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@Silvia Bluejay and I just love Trader Joe's in Pasadena. So does Lee Sklar. Guess it's a bassist thing.

Good job I fished this out of your dustbin last year. No, you can't have it back.

Hey gang. I've removed a few posts to save people's ears (and speakers!). Any problems, drop me a PM. Ta.

I got a thorough public bollocking on there once in a 'famous people who play musical instruments' thread for mentioning the words 'Tony Blair'. Was told in no uncertain terms that they have a no-politics rule and that I was never to do it ever again, 'do you understand?' I think I've been there maybe once or twice since. Oh brilliant. I must go there and post about my bitsa P bass, they'll love it. No-name body, Wilkinson pup, and a Squier Jazz neck with a Fender P decal. The only genuine Fender part is the neck plate. I'm gonna go troll me some yankees.

Just to close this thread (or at least my contribution to it), I really liked the DHA VT-1 Std valve pedal but quickly decided I wanted to replicate the sound through a 'one pedal solution' valve-driven preamp/DI (preferably with 9V capability) so I could take it on ampless/house rig gigs. So I took a punt on the latest (9V driven) EBS Valvedrive and it fits the bill beautifully. Funnily enough the 'modern' setting sounds better to my ears than the 'vintage' one (which errs a bit on the muddy) but - at least for me, through my solid state Acoustic Image amp - this nails warm Motown as well as creamy OD (I am not interested in high gain distortion). Thanks to all who contributed in this thread. I have ended up with a setup that works for me, although I realise it won't be for everyone. Cheers!

Half past seven

To bring some science to this thread: I've just visited my ex, with ear plugs well-mounted in my ears. Ear Plugs Don't Work.

Well. This has been an expensive day.

I like the other site and use it a lot. It has a huge audience and gets a lot of traffic. I've been browsing it since about 2001 and posting since I took up bass a few years ago, though I think my account dates back to 2008 I kept it dormant for the best part of a decade. It's not as good a site as it used to be, I think over the last ten years there has been a trend moving away from high-end luxury and exotic basses and more towards a "P bass is all you need" mindset. Clarity, articulation and punch used to be the order of the day, but now it's "thud is all you need", but you can't argue with these sorts as a P bass "sits in the mix", which I think is probably the catchphrase of the site these days. The P with flats crowd are the worst. I remember a thread titled "Bass should be felt, not heard" with absolutely loads of people chiming in in agreement. Cool, whatever, but I want to hear the notes. It used to be very jazz centric, it seems to have been overcome by a different crowd these days. The bass porn there used to be off the chain. It's lost some of that middle class appeal now, there is less variety and less high end stuff on show these days. Their moderating style is a bit ridiculous. Thou shalt not openly disagree with their hallowed "name" bassists or reps from manufacturers, who often happen to be advertisers or potential advertisers. Still, it has a huge amount of good content to read and you can get an answer to anything there if you ask in the right place. They do still have a lot of good guys over there.

Hiya! 🤪

Blimey. When did I pee on your fireworks, exactly?

