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Pics or it didn't happen......

We kicked off our 2023 gigs at the now customary Hull New Theatre, a great place. Sold out house of 1330 people who come to see us play in our 'hometown' venue every year. Always a bit of a nervous one (nobody wants to fall on their ar*e in front of a local crowd), we played well and threw in a couple of songs we've not played for years which were well received. Also significant for me as my 9 year old grandson came along, his first gig etc. He actually loved it and didn't fall asleep even after a long day at school! Home by 11pm so quite a novelty for me. Next week we're in Weston Super Mare and Wimborne so back on the road for real - hoping the weather stays mild.

I sort of agree and disagree with this point at the same time. For me (pro player of 20years) I know if somebody wants a good job then part of that is being organised. So if they can provide a set list (and maybe parts or, leadsheets or recordings in advance) then I’ll take them so that I can be as prepared as possible. The result is that I can then be as flexible as possible on the day because I’m not asking basic questions like ‘what key’ ‘or which version’ and don’t have my head buried in the music. If a booker is like unsure of what the gig is, what the setlist is etc there’s a high possibility that it may be crap and therefore worth avoiding. So for me being super organised / prepared whilst being ready to be as flexible as necessary on the night are two sides of the same coin rather than at odds with eachother. Ive worked for 20years successfully and nobody has EVER complained about me being too prepared or knowing what I’m doing on the bandstand

They were a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, like those sweat bands people loop around their basses nut for whatever reason.

And today it arrived! Not been able to plug it in, but it feels awesome.

I thought I had posted my 1993 NS-5CR here but apparently I hadn't. I actually got this one in from the Black Sea region of Russia in 2021 (obviously you couldn't do that now). I was half looking for a Spector at the time when I saw this one and I had to have it. Pretty much the dream spec for me - black and gold, dot inlays, EMG soapbars and BTS circuit, solid maple wings and 34" scale. I was quite pleased when it turned up as it sounds absolutely great. It also has the lowest and cleanest action of any bass I've ever played. It almost feels like a touch guitar, so little effort is needed to get a note out of it.

And if you wanted a skill set / job description for being a professional musician you couldn’t go wrong as a starting point with: Musical attributes: - Good understanding of the genres you want to work in - ability to read music - ability to read leadsheets - good ears & ability to play from memory / off chart - strong sense of time (!) - ability to work with a click - ability to improvise / create own bass parts (not necessarily soloing though that’s definitely a bonus) Non-musical attributes: Good reliable gear Driving licence & a working car Flexible EXTREMELY reliable and good at diary management Very good and setting goals and organising yourself (practice / preparation) Excellent communication skills That’s a quick blast off the top of my head after 20 years. There will be more

Just back from collecting a bass in Newcastle. Popped into an old haunt of mine.... 

I don't believe you misunderstood anything - it is clear to me you knew exactly what you were writing and viewed it as another opportunity to be sneery about people whose opinions and likes are mainstream. Another one for my ignore list! Marvellous

Last night's gig was again a packed house. Doing it again tonight.

My Geddy Lee. Tried many jazzes (12 in fact), from player to ultra, and this particular Geddy Lee just felt right, was finished perfectly and sounded sublime. It was the in between, the bears porridge - just right. Nothing exciting on paper but that particular one just had its mojo sorted.

Thanks Yeah, I noticed his harmonies but only in the clip. He does a nice job.When I'm playing I'm more focused on keeping the groove tight. I'm working on adding my own harmony to a few songs. I struggle with singing and playing bass at the same time. Blue

Ooh, I know, is it: a hat ?

I know they'v done this a couple of times before, but a few NOS Artist Line Warwicks have shown up on Thomann again, at bonkers prices really for 2023! P Nut £888: https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_al_p_nut_4_nb_showroom.htm Lee Sklar £979: https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_artist_line_sklarbass_i_vsth.htm EDIT* So the Sklar is a well disguised Rockbass so isn't actually a bargain, but the P Nut is from the old Artist series circa 2012 ish, well worth the money.

On my bass. Another one on the way.

Ahreet? Proudly born and raised in Newcastle. Lived just off stanhope street, 5 minutes walk to St James. Used to hear the crowds raw on a Saturday afternoon. Magic. Moved to the coast when I was 4 or 5 and moved to Yorkshire for Uni and never quite managed to leave. I'm currently saving to move back up but let me tell you, in certain areas, the North/South device isn't as wide as I would like it to be! On the coast where we are looking, I'd say its roughly £100k cheaper than an equivalent on the South Coast (where my other half lives and where my main office for work is). It's difficult to say definitively. It is cheaper, but not as much as I would like! Do we have a Geordie corner here on basschat? Would be canny to make some friends prior to me move up there!

I was just about to share one similar to that, I think there was one for sale here once like this

Now that I look, I find a Fender Japan Thinline. Hmm... Rare, but they do exist... 2012 Fender Japan Thinline Jazz Bass VMH ...

Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but since the speaker doesn't have flat response it just doesn't matter. The amp probably has an EQ pre-shape as well, most do. Where EQ is concerned set it where it sounds best via trial and error. When it sounds good it is good.

