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Just another impression on this, in view of the (perfectly valid...) opinions above, I've been a Joni Mitchell fan since... Well, forever, so some bias here. She has a very varied set of interests, and has, over time gone down several different rabbit holes, and explored many different genres. I find it perfectly fitting that, whilst respecting the more delicate numbers, there's a bit of 'raunch' on stages of the sort. There are other videos of more intimate occasions, and I found it refreshing to see and hear her evident enjoyment of this performance. I'll freely accept the reservations mentioned; it doesn't detract at all, for me, whenever I watch this video (and I've played it extensively..!). I can think of only one or two songs from her whole repertoire that I could be tempted to skip over, but even then I probably wouldn't. One of the Great Wonders of the Modern World, to me; her art and output have brought so much light and joy into my life.

As promised I started building the second single cut 5. You may have seen the red fretless single cut that is awaiting lacquer. This is walnut front and back, with alder and veneers. Fingerboard will be Birdseye and I’m going to try using the Shaper to do custom symbols and blind frets. Two Delano SBC 6’s with 4 band eq.

Oh, guys, thank you so much for the mention! For anyone who's not aware - during CVD I launched With Bass In Mind - a totally free bass hub. Essentially it's an umbrella site for my books, basses and tuition..However, if you head over to www.withbassinmind.com - there are hundreds of articles, reviews and instalments of my columns in Bass Player magazine...all free to download, share and enjoy. As part of the new platform, I'm also doing a series of interviews on With Bass In Mind's Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/c/withbassinmind). This Sunday evening (28th march), I'll be publishing a cool hang with Victor Wooten - please come and enjoy the show, if you like there are also interviews with Dave Swift, Mo Foster, Neil Fairclough and Sandy Beales already available... My best, Philip

Just got mine last weekend. Had to see what all teh fuss was about. Was fortunate to purchase from a farmer in Wales, don't ask the price........... way under the market rate with a MM case, all case candy, he bought fro new. Transpires he wants to buy a big motorbike and I was in the right place at the right time. 2016 build, could not be happier than when I bought it...........but.....now I have been playing it, wonderful fat tones and it is quickly becoming a favourite. Big words from me as I have two Shukers, two Sandbergs, Magnum...etc. Things are good at the moment and I have been fortunate but now I see/hear what all the fuss is about.

Just received these pictures from my builder today. 1st coat of finish.

A bit like a sparrow doesn't understand aerodynamics.

Look what showed up Thanks @Andre_Passini!

And I've gone in with both feet😁 Very friendly and helpful seller, I asked if she could do a deal if I took both and she came back with 850 for the pair, I know Wilkes have sold for less but I'm OK with paying 2nd hand Mex Fender prices for this sort of quality that and I've always loved an ebony fretboard😁She's volunteered her husbands delivery services too so they're getting to me safely and quicker than a courier, now I just need to move on some of the existing herd😣

Quite frankly NO. The only other thing I detest equally to overuse of slap in relation to bass on YouTube is a mediocre musician being lauded with praise by a lot of rather creepy simps like the second coming of "Bass-Christ" purely due to the fact they happen to be female and wearing a low cut top. Its mysoginistic on multiple levels. And more than a little disturbing. It takes away from the player as they are being objectified due to their appearance rather than their ability.

It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets three chords again.

I just took delivery of this beauty. I've always loved Pino Palladino's playing and the look of his custom shop precision, and this is only one pick guard away from being the same colour scheme - though that seems to be more of a challenge than I expected! As well as getting a tort pick guard I'm going to do a few other mods as I've never been one for upgrading my instruments, I might add a drop tuner or change the strings but I pretty much buy a bass and leave it as is. I'll detail all my mods and upgrades in this thread for anyone who might be interested, it might also prevent other people making the same mistakes! My first act as a newbie modder is to apply lemon oil to the fretboard, as Pau Ferro is a bit light coloured for my taste. Please take the cardboard box neck support as proof of my noob credentials.