Ok, just for fun and discussion, here's my proposition: The last hundred years (or thereabouts) of popular musical styles have been driven and guided by developments in amplification. Disclaimer: I'm certainly not claiming that any of this is original thought; I'm just putting it together in this form here for the fun of getting other people's thoughts and input on these ideas. It's entirely likely that, to paraphrase somebody or other, anything here that's true is probably not original, and anything that's original is probably not true... 😉 So anyway...: Before amplification was widely used in popular music, singers had to be loud to be heard. Various stylised foms of singing were developed that allowed for maximum volume; music hall, light opera, blues shouters, etc. When microphones and early amplification became available, vocalists were able sing much more quietly and naturalistically whilst still being audible over the band; hence the crooners and their intimate stylings. Now it was guitarists who were struggling for audibility against the blare of the big band, so following the lead of early adopters such as Charlie Christian, the guitar amplifier became popular. This allowed for the development of 'lead guitar', and onwards to small groups using guitars as the main instrumentation. Loud singing again frequently became necessary to compete with the rising beat of rock'n'roll... Guitarists increasingly found that there was something special and exciting about the distorted sound of a guitar amplifier pushed beyond its design limits. They experimented with larger and larger amplifiers, and new music arose based on those sounds, with Jimi Hendrix as its most visible pioneer. Now it was singers who were struggling again: trying to make vocals audible over the din of massive overdriven guitar stacks was a task largely beyond the capabilities of early 1970s vocal PAs. Singers were back to howling at maximum volume in an attempt to be heard; eg Robert Plant and the behemoths of 1970s heavy rock. This spurred great developments in PA systems, allowing much greater overall volume, and crucially, with the advent of effective subs and high powered amps, previously unthinkable levels of bass frequencies. This new capability led to the rise of bass-powered dance music in its many forms, from reggae through rave, d'n'b, dubstep and the panoply of other bass-driven styles that have dominated popular music until today. So... anyone for any elaboration, correction, rebuttal or just plain contradiction...? 😁

@skankdelvar Trader Joe is an even nicer version of Waitrose, albeit smaller. @SICbass We introduced ourselves, said hi and left him to do his shopping. We didn't want to bother him for more than a minute. When we met again at the tills he was the one to suggest we took a photo, so we did.

So essentially the whole thing is driven by the ego battle between the guitarist and the singer. Who knew? 😘

One time I affectionately referred on BC to FinnBass as being a sort of Devil's Island and a tiny but vocal minority of the islanders failed to see the funny side. Like I f*cking cared. Still miss the BigBeefChief though.

Double P - yes this was a great idea late in 1983. This is my Fender Elite II Gold Walnut, my first bass I've purchased ....

I wonder how these sound in a bedroom set up 😎

When buying from shops from abroad, try asking if they will use Transferwise. They're an extremely reasonable exchange rate company, that charges way less. EG. I bought a £500+ Carvin amp from Station Music in Germany and it cost me £2.50 instead of roughly £30 from either my bank or Paypal. to exchange to Euros Not everyone will use Transferwise, maybe they think its a scam, but my deal went perfectly. https://transferwise.com/

Yes. I've always been made to feel most welcome.

It has much to recommend it. I would add that the development of the guitar amplifier permitted blues guitarists to translate acoustic Delta Blues into the amplified Chicago form which - having achieved sectional popularity - merged with country music to give birth to Rock 'n' Roll which itself influenced the Stones and The Beatles, giving shape to the twin predominant strands (blues-based / pop-based) of Rock, the musical genre which flourished from the early '60's to the mid-90's and which continues to inform the common cultural paradigm embraced by approximately 92% of BC's membership. TLDR: No guitar amps > no Chicago Blues > no Rock > prolly no BassChat.

I never said that eyeball vices don't work and even if I did my words have been quoted out of context. I may on one occasion many years ago have said that eyeball vices don't work but I was a young person at the time and I have since been on a personal journey which has taught me that eyeball vices work. Many of my best friends are eyeball vices and my record as a supporter of enhanced rights for eyeball vices is unchallenged. My supporters will tell you there is not an anti-eyeball vice bone in my body. Any suggestion to the contrary will attract the attentions of my solicitors Messrs. Sue, Grabbit and Run.

Finally got moving under her own steam today - also we delivered a cheque to RMCH the other day - think we’re about £4200 in now - more than a single would’ve done with no real backing. A32961E6-FDA5-435D-A09E-BF98D36D118A.MP4

Lee is from Milwaukee.YAY! Blue

That's the worst attempt at putting on strings I've seen yet.

You're much too kind. The BBC was in a whole different league, looked better than me in a beret and is a very nice man in person.

