4000

Is that Urb’s old Sei on the left? Or is it just an ‘-alike’?

Hmm. Interesting question, as so far as I’m concerned I’ve never heard anything heavier than the end section of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. And I love SBS. Of course I’ve listened to loads of stuff that most people would think is much, much heavier, but for me it just isn’t. That quibble aside, I probably go about as heavy as the heaviest bits of Babymetal (say something like BxMxC) but it really does depend. And if your tastes are way beyond that, that’s absolutely fine by me.

Massive Seal fan here. The first two albums in particular are just fantastic. Future Love Paradise is one of my favourite songs. In fact Seal’s first is one of the albums I’d most liked to have played on.

Might be a decent line (I honestly can’t remember), but my God I hate the song. Which I don’t say that often.

The thing is, as I’m sure you’re aware, what you think is awesome may be hopeless to someone else and vice versa. And if enough people’s opinions differ from yours, then they’ll build a reputation. I really wish people would get past the idea that because they don’t like something it can’t possibly work for anyone else or be any use. I don’t think I’ve ever had any prior expectations of any bass really, boutique or otherwise. Possibly Fodera and Sadowsky I suppose, which I’ll admit continue to leave me utterly underwhelmed every time I play one (YMMV). And the very rare 21 fret Rick I owned which I expected to sound similar to my other vintage Rics but with an extra fret. It didn’t, it sounded more like an old Jazz, so I sold it. But generally I just take them as they come. If I like them, great. If not, no problem.

I could quite happily never hear Money For Nothing or Walk of Life again, but those aside, they’ve always been a great band. His solo stuff is nice too.

I’d suggest the Gallery first as in my experience they’re far more open-minded. My experience at Bass Direct completely put me off them.

Pretty eclectic I guess. Grew up with loads of Jazz, hymns at school (which I loved), show tunes, Disney soundtracks, some classical and lots of 60s pop on the radio, bits of flamenco etc. A bit later was exposed to the Beatles, then ABBA, then Prog and heavy rock, more pop, punk, funk etc etc. But as others have said, I don’t like everything, even within my preferred genres, such as Prog and pop. Things I don’t listen to much are reggae and soul. There not much music I actually hate though. And whilst Prog may be my favourite genre, there’s little I love as much as a good song.

I loved it, but then I love KT, which helps. Have met her a few times and she comes across just the same, really lovely, funny, smart and enthusiastic. Have been introducing my Python-loving band members to a bit of Ivor. Loved the Go-Go’s and Joan Jett documentaries, and the Lynyrd Skynyrd and Suzy Q ones (were they Sky Arts? I forget). Just watched the Paul Simon concert in the park from 1991, recorded last week. Great show, with Armand Sabal-Lecco absolutely killing it.

https://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2014/03/the-evolution-of-bass-ramps/

I don’t really understand the concept. If I come across somebody who is brilliant, be it as a writer or player, I just find it inspiring. I’ve never thought “I can’t do that, I may as well stop”, in any field. I’ve seen it happen though. A friend, who was an excellent guitarist, fell apart the first time he heard Yngwie. He became obsessed with him and eventually gave up playing because he just couldn’t play like that. The great irony was that the more he tried to play like that, the further away he got from what he was good at, which was more of a Lindsey Buckingham via Neal Schon thing. It was really sad to see.

