peteb

Any transcription (tabs or dots) is only as good as the person transcribing it and the amount of effort they are prepared to put into it. I have seen plenty of tabs that are pretty accurate, but there are too many done by hacks who don't want to put in the time to get it right (or have dumbed it down for a target audience who wouldn't be capable of playing the original part). Either that or done by tone deaf American students / bedroom players who have just downloaded the tablature software but have no ear at all...!

Last night’s gig was great, the Led Zep tribute played a packed social club in Grimsby. We played really well, the audience was great – all in all, a top gig. Unfortunately, the gig itself was rather overshadowed by the journey there – my clutch went on the motorway on the way to the gig! I managed to drive the last 30 miles or so in 5th gear and eventually broke down at the first roundabout once I got to into the town. I’m still waiting for Green Flag to recover my car back to Bradford, and I am going to spend every penny of my gig money from what was looking like a pretty lucrative February on an expensive new clutch for my old Volvo. That’s not to mention that I need the car recovered, new clutch fitted and back to me in time to drive down to South London on Friday for a gig at the Boom Boom Club! Obviously, there are worse things happening in the world, but still a hassle / cost I could do without…

It was a while ago, but I think that he was on the black stuff. Who knows? I do remember that me, Webby & Fergie were on it until four in the morning!

Yea, Webby is a good bloke. I got very drunk with him once at Colne Blues Festival...!

Back in the 80s when clubs first started being obliged to let females through the door, there was a club in Brighouse that, after some consideration, graciously allowed women to enter and even to buy a drink at the bar. However, there was a line on the floor that females were not allowed under any circumstances to cross, as it was a bridge too far to allow girls anywhere near the snooker table!

So more in Cambridgeshire then and only a half hour drive from Bedford / Luton, etc. Might be more of a scene around there??

Where in East Anglia are you? Not exactly the rock and roll centre of the UK, but a (very good) drummer of my acquaintance does run a jam night in Ipswich on Thursdays (https://www.facebook.com/Webbys.Jam/)

All the girls I know who do play in the bands tend to be quite happy to be 'one of the boys' and wouldn't be the slightest bit bothered about things like that. Lets face it, you have to have a certain attitude (not to mention a pretty thick skin) if you are going to get anywhere playing in bands - I would imagine even more so if you're a girl...

But this is the internet and people have got to have something to talk about, otherwise I would be forced to watch attention seeking Aussies in ‘Married at First Sight’ with my other half! However, it does beg the question, what if it wasn’t just some loser who’s never played a gig and was actually by a working band or otherwise worthwhile musical enterprise? FWIW I was once in a band in a similar situation. It was an original hard rock band back in the mid 80s (you know the thing, big hair and leather trousers, etc) put together by a hotshot local guitarist with a bit of a following. We made it known, via the local paper, that we were looking for a lead vocalist. One of the first to put themselves forward was a girl singer but unfortunately, she wasn’t considered at all despite having a pretty credible voice and look. Obviously, she wasn’t best pleased that she wasn’t at least given a shot, but it was the right decision at the time. We were going for a certain image and feel and we didn’t think that a girl singer would be the thing, regardless of how good she was. We are also very aware that we would be forever known as the ‘band with a chick singer’! He would deny this, but there was also the unspoken consideration that having a girl onstage might take attention from the ‘star’ guitar player! I think that things are a bit different these days and certainly I know of a few of that type of rock bands doing the circuit with female members, which is definitely progress. For some reason, they tend to be bass players.

I agree that a decent set-up makes a hell of a lot of difference and can make a cheap instrument play like a mid-level one, but the build quality on the Fodera (or an Alembic, etc) is a different thing altogether and yes, they are easier to play, as evidenced by Cosmo: Exactly!

Nearly a month - not bad...

The thing is that it probably would...! I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play.

A Gus might be alright for a Sigue Sigue Sputnik tribute band, but otherwise why would I want a bass guitar that looks like it was designed by someone who used to work in the props department of Blake's 7? Generally I want something that actually looks and sounds like a bass guitar for most of the gigs that I do. To be fair that is something that would put me off some of the more expensive 'coffee table' Fodera models.

