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Lamborghini are anything but rough around the edges these days, they're owned by Audi under the Volkswagen Audi Group and they wouldn't accept the dodgy Italian quality of old. I don't know which Lotus you own but they've massively improved in the last few years too, though price increases have reflected this. Both companies are making the best cars they've ever made (from a technical, engineering and quality perspective). I'm not sure this fits with Rickenbackers design philosophy, their designs look outdated from an ergonomics and function perspective even by the Fender P bass. If they were a car, they might be Morgan - outdated designs sold to a market that is specifically looking for for style and feel over performance.

Interesting way of putting it. Given that McLaren and Ferrari's prestige comes from their performance and luxury (or perceived quality), it would be more appropriate for Spector to be likened to Ferrari or McLaren. The Rickenbacker would be closer to a Rolls Royce - terrible performance despite the high price tag, but people will pay it because it's a got the RR badge on it. A bassist who wants a well made bass with a forward-thinking ergonomic design, a pickups and preamp combo that is versatile and high quality will go for the Spector. A bassist who wants a Rickenbacker probably doesn't care about any of that and will go for a Rickenbacker and be chuffed with the name on the headstock and the way it looks in the photos from the latest gig at the Dog and Bollock. Both manufacturers know their market and sell accordingly.

I just watched this, I enjoyed it despite not being into any of the music that was featured in it. It seems that the barrier for entry to be a rock session guitarist is low, if the sloppy, noisy rock licks in the jam songs were anything to go by, my ears were worn out from pitchy pentatonic bends by the end. Steve Lukather and Steve Vai were the two guys who could have really done with more screen time, but I suppose it wasn't a documentary about being a good musician, it was a documentary about being a musician for famous bands / frontmen. Alice Cooper came across as a decent guy, Billy Joel came across as a total knob. I suppose being swindled out of millions and divorced a few times could do that. Definitely worth a watch if you're into rock music and not a bad way to kill 90 minutes if you like music but don't care much about rock. Some of the insights are interesting if not particularly profound - you play for a famous guy, you tour the world, you get sacked out of the blue and go back to painting houses to make ends meet until the next gig comes along.

That is a superb instrument, I played it many years ago when it was with a previous owner. Imo still the most desirable bass ACG has ever produced. Congratulations to Alan for the accolade with the magazine, well-deserved. I hope NAMM is a success for him and wins him some international orders. His instruments are excellent and fully deserve the attention of the worldwide audience.

Jonas Hellborg's "Kali Ghat", no tabs or notation available so I transcribed it by ear, some of the bits were pretty tough as I was transitioning to bass full time having come from guitar, but I was glad to get it in the end and I love playing it.

You'd expect him to have been prepared, but in about 14 years or so of playing guitar I can only recall breaking maybe two or three strings in that time at a maximum. As long as your saddles are decent quality and free of burrs and the nut is cut correctly, how do you break a string? Bending too sharp on strings that are way, way past their best?

I'd give a testicle to own a Peavey Pallaedium. Shame they seem very rare on the market these days, then when they do come up for sale they go for peanuts.

He's a better player than he lets on in AAF, he used to be in a Primus cover band iirc, which is a bit more demanding than AAF from a technical standpoint at least. His Fender signature is an interesting one, I would imagine you can still order one if you really want but it wouldn't be cheap as they are hand made by the master craftsmen. It was built to replace a very similar bass which can be seen in the music video for their song "Movies", which was destroyed in a bus crash.

Tony Macalpine during the era of the first CAB album. I also think I would gel pretty well with Greg Howe.

In terms of teachers they don't tend to come much better than Jeff, his approach is all about learning music, instead of wasting time with frippery - not everyone likes this approach though, as some people have made careers out of "how to get gigs" or "how to slap" lessons. He is an absolutely monster player and improviser too.

Not my cup of tea and I've never thought a great deal of his playing or the stuff he writes. He certainly knows how to write a money-earner though.

