Misdee

I can never fathom why so many folks set both bass and treble on full on that two band Stingray preamp. It's too much boom and clank for my taste

I suppose one question is what constitutes a charity? I've never been asked to do a gig for a charity as such, but looking back I've been asked to do a couple of gigs where the money went to a supposedly worthy cause. A benefit concert for the Miners Strike of 1984/5 springs to mind, and I played an AIDS benefit gig in the early 1990's. In both cases it didn't cost us to play. Regarding the first instance though, I still remember the arguments between members of the band over it.

You're at it again aren't you? Lecturing me on how to be an adult and telling me off for not fitting in with your world-view. Value system? I don't have one. Not least of all because neither know or care what one is. I'm not pedalling stereotypes, I'm telling you what happened. Evidence to support my assertions? Should I have filmed it on my phone and then conducted interviews with those concerned? I was doing my shopping, not making a feature for Newsnight. And as for Northern stereotypes, I am a Northerner, born and bred. I come from generations of Northerners. That's why I know what I'm looking at when I see it. I don't take lectures from the likes of you on being Northern.

I've known plenty of people for whom eating fruit is something between taking an unpleasant medicine and a punishment. What I will say is that fruit is expensive. Good quality fruit is very expensive.

I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but in my instance I would venture that people weren't wandering past free fruit to preserve their pride or dignity. It was more because they didn't equate fresh fruit with something they would want to eat as a snack. Distinct groups in society have different priorities and preferences when it comes to food. It doesn't necessarily come down to money and what people can afford, either, although that's part of it. It's more about what people think is important, and why. And on the subject of charity and food banks, yes they shouldn't exist. The fact that they are increasingly necessary and have become an accepted part of normal life in this country is a phenomena I never expected to see in this day and age. It's part of a wider trend to blame poor and unfortunate people for their own predicament, and the revival of Victorian ideas distinguishing between the deserving and undeserving poor.

Why's that then? Because you want to pretend that situation didn't happen and people like that don't exist? It did, they do, and there's lots of them. I make no apologies for noticing. Don't take it out on me just because it doesn't fit with what you like to think certain people are like, or your patronising ideas of how they should be portrayed. You should bin your own self-righteous indignation and virtue signalling.

A few years ago I was in a Tesco supermarket in a fairly typical economically deprived town up north. Near the entrance amongst the fresh produce they had baskets of free fruit for children to help themselves to. Both parents and children were walking past this generous offer, despite looking exactly like the kind of socially disadvantaged stereotypes this gesture was obviously aimed at. I don't think they knew what fruit was, or if they did it definitely wasn't something they contemplate eating except as a flavour of Haribo.

That Palladium bass is another lost classic. Two passive humbuckers and a supremely playable neck. I remember reading an interview with Geddy Lee and him mentioning that Jeff Berlin had gifted him one (I was going to say "had given him one" but thought better of it...) and was very impressed.

Wow, I remember being a postgraduate student sitting in my crappy apartment reading that very article. I used read every issue of Bass Player Magazine over and over, so much that I can pretty much still remember everything in them now. Such an idiosyncratic design is bound to divide opinion and have it's own quirks, but all I can say is I wish I had one.

I remember these! I don't think they were made for long. They were a beautiful, elegant design. Never seen one in the flesh but I remember Bass Player Magazine featured one, must have been sometime in the early '90's and they always looked lush to me. Didn't they have a piezo pickup in the bridge? I bet this is a beast of a bass. God knows what it would cost if it were made today.

A USA-made Peavey bass is going to be a quality instrument. I've played the Palladium Bass they made for Jeff Berlin back in the early '90's and that was excellent. I wish I had bought one. They've become a bit of a cult classic on the used market and get snapped up very quickly. The same shop had a Rudy Sarzo signature model too, and that was also a very nice pro-level bass. Peavy basses have got a decent pedigree. I remember seeing Roger Glover playing a Peavey DynaBass four string with Deep Purple back in the '80's. John Taylor used Peavey Cirrus basses for a long time, and he's a good judge of a bass. Also, I don't know if anyone remembers a top London-based session player called Kevin Powell, used to play with Chris Rea, Midge Ure ect. Superb player. He used a Peavey TL 5 from the early '90's onwards as his main bass. Last time I saw him on some TV show or other about ten or fifteen years ago he was still using one.

