DaveFry

2014 ; first ever gig on bass ! and first time playing in public in 30 years. Back in the summer I carried my cheapest-of-the-cheapest double bass down to the local Seaside Festival and played and sang solo for 1/2 an hour on the roof of the cafe where my niece's husband works . Got a free breakfast and aching ribs the next day . Thinking about applying for a busking licence next year . 30 years ago I was workiing piano/lead vox 6 nights a week when I decided to give music a rest for a couple of weeks . Didn't play a thing for 25 years and gave all my instruments/gear away . Now I have arthritis in the little finger of my right hand and piano is painful so I took up DB 2 years ago . Hard work , but you only play one note at a time and you get two hands to make it with ! And you can dance with it . Wish I had taken it up years ago ... See what 2015 brings .

A guitarist I play with sometimes claims he has to play loud because he is deaf . When asked what caused his deafness he replies " I used to have a Mesa Boogie 4x10 " .

After smashing his favourite Precision on stage with the Clash , bassist Paul Simonon designed and built an unbreakable instrument known as The Simonon Stick . It was used as a vital ingredient in the MacArthur Park cake mix .

Another happy new owner reporting in here . I collected my 4 string fretless from a friend's address yesterday , tuned up and removed the plastic wrapper from the battery and .... it is fine . Minor faults ; Tuners slightly out of line 5p-sized scuff on one side near the o/p jack , hasn't gone through the poly Tiny bubbles under the headstock decal Surprise good points ; Allen key supplied in the box Two strap buttons Stings are better than I expected ( so far ) It has the " D " stamped on the heel. I am flabbersmacked/gobghasted for the £36 (Jersey-no VAT) price . Curiously the printed label glued inside reads " HB B30FL NT " which is correct , then below that " 5 string fretless " which isn't because it is a 4-string !

This was so good I just listened to it twice ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLVLXTf3eeI[/media]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1417288811' post='2618910'] £42 for a four string fretless. And I have some review credit that would cover the postage... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_30_nt_fl_acoustic_ba_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...tic_ba_deko.htm[/url] [/quote] I ordered one of these on Sunday . Tracking says it has reached Cologone already . The curious thing is that the page shows they ( the Deko £42 ones ) are still available . Further research shows the regular ones are £115 ( [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbb30ntfl_fretless_akustikbass.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...akustikbass.htm[/url] ) , there is one B-stock in stock for £97 ( [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_30_nt_fl_acoustic_ba_b_stock.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._ba_b_stock.htm[/url] ) , and three Decoration-only left ( presumably after mine ) for £42 . I wonder what the differences are . Curious .... Of course I'll report back when it arrives .

Mike Oldfield's sister plays a Mustang bass too fast .

Fanfare For The Common Man ELP And I realised after I posted that I should have indicated that the last f ^a ^c should start a ninth below the previous g . Famous Solina intro ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgpnlLz7WR0[/media]

Oooh yes . I used to have one . Select the brass pre-set and play ; ( ^ means higher pitch , ie go upwards , if not go down ) g ^c ^g c ^g f ^a f c g f ^a ^c c (same note ) ^e ^g f ^a ^c e g c ... and that was that sound on the record

They have the sheet music books for that sort of thing in my local library if that's any help . ( Also try searching for Songs Of The Forties . )

After losing their lead singer , Queen changed their name to " Right Fred's Dead " . Similarly , The Jackson Five now appear under the name The Jackson Four .

Well folks , we've had the Bazantar ( [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/52402-bazantar/page__p__2104858__hl__bazantar__fromsearch__1#entry2104858"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry2104858[/url] ) , now a guy in Instanbul has invented the Yaybahar . It seems to have two strings and frets , be played upright with a bow , but has what look like two reverb springs attached terminating in resonators . [url="http://www.visualnews.com/2014/11/04/new-acoustic-instrument-sounds-like-digital-synthesizer/"]http://www.visualnew...al-synthesizer/[/url] ( in the first video he starts bowing at 1:20 )

I hope this reply fits in a thread on the future of improvisation . After 1hr12mins08secs in on this video the 74 yr-old improvises along to some loops using his home rig which he had transported on-stage for the talk ; We don't hear the first addition to the loops until after he has played it , but we hear the subsequent additions as he plays . [url="http://youtu.be/rUUVaOkUcS0?t=1h12m9s"]youtu.be/rUUVaOkUcS0?t=1h12m9s[/url] - I kept expecting to hear Jaco join in

Yes , In the first section ( 100 crotchets per minute ) the tempo of the quavers would be 200 per minute . The " quaver = quaver " instruction says to stick to the same 200 quavers per minute tempo , but the time signature changes say to feel the beat in groups of three ( as opposed to groups of two in 4/4 ) . Hth .

Worst ? The night the hotel manager approaches us on stage and says ; " The wife of the guy who has hired the place for tonight wants to sing a song . " ........ Cue midget mail-order-Thai-wife screecher who makes Yoko Ono sound okay . Doesn't know the song or indeed even the lyrics and convinces the husband that we were trying to make her sound bad .! .

Well ,... It has been 24 hrs and no correct answer yet so I'll spill the beans and hope someone else has a go at continuing the thread . The answer is ; Emory Gordy Jr. And here he is back in '77 on UK tv doing a brilliant job of the old two-chord Chuck Berry number : ( applause smilie ) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6fdib3GBI[/media]

Close , but no hamburger . This guy is a multi-instrumentalist ( including French Horn ) but quit touring in the early 80s and became a Producer .......

Ooh I'll have a go then ! This bass player played for ; Elvis Neil Diamond Rufus Thomas Billy Joel Tom Petty Emmylou Harris ......

I have one that used to be Blue . It yellowed over the years down here in my sunny island and became Green ; However my other Green one has the Green Tone , agreed . ; Carvin LB 76 , maple neck and wings , ebony board. " Soft as an easy chair , Fresh as the morning air ... "

More tootlingtrumpy ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvK3gyE5GNA[/media]

Wow . [media]http://youtu.be/vC9Qh709gas[/media] The folk song at the end makes me want to sit down and chart out all the possible harmonics on a fretless and write a ditty . - One of these days ....

Herbie Hancock talks about a night in '67 when he thought he made a cock-up , but it was jazz , at 1:01.10 ...... [media]http://youtu.be/EPFXC3q1tTg[/media]

Here's a man who should know talking about it at 11:50 ; [media]http://youtu.be/qaa1axJ63Qg[/media]

Not exactly Gear Porn , but a 26" scale Johnson with a 34" Squier for scale ....

I have fixed the ear rattling in the stem problem before on an Epi EB by smearing clear silicon bathroom sealant in the gap and removing excess with a damp rag .