By Bill's own admission they were a horrible company to work with, Brent Hinds left for the same reason. Obstinate, slow, incompetent, much like the rubbish instruments they produce for a laugh. I'd never want to be associated with them after they advertised guitars on their website using photographs of guitars with the famous broken headstock.

I don't mind davie504 too much, I can't really say I enjoy his videos at all and they have virtually no musical value, but he is easy to ignore and if he gets a few kids interested in bass then that's a good thing I suppose. He technically isn't clickbait either as you know what you're getting. On the other hand, I find it particularly distasteful to see stuff like "Three reasons why six string basses SUCK!!!" and then trying to get people to hand over money for "lesson" on how to get gigs or "slap workout" rubbish.

Best Purchase: Warwick Thumb BO 5 - the bass I've always wanted. Sounds fantastic, I even like the ergonomics. Best value: Adamovic Jupiter fretless 4 - Picked it up for a great price, the materials and workmanship are superb. Worst: This is my "worst", a Spector Euro 5LX - a fantastic bass once the internal preamp trim pot had been turned down, but 35" scale is not for me, so I sold it on.

I've got an all ovangkol bolt on Thumb 5 and the growl is supreme, For that reason alone I prefer the Thumb to the Streamer. I actually don't find neck dick to be too much of an issue but I do wear it pretty high so the curved body is rested against my side at the height to make it sit nicely on a strap. The major ergonomic issues with Thumbs imo are weight and the distance to the first fret due to the way the bass hangs on a strap. I don't find either a problem, weight is a byproduct of using those amazing African hardwoods and the stretch to the first fret doesn't affect me, but I am not a tiny bloke so that helps.

This is my recently acquired Adamovic Jupiter 4. Crappy photo, taken on a dull day. You may recognise the studio photos, which show off the figuring of the wood a lot better.

They obviously knew the writing was on the wall when they split the company, they must have been losing too much money. That said, I'm sad the Carvin name is gone, Kiesel doesn't have the same meaning, not to mention the new direction Kiesel are taking involves some pretty greasy tactics. it's a real shame.

I do this, thumb on the B when I'm playing the E, on the E when I'm playing the A and on the A when playing the D or G. I've never found it difficult but I learned my right hand technique playing acoustic 6 string guitars. If you want to play fast or intricate fingerstyle patterns on an acoustic you need to have your muting down because it gets really noisy otherwise and this was handy to transfer over to bass. Janek Gwizdala has pretty much the same right hand technique as me - not that I'm claiming to have even 10% of his ability, but iirc he used to play classical guitar before bass, so probably had a similar route to me.

It's funny how much ire slap seems to draw. People don't see to get so worked up about being "tasteful" with their fingerstyle for example.

I quite like Scott when he isn't in "full promo" mode, some of his lessons do have some genuinely useful content. For someone who could lay his hands on just about about any bass he could imagine, his obsession with P basses does make listening to his content a wearing.

I've got an Adamovic Jupiter 4 fretless, it's a singlecut and looks like quite a large piece of wood when viewed in a photo, but it's mystifying how light and small it is in person, I suppose limba and redwood isn't that heavy. On the other hand, I've got a Warwick Thumb 5, all ovangkol, typically tiny Thumb body and just a regular neck, not a broadneck, and it weighs an absolute ton. However, I wear it on a short strap and don't struggle to play it standing, I like the way it sits on a strap and don't think it would be an issue to gig with. I've played some Jazz basses that have weighed ridiculous amount, and I find the weight to be made worse by the flat back on the body and the way they sit on a strap, the design of a bass can go a long way to disguising the weight depending on how the weight is distributed and how it hangs on a strap.

If I buy new or a pristine used instrument and I put a ding on it, I'd be annoyed with myself. If I buy a used instrument with a few marks I tend to be a lot more relaxed with it. I still look after my gear, don't gig and I clean it down after each time it's played, but I don't lose any sleep over marks. They're made to be played.

Squier Vintage Modified is a good shout, I remember my brother having one when they first came out and it was a nice piece of kit.

My new old Adamovic Jupiter fretless.