Dingus

I dislike the Sandberg's aesthetics myself , but others may love it for what it is , and good luck to them . To my sensibilities, though, the Stingray is an all-time classic bass , and you really can't go wrong with that . Of course they have their drawbacks and their idiosyncracies , but overall if you want that familiar punch in a familiar package , a good Stingray will give you that in spades. I personally think plenty of basses will substitute admirably well for an actual 'Ray in terms of reproducing that characteristic sound , many of which look nothing like a Stingray, but maybe it's a psychological thing that having an actual Stingray makes you play a bit differently because of all the history and associations that bass has got.

Next time she tries to take you to task about your bass tone , try and steer the conversation round to shoes. Compliment her on her choice of footwear, and then enquire politely in an interested manner about what she looks for when she is shopping for some stylish footwear. Then be prepared to withdraw into your own mind for the next two hours while she outlines in detail the complex criteria and aesthetic guidelines she has for choosing a new pair of high heels and describes in detail every single pair of shoes and boots currently on display at her local Kurt Geiger retail outlet. She will soon have forgotten all about your bass, and ,indeed, probably all about you.

It's a clear cut case of this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAF1eELjxzM

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1385329550' post='2287082'] My big rough calloused hands, of course. What else? [/quote] That's what you get for using flatwounds.

I bought a Reflex and I like to please myself. Quite often, I have no choice.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1385328996' post='2287061'] Excellent. But does it mean that [i]anyone [/i]who doesn't have a Stingray likes to please men? That's a bit of a sweeping statement. But then I quite often push the Hoover around a bit, so I'm not quite sure where that leaves me. [/quote] Depends what you using to push the Hoover with...

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1385326928' post='2287015'] I hear you dingus, but dare I say that I'm surprised my little tongue in cheek comment was removed but the thread in general discussion about the 'killers chords' is allowed to continue. [/quote] Suffice to say , some people have difficulty differentiating between making fun of an idea and making fun of an individual . When people are desperately frightened of losing control of a situation , impartiality and objectivity are usually the first casualties.

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1385325122' post='2286980'] This is basschat and you are Dingus........ [/quote] Thank goodness for that ! I remember my granny used to have episodes where she thought it was still during World War 2 and me and my brother were my dad and my uncle . I've started having similar funny turns where wake up and think it's 1983 and I'm still a young and attractive bass guitarist of some promise . I even bought a fretless bass the other day , just like I did back in those days . Regarding the comment, I have been banned before now for similarly innocuous remarks , so I would count myself lucky that all that has happened is that the comment has been removed.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1385315090' post='2286781'] What's happening to this place. [/quote] [quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1385324450' post='2286969'] What is happening to this place? [/quote] What is this place? And who am I?

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1385143812' post='2285012'] Carol Kaye always encouraged students to stay away from learning scales by rote and instead heavily encouraged (is she dead? I'm referring to her in the past tense and sounds natural) learning arpeggios. She also discouraged using major thirds and claimed to have played all the major Motown bass lines so you have to be careful with anything she says. Very generous with her time though. [/quote] My understanding of what I have heard Carol Kaye saying on this subject is that she advocates that musicians avoid [i]playing [/i]scales, rather than avoid learning and knowing them them as such . Carole knows all the scales herself , no doubt.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1385318445' post='2286846'] I agree. [/quote] Fender beat opposition into submission , and now thoe opposition have given up and said "if you can't beat 'em , join em !" Even companies like Spector , Modulus and Dingwall have to offer what is effectively a Fender bass just to survive( or not, in the case of Modulus ).

If people own these basses now and enjoy them for whatever reason then good luck to them , but the appreciation of their worth as instruments has certainly changed over the intervening decades. The Precision Special might have been better built- I remember them in the shop window in Metallic Blue and Candy Apple Red but I never played one and had only just started playing at that time and can't say too much either way - but they were not well-received at the time , that is for sure . It just made Fender look desperate to be modern by putting active electronics on something . What I[i] do [/i]remember vividly is how those Fullerton reissues were absolutely slated at the time as being overpriced and dissappointing , especially compared to the JV Squiers that were released at exactly the same time. The reviews in the music press at the time were dismissive and critical of the expensive USA basses, but effusive with praise for the cheaper Japanese guitars and basses. For anyone who doubts this , try finding old copies of Sounds magazine and International Musician and Recording World from 1982 ( but only if you really do have nothing better to do) . They were the magazines all the musos read for information about gear at that time ( goodness, this makes me feel old) and that was their verdict. I could have had a Fullerton reissue , but opted for a Squier instead based on those reviews , so it sticks in my mind. Of course, journalists can be wrong , and opinions are subjective, but when it comes to old guitars , spectacles do always seem to be rose-tinted . Every bass is an individual case, of course, but it just really facinates me how the perception of these things changes over time.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1385317920' post='2286836'] I've always been a fan of his playing on all instruments. I would guess his melodic lines come from being a piano player. But I think they did too many takes to warrent the description [i]ad hoc[/i]. [/quote] I take your point, but it still sounds very spontaneous and under-rehearsed to me, albeit in a good way, , regardless of which take this is on the recording.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1385316212' post='2286805'] They ceased production prior to these, while they downsized and revised their processes. The handful of Dan Smith-era standards I've played reflected the much-improved QC of the time. Aesthetics are subjective, and every year has its dogs and diamonds... [/quote] I remember these basses vividly, and they were poor, at best. They ceased production again in 1983/4 , and for a while Fender didn't offer a Standard series Jazz Bass. It didn't really make a lot of difference anyway, because no one was buying them . I remember all this well, because , luckily for me, back in those days my Dad's shop was opposite a Fender dealer and we were very friendly with the owners and staff. The general impression was that Fender were just trying to keep going any way they could to buy enough time to regroup , and the quality of the products was an afterthought. The first sign of better things from Fender was the Elite series , but the didn't turn up in the U.K in any numbers until 1984/85, partially because Fender U.K were trying to clear existing stock . I got one of my mates from school a good deal on a beautiful Elite 2 Precision Bass from the aforementioned shop , and that was the first one they got , and that must have been early 1985. Fender basses were well out of fashion at the time anyway, and there were far fewer available in retail stores both in the U.K and USA due to lack of demand and the relative success of their competitors . How times have changed! When it comes to this era of basses , Fender might have lost that battle, but they won the war in the long-term.

