Uni 4 preamp. Driving down to Brecon on Saturday to rendezvous with Mike Walsh for collection. Can't wait.

That would make a cracking advert for Fixadent, or somesuch.

I've enjoyed reading through these. I'll share one of mine with you. There was a singer, about 15 years older than the rest of us, who came to audition for our pub r'n'b band around 2001. He clearly couldn't pitch a note - he was as flat as a pancake - and by the end of verse 1, we were all rolling our eyes and trying hold back the sniggering. We moved into the chorus and at the end of it, he went for the final high note throwing his head forwards. With that, his teeth flew out across the room, hit the floor and slid under the drum kit. He looked aghast and shouted "Guitar solo!" and dived down between the kick drum and floor tom. Eventually, he shuffled backwards, stood up and held his false choppers up to the light. He blew the filth and fag ash off them and popped them back in. He was just about to sing the next verse when he realised we were all rolling around in hysterics........... A week later, he e-mailed us and asked for feedback on his efforts.

Attendee list 1) Cetera - Spector NS2 & Legend 4X, Dingwall NG2, Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird, Yamaha BB3000, GK800RB head, Genz Benz Neox212 cab, Tech-21 Dug DP3X preamp/pedal 2) Ezbass - Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretted (J pickups), Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretless (MM pickup), Rickenbacker 4003s, Rob Allen MB2 fretless, Phil Jones Flightcase + PB300 3) Happy Jack - AliKat DB #004, Mike Lull 54P, all I need to play a doubling gig (that evening) on those two instruments 4) BlueJay - Eminence Upright (left-handed) - IF IT FITS in the car, as we're now carrying a full PA system as well. Loads of camera and audio equipment 5) obbm - Fender Precisions, Sadowsky HPJ, Bergantino NV115, Handbox WB100 and if room Quilter BB800 + BF One10 + Nate Mendel for sale/trade  6) Nancy Johnson (Paul) - The Big One, rack (GED/poweramp), possibly the dUg DP3x. A bass. 7) MacDaddy - Shuker bass(es), Snapdragon Folding bass, Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. 8 ) prowla (Paul) - Maybe a Ric or two and fakers, maybe a couple of Statii, maybe J- & P-basses. Probably a Markbass amp & cab and a pedalboard with some FX. 9) Graemeross - Sire V7, USA Jazz Deluxe and USA Precision (for the bass shootout) 10) TrevorR - Wal Pro II E, Wal Mk 1 Custom, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII and Traveler 2x10, pedalboard. 11) TheGreek - Mesa M Pulse 600 head/ Powerhouse 1x15 cab and The Psilos bass built by Andyjr1515 12) JapanAxe (Graeme) - most of the stuff in my signature! 13) Wolverinebass (Andy) - Maybe some Wounded Paw effects/signature preamp and a bass. 14) Silverfoxnik (Nik) - Roscoe Beck 5, Gibson Thunderbird, BC Rich Eagle, plus my Ampeg V4BH Rig 15) Paul The Drums of the Junkyard Dogs, with kit. 16) Frank Blank (Frankè Blanké) Rob Allen Mouse, AER Basic Performer, Fender Modern Player with modded fretless neck, Ibanez SRC6/SR500, cake. 17) Ordep - Noble Preamp, Modulus Jazz, Fodera Monarch New Std, Amp, pedalboard depending on the day’s mood. 18) Jabba the Gut - TC Electronic RH450, RS112 and some own build basses 19) Thestick - Vanderkley cabs, Aguilar ag700 head, selection of basses 20) Mr & Mrs Hamster - Tea, coffee & cake! Might bring a couple of basses too 21) bassace - usual double basses etc. 22) OutSpoon (Steve) - Fodera Monarch Standard Classic, Sandberg California VS5, Maybe a '94 Stingray? TC 208 combo or PJ Double4? 23) Walman - BF Super12T, FPPR Status S1 (yes that one ), Genz Benz Streamliner, Helix Floor, and a load of EBS pedals for sale 24) musicbassman - planning to come, sorry I've nothing of great interest to bring with me, just some respect for all you guys bringing your treasured possessions to display. 25) Kebabkid - Sire Marcus Miller V7 (4 string), Roland Bass Cube 120XL, Zoom B3 & EBS Octabass 26) Graham (still tentative at the moment) - Lakland DJ5, G&L USA SB2, Yamaha TRB1005J, EBS HD350, EBS Neo 2x12, EBS Microbass II, EHX Big Muff Bass Deluxe, Joyo Orange Juice 27) NickD - Maruszczyk Jake 5P+, Maruszczyk Elwood L5A, Markbass 121H, Zoom B3, Bass Soul Food, EHX Freeze, Mooer Tender Octaver, Ebow. 28) Rodfunnell - Darkglass Microtubes 900 head, Barefaced Big Twin T, BB2, Super Compact, Warwick Corvette $$, Streamer $$, The Alien; Various pedals including MXR, AudioSource (inc a Hothand) and a couple of Darkglass bits and Phil Jones EarBox 29) JHK -usual yamaha TRB 6P ,Musicman stingray 5 fretless,GB Spitfire fiver,EBS Neo 15 cab,EBS 350 head 30) Hen Barn - status kingbass, nightingale, ebs reidmar & 2 x 10 LMT Vanderkley 31) Captain Rumble - walkabout, m pulse, Vanderkley 112, 212, Exotic Jazz

