The fasting showman

Nice bass, it's probably mentioned already but the session player James Eller has used one of these as his main bass for nigh on 40 years. Doubtless paid for itself many times over, he's had some decent gigs.

It's a pleasure, I knew that interview was kicking around somewhere! GM hits the nail on the head with one piece of wisdom; he uses flats on his P bass and rounds on the Travis Bean because that combination suits the basses he owns to get the best out of those instruments, could have saved me decades of going backwards and forwards if I had learnt that earlier as it is what I do now. Also the insight that he could use either bass for any particular song but chooses to divide use of basses across the set for his own amusement and utility....quite honest really about how arbitrary the choice is! Interesting to know that they used rehearsal takes for Heroes rather than deliberate ones, shows how Visconti knew how to get the best out of the players.

Great to hear from you again Daryl, we were worried when you didn't contribute to the Macca thread as mentioned previously! I always enjoy hearing your perspective as a working musician and also as a sincere lover of the music that made you become a musician. All the best, look after yourself Martin

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-rhythm-section/8696 Sorry, further derail but I figure that the BCers on this thread are the people who'd be interested, if that makes sense. If this attaches it's the George Murray interview from the late 70's I was trying to find. His Isolar 2 gear is listed

Glad you, OMR and Hiram have enjoyed the hijack. Some character traits really came through, fascinating insights; when Carlos Alomar said to Davis's son 'your Dad was a brave musician', implying that he would be creative when the red light was on and give a piece of music his all....don't know about you but I contrast that with the people I have played with who are just perfunctory, 'how does that song go? How fast is that one? etc etc'! And the great pieces of popular music history he has played on bear that out, some of Bowie's best music along with Master Blaster, and Do I do with Stevie W and more. Also, George Murray's answers seem as measured and considered as his bass lines, not verbose like my waffling here!

Great post, something I've often thought about and at my age (52) I'll have to be careful not to sound like I think all modern music is rubbish; there's very little modern music I like but really that is how it should be, I'm OK with that. Unless somebody has already mentioned him Bo Diddley is a great example with the song that bears his name, I think it was Wired that said that there could be a case made for that being the first sequenced record, given that all the instruments were playing to the speed of his Vib/ Trem effect that is the cornerstone of that song. Either way I've always loved that track. The Who, as previously stated are a good example, you could also cite (as well as amp stacks) musique concrete worked into a track (Baba O'Riley / Won't get Fooled) and use of synths in a band. Greater minds than me can express this better but the theorist Mark Fisher spoke of (I will use my examples, maybe his were better!) beaming a record from 1944 to 1964 and vice versa and noting the technological changes, you could do Glen Miller and The Fabs with Help, '54 to '74 you could do Rocket 88 and Autobahn, 64 to 84....I dunno early Motown and I feel for you by Chaka Khan. '74 and '94 you'd do Autobahn again and early Drum and Bass. Then you get to '94 and 2014, mmm, it get's harder. A lot of the sounds around now, and this is painful because I'm an old fella, that even crop up in Drill and stuff like that were around in late '90s Garage to my untrained ear. Also in the very late '90s Autotune had raised it's head. So I could do with somebody younger to enlighten me on what is the sound of the early 2000s or the 2010s? Is it the proliferation from the late '80s of cheaper sampling (Akais etc) into PC setups that has led to this homogeneity? I remember a brilliant documentary I think on BBC4 about the Radiophonic Workshop about the gear they built and music they made from hitting ashtrays etc, recording it onto tape, speeding up the tape, using oscillators and whatnot to create pitch information without synths; necessity being the mother of invention. Obviously now the gear doesn't hold anyone back because it outstrips our imaginations with limitless options. I hope this doesn't come across as being too negative, not my intention at all.

I couldn't believe some of the stuff they've found, one clip pans across the pages of a Davis / Murray interview with what looks like International Musician, I'd love to see a copy of that. The clips of Davis with George Benson are great also but the point is made in the George Murray interview of how incredible and unlikely it was that they all came to work together, Bowie, Alomar, Davis and Murray and make the music they made. George Murray's former life appears to be completely unknown to his family, quite poignant in some ways; he just jacked music in and got a regular job, a job that he seems to be as studious and competent in as he was playing bass in that greatest (IMO) Bowie band. Spoiler: his favourite Bowie tracks he played on are Golden Years, Heroes and Secret life of Arabia! Apologies to the OP once again for the derail but all in a good cause.

I think the immediacy of the sound is what I like about GK gear, the speed of the sound is what I like, not that I particularly play fast! It's what got me back into playing fingerstyle which to some extent I'd lost confidence with, it gives me a sound that helps me to play better somehow. Anyway I don't question it much, other than a blip where I switched to an Ashdown ABM (briefly) I'm 10 years into using GK and 6 years on the same 700rbii. Glad you like the amp anyway after all my doom mongering, shows how much I know!

