hiram.k.hackenbacker

Nice sentiment, but I’d like to play the bass you think has as good a neck as the Lull’s or Lakland’s I currently have. Particularly the Lakland P’s.

I could pick a handful. Narrowing it down to one - impossible.

Yep. I bought them after you suggested them in one of the other headphone threads. They have been absolutely excellent 🖖.

He's still alive then! Our trumpet player used to dep with Bad Manners. He had a few tales to recount I can tell you 🤣

Bet those Alembic’s go for a lot more than the estimates.

Yes, I know exactly as it’s a number I’ve vowed not to exceed and I’m maxed out at the moment. If I want to buy another one, I’ll have to sell first.

How did you manage that then?

Hardly a red herring. If the width of the neck is too wide anyway for you personally at the nut, it doesn't matter what the string spacing is. The widest 4 string at the nut I've owned was 45.4mm. Due to issues with my fretting hand, it became less and less viable to play, so had to go.

Really pleased to hear that Tom is on the up. Sounds like he’s really been through it and I wish him all the very best for the future.

Great post Gary and I agree with 99.9% of the points you raised, apart from the inclusion of Bowie in the quote above. Being a die hard Bowie fan for what seems like forever, I’ve never understood the fixation with (choose your era really, but it’s usually….) the Ziggy phase. In reality (see what I did there?), it was a very short period in the man’s career and as good as it was, I don’t believe it to be defining. There was so much brilliant stuff that came after - and before for that matter. The difference for me, in the context you’ve given, is that The Stones, The Beatles, Queen and Kiss come with a certain expectation of what you’re going to get. I don’t believe that to be the case with Bowie. After he was done with Ziggy, his look was very different. I think he came out wearing pegs and jelly sandals to an audience that were still mainly wearing make-up and capes and he laughed at them. They didn’t know what to make of the change then and that was a theme that continued. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love all phases of Bowie including the Ziggy period. Much like Zappa, he had a phenomenal who’s who of players who were at the top of their game performing for him. The more he did and the more he had to choose from in his repertoire, the better the shows. Rockpalast ‘96 - a phenomenal performance, even taking into account his drum’n’bass phase at the time - the version of Andy Warhol is just genius. Glastonbury 2000 - suffered from illness, crippling nerves and not being on tour - some of it wasn’t great, but I watch it over and over. The BBC gig from 2 days later - awesome, probably one of my favourite sets he ever did. The Reality Tour - what a way to go out! I know it’s a bit self centered as it’s what we used to do, but if you’re going to do Bowie, do what he would have done at the end. Perform the songs to highest standard with the best people you can get and in the way he would have done it then. The songs themselves are the legacy, not the make-up and capes.

Easy one to answer for me….Gene Simmons. I heard the bass intro to this song and that was sound I wanted.

I finally got round to watching the series which I quite enjoyed, although, like most TV series, it paints a slightly different picture than reality. I thought the Lydon/Rotten character was well done. Big boots to fill and he came across as almost likeable, a term I’ve never strayed towards with the real person. They tried the same thing with the Ritchie/Vicious character, but it didn’t work for me. I’ve always thought he was an a*se and the series did nothing to improve my opinion. Vicious always was a complete waste of space. Utterly useless in the role he was given.

If I had it in me to sell one of the basses I already have, I’d be after this. GLWTS 👍

That will be a good read when you get the time to do it mate. Looking forward to it 🤘

This came up at rehearsal the other day. I think the cowbell is much maligned and underused as a persuasion accessory. I love the way Clutch use it, although it’s usually the singer who is playing it.

For what seems to be the millionth time, it's Squier, not Squire! I would probably change the player rather than the bass 🤷‍♂️.

I'm wide awake and bored so I'll wade in with my thoughts: Do you have to be a fan of the original artist, or maybe you become one? - I don't think you have to be a fan, but I would say it helps. If you're a fan, you will come pre-configured with a certain amount of knowledge of the material which should make things quicker to get rolling. So, not a necessity in my experience, but it's handy. How important is it to be visually/musically identical? How much latitude are you allowed? - I think this very much depends on who you're tributing. If it's KISS, you're rather obliged to go 'all in', but if it's Eagles, who cares? Do you ‘get into character’ or is it just a gig? - Again, I think it depends who you're tributing. It was difficult for me to know which 'character' I was supposed to be getting into as I was the bass player for a Bowie tribute. I had a Gail Ann Dorsey Stingray tribute hanging off me, but I'm not black or female, I don't wear skirts and she was playing a lot of material that was originally played by others. Does it feel musically limiting, or is it fulfilling your needs? (Maybe you have a side band?) - Personally, it never was. It was always a challenge. We had a high turnover of not difficult, but not particularly easy songs in the catalogue which had various arrangements attached to them. With my other bands, it always kept me busy. Do you have any qualms about tributes ‘stifling original music’? - None. We played. People paid to see us. Have you ever met or been seen by a member of the ‘originals’? What did they say? - Live, not to my knowledge. We were seen by some hardcore Bowie fans over the years and they're known for being hyper critical. They liked us. What is the overriding thing being in a tribute act has taught you? - You can't please all of them. There's always one or two that would say 'Bowie did' this or that on the original although we tried to remain faithful to specific versions of live versions of songs. Some had been adapted by Bowie over the years. Sometimes the key was different to the original (for good reason), the version was truncated/extended or segued. There were always the stick in the muds that lived and died by everything from the Ziggy era, but that's not where we pitched ourselves. We were very much, if Bowie was still touring, this is most likely what you would have got, not what he did 50 odd years ago. Having done it once, would you do it again? If so, would the musical angle be very different? - Done it once (Bowie), done it twice (Bon Jovi) and I'm about to do it again (Queen). Three not massively different musical angles. It has to be music I like or I wouldn't have the appeal. I honestly cannot wait to start with Queen, although finding a keys player that can also sing good backing is proving problematic.

Yeah, that really doesn't sell it for me either. If you're happy with it, I wish you good luck.

I didn't think it could look worse, but how wrong I was 🤷‍♂️

🤮 - As if the 'finish' wasn't bad enough, the pick guard screw holes just make it look worse IMHO. Fretting a signature fretless seems like a pointless exercise. Like there aren't enough fretted basses in the world 🙄

Indeed. Born 1979 🙄. A mere whipper snapper 😎

You've come to the right place. Welcome and enjoy.

I wonder how many people play the bass line as recorded vs. picking the easiest variation of that line in the chorus and repeat it?

One of teams missed the award for best team name ever last night. Should have been ‘I Am Croot’ 😎