Aye its a beaut….£239 I don't know how they do it.....lovely maple neck, block inlay and binding and the mint guard really set it off.

If anybody has a Fender that they want to have roadworn, I'm happy to help..😄

Not tried it yet - got dinner on!

My two yummy Yammys

Are you watching my band?

Not many mentions for "Going For The One" here. It's one of my Top 5 albums by anyone, ever. Sure, it's a little bit more polished, but IMHO every tune on it is utterly perfect. (Perhaps this is related to my fungi experimentation of some decades ago, to which it was the main soundtrack. )

I know all you multitudes and masses are all sat cross legged 'pon the lawn waiting for my two pennerth, so listen up. Or not, I'm OK with that, too. I haven't watched the video, and won't . I don't think R'n'R is dead because it never happened. Obviously, white people speeding up 12-bar because the country they lived in was too racist to listen to the good stuff happened, cos I've seen (and done) it, but that's not what I mean. If you spend some time trawling through the popular music of the 50s, it can reasonably be said that it was mostly a massive pool of utter shyte with a handful of absolute gems thrown in. Spend more time looking at the (genuinely fascinating IMO) evolution of said popular music through the 60's, and you may well discover a massive pool of utter shyte with a handful of absolute gems thrown in for good measure. Continue on through the birth of prog, etc, etc...80s synthy fnurrr...madferit 90s...blaaahhh...noughty tweeny Simon Cowpat....bleurgghhh... The whole of popular music is - guess what - yeah, you got it - a massive pool of shyte with a handful of gems thrown in. The difference now, is it's yer mainstream meeja what's dead or zombifying, so your time for the above is better spent on those video hosting sites that they have now. If you do, you will find some pieces of musical art of genuinely stunning quality. But for every one you do there's - yep - a massive pool of utter shyte so staggering in magnitude that only astronomers can possibly comprehend it. 'More' is the only difference, and long may it continue, because it's the massive pool of shyte that inspires those who do not wish to swim in it the most.

Yep, a few of my mates have a band where they rehearse once a week and have a laugh. They have no intention of ever gigging, but it`s a night out where they can be daft, tell stupid jokes, and play songs they`ve loved for 20+ years, all for less than a tenner, and wake up without a hangover. Each to their own, it`s what the individual wants from it and getting in cahoots with like-minded people is often the most difficult thing of all.

Just bought the RBJ67.....went in earlier today it was hung on the wall....played it acoustically and it just ticked all the boxes, I personally like to play them unplugged and if they sing which this did....lovely block inlay/bound neck and cream body with a pale lime green pick guard very striking....just need a band now....oh and plenty of practice lol.

And a Barefaced One10 cab (or a pair if I need it) I'll grab a photo of the amp settings when I get home.

When I first started playing music (Melodeon) I bought a metronome(mechanical in those days) to practice keeping a steady time (playing for dancing so fairly important). To start with I was, in all seriousness, totally convinced that the metronome was slowing down. I'd stop mid tune to wind it up (I know that that doesn't actually affect the speed), and more than once considered taking tack to the shop for a refund.

@drlargepants Saw the comments about the M900 - do you want a photo of my settings? I'm using a passive PJ with it and I'm very happy with my big band sound. Chunky bottom, enough space in the mids for the trombones, and a little treble, and with a touch of wooliness provided by the B3K circuit. The VMT circuit should be the better choice for this... but it isn't. Far too much mids clashes with the other instruments. The B3K circuit does it far better and with less EQ mucking about.