So not really today, it was last week. After much deciding on a short scale bass, I decided I wanted to get the TMB35 but turned out there aren't many around until things are restocked . I had a previous bad experience of dealing with Bax, but as this is quite a cheap bass anyway (and a tenner cheaper from bax), I thought I might as well try them. Was disappointed when I saw from the tracking that it was in Amsterdam, but it spent a weekend travelling and turned up without trouble on the date when it said it would, so full marks for them, and it seems like apart from having to deal with our UPS guy, they seemed to do the job too. So the bass is a 5 string 30" scale with wider than I like string spacing and quite a fat neck for an ibanez - nothing like an SR. It has a P pickup and a J pickup, and is passive with a tone control. It was £193. It came setup fine, and I haven't had to adjust anything at all. The tone control was loose as the bolt had fallen off the pot, but turned out I had to take them all off to get the plastic off anyway. The colour is probably best described as 'toothpaste green'. It is reasonably light compared to most of my full length basses but the headstock is a bit massive and the machineheads are large, so it is noticably headstock heavy both sitting and standing, which is unfortunate, not sure if I can do much about that. I find the headstock ugly but on a bass like this I don't mind so much. It is hugely fun to play and it is an easy thing to just pick up and play which is what is happening with it, it sits behind me at my work desk and gets picked up a lot. Sound wise it sounds great, especially the B string, which is very useable and it doesn't sound like a short string, or like you are missing anything. the P pickup is great and with mixing of the j pickup there are a lot of really useable sounds. The J pickup on its own is a bit noisy and thin, but its ok. It is definitely playing above its cost. I would have no problem gigging this - in fact at some of the more 'down to earth' venues, I almost certainly will! The bass - Pigeon for scale

Bach? Over-rated organ humper. Irving Berlin? Total amateur, couldn't read music. People who don't know stuff will disagree with me but I'm used to it.

Hey @Helen S Not sure of your budget but there are many good basses in the £200-300 range - so much so that he won't NEED to upgrade but will eventually WANT to. There are numerous threads here about budget basses - held in esteem include Sire, Musicman Sterling, Yamaha, Spector and Squier. I've owned one or more of each brand and not been disappointed, selling only because of that eternal search for the "perfect tone" - which probably doesn't exist anywhere other than between my ears. Unfortunately, if your son joins this forum you won't be able to block the Marketplace options so he will inevitably contract GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) like the rest of us older kids.

