rushbo

Geddy Leg of Rusk?

A Zoom B9.1ut. They tend to go for £200 second-hand. I had one for a couple of years and I loved it, only switching to a Zoom B3 as it had a smaller footprint. You've then got £100 to spend on a round of stiff drinks (to calm your tattered nerves) and a chippy tea on the way home.

I saw the Stones at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry a few years back. A friend of mine had scored super-cheap tickets so I went along to sneer at the old geezers deluding themselves. They were superb. Jagger was on top form - vocally and physically. it was a two and a half hour show and apart from two numbers where he went offstage and let Keef do the heavy lifting, he was faultless. The band were great and the setlist was a well thought out combination of hits and fan favourites. My preconceptions were completely eviscerated. The point is, they can still do it. Others (all the usual suspects who have been named and shamed in this thread already) can't do it like they used to do it. And yet they're still playing to enormous crowds. Punters go to shows for a variety of reasons - one of which is to share an experience with a bunch of like-minded people and be transported to a time in their life where they didn't have to deal with negative equity or sciatica. Musical excellence isn't at the top of their wish list. They want to be present at an event. About 15 years ago, I saw three gigs in succession: Neil Young, Motorhead and The Searchers. Sadly, Young and Motorhead sounded tired and lacklustre and I swore I'd never go and see them again. The Searchers were fantastic – great singing and playing and a healthy dose of good-natured banter and self-deprecation. Around the same time, I went to see Brian Wilson. He basically sat at an electric piano and did the occasional, semi-audible backing vocal. The band and the songs were brilliant of course and I thoroughly enjoyed the gig. And I can say that I've been in a room at the same time as one of my heroes. Sometimes, that's enough. Attendance isn't mandatory at these events. You can either hang on to your memories of young men and women in their prime, or you can dive into nostalgia, suspend your critical faculties and enjoy the moment.

I'd love to see the sales assistant's face if you went in to a guitar shop and after trying out a bass you said, "That's OK, but have you got something a bit more faint, dull, and lacklustre." ...to be honest, every time I've ever seen the term "dark" being used to describe bass tone, I've scratched my head. And yet I know what a bright tone is. Hey ho.

That's pretty much a sampler platter of everything I dislike about bass guitar styling. But... It does look beautifully made and although they are super-cheesy, I love the fret markers. If you're in a super-upscale Goth band, that's got to be the Gold Standard of bass luthiery.

That was outstanding - I wasn't familiar with the band or the tune, but going on this example, I think I'll dig them. Kudos, sir.

That's all lovely, but make sure you don't overbalance and fall over. That's a level of multitasking I can only aspire to. I'm just delighted that someone got the reference...

Today's Winner of the Internet is upside downer. Some of these are genius, especially "Paxman."

I didn't think I did, but now... that's the only one I want. Well, maybe "What’s the New Mary Jane" as well.

Are all the Beatles songs available in split format on Rock Band? I thought Giles Martin separated about 45?

In an attempt to drag the thread back on the right track... Although it would have been great to have the facility to listen to isolated bass tracks back when we first picked up our basses, we were forced to use our ears to try and work lines out. We may have got it wrong more times than we got it right (I certainly did) but we spent a lot of time doing accidental ear training. And that's not a bad thing.

I have to admit, I used to get really annoyed when people would have a go at The Beatles. Now, I just roll my eyes and get on with my day. Regarding the tone on the YouTube video that has prompted this thread, I'm guessing that the original uploader used one of those clever AI things to isolate the tracks. While they're good, they're far from perfect and they tend to make the "isolated" copies sound a little warbly, to say the least. I'd imagine if you dug out the mastertape, the original bass sound would be a lot richer and fuller. As for the intonation... yep, it's not perfect. But in the context of the completed song, it's decent. And if it got past the scrutiny of George Martin, it'll do for me. The early-mid era Beatles records are generally snapshots of four blokes playing together in a studio. If one guy fluffed something, if the rest of the track was good, that was the take they kept. When the band ceased live performances and practically moved into Abbey Road, performances got a lot more polished. And Macca was playing a Rickenbacker by then so his playing became less "approximate" beyond the seventh fret. It's OK to not like The Beatles. It's OK to pick faults at their deficiencies. But in spite of dubious intonation and questionable tone, they did OK, didn't they?

It looks like perfectly normal wear to me. ...or maybe someone passed a sander over the top bout once, got bored and then dropped the bass on a concrete floor a few times.

Blimey! I thought I was a Zoom fanboy, but you win! I loved my B9.1ut.

My #1 - A Squier bitsa with a three way toggle switch and Entwistle pups. The nicest neck I've ever played.

I've had a number of nice 5 string basses which I intended to use in my R&B band. When you're playing quite a few 12 bar progressions in 'E.' its very useful to be able to play them without having to shift your hand position to use the open note. Sadly, due to lack of aptitude and lack of patience, they've all since been moved on, although I have recently put a 5 string Bitsa together which I'm messing about on.

TDK made the SA100 tape - 50 minutes each side. The SA was my tape of choice for sound quality (on my fairly modest, 1984 Pioneer stack system and 1985 Ingersol "Walkman.") A mate of mine warned me against using chrome tapes as they wore out the play heads (apparently.) This may, of course, be bullshine.

Oh, yes indeed.

My favourite album which was released in '85 is "Crashing Dream" by Rain Parade. I didn't hear it until '86 when I started my desperate scramble through all the "Paisley Underground" stuff coming out of the US.

I still play it often - although it's littered with things that nail it to 1985 ("s-s-s-s-s-s Sony!"), it still sounds really fresh and exciting and there's not a duff track on it.

My tastes expanded in '85 when I started to work at Virgin Records in Birmingham. I went from a rocker who liked a bit of pop/indie to the smart alec music nerd that I am today. In heavy rotation at Rushbo Towers at various points in 1985 would have been: Ratt: Invasion of Your Privacy Prince: Around the World in a Day REM: Fables of the Reconstruction Suzanne Vega: S/T Big Audio Dynamite: This is BAD

That looks great - the back looks bloody gorgeous! I'll cast another vote for a pair of Bakelite "chickenhead" knobs. The only thing on the bass which is less than gorgeous (IMO) is the control plate - I think I'd have gone with a curved MM style one - reliced, of course. The finish and the colour scheme are lush - good work, fella!

I've only recently discovered "my brand" which are Rotosound RB35's. They tend to be about £17 everywhere. I use flats on a couple of my basses and unless I see a set or two at a good price second-hand, I'll go for an Olympia or Adagio set from eBay.

This: Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way anti-relic, but this is just... wrong. It's as if someone really wanted to play a game of "Hangman" but only had a Chinese P Bass copy and a sharp stone to use. The bass looked quite nice once.