4000

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1325602980' post='1484953'] That Jazz through that rig sounds the beans.. [/quote] Funny, I was thinking how much better the P sounded...

Nothing wrong with a mid-life crisis. I've been having one since I was 29....

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1328658868' post='1530944'] Also Miami to Washington on a zig zag route through the Blue Ridge mountains. [/quote] Was this on the trail of the Lonesome Pine?

Great player, no doubt.

It's to cover up the routing under the Ric bridge. A fairly horrible job in this case but that's the reason. If you stick a Badass on a Ric without it you'll have bloody great holes in your bass. You know, everyone goes on about how crap Ric bridges are but the early aluminium ones don't experience tail lift at all (I know, I've got 2). The worst bridge I've ever had by a mile was the original one on my early '70s P Bass. I play really lightly and I still couldn't get the strings to stay where they were.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1328175754' post='1522912'] what bloody browsers are you using?! [/quote] The crap ones we've got at work.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1319998111' post='1421069'] Unless you're gigging on a very brightly lit stage or in daylight, the only colour for a 4001/4003 is MG (or white I'd guess), cos that's the only colour that screams "LOOK, IT'S A RIC" at the audience. JG and FG look awesome in the case or on the wall, but often disappear on stage. [/quote] Actually, although my fave Ric colour is Azureglo, I think Fireglo is the one that stands out best on stage.

Sorry, immediately realised I'd repeated myself but can't delete posts using the browser I'd used. Had to switch to a different one to delete (and had to switch back to post!) Can't delete in one, can't post in the other! And can't use emoticons in either. Is it just me or is Basschat a lot more complicated since it changed?

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1319733098' post='1417945'] Having owned both JG and FG '73 4001's I'd have to go with Fireglo - though I have a nostalgia for JG Ric's mainly because of Gaye Advert [/quote] Whilst she may have used a Jetglo (can't say I've seen a picture but always possible) she is most famous for using an Azure, which is what sparked my love of them.

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1328048439' post='1521067'] Well I suppose this is the kind of discussion musos have about other musos,with a few curled lips and disapproving comments,but it`s all irrelevant if you like the tunes. That`s all there is at the end of the day. The rest is all chaff. [/quote] And a big + 1000 to this.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1328038162' post='1520777'] I wouldn't say she sounds like Nancy Sinatra, more like a female Chris Isaac. [/quote] This. First time I heard her (on Jools) I immediately thought "David Lynch soundtrack". Don't know about the rest of her stuff but I really like Video Games.

The best tone MK ever got (IMO, of course) was his Alembic /Trace one, closely followed by his Jaydee / Trace one. Never been a fan of his Kingbass tone; too pingy for me.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1327725989' post='1515948'] Love MM with Luther - awesome. But can't stand MM when he does gentle songs that consist entirely of solo slapping. Just hideous. The way I look at it, slapping is about emphasising rhythm. So when Mark King starts thrashing away with Phil Gould on the Live At Wembley vid, that all makes sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCv-5EonBuo When Marcus starts doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhbi8GSsqrU I feel despair. Kind of liked that clip by Prime but he needs to get a better sound. More warmth and more hi-fi. [/quote] Can't watch the clip at work but the initials say it all for me, and I wholeheartedly agree with the above. MK drives the band; it's all about driving rhythm. MM? Just lifeless to me, although I realise others have different opinions. I can't stand his tone either. To me it sounds like someone hitting railway tracks with a sledghammer a long way away. There's nothing supple, warm, growly or even nicely twangy about it, which are things I like in a tone. In fact this is something I've been thinking a lot about recently, how some players' tone just puts me off them, regardless of what they play. Not that I like his music either, mind!

Best bet is to see your doc though...assuming you can get him/her to take you seriously, which I must admit I've had problems with.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1327755948' post='1516284'] Do you have a forearm contour on your bass? Slab sided basses can cut off the circulation to your hand and arm. Which happened with my old bass. Don't really have that problem with my Jazz or Precision as they both have contours and I wear them low.. [/quote] I've had the opposite problem. I have nerve problems that are generally aggravated by most basses with forearm contours. At the moment my Ricks are the only basses I can play with any semblance of comfort, and they have no contour and bound bodies. Everyone is different.

[quote name='fiatcoupe432' timestamp='1327746588' post='1516062'] i ve tried couple of sei at bass gallery, i wasen't impress at all , the action was horrible and felt horrible , they where second hand , so i don't know if they need it to have some job done. hopefully one day i ll try another one and change my mind about them.they do look amazing though [/quote] Bear in mind a second-hand bass will usually be set up as the previous owner wanted it to be (which may be nothing like you like it) and temperature, humidity etc in a shop can play havoc with set-ups at the best of times. My Alembic, which was the best-playing bass I've ever played, went all over the place when I left it at the Gallery for a while when I had it up for sale. Remember Martin will set up anything you buy how you want it. All the Seis I've had have had amazing action and have played as well as anything out there. There's always a chance that the basses may not suit though, in the same way that I don't get on with many other basses that people love (e.g. Fender Jazz) . Nothing works for everybody.