Copied to "Famous quotes" thread

Here's what I posted on the 'New Mesa Subway Head' topic. Not too much of substance on there but the TT800 topic on Talkbass is well worth a look if you've got a couple of weeks to spare - it's massive and includes a huge number of extremely informative posts by designer Andy ('Agedhorse') "When choosing a bass amp, there’s always an element of compromise. As a gigging musician, I have to look (well, listen mainly) for one that has a broad enough palette of tonal colours for the different kinds of music I play in diverse bands. That’s the practical side of things, but it’s not all. Like most bass players, I also carry within me that ‘holy grail’ sound that lives somewhere in the magic triangle between my head, my heart and my soul and grew from a seed that was planted in my teenage years. This personal ‘gold standard’ is an emotional rather than practical aspect – but it’s an equally important requirement that has to be adequately addressed by my amp of choice. In my case, I guess you would describe it as warm and round but at the same time punchy and coherent enough to cut through the live mix. So, that’s the starting point for my subjective review of the TT-800. The amp I sold to make space for the TT-800 was a Subway D800+, which in turn replaced a D800. Both of these were extremely capable, much loved, and tough acts to follow. However, the respect I have for Mesa Engineering after gigging those two amps together with the glowing reports from Talkbass forum members led me to expect even more from the TT-800. Another factor for me was my liking for the GK MB800 Fusion that served as back-up for my earlier Subways. I loved it for its punchy delivery and valve flavour but it was just too lively for me. My reasoning was that the addition of valve goodness to Mesa’s signature voicing would be just what I needed – and so it has turned out to be. The design brief for the TT-800 was for a two-channel amp that combined the best of the D800+ (the Subway channel) with the much-loved tones of yesteryear’s Boogie 400+. Sounds like a great trick if you can do it! So did Mesa manage to pull it off? I’ll start with what I’m familiar with, namely the D800+-inspired Subway channel. The short answer is yes! On this channel, you get all of the D800+ positives enhanced with that subtle valve colouring. The features that were game-changers on the ‘plus’ upgrade of the D800 are also present and correct on the TT, namely: the high-pass filter and the high and low boost switches. You truly would have to work hard to get bad sounds out of this channel. The Boogie channel is new to me, never having heard the classic 400+. My initial feeling is that this is a great rock amp offering authentic classic valve tones with all the usable sweet overdrive that I will ever need – and then some. For my purposes, it is the ideal partner to the Subway channel. I could go on about some of the more subtle features of this amp (and probably will do at a later date) but don’t want to comment further until I have used it at gig volumes – or even at actual gigs! We and our adoring public remain hopeful. Last of all, I can’t sign off without mentioning a couple of arguably trivial aspects of my TT-800 purchasing experience. My amp arrived 6 months after I placed my order with Andertons Music and had obviously spent much of that time outside Mesa’s control. I must say I was expecting the worst (it’s called the covid mindset) and was pleasantly surprised when the carton arrived looking like it left the factory the day before. Top marks to Mesa for their packaging. Inside the box, there was clear evidence that this is a company that cares. The wire wraps used to close the internal packets had been carefully – almost decoratively – tied in a way that would do credit to Harrods’ gift-wrapping department. Inside them I found a headphone adapter socket, a set of thick felt insulation pads to go between the amp’s rubber feet and your cab’s, the best user manual I have ever come across – and a wonderful black card hand-signed in white marker by no less than 14 members of the assembly and inspection teams. I can’t derive names from all the signatures but you all know who you are and, in case you ever read this, I salute you. We all know it’s often the little things that tell the true story." FYI, my background amp wise is: TE for many years, then more recently Ashdown, Eden, TC Elec, G-K, G-B, Darkglass, Ampeg then various Mesa amps as described above.

Just pulled the trigger on a Rickenbacker 4003s 5 string I am assured that Monday will be NBD...I have scheduled something in my work diary so that my boss will be under the impression that I am working on a project and should not be disturbed all day

That's my point. A lot of them aren't even mediocre.

Interesting to know that which cab is better was actually irrelevant to your choice, Al. What mattered was which cab is lighter. We could have solved that one for you three years ago.

This is an Internet forum, 90% of it is random dudes guessing - I think you maybe have got it confused with a peer reviewed academic journal or something - You asked for a logical reason why vintage could be considered different to modern- my answer was worded deliberately loosely to answer the question of “what could a logical reason be” based on things I know - but loosely enough that I might not be correct, and also I’m not going to make any claim that old wood makes better sounding instruments. But you asked for a logical reason that might apply, I provided one- discuss away . That’s how discussion forums work. Even if you disagree shouting out “What’s your source” or asking for data points that you know conceivably don’t exist, (or if they do would be hidden within academic papers beyond most of the reader’s comprehension) is a bit of a Richard move. For example “The likes of the very highly rated early 80's Japanese stuff (Squier aside) has not appreciated to the same degree as the big F (or S).“ have you got a source for that? Peer reviewed study. I mean it would be interesting to have a thread and try and work out the relative increases from retail to now On a load of high end Japanese stuff, and see the degrees of change in appreciation of different brands - but nah forget it What’s your source?

