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Misdee

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Everything posted by Misdee

  1. Misdee
    Wooden Dildo would be a great name for a folk rock band.
  2. Misdee
    I've certainly overlooked some of the basses I have previously bought.
  3. Misdee
    Very true. Rickenbacker basses are a pretty esoteric design, though. I would contend that the Fender is more an easier design to get along with for most players. That said, I know Paul McCartney is on record as saying that he never really felt comfortable playing a Fender bass, so that very topically illustrates your point. I know that by the time Revolver was recorded Paul had his Rick, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had still used his Hofner on some tracks, just like he did on Let It Be.
  4. Misdee
    True, but how many folks on Basschat spend more time talking about playing bass and related issues than actually playing? I suppose you have to accept that for a lot of folks talking about their pastimes is a big part of what they enjoy about them.
  5. Misdee
    I've been streaming this album from Tidal through my pretty good ( but fairly old) hifi system and it sounds very acceptable. The new stereo mixes have some detailed and even holographic in places. Having a decent DAC makes a big difference in the quality of sound you get from streaming, and Tidal is definitely better than Spotify premium. The whole vinyl v CD v streaming debate is a complicated one in so much as which turntable system v which CD player v which streaming system ? A lot of the major hi-fi manufacturers have long since abandoned CD and endorsed steaming as the inevitable future of audio. It's inevitable that streaming will develop even greater levels of fidelity. My take on it all is that streaming can sounds very good, and it's very convenient!🙂
  6. Misdee
    It's just that every time I play a Rickenbacker bass I am reminded why I've never gotten one before; I grew up playing Fender basses and the Rick feels so alien I can hardly play it! The non-tapered neck completely throws me. And the strings keep hitting the pole pieces on the pickups and making loud clunking noise. I just love the sound and the look so much I can't give up on the idea. When I first started playing the bass I wanted more than any other was a Rickenbacker. Come to think of it, I probably started playing the bass just so I could get a Rickenbacker, such was their allure. I didn't want to be a bass player so much as a Rickenbacker owner. Now it's forty-odd years later and I still haven't had a Rick. But never say never...
  7. Misdee
    That is good to know. If it were not for the pound being tragically weak against the dollar I would be doing my sums regards buying the USA NS bass I have always deserved. As things stand, it not even worth bothering.😕
  8. Misdee
    When I first started gravitating towards Yamaha BB basses the thing that surprised me the most was how unlike Fender basses they sounded. They have a tone which is quite apart from the typical P/J Fender fare. The active JJ arrangement on the NE is even more boutique-sounding. I can totally understand whern folks compare it to something like a Ken Smith rather than a typical Jazz Bass-style 5 string.
  9. Misdee
    I suppose a pertinent question is are Spector basses as great as they once were? Now that Stuart Spector has retired and Korg have taken over the company, I would be interested to hear from Spector afficionados if the basses are still made to the same standard
  10. Misdee
    Listening to this album has made me hanker for a Rickenbacker bass even more, by the way.
  11. Misdee
    I've been listening to this remixed version for the last few days and I love it! I totally understand the authentic mono v remixed stereo debate, but the new remix certainly gives a startling insight into the recording and brings the music to life, to my sensibilities anyway. I love Paul McCartney's bass work, and listening this album I've really been struck by how great he was at playing between the kick and snare of Ringo's drumming. I love the sound of George Harrison's guitar on the early takes of Paperback Writer, too. Sounds like either his Gretsch or his Rickenbacker. I tried googling it but it got too complicated to find out the facts, such is the conjecture.
  12. Misdee
    Sleeford Mods sound properly angry to me. The singer has the demeanor of a man who has just been DNA tested on the Jeremy Kyle Show and the results mean he now has to surrender half his Income Support every week to an obese mother-of-three called Tracy. Let's face it, both the guys from this band are probably no strangers to their local Citizens Advice Bureau. Maybe music doesn't sound as angry as some might expect because politics is now secondary to shopping in most people's lives. Political issues only become tangible crises when they affect the ability of the masses to buy the goods and services they want and feel they have a right to. As long as folks have access to the material things they desire they are relatively content.
  13. Misdee
    I'm always reluctant to critique other people's playing, partly because I am acutely aware of my own shortcomings, and also because it's difficult to be complimentary without sounding patronising. Suffice to say then that there is nothing wrong with your playing in my estimation (with the addendum that even the best players can always find room for improvement), and you could easily get some work playing bass. On the advice of a big name bass player I once met socially, I used to record all my practice sessions and then listen back to them while I was doing housework ect. That probably sounds quite strange but it was very helpful in defining my shortcomings as a player. A guitarist I used to play with who had studied at Berklee was taught to do the same thing by his tutor while he was there,too. The tape doesn't lie, and if you are serious about playing for other people then you have to be as brutally honest about your own playing as the outside world will be.