Lol this is the mystery. Could be the pu or circuitry had an issue. More likely though he just fancied bodging, while laughing maniacally as lightning strikes around his workshop. While his assistant hands him random bargain bin parts at random. Testing the string spacing carefully with a sausage. And cutting the nut with a angle grinder. Its alive!

Tunisian prog-metal and Icelandic nu-folk for me. There's great music everywhere. 'Rock n roll' is just a lazy bullsht category title anyway. If In Doubt, File Under Rock. I saw The Selecter described as a 'rock band' once. QED.

I would always say, play as many as you can before buying. I'm sure many of us who suddenly have the funds to hand, and the "need" for a new bass, will be tempted to buy in haste But if you already have a bass, and aren't "desperate" to get something for an impending gig / event, take a bit of time. Ask yourself why you're preferring a certain bass over another... I would really consider buying a used bass, as you'll get more for your money - but be careful of buying "blind" on sites like eBay How many BC members live near you? Are any of them selling any basses? Keep looking through the marketplace on here, and be willing to wait, and to travel (even a short distance) to try a few basses Incidentally, I agree with your point about "mucking about with EQ". Having a great range of tonal control / options at hand can be a good thing But, I recall a bass I used to own, which had many controls; stacked knobs, switches etc - and found it a real pain when playing live. I rarely got the same, or even similar sound twice, when playing live

I think it's just a natural cycle. Kids don't want to listen to the music that their parents and grandparents listened to, they want to listen to something that makes their elders exclaim "well it all just sounds like a bunch of noise to me!" And then the kids can roll their eyes and say "duh, you just don't get it. You're so embarrassing." The solution to this is simple - parents need to stop allowing their children to listen to music. S.P.

And part of the advanced Bass Players Exam is; Ability to turn down overly loud lead guitarists amp, without him / her noticing Ability to convince lead singer to arrive at venue, and help drummer unload their car, along with everyone else Ability to convince keyboard player to get a round of drinks in..... ;)

These: Edit: Ah, just read "Old Boss Pedals" Time for some coffee I think...

There is no mention in the listing that this guitar was originally sold by Thomann for decoration only and not as a playable instrument.

The brownest... Dr. No Turd Fuzz

The fundamental misapprehension that some are bringing to this thread is that it's about Rock music not being as good as it was. Wrong. It's about the reasons why Rock no longer enjoys the mass appeal and saliency of - say - twenty years ago. But if people want to use it to demonstrate to the rest of us that they're 'young at heart' or emphatically not a ghastly 'old' person then that's fine too.

The RH750 is the dogs i had one before my blacksmith and would not have changed if it was not for someone wanting to just swap for my RH750. The RS410 is a great cab to pair it with but if weights an issue i would go RS210 or 2 of those if you have the funds. Welcome to the TC club.

Personally I prefer Matt Black to Gloss or Satin but I'm just a bit worried that if I do it Matt Black it might end up looking like a chalkboard? 😀

Since girls bought records.😛

Mojomojo is brown, or a fan though

😲 you calling me old?? 😂

That black lab is noice 😛

Chromes feel a bit 'grippy' at first but just play through that and they'll soon feel slick. Possibly a coating to stop oxidisation before use.

3 times per week for an hour is the wrong approach. You'll retain far more practising for a shorter time but on more days - particularly for reading where the most vital element is doing it all the time. Just like any other language. 15 minutes per day, every day will be far more beneficial. Don't confuse learning music with learning a tune. They are different things. Find somewhere that you can leave your gear and a stand set up all the time so you only have to switch it on. Then read every day. All your individual aims will happen automatically as you read different types of music You'll play different genres, different key and time signatures, get used to where all the Bs are on your fretboard and deal with phrasing, time and groove just by reading music. If you've never read then a basic book on sight reading such as Stuart Clayton's Beginner one is a good start - then something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1848493584/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They are short phrases of a couple of lines each. Very easy at the beginning, betting gradually more difficult. It's a Double Bass book - but just ignore the bow information. You'll improve massively in just the first week. I spent the first 20 years of playing not being able to read a note. Now I'm playing in an educational trust jazz ensemble and I'm sight reading (ish!!) new pieces every week at rehearsal.The above process was recommended to me by the music teachers at the trust. It works and it only needs 15 minutes per day.