I have just finished this one, it’s mine for a change. It’s an American Ash body with a @KiOgon loom and a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder pickup. In time I will probably change the neck but it will do for the moment. It’s finished in Aged Olympic White nitrocellulose and looks pretty good I think. I’m happy anyway Jon

Let’s see some old banged up basses, let’s say nothing after 1990 and nothing which has been faked, just old basses which have had a hard, honest and well gigged life, and are now being loved in their old age. No closet classics for this thread! I will start with my 72 Jazz bass, she’s certainly had a hard life but she’s now getting the love she deserves now she’s nearly 50. Looks like she’s had the bridge ashtray on for most of her life as the original Olympic white is still actually quite “white” under there as it is under the pickguard, also some lovely wear on the maple fretboard. someone in her long life obviously thought that wearing a rather large and meaty belt buckle was the fashion of the time! She still plays lovely though and is fortunate to have survived to nearly 50 with no mods or alteration. Still have the original ashtrays but I don’t dress her up in her Sunday best very often! She was also lucky enough to come to me with her original case, also quite battered but still serviceable.

Recently found this amazing performance on YouTube. Joni Mitchell, who’s guitar work is pretty good, with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and Michael Brecker on sax thrown in for good measure. Jaco has a solo spot at around 24, but it’s his accompanying playing that I think is so good. He seems to be using a fretted jazz on track 1 before switching to the more familiar fretless. Enjoy.

BB1100s from 85

A track from Clinton Fearon released a few days ago, nice groove

Barely play? By the time they began recording they had gone through the Hamburg learning curve, gigs so long and intense they were as tight as a very tight thing and could play and harmonise without being able to hear each other. Self taught does not equal barely able to play.

I think I'm going to crash out before the end of the month.

Been looking for a nice Stingray for a while but was unsure which colour to go for. As a Runrig fan I noticed Rory MacDonald plays a Translucent Teal one so have been looking for one in that colour as it looks great. Finally found one this week in great condition and had it delivered today. Got it from Classic & Cool Guitars, great service. And it looks as good as I was expecting. Pain to photograph to show the actual colour though.

Received the new hardware ordered and couldn't resist fitting the neck and trying to get an idea of what this is going to look like...

I've overtightened the strings and I'm just leaving it for a few days, I don't need much movement so confidant it will work. I'll let you know. Thanks

Check the wires and solder points. You may have inadvertently screwed through a wire when replacing the covers. Else you may have pulled the wires and loosened the solder somewhere, either wires from the pickup, or those attaching it to the pot.

Cool Thread. Well, on "Have I got news for you", this one would be the "odd one out" as it is not a song about dentistry but sung by a trained dentist 😎

OK - in hope that this will clarify rather than further confuse...and with thanks to the folks whose photos I've purloined from Google: Objective: For buzz-free playing at decently low action of the strings above the fretboard, the neck needs to be pretty much flat However: In the absence of a trussrod, the string tension is going to do this - The string tension is pulling the headstock towards it and, because the neck is flexible, it bends. This would play buzz-free...but the action would be unplayably high. Common Solutions - Build the neck completely rigid and so the string tension cannot bend the neck. This can be done. Vigier guitars do not have a truss rod - the necks are very stiff. or - Fit a trussrod that is capable of trying to bend the neck in the opposite direction and, counteracting effect the string tension, leaving the neck straight. Truss-rods - the two common types So the trussrod's job is to resist that bending leaving the neck straight, even under full string tension. There are two commonly used designs of truss rod: Trussrod Design 1 - the (usually) two-way self bending trussrod This rod will bend independently of being in a neck or not. Turn the allen nut one way, it bends one way; turn the allen nut the other way, it bends in the opposite direction: It is fitted straight in a slot in the neck and, in the absence of any strings, adjusting the nut will make it bend, and the flexible neck has no option to bend with it: It doesn't matter whether the adjuster is at the headstock or the heel - the effect is just the same: Trussrod Design 2 - the single-acting rod Here, if the rod was not fitted, tightening the nut would not make it bend. But the way it is fitted, where the rod is anchored at both the heel and at the headstock end and the slot it sits in is, in itself, curved... ...means that as the nut is tightened, the rod tries to straighten itself. This makes the neck bend downwards. Ref the Ric issue on the pre-84 models (although their actual design is different to either of the above but the principle will be the same). You can imagine what stresses are on both the neck and the trussrod thread trying to get the turning nut to bend that stiff maple neck! But, of course, if you helped it along by physically bending the neck downwards at the headstock, the rod would straighten and the nut would feel looser. So, to take some of the stress off the rod and thread, you could pre-bend the neck, tighten the nut until it seated against the neck wood and then when you took the pressure off the neck, it (the neck) wouldn't be able to straighten again because the shortened trussrod wouldn't let it. Hopefully makes some sort of sense

