4000

😂

It makes me very happy to read this. Well done and best of luck for the future. I fell off the cliff psychologically a few years back and am currently undergoing EMDR and on medication. Probable PTSD in my case.

So was I, and built like Marvin Hagler, but sadly it didn’t help. Never had the gift of the gab. Went to an all-boys grammar school so froze in the presence of the opposite sex. Strange because below the age of 12 I was a right one for the ladies. 😂

No chance of that here! I was too shy. Besides, they'd be 34 now....;-)

Correct. Early Spector.

Have to say I grew up with jazz - in fact nothing else was allowed in my house until I bought my first ABBA album at 10 or 11 - and love much of it (although it's such a broad genre) but I never seem to get on with Mingus.

I was utterly failing to have any luck whatever with this. 😂 In those days, it was all about writing songs, playing bass, seeing bands, reading books, lifting the heaviest possible weights and getting drunk. And utterly failing to shag anything. Now, it's about writing songs, playing bass, occasionally seeing bands, reading books, lifting small weights to try and keep in shape whilst also trying to avoid crippling myself, enjoying my food, hoping to get through the day with as little pain as possible (in fact just hoping to get through the day, most of the time) hoping for as much as 1 good night's sleep in a year, and desperately hoping that there are toilets within easy reach wherever I go. 😉

Never got on with Elixirs. Don't know if it's because I play mainly with a pick, but they just never worked for me. But then I haven't come across anything i like anywhere near as much as Rotos, even if they don't last. Yep, I just boil 'em. 😉

Nice. Not mad on the bass sound personally; a bit lacking in heft for me in the context, but nice.

Me too actually. He's probably one of my favourite singers.

Recorded this concert off the BBC onto Betamax (!) back in the day and watched it endlessly. Sadly the tape and the machine are long gone.... I think he was the first fretless player I'd ever really listened to. I remember his tone freaked me out at the time.....

Depends what’s wrong with his back. I have several prolapsed discs, scoliosis and spinal stenosis and half a pound in weight makes all the difference in the world to me.

It has come around again disappointingly quickly hasn’t it? 😉 Ok, next subject......

Original run Ruby...(not Burg), clearly visible around 2:40...

For me, having owned or played several examples of most, Sei and Everson are the standouts, but I like a light, easy-playing bass. I like a lot of Alan's (ACG) basses - great bloke too - but have found many of them pretty heavy (I have back problems) and I haven't generally got on with the necks & flat radius, although being custom that shouldn't be an issue. I have played a few really light ones. GBs are really nice, Overwater too, although again I find Overwater tend to be on the heavy side (ditto it shouldn't be an issue if going custom). My Rim was nice and unique, loved the design. Of them all the ones I haven't really got along with are Shuker; I've never played a Shuker that spoke to me. Have never played an Alpher though. GUS are way out of your budget, I believe. I suspect they'll all build you a great bass but you need a good idea of what you're after.

So they were all copies were they? And in every interview I’ve ever read (and I’ve read many) he has stated that the Ibanez was the copy and was subsequently replaced with real Ricks, which can be clearly seen in photos and videos (some of which ended up customised in an effort to get more lows).

Wrong. His original Ibanez was a copy but he replaced it with various examples of the real thing, although he’s on record as saying he didn’t really notice any difference. I think you need to watch more footage and maybe talk to the man himself. 😉 Of course he did indeed subsequently move on to Ps.

I've just been toying (again) with light strings - 35 to 95 - for this very reason. If you listen to Stu Zender on Too Young To Die, for instance, there's a real buzz/rasp/pop to the note, whilst maintaining a fairly fluid tone. I play very lightly for the most part and simply can't get that with heavier strings, certainly on the basses I currently own. Stick 35s on (coincidentally the gauge he used) and Bob's your uncle.

Think I'd have to take the passenger seat out! 😉

My favourite graphite necked bass they had in was a Frame 5 string with twin Js and a parametric eq. Kept meaning to buy it and never did.

Used to play these back in the day every time I went to the Gallery. Loved the necks, found the tone not really to my taste - as with most synthetic basses - and found the body contour very uncomfortable, but I find most body contours uncomfortable. 😉

This. Can't go wrong. Still debating whether one will fit in the car, sadly. Probably not.

Certainly one of my favourite Motown lines.

And last but certainly not least: (In fact have just realised how close to this the bass sound on our new album is)....