[quote name='Moos3h' timestamp='1385307672' post='2286650'] Probably no great shock but some of those were the worst basses Fender made but by god some of them were awesome! Classic and cool guitars seem to have a few of these pass through their hands, although id have to play it first to check which camp it fell into ;-) [/quote] [quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1385309434' post='2286678'] Weight aside, they're not famed for being hitty-missy...? The previous models (S7 & S8's) were a different story... [/quote] At the time, one of the ( many) problems that Fender were facing as a company was that their retailers were in a state of revolt because of the amount of unsaleable utterly crap products Fender were giving them to try and pass off to the general public . Fender dealers literally couldn't give these basses away in the early '80's , and Fender had to start offering special promotions and discounts to the dealers to get them to stock these and several other of their guitars at the time. They even ceased production for a while . If these have become sought after as being "vintage" then anything is possible. It's as if in thirty years from now Susan Boyle becomes seen to be a sex symbol. Not least of all from an aesthetic point of view, they have managed to take something as inherently beautiful as a Fender Jazz Bass and make it look ungainly by virtue of the bizzare "restyling" . Why tamper with perfection, and why tamper with it like that? Fender managed to make themselves look not just desperate but lazy and stupid, too. I remember when these basses were current , and they were the worst possible use of your money at that time.

I'm a huge fan of Macca's bass playing , and this line is pretty epic in an[i] ad hoc, [/i]off- the- cuff kind of a way. For someone who some rather silly folks ( that's no one in this discussion yet, though, I hasten to add) don't rate too highly as a bass player , McCartney has a knack for writing some of the most memorable and effective bass hooks ever. The bassline on Dear Prudence is so jaw-droppingly brilliant that I find it hard to express the full extent of my admiration , and there are so many other songs - Paperback Writer, Rain , Silly Love Songs, Coming Up, to name just a few- where Paul shows he can mix it with anybody when it comes to playing the bass. Thuddy tone ?That pick attack makes it work , but besides that, he can do what he likes in whatever way suits him , because he's Paul McCartney.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1385305933' post='2286624'] First question, Pete. Seen a doc? If its some form of arthritis then you need to be doing more than taking glucosamine. Possibly anti-inflammatories (eg Voltarol, Nurofen) and maybe something stronger depending on how serious the issue is. Go see a doc, mate [/quote] A big +1 on this point. If the pain and discomfort is so bad that it is affecting your quality of life then get to the doctors and get some proper help . There are all kinds of things that could be causing the problem , and a number of things that can be done to help make it better , but it's a job for the experts. You won't be able to put it right yourself.

I have had prospective eye on the Prodigy for a while now, but at this price you can add me to the long list of people no longer interested . For £1900 you can do better. in terms of value for money, anyway. However, I am not that surprised that they have eneded up being this expensive in the U.K . As Gareth ( MM20) rightly points out, Mesa gear has always been that bit more expensive than most of the competition in the U.K , and they rely on their exclusivity and kudos to garner sales rather than value for money or mass-market appeal. I remember playing in bands in the 1980's when the guitarist had to weigh up whether to buy the little entry-level Mesa Boogie 22 watt combo or the big Marshall rig he could get for about the same money. As WoT also rightly comments , ultimately they can charge whatever they like , and we as consumers have to decide if we are playing along with them . In this case, it looks like we are not, on the whole . These are sumptuous looking and sounding amps , but if I am paying this kind of money for an amp then I want to use it as a workhorse and there are better , more practical amps that meet that description for much less money . These are lovely amps for what they are , but at the same time, they are nothing [i]that [/i]special and not worth paying such a premium for , in my opinion . At the risk of repeating myself though, if people insist on beating themselves up with the U.S.A retail price then they need to do a much more complex equation than just converting the numbers at the current exchange rate, because tempting as that is , it gives a wholly innacurate impression of how cheap or expensive these amps are in the wider social context of each respective economy .

Amazing piece of work . Thanks for sharing that.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1385235059' post='2286000'] Sounds more like Lena Lovich than Patty Smith to me. [/quote] Wow, I was thinking about Lena Lovitch as I wrote that, actually! Lena Lovitch was the first pop star I ever met, funnilly enough. She was American , but had been living in Hull (!) . That culture shock explains a lot about her image at the time, I expect That song "Lucky Numbers" was genius. Someone ought to do a cover version , I'm sure it would be a big hit again nowadays.

I've got a Musicman bass and I like to please everybody. There, I've said it.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1385234457' post='2285989'] Really weird innit! [/quote] I used to hear a hint of Geddy Lee in Brian Molko/Placebo. , but this is a bit more blatant . It must be unintentional , though , surely . These young ladies [u][i]cannot[/i][/u] be under the influence of Canada's greatest ever export ... can they?

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1385233418' post='2285974'] Really enjoying the album. Strangely, the opening track starts with some spacey film clips stuff, then solo bass that sounds like Geddy Lee, then the band and the singer comes in, and she sounds a bit like early Geddy Lee, it's most odd [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G27S0f2FOI8[/media] [/quote] Chuffin 'ell ! It does indeed sound like Geddy Lee and Patty Smith have had a daughter who is very , very angry at them for something or other