cytania

Following on from the 'why so sloppy' thread here. I did some web browsing about the weird 'CNC' holes Fender is putting in bass bodies. I found opinion was divided about the reason for the holes. One person though the hole was a test to check the CNC bit was sharp. A lot of people thought they were for the CNC machine to grip or locate on the body. Put I am now convinced that the holes have only one purpose - to identify the Fender series the body is made for. Check this image I came across. Now a lot of people out there seem to have responded with a 'meh, it can't affect tone' attitude but then I noticed some bass bodies had holes in the middle of the neck pocket! That's got to affect the long term stability of the neck screws hasn't it? Almost asking for splits down the line. Is this to make basses easier to smash? Weaken the bolt-on for a Paul Simenon London Calling moment? My second reaction is why can't Fender identify their guitar bodies by a less intrusive method, like say writing in the control pockets? Like they have for decades... Does this mean that bodies were getting switched between production lines willy nilly before the innovation of the holes? And if that matters so much does it suggest that bodies are made to remarkably different price points; so the 'I can tell a Squier from a MIA by ear' fraternity are right because clearly Fender cares enough to drill holes to stop bodies being sold as something they are not? I was eyeing up a CAR American Special but these lurking holes have really put me off it. Maybe it's because I associate holes with drilling mistakes, amateur modifications and wood worm… Or maybe it feels like the a corporate management dweeb imposing their will on Leo's timeless formula. Might as well have the had the CNC machine cut 'Kilroy Wos Ere' or 'U R Owned by The Man'!

Second election victory? Cameron didn't win anything, he did a backroom deal with Clegg.

Robert Randolpe and the Family Band - Live at the Wetlands

Dare I say that practice and preparation is the way to make the great gigs outnumber the terrible gigs.

Isn't it stamped 'Second' on the back of the headstock?...

I actually find mentally running through basslines helps bring sleep. Also counting out breaths from one to four can still the mind.

SWR SM500 and Barefaced Compact. Behringer BDI21 into PA (low in mix) and amp effect loop for vintage bloom.

Horrible tones. Triplebucker one is like Fender doing the Ibanez ATK.

Calm down chaps, it's just a singing competition. A concept as old as the Eisteddfod.

Worst - Peach Guitars in Essex. Every time I 've been there it's like the League of Gentlemen's 'Do not touch the precious things of the shop'!

50s auto paint finishes, particulary shell pink, sonic blue and seafoam green. They belong in icecream parlours. Dorky.

Before you hit the tabs listen to the song and try coming up with your own bassline. Helps if it's a simple song. Just run your hands along the strings until you find the main note, it's usually the 'root' or 'key' note. Alot of songs are based on the 12 bar blues format, even when they are really un-bluesy. Find key and the look for the 12bar chord progression. It may not be there but it's a good start. When you learn a song under your own steam you won't forget it. Your brain makes a mental shorthand, [i]it's a 12 bar but on the turnaround the bass holds off and the guitar break is just playing the root.[/i]This is much better than becoming a jukebox. The sense of achievement when you crack a song is tremendous. Particularly when you do look at the Tab and think [i]oh he's made that hard for himself, why play it that way?[/i] Of course it could be the Tab fan has really studied the original and yes the original player plays in a weird gimpy way that makes hard work of everything. That could be part of the band's sound or it could be something you decide to do your way[i].[/i] Key thing is thinking about your choices, that's the start of learning.

Are you putting your fretting fingers close to/ ontop of the fret or are you fretting on the midpoint between frets?

This is guitar collectors adding basses to their collections. No consideration made to playability or indeed bass history. It's ticking boxes, first Gibson electric bass, first Rickenbacker bass etc

New one has a beautiful patina, old one is just brutal.

I'd say Western music prior to symphonic orchestration and church organs also lacks bass for the same reasons. Early bass instruments are large, low in volume and difficult to play. Cathedral organs would have been the only time many 17th/18th century Europeans felt a deep rumbling low note. Howard Goodall places the first proper bass run with the Waltz.

It's the old prejudices. Classical music is superior to pop so only pop artists' work that verges on symphonic is truly worthy. Slow and depressing works are superior to uptempo frivolity. Music history written by old men reembracing their old school music teacher's pomposity.

Don't worry too much about the dirt pedals Jonesy. They aren't a big part of bass playing. Might be some with good resale values you could sell to raise funds.

I liked Bass Direct's Legend 4 so much I bought one a few months ago. It's a modern style bass with a clean, defined, atriculate sound. You may also be liking the strings which are easy on the fingers even for roundwounds. Stereotypical rock basses are thuddy, muddy, wiry and growly. A Fender Precision type bass will give you that. I tried an MTD CRB at Bass Direct with all those qualities. It was like a spark between the fret and string every note. But it wouldn't do subtle...

Am I the only one who had great swathes of music theory dumped on them in childhood? Never did get on with piano lessons but I passed lots of theory exams. Hated it. Now after a huge gap I'm actually playing music I enjoy it returns to me and the band looks at me weird when I mention a declining scale...

I'm wondering if large sections of the huge crowd they drew also feel like I do. Anyone recall acts at Glastonbury who for whatever reason didn't get a crowd? Feel like if somehow I blackmailed Mr.Eavis into putting performance artists eating imaginary bacon naked on stage someone would still be clapping along :-)

Folk-wise I think they are Bluegrass.

What a strange act. I think they were 'ambient dub' but that would suggest too much. The XX play songs that feel like Intros to something much larger but just as you think a hypnotic or crashing section is due... the 'song' just ends. I felt like I was being teased. There was movement but we never went anywhere. If music were sex this was tantric. Haven't felt this cheated since those Genesis albums stuffed with incomplete song ideas but real Genesis fans call those classics and I looked at the huge crowd The XX had drawn and realised I just didn't get it. But thousands do, so I must be an old fart... Oh and the way they dance... Gob-smacked.

My tip is when you fret at the 12th to compare with the open string do it with a natural pressure like you were playing. All too easy to use a vice like grip and over do the intonation. Remember that raising or lowering the action affects intonation.

What saddens me is that coins were created to be verifiable with hard to copy designs. Fender made his guitars to be easily produced and any markings are simply left over from the manufacturing process. McPherson acoustic guitars have a tiny reverse inlay [u]inside the body[/u] under the bridge which shows their logo to an inserted mirror, now that's fake-proofing. Off topic note: McPherson guitars are one of the few high-end acoustics I could immeidately hear the difference with just playing one in Sheehan's, prices around £5000!