This. As most here will know, I’ve owned a couple of dozen Rics from all eras and have played, at the very least, several hundred. I’ve also owned Seis (5?), Alembics, Wals, Jaydees, early Warwicks, old Fenders, new Fenders, a Pedulla and countless other things. In my 40 years of playing I’ve tried to play pretty much every bass I see, just in case it’s great (at least up until recent years when I pretty much know what is going to work at a glance). What basses do I still own? 2 x 1972 4001 basses and a custom made copy of my main one for dodgy gigs. Many people don’t get on with them, which is fine, but bear in mind often they’re coming to them from playing a completely different instrument, or simply don’t like what they’re about. I learned to play on one so all the things that many find weird I find normal, and vice versa. I love the ‘classic’ tone (almost all of my favourite-sounding players have played Rics), I love the looks, I love the necks (except for the period where the 4003/4004 necks became pretty big). I prefer the necks on my ‘72s to anything else I’ve ever played (except possibly my old ‘71 21 fretter) but the profile is different even from ‘73 Rics, never mind all the other variations over the years. They do vary a great deal; no two of the ones I’ve owned have been the same in feel or sound, and to be honest of the hundreds I’ve played I’d say only a dozen or so were really very similar to each other. So in a nutshell, if you find you don’t like them (although you really need to play a lot first), you’re not missing anything. If you do find you like them, then you maybe have been missing something, which is exactly what I’d say about every single bass on the market. And everything really. Books, films, foods, clothes, whatever. No one else’s opinion really means anything unless you know they like similar things to you (or hate things that you like), you need to try them and see what you think. One other thing, as CV said, I don’t tend to think they work that great with modern rigs, so that’s something you may need to bear in mind.

“Internet shock - some people can’t agree on what they like/dislike, pointless debate ensues”. 😉

They sell lots of Swing Bass to me. Have tried loads of strings over the past 40 years and always come back to Roto stainless, much prefer them to anything else.

I think it depends entirely on the music, and on what you consider acceptable issues. Everything is different. To me, beats that are noticeably out of time or things that are noticeably out of tune are generally no-nos, and few of us on here I would imagine have the luxury of calling on world class players/singers to nail everything first time. Also, budget constraints come into it. There are certainly times in the studio where we may have nailed something in another take or two but we can’t afford those takes, so we tweak the odd beat or note. It’s not that we can’t do it, it’s that we can’t afford to. Also, when recording music I’d like things to be as perfect as possible (budget and skills allowing, obviously) but not necessarily when listening to music. It just depends. Whatever makes the end result work is all that matters to me. 100% agree with BRX there.

I think the argument still works. I grew up listening almost exclusively to my dad’s jazz (bar the stuff on the radio, mid/late ‘60s), discovered the Beatles via my cousins, then to ABBA, and then through pretty much everything the ‘70s and onwards threw at us. But I still hear stuff I like and probably always will. Of course I hear stuff I don’t like too, but that was also always the case. There’s plenty of stuff out there that is anything but “so acceptable and lame”, whether you like it or not.

This, always.

The quiet neck pickup thing is one of the reasons why I generally prefer vintage Rick (pre-73) basses. The toasters on my two vintage basses are louder than the bridge pickup, and that balance (or lack of it) is a big factor in the classic vintage sound. I also have them very near the strings. If I do get another 4003 it’ll be having a half-inch position toaster put in it.

It just makes me laugh that playing with a pick is frowned upon in certain circles but if you double thumb you’re a genius, even if it sounds the same but worse. 😂

The start just sounds like a very bad pick player to me.😉

The only thing I can really remember about the single one I played back in the day was it had very narrow spacing, which didn’t bother me (even my 4s are 16.5mm) but might bother some.

I know quite a few this has happened to! Even Jeff Berlin once forgot to come in when playing with AWBH.... As someone who suffers dreadfully with anxiety generally (I have PTSD) and has had it increase rather than diminish over decades, the best advice I can offer is remember to breathe, and to breathe properly, and try and relax before the show. People will tell you you’ll be fine, but if something goes wrong and you find you’re not fine, the fact that people have told you you should be can make it even worse. Everyone is different. Some people get a bit nervous, some people suffer dreadful stage fright, some don’t and others love the whole experience of being onstage. Understand that things might go wrong but its not the end of the world (I’ve seen very few pro musicians over 40 years of playing who haven’t dropped a bollock somewhere) and that the more often you play the easier it should get. I find the worst thing is long breaks between gigs. Oh, one other thing. A bass-playing friend once told me that the only way he ever knew I’d dropped a bollock on a gig was I immediately pulled a face. Try not to do that!😂

Ditto....