There is definitely a big difference between vintage pickups and modern reproductions of '50s, '60s and '70s pickups. In my opinion, although things like hand winding/scatter wound, and the exact composition of the AlNiCo 5 magnets makes a difference, the main factor is that most modern repros are wound a lot hotter than the originals, with more resistance. Pretty much all Duncan, Fralin, Lollar, Novak, Wizard, Fender etc. 'vintage' jazz pickups are wound at around 8-10k ohm resistance. In the early '60s, I think Jazz pickups typically measured between 7-8k, and by the '70s 6-6.5k was pretty standard. I can understand why modern pickups are wound hotter - imagine spending £200 on a set of vintage reproduction pickups, installing them in your bass, and discovering that you've lost 30-40% of your output volume - the builders would be inundated with returns and it wouldn't be a viable business. However, low output means a smoother, less middy sound with more sparkle to the highs and a detail to the sound that modern pickups don't seem to get. To be fair, I think Aguilar wind their '60s and '70s vintage pickups at around 7.5k, and Fralin also offers underwound as well as overwound pickups, which while not known nearly as much as the overwound, are likely to be far more authentic. I focused on Jazz pickups as I think Precisions are a bit closer to the originals - they're wound in series and so were always higher in output than Jazz pickups anyway.

The problem is, I think, that the website shows the bass as 'sold' if someone buys it online, but if someone calls up to buy it then it'll show as in stock until someone manually updates the inventory. I had the same worry when I bought a bass I was desperate to find. I paid online and called the next day to check if I was indeed first, half expecting that the item was gone already. I was lucky but it was hard to sleep that night!! Just tell yourself that the bass could have been a dog and the right one will come along eventually...

Both cabs are amazing in quality and performance IMHO. The rest is subjective.

Cleaner...and now I have 2 guitars

Can't agree at all with @Nail Soup @PaulWarning @neilp or @TheLowDown, but hey - that's the joy of good, honest debate here on Basschat... 😁 Only my opinion of course, but Eleanor Rigby (amongst many of McCartney's other songs) is a work of absolute genius. No doubting the stunning foresight and incredible contribution of George Martin of course, and the very different, complimentary genius of John Lennon, but McCartney's place as one of the very, very best songwriters of the 20th century, is absolutely assured. In addition, his bass playing contribution is right up there too and as if that isn't enough, in 2010, he was ranked No. 11 on the Rolling Stone Magazine '100 Greatest Singers of All Time'.

Didn't he hear the door-bell..? ... ... (Sorry. )

Ah, you've touched a nerve here as I have often stated in these hallowed (web) pages that not only is Joni Mitchell (one of) my all-time favourite songwriter(s) but Shadows & Light is probably my all-time favourite live concert. (Get yourself the extended DVD version if you can). What really makes this gig one of the best (imho) is the excellent Pat Metheny (all-time fave Jazz guitarist) and Jaco ('nuff said!). You also mentioned Mike Brecker (brilliant) but I'll just give a huge shout out to the incredible Lyle Mays on keys (Pat's long-time musical partner) and finally highly-respected drummer and percussionist, Don Alias. As for Joni Mitchell's guitar work being 'pretty good' - obviously not a lead guitar player, as such, she actually 'invented' many alternate tunings for herself. In short, this was because she contracted polio as a child and found it difficult for her left hand to play regular chords in standard tuning. (There's a ton of stuff online about JM but jonimitchell.com is a good place to start).

Unbelievably good. Complex, subtle and tight. Makes all modern 'gridded' stuff sound totally crap...

Another one bites the dust All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth Cocaine Comfortably numb?