Okay, the situation is that about sixteen years ago I bought a Korg Pandora for silent practise at home. Looking back, it was the best £90 I ever spent iny life. The amp models ect sounded shockingly good and we're excellent for home recording. The unit was easy to use and I had year after year of sterling service from it. Unfortunately, even though it still works (just) it's absolutely knackered. I need a suitable replacement. Recommendations and suggestions gratefully received. I should mentionI bought a Boss Katana Go, but it's not as convenient as I thought it might be despite Bluetooth connectivity because if you plug it into a bass with an input jack at the bottom it's both inaccessible and awkward. Also, the quality of the amp models is nowhere near as good as my old Korg Pandora. I asked the question of AI and it came up with the Line 6 Pod Express Bass, and that does seem to fit the bill, unless someone can tell me why not.

I couldn't possibly comment on this individual circumstance, but something I have learnt over the years is that charity is a business. The higher up the chain you go, the people running the show aren't so much altruists as businessmen and women. Ordinary folks are brought up to equate charity with giving for free if they want to be a nice person. Those running charities are acutely aware of that and know how to exploit it. The people who give the most proportionately are often those who can least afford it.

Totally this. Blues can be many things, and a lot of them ain't easy. Listen to Robben Ford play blues and imagine having to back him up. Firstly, how does move through the changes? Not all blues is 1-4-5, and even if it is you need to make it sound good. What and where are the turnarounds? What cliches are the right ones? I know we're only talking about a jam night but if it's with an audience and not in your mate's front room you don't want to show yourself up.

People would probably love it - extra vintage. I'm a sucker for a black/tort P Bass ever since I saw footage of Deep Purple and the LSO at the Royal Albert Hall and Roger Glover is sporting a beautiful example. Also George Murray with David Bowie. Both big influences on the young Misdee plunking away on the bass in his bedroom.

People put tort plates on just about any Fender colour now because it's become synonymous with the nebulous concept which is "vintage". Historically, Fender did indeed ship most of its custom colour basses with mint/parchment pick guards. Bear in mind that most colours except sunburst were actually custom colours, including black. Some black Fenders were sent out with tort plates, but usually only as customer's special orders through Fender dealers. That's why finding an all original vintage P Bass or Jazz Bass in black/tort is so hard. They do exist, but they are very, very rare. But if you look at Fender's vintage reissues you would think they were commonplace.

I approve of those choices, except for the sunburst/black combo. Mid-to-late '70's Fender is a rational prejudice as far as I am concerned. I hope you didn't pay a lot of money for it!😄 If you like I could be really annoying and regail you with what I could have bought that bass for back in the eighties (£200 tops). Myself, I can't abide red basses with tort guards. It's too much redness, like it wants to give me heartburn.

I thought the original MM Stingray EQ was cut and boost but without a centre detent. There isn't the same amount of cut available on bass and treble though. The bass only has a slight cut available, if I remember correctly. I'm pretty sure that has been confirmed by both by MusicMan and other boffins who would know.

4kg would be just about okay for a four string.

These look like a lot of bass for the money. It would be interesting to try them side by side with some much more expensive boutique brand Super-Jazz style basses and see how they measure up. That midrange circuit reminds me a bit of the Sadowsky Will Lee preamp, and it would certainly serve the same purpose. I bet these will be very useful basses, and the price-point is pretty accessible. Providing they don't weigh a ton, I think these basses are going to be very popular.

Yes, Mike's channel is chock full of interesting stuff, and the live chats are particularly good IMO. Suffice to say that, by contrast, there is some content from UK bass YouTubers that confirms the urgent mental health care crisis in this country. I don't mean Scott's Bass Lessons, though. That's more of a mental hair care crisis.

Thanks for posting this, I'm a big fan of Chris's playing going back to the days when I didn't know who he was, or indeed that it was Chris playing the bass parts I was so enamoured of. We take it for granted in the internet age that you can find out who played what for whom, but it wasn't always that way. I remember seeing Chris on TV playing his Status five string live with Go West back when five strings were still a novelty, and I always loved the bass on this track : I had assumed it was Pino, especially as the band were from Cardiff, but it was in fact Chris Childs. Only took me about thirty years to find out by accident!

I've got an identical Am St P that I bought new in 2009 and I would never part with it. One of my favourites basses ever. Mine doesn't have the Custom Shop pickup that came fitted from 2012 onwards, but the standard pickup it came with sounds good to me so I've never bothered changing it. I think the post- 2012 basses had a bit chunkier neck profile too, but I could be wrong about that. I know that my 2009 model has a perfectly-proportioned neck for my tastes. It's just like a classic and very playable late '60's/early 70's classic Fender "B" neck with the nut width halfway between a vintage P and a Jazz, and a fairly slim front-to-back profile. Anyway, I've got Thomastiks flats on mine and it does the classic P thing to perfection. Enjoy your lovely new bass. I hope it's a keeper and that you get as much enjoyment out of it as I've had from mine over the years.

My BB P34 was 4.33 kg.