Misdee

Sponji Reggae by Black Uhuru maybe, great tune but perhaps a bit obscure for a mainstream audience. If you want a slower number for a lovers rock kind of vibe, how about Silly Games by Janet Kay.

There was a divide between bass tone on British and American-made music. With UK artists it was brands like Wal, Jaydee and Status you were hearing regularly on records, and ubiquitous Trace Elliot amps and cabs for live rigs. In the States it was more Steinberger, Spector, Alembic, and Fenders always had an enduring popularity with American players. Gallien Krueger amps and still plenty of SVT's about in the States. If you listen, there was huge variety within that modern '80's sound.

Jessie F Keeler?😮 JFK? Why did no one tell me that earlier? Well, that puts a very different complexion on things. Jessie F Keeler! If only I had known. My mistake then, apologies to all concerned.🙂. . I totally get your point a Rickenbacker's eccentric design and marketing philosophies. I'd love for JFK and/or Rickenbacker to explain the ergonomic advantages of this design. Then again, if they weren't a bit Kookie maybe the guitars and basses wouldn't have such a gloriously distinctive sound and look. Few things in this world are as beautiful as a Rickenbacker. I'd love to see Rickenbacker do a faithful reissue of the 4002 rather than (ironically enough) the short scale approximations I've seen. They could have my money for sure. I've seen some really sumptuous one-offs from their custom shop on the internet, too. Sooner or later I'm sure I'll end up pulling the trigger, despite the fact that I should have learnt by now that I can't play on a Rick. I wish I had got one when I first started and couldn't play on any other bass either, so it wouldn't have made any difference.

This whole endeavour by Rickenbacker is just very strange. Where have they got the idea that there is a need and indeed demand for a 30 inch scale bass that is essentially as big as a full-size Rick? It's so weird a project that I could never have imagined it had it not happened. A scaled-down 4003/4001 would have been a sure-fire hit, what with the enduring trend for short scale basses. There isn't going to be overwhelming demand for these 4030 basses, I would predict.

The world is a poorer place without Anthony Jackson in it. I first came across him on the credits for Paul Simon's Greatest Hits album in the very early '80's. He played bass on Slip Sliding Away, and I was blown away by how he alternated between low notes and high-register passages played round the vocals. It's still one of my favourites. I know AJ is feted for his work on the 6 string contrabass, I love that, but I really enjoy his earlier work played mainly on Fender basses. Everybody knows For The Love Of Money, but he did some equally dazzling and inventive playing with a whole host of artists on the four string. And he was funky as anybody else you could name from back in those days, of course in his own inimitable way:

Funnily enough, I've thought about putting flats on my Bongo, if I ever get round to it. I think it could work pretty well!

If Adam Clayton doesn't want them then I don't either. Besides which, wearing a Rolex is just asking for trouble nowadays apparently. According to the Daily Mail, in central London you might just as well chop your own arm off with a chainsaw.

Not everybody's cup of tea, but definitely my cup of tea. I love a Bongo. That finish looks like Egyptian Smoke, if I'm not mistaken. The colour scheme on these earlier Bongos was inspired by the available colours for BMW cars at that time in the early-mid 2000's. Makes sense in light of the BMW connection. Anyhow, lovely bass, I hope you have a lot of fun playing it.

Him too.

It's a bit naieve to think that the demand for tickets was entirely unexpected and that these extra shows have been hastily arranged to accomodate that demand. They will have been scheduled at the same time as the other shows, and yes more shows and Europe will inevitably follow. This triumphant return will have been carefully choreographed. And regarding Niel Peart's family giving their wholehearted endorsement, I would be very surprised if they hadn't been shown proper consideration by Rush and given a cut of the proceeds to acknowledge Niel's part-ownership of the Rush brand. Nothing wrong with that, though.

One of the things I love about AJ is he was brilliant in every genre of music anyone threw at him and he had a different approach for each one. Soul/pop music with the O'Jays, big band jazz with Buddy Rich, singer songwriters like Paul Simon, jazz fusion with so many artists it's hard to know where to start. That would be enough, but I especially loved when he played rock with a pick on albums like Electric Rendezvous by Al Di Meola. He really excelled at that style and he obviously enjoyed playing that way. I read in an interview once that Anthony was a big Entwistle fan and used to practise with a pick playing along to Who records, as well as Jefferson Airplane. I know that Joe Osborn was also a big influence on his pick playing.

A titan of the bass guitar, and probably my all-time favourite bass player. Irreplaceable, unique, a one-off, the genuine article. Anthony was a true virtuoso of the instrument, no one else comes close to him. I'm properly upset by this news.

Colin Moulding? Where do you want to start! What a brilliant musician, bass player, songwriter, you name it. If he weren't such a self-effacing chap he would have a very different profile. I honestly believe he could have had a career as a top session musician if he had wanted. I cannot think of a better bassist that any record producer or artist could hire to interpret and compliment their music in a novel and interesting way. Colin's such a creative bass player without ever conspicuously drawing attention to himself. He could have done the same job Pino Palladino has done for so many artists, albeit in his own inimitable way. The way he plays the bass is so exciting and quite fascinating. XTC were just breaking through around the time I started playing and Colin Moulding has always been a major role model for me. It seems like such a waste he's not out there making music much anymore because he's a unique talent.

