Maude

Flea's slap technique isn't exactly gentle.

Who the F**k - PJ Harvey

Refinish, new scratchplate and a KiOgon loom. Job done. Is it a sensible price though?

I like the idea of this. I quite like having two volumes and two tones. My Longhorn (stop it! 😉) sounds great with the tone down on the neck PU, with a bit of tone full of on bridge PU mixed in for a clear thump. Or both volumes on full with neck tone full but bridge tone rolled back slightly gets some thick clank going on.

Nope, off to look for it now. Thanks 🙂👍

As has been said before here, it all goes around in cycles. A while ago I worked with a young lad who was really into Bloc Party, a band who appeared to have their own modern sound at the time, especially to him, and don't sound too dated even now another twenty years on. To those unfamiliar with Bloc Party, here they are. Then I blew his mind/shattered his illusion by playing him Damaged Goods by Gang of Four. He couldn't believe it was recorded twenty-five years prior to the Bloc Party track, before he was even born.

Bring On the Dancing Horses - Echo and the Bunnymen

Which makes using it the most punk thing to do. 😉 But yes, I get your point. Although I have gigged punk(ish) songs with mine. Until I started using my 4005, my Variax was my main gigging bass in my Mod/Northern Soul/Ska band, the Clash covers of old Ska tunes was about as punk as it got though, London Calling was almost there and our version of Stepping Stone was more Sex Pistols than Monkees or Merton Parkas. Gratuitous pic, Variax and attitude. I was probably trying to remember how to start the next song in reality. 😁

They don't come up for sale very often. They're also heavy as hell.

The twelve string is great, although hasn't the playing dynamics of three courses of strings, but for just being able to 'switch' to a 12 string for a song brilliant. It doesn't do harmonics well at all though, it gets all glitchy as the wizardry tries to get the harmonic of two octaves higher. As everyone finds out when they inevitably try to play the intro to Pearl Jams Jeremy. I have a spare one I'm planning to put a fretless neck on as I think the upright bass and synths will be great fretless.

Variaxi (plural?) have lovely slim necks like a Jazz, 38mm nut. I really love the neck on mine.

Time's not been kind to those!

Someone give him a whack, he's stuck! 😉

Flash Bang Wallop - Tommy Steele

D'oh, of course it was a Hondo. His first bass, the one Barney sent him to buy when Hooky didn't know what a bass was, was some plywood SG I remember, probably a Kay or something. At least I learnt my lesson after my first bass also being a ply SG, I bought a Yamaha next, bypassing another plywood monstrosity, unlike my hapless hero. 😁

Nancy Boy - Placebo

And Peter Hook with a Shaftsbury. With it being such a 'punk bass', along with the Precision, I bet quite a few fakers were doing the circuit back then.

Go With The Flow - Queens of the Stone Age

Don't rule out the 70s Japanese fakers based on weight. I have an early 70s Aria which, although I haven't weighed, can't be anything like 11lbs. It's about an average Precision kind of weight. It's an early one with a toaster rather than a hi-gain neck pickup and sounds great, you'd be hard pressed to distinguish it from the real thing on tone. Although I say it's an Aria, that's only because it left the Matsumoku factory with an Aria trussrod cover, the same bass could be wearing another brand name. It's easier to base your search on the factory rather than the brand with 70s Japanese fakers. The 70s Japanese fakers were generally excellent build quality and pretty accurate, the newer Chinese fakers, mainly sold out of DH Gate, Ali Express and the like, are not IMO worth bothering with if you want a Rick type bass. Their looks and sound are in the right ballpark, but not quite there. Their build quality is lacking as well. But they're cheap so serve a purpose. The MIJ fakers have shot up in price lately though, as have genuine Ricks, good if you have one, not if you're looking for one. A decently priced 70s MIJ is an excellent way to dip your toe in the water. There's also a few excellent luthiers making superb quality copies, if you can nab one of them at the right price it would be well worth it.

I was hoping the 'I'm out' post was a late night, alcohol fuelled strop. It seems it possibly was. Either way makes no difference as long as he's back in the fold.

Get Up And Jump - RHCP

If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles

My daughter rang me last Tuesday to say that her and her partner had got tickets to the Saturday gig... ... and that they'd got my wife and I tickets as well. I'm chuffed to bits. 😊

Howzat?

Is it over?