  14. Misdee
    Spector's are indeed great basses. I wish I had bought one when they were more affordable, although they were never that affordable, thinking about it. I've only tried the USA-made NS basses and they have consistently been epic and lived up to the hype. I would rate them amongst the best basses money can buy. Spector basses have their own sound. I would venture that the EMG pickups, combined with the maple body and neck-thru construction, are a significant part of that tone. I know Spector offer other options nowadays, but EMGs are synonymous with that classic aggressive Spector character.
  15. Misdee
    I seem to remember paying around that for mine in 1985 , no case. They had a matching fretted and unlined fretless in the shop, and I agonized over which to buy, but eventually sanity prevailed and I chose the fretted version. Otherwise the next few years would have been a lot more out of tune!😄
  16. Misdee
    The thing about Fender Custom Shop basses is they are making expensive recreations of their ordinary instruments, albeit vintage ones. And anyone who has played a lot of vintage Fenders knows they are a mixed bag, to put it mildly. It's not surprising that the CS basses are unpredictable, and Fender basses are very setup -dependent. Any Fender bass , Custom Shop or not, the difference between a good one and a bad one can quite often be a simple matter of adjustment.
  17. Misdee
    I used to have a Ibanez Musician Bass back in the mid -1980s. I had wanted one for years and when I eventually got one I was so happy I couldn't sleep for two nights! Oh, for that level of excitement nowadays! They were pretty iconic basses at the time, what with Sting ( and lots of other top players) using them. It's a shame that Ibanez developed from the manufactured in Japan quality brand they were into what they are now. Basses like they used to make would be expensive nowadays, but it would be a price worth paying for instruments that were still the same level of quality as from their Golden Age.
  18. Misdee
    The current cultural zeitgeist is more Taylor Swift, and that means contrived blandness and, above all, studious avoidance of real controversy. Don't do anything that could alienate a significant amount of consumers or sponsors.
  19. Misdee
    Few things are more revolting than F anny Craddock's cooking. Even after all these years it's indelibly etched upon my memory. A culinary antidote to '70s nostalgia.
  20. Misdee
    The BBOT has definitely got its own sound, and it's a very good sound It's more "open" in the treble and upper midrange. Hi mass bridges tend to sound a bit more compact to me. As others have mentioned though, the advantages of other designs is as much that they are more stable and more practical than the BBOT. Hi mass also bridges give noticeably more clarity and sustain higher up the neck, in my experience.
  21. Misdee
    I'm not sure what craddock is, but it sounds a bit too close to haddock for my liking.
  22. Misdee
    Doug Rauch. He is best known for his playing in Santana in the early to mid,1970s. Also played with Carly Simon Betty Davis, Lenny White, Billy Cobham and very briefly with David Bowie. A superb player and highly original bass player who was ahead of his time. He had the whole funky 16th note thing going long before the wider world was aware of Jaco, and he did some double thumping too. Unfortunately Doug became overwhelmed by drug problems and depression by the time he was 26, dropped out of the music business and died at 28 years old in 1979. One of the very best players of that era, for sure. By way of contrast, another one would be Chris Bostock who played with the JoBoxers in the early 1980s and a few other notables during that decade. Always liked his playing but he didn't go on to make very many more recordings.
  23. Misdee
    It's easy to be flippant but I wouldn't underestimate the difference screw holes can make. Screw holes make a Fender bass a de facto hollow body. Think of it as micro-chambering. There is bound to be differences in both tone and weight between screw hole basses and the ones Fender couldn't be arsed with. If you look closely at some of the Masterbuilt Custom Shop basses, the screw holes are quite exquisite. God is in the details. And if you think drilling a few simple holes is easy, wait until you need them drilling in your own head. Then tell me how easy it is.
  24. Misdee
    I can't help but think that this might be the thin end of the wedge. Like Warwick basses and their wax finish that has to be laboriously maintained by the owner( the thin end of the wenge, you might say) which saves Warwick the trouble and expense of finishing their basses. It starts with a screw hole and before you know it you will have to route your own truss rod channel. I put it to you that Fender, stung by criticism of their dubious quality control, and, have developed a strategy to gradually make the customer increasingly responsible for the manufacturing process. Five years from now when you buy a Fender bass you will get a box of parts, a sheet of instructions and a good luck message that also functions as a legal disclaimer.
  25. Misdee
    But definitely not the screw holes, apparently. So much for period-correct. To me, vintage Fenders have always been all about the screw holes.
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