Those pink JayDees came out in about early 1987 and along with other pastel shade pearlescent finishes like blue and yellow. My dad warned me at the time that if I bought an expensive bass in a colour like that I wouln never be able to sell it again. I heeded his warning and got a cherry red custom-made JD Mk3 MK. It was mega, much better than the production models in the shops at the time. John Diggins himself made it for me, and he was a superb craftsman, and a very nice chap too in all my dealings with him. I was very sad to hear that he had died. Regarding Mark King's sound, without wishing to court controversy, I have long been of the conviction that his tone is seriously compromised by the super light gauge strings he uses. It's just a case of how much each bass compensates for the lack of body in those thin strings. Whatever bass he uses he sounds remarkably similar to me. Don't get me wrong, I really admire Mark King and enjoy lots of things about his playing even though Level 42 aren't really my cup of tea, but his whole style and sound is defined by those strings.

Status used essentially the same electronics package in an exotic wood body for the Barracuda bass, I seem to remember. That was one of the wooden necked basses, too. Back in the mid-1990's the UK bass market wasn't flooded with super- Fender-style basses like it is now.The T-Bass was actually quite novel, not just in its quirky design but also as an available way for UK bass players to get their hands on an active souped-up Jazz Bass style instrument.I remember seeing the bass player out of Black Grape playing a black one with a tort plate at the time and it looked really good. I wanted to buy one just like that but never got round to it somehow. I had a Status Empathy back in those days so I was very open to another Status-built bass at that time It feels pretty strange to me talking about the mid-1990's as if it was the old days, but I suppose it is now!

When it comes to fretless I'm looking for something that can withstand the abrasion of roundwound strings. My fretless Lakland has got a polyester-coated ebony board and I really love the sound and feel of it. Pau ferro is supposed to be pretty hard, but everything will wear out sooner or later if you use roundwounds, as I'm sure you are already well-aware.

I really like the way Paul ferro looks, a nice bit is quite pinkish, like they use on Fodera, Sadowsky and USA-made Spector basses. I can remember when pau ferro was considered an upmarket upgrade on rosewood. It doesn't put me off in the slightest. Take this with a pinch of salt if you like, but Roger Sadowsky says that forty-odd years experience building basses has taught him that fingerboard wood makes much more of a difference to the tone than body wood. Furthermore, he is a big fan of pau ferro (or morado, as he calls it) for it's tonal properties. It's supposedly a bit brighter than rosewood but warmer than maple and without the "clackiness" you can get from ebony. If it's good enough for Roger, it's good enough for me. Fodera reckon it's a great-sounding wood for the same reason and it's their default choice if you are ordering a fretted bass from them. FWIW, my own personal experience is that whether a fingerboard is lacquered or not makes a much bigger difference to the sound of the bass than what the wood is. A lacquered maple board sounds very different to rosewood, whereas as maple fingerboard without lacquer does not so much.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I know that John Entwistle had an Overwater C Bass that was the same shape as these original-style Overeaters. That was a 36 inch scale 4 string tuned C/F/B flat/E flat that Overwater brought out in the. mid-'80's, just before the five string bass took off.

I suppose that Rush can't help that the world has changed in the interim period. I blame Live Aid. That's the point where rock music became another commodity to be exploited by the establishment and no longer had any semblance of being part of the counterculture. Ironically enough considering the nature of the event, Live Aid marked the end of popular music being associated with social change and heralded in an era of unbridled consumerism. Before you knew it people were buying CD's in the supermarket and paying ticket prices that reflected more what West End theaters charged rather than what the artists latest LP cost. I know that supposedly touring costs have escalated, but so have profit margins and established artist's expectations. I've said it before, a few blokes with long hair in a band, some roadies, some gear to transport and a venue., rock music gigs are still a fairly simple proposition. If there was a will there would be a way to bring prices down. There isn't a will because people will pay the prices for an "experience" as it's called nowadays, and the acts like the money. No surprise or shame in that, but it is what it is.

Overwater were( and I am sure still are) top quality craftsmen-built instruments. Even a more modest model like this will be exceptionally well-made. Given the way trends have gone in basses, I'm slightly surprised this model of bass hasn't been revived by Overwater. It's got a style and sound that would be very attractive to a variety of modern musicians. Definitely a rock/ indie bass, but with a lot of interesting stuff going on behind the scenes. I'd love to have one of these basses nowadays, if only to pretend I'm John Entwistle in the privacy of my own home.

For a very long time the pound has been pitifully weak against the dollar, so long in fact that the disparity has become the norm in most people's minds. It's going to continue that way for the foreseeable future, too. So even with the extra 10 percent tariff you are probably still doing okay on the deal in real terms. Anyhow, I hope you are enjoying the new bass.

I've got a 2009 American Standard P and a 2012 American Standard Jazz and they're both examples of a really good Fender bass.

These basses look like opportunity for Fender to put together mainly already existing parts in a slightly different way to create a "new" product "Vintage" is the most elastic of concepts when it comes to basses, especially any bass with Fender written on it. There is nothing specifically "vintage" about these new basses except the tuners taken from the 1966 R.I and the colours, but every new Fender has to have some vintage credentials or it is apparently worthless in the eyes of the world. Vintage is to basses what Salon is to hair products, i.e obligatory but meaningless. Vintage is punch. Vintage is warmth. Vintage is depth. Vintage is growl. Vintage is anything you want it to be. These basses sound ok but I can't see much to make them especially appealing apart from the colours. . One day a genius at Fender will wake up and realise that all they have to do is make basses that look and sound like old ones of various eras but play better and are made to the standards of decent modern instruments with quality hardware. Like the American Standard range that was introduced in 2008 but that look as pretty as the basses they made in the 1960's and 1970's. Then they'd be fighting customers off with a stick.

That is the kind of "giving up" I like to see, i.e not really giving up at all.😄 Never make the mistake of thinking that if you're not out there gigging ect that it's not worth continuing. A friend of mine is a very successful artist and he always emphasises the importance of pottering about at home for any creative person. That is often where great ideas are born, and who knows what those ideas might come to?