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1327529321' post='1513074'] I'm genuinely really sorry to hear that man. Where abouts are you in the North West? If you're anywhere near Cheshire I can strongly recommend my singing teacher Heather Baker. She is an extremely well qualified Speech level singing teacher and can help you acquire a voice to be proud of very quickly and effectively, and in a way that is healthy for life. I know it might not sound that great compared to playing bass in a rock band, but I've gone down the singing route initially just as another instrument, and now it's something I can actually teach people to do and get results quickly! Taking singing seriously has really really opened up music to me in new and exciting ways... and I wasn't exactly hemmed in before that! If you want more details feel free to PM me. But do keep me/us in the loop as to how progress goes and any updates. [/quote] I'm near Blackpool so a bit away unfortunately. It is something I've been considering though, although my voice is mediocre even at its best. At its worst, well....!!!!! But singing is something that's always been important, even if just for writing songs and parts. Thanks for the post and the thoughts BTW, really appreciate it.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1327654403' post='1514699'] I'd probably go "custom" fedora. [/quote] For the Roger Glover look?

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1327598890' post='1514047'] A story: A printer had a large and old printing press on which the business depended. You know the production line things the size of buildings. One day the press broke down, and try as they could they couldn't work out where it had broken down. In desperation they phoned up the previous manager of the print shop, he had worked there years, risen to the top and then retired when the company was bought out. They convinced him to work for them and he came in, walked around the machine for 15 minutes as they tried to get it going. Every so often he would lean up and listen to it. After a while he pulled a bit of chalk out of his pocket and marked an X on the side of the machine. "thats where the problem is" and sure enough when they opened it up there they found the problem. Well a few days later the old man bills them for his work for $5000. The manager was amazed at the cost and wrote back asking for an itemised bill so he could understand the cost better. The next day he got the itemised bill: One small chalk cross $1, knowing exactly where to put the chalk cross $4999 [/quote] Genius.

I love the look of the Fodera Matt Garrison - probably my favourite singlecut design and one of my all-time faves regardless - but I've never played one. Based on the other Foderas I've played I'd choose a nice old P Bass (probably a lightweight early 70s one like my old one; I seem to prefer the necks), assuming I could still get on with the body contour; it's been a while now since I played one. I know the Jazz doesn't work for me (pain!) but of course the top countour is different. Of course if anyone wants to lend me an MG to check out it'll be gratefully received! Assuming I could get the MG to work for me that may be my first choice, but there are other basses out there I'd sooner have than either, unless the MG turns out to be significantly better (IMO) than the other Foderas I've tried; as individual basses of all types vary this is quite possible.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1327591584' post='1513885'] Me, i love a nice chop from a bassist (read any muso) if it is [b]context[/b]. I haven't seen this word used yet in this thread which surprises me a bit. [/quote] You obviously didn't read my post.

[quote name='oldslapper' timestamp='1327567892' post='1513338'] Serve the song.........does the bass line serve the song? I would take a hazardous guess that, no matter how lauded a bass player me be here or any other bass site, there will be a song they have played on where their bass playing hasn't served the song.....even (insert your name here). Can't stand Level 42, but their bass player seems to serve their songs with his approach.....mostly? Can't stand U2, but their man on bass seems to do the same, serve the song that is.......mostly? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they appear to have slightly different techniques from one another. Whatever.......... [/quote] This. The bassists I love range from guys like Cliff Williams & Jah Wobble through John McVie and Rutger Gunnarson through Lemmy and JJB through Chris Squire and the Ox through Stanley Clarke, Matt Garrison and Richard Bona. I like the players that I like, simple as. As someone else said, it's about the notes they choose and the sound they make (and this is very important) within the context of the music they're playing. Chris Squire, in the context of the music he plays, is arguably my favourite player, but I reckon he'd have sucked big time in Chic (I love Bernard too FWIW). The above examples or Mark King and Adam Clayton are very good ones. I think they're both great. What I find irritating is that Mark King gets stick for playing too much / being slaptastic and Adam Clayton gets stick for playing too little, as if there has to be some sort of middle ground of note frequency that is optimimum. When it comes to the perfect part, there is no right or wrong, only what is your preference (or arguably the consensus preference) within the music. Harrison famously thought McCartney was too busy, as I believe did Elvis Costello with Bruce Thomas. Are they? You decide. As an aside, arguably my favourite recorded live performance ever is "The Meeting of the Spirits" (McLaughlin / De Lucia / Coryell). But the reason I love it so much is not the technique on show, amazing though it is, but because to me (YMMV) it is emotionally transcendant. In that performance McLaughlin and De Lucia (poor Larry!) are on another plane entirely. I don't sit there and watch it and think "wow, that (insert mode of choice) scale was so fast"; the music and playing make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. They take me to another place. My point is that technique can be exceptional (and exceptionally busy!) and still create something that is emotionally moving. Of course whether or not it will be moving to everyone is a different thing entirely. One man's meat etc. FWIW I don't believe there's such a thing as actual good or bad taste. There are too many issues involved in what defines it; cultural, personal etc. And now I'm stopping typing because it hurts!