I think that a Fodera has become a shortcut to describe any expensive ‘boutique’ bass – it could equally apply to an Alembic, F bass, Ken Smith or whatever. FWIW, the best bass I have ever played actually is a Fodera. The build quality was out of this world, really impressive, it played like a dream and the preamp was ace and it just sounded great. I could easily afford one if I wanted to, I would just have to sell a few basses to do so. The thing is, as good as the Fodera is, do I need it? I have a £2.5k ‘super jazz’ that works great with most of the gigs I do and a 70s Fender that is really cool for other gigs. I’ve also got a nice Stingray that I really like – would I want to sell all three to afford a Fodera, as good as it is? I did once consider buying an Alembic Epic many years ago. However, when I went down to the old Bass Centre to try one, as soon as I picked it up I realised that the neck just wasn’t for me (purely subjective of course). I didn’t even plug it in! A guy I know does have an Alembic (Series 1, I think). A great bass. He had the opportunity to get it secondhand for £3k or so, so he sold a couple of basses and has since used it on a couple of hundred gigs or so, mainly pubs or clubs. If you were to try and tell him that he shouldn’t be using a bass like that on semi-pro gigs, he would think that there was something wrong with you!

I would say with something like a Fodera (based on my limited experience of having played one) is that the build quality actually makes it physically easier to play cleaner. I remember Phil Nixon used to tell naysayers to sit down and play one and that things they found difficult on their own basses would be easier to pull off on a Fodera.

I could be wrong, but I thought that only applied to credit cards and not debit cards?

If we're being honest, if a professional person working full time can't afford £3k as a one-off luxury item, then we really are in trouble...

There is no reason why a punter should know or care about what bass you use. If they do, it is likely to start and finish with Fender, the older looking the better. What punters are very good at, is comparing what your band sounds and looks like compared to the band they saw the other week. If you were to ask regular punters who know nothing about gear or playing who the best local bands are, you will find that they generally get it right! Band leaders just want you to turn up with great sounding gear that is suitable for the gig. If you want to give them confidence at the audition / first gig then turn up with a decent bass / gear.

No one has mentioned Glenn Hughes - a tendency to perhaps oversing at times, but what a voice and a good bass player as well...

Maybe, but I think that driving a rock band like Whitesnake and projecting to thousands of people is a different skill set to playing clubs with Back Door or Alexis Korner. Just because you are very good in one musical setting doesn't mean that you are equally good in another, even if it may be technically less demanding. As a postscript, I briefly met Hodkinson when he played with Ten Years After when I as working at the Colne Blues Festival a few years ago. A great player and he seemed to be a very affable chap!

That's an interesting one. Hodkinson didn't look very comfortable playing relatively simple Whitesnake songs and it was thought that perhaps he was better playing his own more complicated material. Certainly he was replaced after one tour by a returning Neil Murray.

Both of those seem a bit heavier than mine, especially the 5 string (mine tips the scales at just on 10lbs). Having said that, I did like the orange colour (missed out on one here) and ended up with a natural one (that looks great as well). As you say, it is a shame that they don't seem to have a physical shop. From what I can work out, they appear to be based just around the corner from Bass Direct!

I think you will find that will be, to all practical purposes, as good as any super jazz around at what is a pretty decent price. From looking at the website, I see that they also have an early, old logo 5 string in a candy orange finish for £1,449. That has to be worth a look as well.

I did sell my original 70s P bass that I cut my teeth with and always regretted it. However, about 18 months or so ago I managed to buy it back! It was actually quite emotional getting it back and I certainly have no intention of ever selling it again. I have to be careful about saying never, as I have sold basses that I never thought I would in the past. I have an Xotic active jazz that I can never see myself parting with and a 91 Stingray that I got from a friend that I will keep (I've moved Rays on in the past and regretted it and then gone out and bought another, so I'm going to try and keep this one).

I have a couple of Xotic XJ basses (4 string & 5 string) and the four string has been my main go-to gigging bass for years. I could go as far to say that the four string is as good as any jazz bass that I have ever played and stands up to any comparable active jazz around (including Sadowsky Japanese built Metros, etc). My one has the old headstock logo, the excellent Lindy Fralin pickups, the original HipShot hardware and the Tri-logic preamp. I have never really bonded as much with the 5 string (a newer logo version), but then again I haven’t played it as much. I certainly prefer the Fralin pickups on the older models, but the fiver sounds good. It is a very nice bass and more than meets my needs for when I need a 5 string, but I really need to play it more. Price wise, I picked up the 5 string secondhand for £1.4k, which seems about par. I paid £1.6k for the 4 string (not long after they had come out), but I have seen them go secondhand for as low as £1.1k. As far as the weight goes, the standard XJ series is meant to be ‘mid-weight’ rather than very light. My 4 string is 9.5lbs and the 5 string just on 10 lbs, which is fine for me. I’ve just looked at the Miura website and their take on a jazz bass sounds very interesting.