Glad you like it, the whole series has some amazing archive footage including the rarest of things, a contemporary George Murray interview!

Much as I'm a big fan of GK gear, I use mainly a 700rbii and Neo 212 and I'm very happy with that setup, I've no experience of the Fusion 550 so I'll get that crucial point out of the way! I've long since gone off valves and I'm drawn to their solid state character but that's just me. I don't doubt that the Fusion 550 is a great amp, my concern would be over the sophistication of the (I think?) servo driven automation on the pots and the extent to which an amp that may now be out of production will be supported technically in the UK, you are heavily reliant on the distributors Polar Audio and I've had mixed experiences with them in the past. An obvious scenario would be the pre amp goes wrong, you're advised to get a whole new board- probably easy-ish to get in the US, but I can imagine it would be a real struggle over here. The amp would I guess be modular; pre board, power board and a torroidal transformer if it's like the RBs I have, the power amp may be the same as a 700RB I'd guess in a 550. I'm fundamentally happy with the gear I use so I've tried to drop on semi-broken amps to cannibalise (with the help of a local tech), I have an ebay £60 700rb with a good power amp transformer and preamp board and a £100 Backline 600 (my gig back up amp) that could be transplanted to an extent into my 400 rb iv. It's just parts I can keep in the garage that would be cheaper than getting something obtained from across the Atlantic with difficulty. Just my way of future proofing my gear fairly cheaply. Hope my post helps, more of an insight into the fact that with GK I'd personally either buy brand new production models or popular items second hand that are fairly commonplace, all due to the fact that distribution isn't the best in the UK.

Apologies for the slight thread derail, thanks for the original post. Just a heads up about the YouTube videos put together by Dennis Davis's family , if you search Tracing my Dad -Dennis Davis you'll find them. Obviously they have been put together by a grieving family rediscovering a musical career rather than a professional documentary maker, if you view them with that in mind you'll enjoy them if you are a Bowie fan; there's some great clips from the Isolar tours, interviews with Visconti, Alomar and incredibly a recent interview with none other than George Murray!

That's right, there's enough power to destroy the speakers but if you use your ears and are careful you'll be fine. I would make a point of setting the 4 string/5 string switch to 4 string, this will act as a high pass filter of sorts and will help to keep damaging low end frequencies from the speakers. I play a 5 string most of the time and use a GK 700rb; I always set it to 4 string and there's plenty of low end for what I want, my cab is a neo 212.

It seems post modernism is nothing new! The video isn't good but I remember Peel playing this every now and then.

Sniff sob...I used to have an original 800rb as you know Gary! Totally agree, I have used a 700rb ii for the last 5 years and it sounds great to my ears. I've recently dropped on a 400rb iv and it's good in a different way. Just wish they looked as cool as the old ones. As you have said, they are the amps I've settled after years of chopping and changing. Martin

I went from the RBH cabs to a Neo 212 and haven't looked back. I've no experience of the Neo410 but the 2x12 is quite mid forward so I have the contour knob on my 700rb at the midday position to counteract this. I really like the Neo 212, I always raise it to about a foot off the ground with a low fold up table; it's taken the place of my old 2x10 /1x15 setup with ease. My back gives me less trouble also!

I can't believe there's now two L5500s within 5 miles of each other, I'm down the road in Lichfield! Particularly if there was so few of them made, I've heard conflicting estimates.

What a great deal the OP got, mine came from BC'er Graham 1945 (thanks again Graham!) for a similar price. It's my favourite bass by far that I've owned and nothing has turned my head since I got it back in March 2016; it always gets compliments ,the sound not my playing, and sounds great whenever I hear live recordings of gigs and rehearsals. Mine is a Jan 1996 maple neck. I changed the bridge pickup to a 40J and it lost a bit of the pipe organ quality in the mid setting on the pan pot, it sounds more Jazz bass like now but with it's own character. It was translucent green but Graham had it sprayed black, it's gradually becoming trans green again!

Well said, that's exactly how I feel about my L5500! I wasn't aware of the existence of the MJ5 at all.

I've owned this for a long time... I need all the help I can get in the charisma department; I hope nobody is too horrified. Anyway, it sounds great for rootsy stuff. My G&L twangs and this one thuds and clicks!

You could do a lot worse than buying the Trace Elliot Twin bass head off BCer Ash in the Amps for sale forum. You can't lose money on it and it may help you decide which way you want to go in terms of circuit design etc. All the best, Martin

Just received a Boss OC2 from AJ; a great item, price, transaction, tracked post and everything! Many thanks, deal with confidence, All the best, Martin

Many thanks for a great deal on Pirastro upright strings, great communications throughout and great advice also. A pleasure to deal with. Cheers, Martin