I listened to the new song. It was serviceable and might hook me later as a good album track. Intro aside it just seemed a bit overly familiar, like I had already heard the various tones, effects, drum fills and riffs but they have been slightly restructured. Great mix though. I do like though that it is a song structure rather than variations of an initial open string drop d riff, which I had initially expected it would be. I can’t hate on it. However it is a bit unremarkable on the first couple of listens.

Yeah, it sure if I would actually gig it too as I have bigger amps for that. But it perfect for home and recording. Effects loop is quite nice too. Really even volume and uncoloured. Really impressed with the whole package. Thanks again for the advice chaps!

Damn fine it is , too!! 🤩

I'm not a prolific user of forums, but I'd say that it's a truism that people tend to use ones that largely agree with their own viewpoint (in a broad sense, not a "P basses are good/bad" sense). So I'm not that surprised to see people who like BC being less keen on TB. For me personally, I'm not that fussed, live and let live and if I don't like a website then it's pretty easy not to go back there. I do think that the tone of any site reflects the moderators, and without wanting to blow smoke up anybody's backside I think BC gets it about right in allowing some challenging debate, but shutting things down quickly when they become abusive. Having seen a (non-bass) forum effectively get shut down by trolls, it's good to know that somebody is keeping an eye on things. I do have some sympathy for the over enthusiastic shutting down of "political" and gun related postings even at a non-political stage, because the whole subject is so toxic and divisive in these post-truth days, particularly on that side of the pond

Yes, do google him - he's played with EVERYONE. He may not be a household name as a rockstar, but he plays bass on most of the soundtrack of my youth, and probably of yours! We're posting with an 8-hour delay! Currently 3.35pm in the UK but 7.35am in California.

I'm going to have to ask you to leave. 😉

Pardon?

Title track from the new album: First reaction - it's Tool, alright. No massive change in style or sonic palate over the last 13 years. Having said that, the intro must be one of their least Tool-y moments, although they don't really revisit that over the remainder of the song. There are some very familiar-sounding riffs, to the extent of sounding like specific other Tool songs. Maynard doesn't sound very interested a lot of the time. As lead "single" this is likely as accessible as the album gets, and that's probably a good thing. I've only listened to it once, and being Tool, there's a lot to take in, so my initial impression will certainly change once I'm more familiar with it, and when I'm hearing it in the context of the album.

Very cool - he's a top guy. Wait a minute - you two are on holiday?! Was this leave of absence from regular posting authorised? I think there ought to be a rota or something... I dunno...

Late to this thread but given how little activity there is on this channel, thought I'd throw this in. I found this Janek book really helpful. Lots of interesting exercises that have improved my technical facility, and new approaches that have sparked more ideas over standard progressions..

It won't be me. I'm not allowed near fresh produce. I'm like a banana, fruit and veg goes right off when I'm lurking. But yeah, Mr Sklar is both my bass and my beard hero. I discovered that I was getting treated as a lesser citizen because of it though so it's long since gone. Didn't work without the long hair anyway. PS: Great original photo @Silvia Bluejay and @Happy Jack

Hahahahaha, true Ok, so the crappy pic (my phone updated its version and it does weird things with the light in the pics)

Very cool picture! Are you sure that's not @SpondonBassed instead?

I'd argue that recording technology and techniques has played a key role too

So got it...nice little thing. Been in touch with Mark over at Ashdown for some info as it’s got a quirk in that the Bass and Mid EQ knob are flipped in position. I reckon it may be an early prototype or something...we’ll see!

I’m on TB and have found people to be very helpful. There’s a wealth of knowledge to be found just as there is on BC. One forum may cover some subjects more than the other so it’s great to have two great resources. I’ve read some threads on there that have turned pretty nasty, but there are some people out there who just live for that. To my mind BC is nowhere near as bad but there are people even here who just seem to post negative comments at every opportunity. People have differing views but how some choose to put those views across is questionable.

Home practice rig: DIY 15/6/1 cab, DIY 600 watt head.