thisnameistaken

Speaking of Springsteen he most definitely was skint before he started selling records. I used to live in that neck of the woods and I know a guy who used to accept IOUs from him for pizzas. Nice guy too everybody speaks very highly of him. Bon Jovi not so much.

Nice looking bass.

[quote name='redroque' timestamp='1361277856' post='1983705'] Both great bands in their time and liked by people at the time. As you are obviously all (most) under 25 and were not born when On Through the Night and New Jersey came out, you are clearly well qualified to throw ridicule at music your Dads listened to. In 15 yrs time, remember your attitude when your children laugh at the old man tripe you are currently listening to[/quote] I'm 38 and remember when New Jersey and Slippery When Wet came out. There are records from that time that I still listen but they aren't radio rock with cheesy lyrics about cowboys.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1361272069' post='1983569']I reckon Bon Jovi just about come out in front because they're really American. Def Leppard are from Sheffield but pretend they're American. Also, at least the Bon Jovis can spell properly.[/quote] Not so! The man's name is John Bongiovi. True fact.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1361208671' post='1982824']Saw a docu with him once where he complained endlessly about modern sound having no bass; the prog was a kind of oddysey that he was on to perfect his bass tone. You couldn't help but admire his love & obsession with what he did, but his end product didn't seem to show any signs of it. Right or wrong I put it down to his loss of hearing. With all of his massive backline he said the reason Townsend almost always faced him on stage was because if he (JAE) couldn't see Towensends hands on his fingerboard he was lost & had to wing it until he could again.[/quote] Yeah I found it odd that he ended up with such a massively complicated bass rig and the more complicated it got the worse he sounded. I suppose there are a lot of players who are always chasing something with gear and he was no different.

Bless Norwood. That's why I've got a Thumb bass.

The main thing I remember about those two bands is the size of the stages in their videos. Can't really remember the music...

[quote name='achknalligewelt' timestamp='1361194138' post='1982470'] I agree with the thesis of the question - slapping out hemisemidemiquavers at 200 bpm is a great talent, but outside of a very particular genre of music, it is also utterly useless. [/quote] Not only that, but it would require a lot of someone's practise time to maintain those sort of 'chops'. For most players that is going to be a massive waste of time. [quote name='achknalligewelt' timestamp='1361194138' post='1982470']A great bassist is one who can always do what the music requires, and then add a layer of personal interpretation on the top. Knowing what the song needs and how they can fit themselves into that hole is one of the fundamentals for a bass player. To be a great, they then have to be able to mould that hole around themselves and make the line they want to play work.[/quote] I'd agree with most of that, but with 'bass player' replaced with 'musician'. It's not specifically a bass player skill. I think particularly for bass players it's important to bring some variety and colour or you're just going to be another mouth that needs feeding. You need to contribute as much as anyone else, preferably more. I also rate Alex James BTW. And I think Entwistle's bass often sounded awful, and he often sounded bored.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1361021654' post='1979881'] I'd imagine the Thumb SC is better in this regard. [/quote] Given that my Thumb NT 4 weighs more than my mate's Stingray 5 I shudder to think what it would be like with just one cutaway...

I've never had any friends who were impressed by bass playing.

I've never had a bad Yamaha and I've had a few, one RBX and a few BB models. I've only had one Squier but I've still got it 4 years later so apparently that's a pretty good bass too. I'm sure Ibanez also make good beginner stuff since they've been doing it for so long but I don't get on with their necks.

[quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1360867578' post='1977694'] might just be the NT's then because my old 2000 model had huge neck dive and it was a real effort to play a low F [/quote] My '91 NT doesn't have any neck dive. The first fret does seem a bit too far away though, I'm 6'3" and have fairly normal arms (must add this to my online dating profile).

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1360969358' post='1979369']Just come on to this thread. To me the bassist plays for the song, whether it be one note or a hundred. I think Elvis Costello's bassist is a great example, and also the guy in Madness.[/quote] I think I rate bass players by these sorts of standards. It's the earliest music I remember, from when I was really little. Madness, Specials, Attractions, Blockheads, Joe Jackson, etc. They've all got memorable bass parts in their music but there's no over-playing. Whereas by the time I was a teenager and I got 'my music' the bass had taken a bit of a back seat. The most audible bass player was Kim Deal (who I really rate, for the record) and most bands I listened to didn't really have any strong ideas coming from the bass. Acid Jazz happened a couple of years later but looking back that was just warmed-up funk really and didn't sound as honest as the funk stuff that came before. The americans still had some interesting bass players though in bands like Fishbone, Primus, Mr Bungle etc. But that was all a bit over-the-top and didn't (still doesn't) really relate to what I was doing. I wonder if a lot of guys who are big fans of the clinic / trade show bassists have grown up with much good bass playing in pop music to listen to, because it seems to happen in cycles.

I've found playing a 5 or 6-string bass is almost exactly the same as playing a 4, only annoyingly heavier. I think some people confuse bass playing with juggling. Juggling 5 things is probably a lot harder than juggling 4 things. Fortunately bass playing isn't the same thing as juggling.

There's one I did when I was 17 that I think I remember sounded good but I've only got it on cassette. I'll try to record it to my mactop. I imagine if it did sound good then 20 years later on magnetic tape it probably doesn't any more.

The top is definitely laminated - there's a little ding in it and it's sort-of 'crushed' the way laminate does rather than cracking like a single piece of wood. The thing is so loud though it's brilliant for unamplified playing with guitars. It has a very deep sound to it though, really boomy, it's not a very cultured sound but it makes up for it with LOUD!

I've got two DBs but I would really like a third. Currently I've got one old laminate strung with silver slaps for busking, and one strung with spiros for 'best', but I'd like another 'best' bass with trad strings on it if I had the space.

I would imagine there would be a difference but what exactly the difference would be I don't know. Certainly my laminate bass is a lot louder than my carved bass despite the two having near identical dimensions. I suppose the setup is important? The carved bass has a much nicer tone but the laminate booms out louder than any other bass I've played.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1360761659' post='1975969']If I see a guitarist with a PRS and MesaBoogie, I tend to roll my eyes in disgust. There goes somebody who has gone into their average high street music shop and bought the most expensive stuff they had... and convinced themselves it sounded good.[/quote] If I see that sort of gear in a pub I know it's going to be a band I don't like. Probably some old blokes with beer guts playing Eric Clapton tunes. There tends to be more than one guitar per guitarist too, sometimes half a dozen, all in pristine condition, usually with gold hardware. Mid-life crisis gear.

He's obviously a massively talented player and a really nice guy too. On the negative side his band were cheesy as hell and he spawned a million awful imitators. Yin and yang I suppose. On balance I like him so long as I don't have to listen to his records or his acolytes.

An indignation of bassists.

I'm the opposite I can't stand the sight of my own blood and I'm scared of power tools. I got a couple of big cuts during years working in restaurant kitchens and fainted each time! I donate blood regularly these days but once the needle goes in I don't look until it's come out again, I'd probably throw up.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1360702548' post='1975151'] It was, if you will believe it, an air hockey injury. [/quote] I've inflicted many of those on my girlfriend. Air hockey is serious business.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1360684771' post='1974622'] the ultimate aim is the same, being able to play the bass in comfort and without damage. [/quote] You missed out looking cool.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360619334' post='1973634'] PLus-Tech Squeeze Box - Early Riser.[/quote] Nice! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywa9oK3ytU