The price pretty much confirms they're dodgy. The smarter fakers would have them up at £35 or £40 so it's a tiny bit cheaper than the price all the other (legit) retailers are selling them for. That disguises them a bit. If the major retailers are selling at £45 on average then they must be paying a touch more than half that to the UK distributor. So let's say they're paying about £25 and then adding the VAT so it's £30 effectively. They'll need to be looking at a sensible profit for the business to be viable so they really have to sell at a minimum of £35/40 per set. And this will be for the big guys who can buy in bulk or have good discounts set up with their suppliers. Here's the same scenario....say a Fender Mexican P Bass retails normally for £700. Everyone is selling them for that price unless they're having a sale in which case they may be £550. Apart from one eBay shop that also sells doorbells and surgical masks doing them for £375 and claiming to have plenty in stock. Any alarm bells there? You can buy cheap strings from China for a couple of quid and spend the same on some good packaging. Maybe you've bought 500 sets and it'll cost you £6 per set in total. So an investment of £3000 will bring in £11,250. Leaving you a profit of +£8000. That's why they would bother faking the proper box.

Common people - Pulp

The Wombling song. Wombles

The only one I ever bonded with was a Japanese 1993 60s RI purchased from @GrammeFriday Here it is…

Got my second Stingray yesterday, direct from Will (as was my first). Just wanted to add a huge +1 to everything said above. Instrument arrived absolutely ready to play. Like most of us, I've bought loads of basses over the years (and had some terrible experiences!) but now wouldn't go anywhere else. This is how you sell instruments! 👍

Muting. Tend to be used either by people who do loads of tapping, or use high gain, or both.

Sainsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

You know, I think we have all got the idea now, you're a real cool guy who likes stuff that is edgy. But do you really have to keep p!ssing on everyone's chips just to keep telling us? You've hijacked a perfectly innocent thread to once again tell us you find Fenders boring. You know a lot of people, including me, like them so can't you just leave us alone.

So why post on a very specific thread about Fender Jazz basses??

Hi all, I'm pretty new here, and new basses do not come around too often for me, so I'm excited to share this - a new Made in Japan Hard Puncher TPB97. But first - what a lovely, respectful community you have here; I've thoroughly enjoyed stumbling upon this website, and the couple of dealings I've had with people on the marketplace have been first class. I love Ps, and have only gigged on two basses prior to this - a second-hand Godin PJ that lasted me 15 years before age-induced niggles made it worth upgrading, and an American Fender pro ii precision, which I owned for a year, but never really gelled with (and a number of little quality control issues were enough to put me off - although that's a story for another day). Since summer, I've been getting around the country, visiting shops, and generally playing as many Ps as I could get my hands on. It's been great fun, making a day of it with friends on a number of occasions. This Tokai was one of the first I played, and for me, none of the subsequent Ps I played felt or sounded as right to me. It also has a feel of sturdiness and quality to it, that many of the basses I played did not. The fit and finish are genuinely first class, and it has a hand-wound pickup apparently, which has a really resonant, piano-like vibe. It cost just north of a grand, so not exactly cheap, but it is lovely. Apparently, Tokai do a factory setup, and then export models get a second set-up at the closest distribution centre to the shop, so it has a nice action out of the case. It was very hard to find anything at all about newer Tokai basses online, or on English speaking forums, so hopefully this will be useful to someone who is curious about their quality. I also played some of the cheaper new Made in China Tokais, which were not nearly as nice. I've had it for a week, and I'm not gigging until NYE now, but can't wait! All in all, just a very well made P Bass, but for those who like some specs: U-shaped neck, but it measures 22mm at the first fret, so not too chunky. It suits me just right. 42mm nut. Rosewood fretboard. It comes with Gotoh hardware, GHS boomers on it, and has a compound radius (7.25 - 10). The only downside so far is that the tweed case it comes with looks lovely, but there is a bit of play in the sides, and I wonder how sturdy it will be long term.

As an exercise, try playing a simple shuffle on the hats (ting tingty-ting etc...), constant, hats closed at first. Count yourself in, and play the bass drum on the 'Two' (so one Two three four one Two three four...). No snare for now, just that for a while. Once that's going down naturally (you're 'feeling' the one-drop for the bass drum...), add sporadic cross-stick snare clicks. Anywhere in the riddum, as long as the shuffle continues and you don't lose track of the one-drop. If you do, leave the snare and pick up the pieces, carry on. It's just a matter of letting it happen, with in mind the notion of 'less is more'. an occasional hi-hat lift brings it to life, once it's all cooking. It helps, once you're able to do this 'one-drop', to get a bass in there, but it's not essential. Good luck wid it, bro...

So, I've been trying to learn to play reggae drum groves. Simple grove.. every 2nd and 4th note hi hat and every 4th note snare rim and kick. But, to keep it consistent and dynamic, it's simply bl00dy hard. I'm a metal fan ,but playing reggae is hard. At least I find it hard.

I haven't seen anyone saying anything other than positives here? Newcastle is mint and everyone knows it. If you walk along the Walker riverside you can actually see people looking over from Gateshead and Hebburn wishing they were in Newcastle.

How do you like the cosmic trigger?

And that is why I asked the question.... Surely if he can do it, why do others of us need to practice, learn music, study chord charts, and nurture a good attitude? I guess that Sid V had a short career in a single band that was more about attitude, and less about the technical aspects of the music. I would say that he was primarily a professional entertainer, and not so much a bass musician.

I might just get one because they look cool. I’ll get a matching headband, too.

Smoggies, Monkey Hangers ? Blue

What a strange question..! What would be your favourite Lada 1200 to drive as your only car (red ones count..!)..?

Like Las Vegas, it's one of only a handful of places where you can exchange chips for sex.