Happy Jack

This subject, in various guises, keeps cropping up on Basschat, and not without reason. I've been compiling my recent experiences (just the last couple of years), originally with a view to starting a blog, but Silvie assures me that this stuff is classic Basschat fare so that's where I'm putting it. I imagine that there will be others with stories to tell, so please note that the accounts I have given here are entirely and 100% factual. The whole point of taking the trouble to write them down is that you couldn't make this stinky poo up. Nothing has been invented, nothing has been exaggerated for effect. Please note also that I have been at some pains to keep these stories anonymous. These people aren't villains, or malicious, or somehow deserving of punishment, but the circumstances are always good for a laugh and perhaps even educational. In the unlikely event that you recognise anyone from these descriptions, PLEASE don't start naming names.

Can't say that I agree with that. There are plenty of flaky guitarists, bass players and drummers, but they have at least had enough commitment to spend some of their hard-earned on guitars, basses and drum kits. Vocalists? Well, everyone thinks they can sing, don't they? After all, we've all done it in the bathroom, and doing it with a band has got to be easier than doing it solo, right? And there's no commitment needed. At all. You don't need to buy anything, or learn how to do it, or practice or anything. You just turn up at the studios (having spent three hours at home trying on t-shirts before making your decision) and ask where your mic-stand is and why hasn't anyone switched on the PA and tested it yet?

I was at an audition just last week where very much the same thing happened. New vocalist apparently believed that he could look up the lyrics on his smartphone and immediately deliver some sort of performance on songs by Guns n'Roses and Lenny Kravitz that he'd patently never even tried before. And he sang flat. Very.

For someone like me, the best time to start studying music properly and learning to play bass properly is roughly 50 years ago. I'm well aware that the next line is supposed to go: and the next best time is now. But actually I'm not convinced. With any luck, I'll have another 15 years of active playing ahead of me. I really don't fancy devoting maybe the first (and best) five of those to playing scales and arpeggios, and studying modes. That would almost certainly improve my playing (I'm setting the bar low here) by making it possible for me to do all sorts of things which I cannot now do and ... erm ... can't honestly say that I miss much. Techniques like slapping, tapping and sweeping are of less than zero interest to me. Playing bass solos strikes me as one of the least attractive aspects of rock music. Pinch harmonics? In 1970s pop music? I don't think so. How many great rock songs are in the Phrygian mode? Somebody start a list would you. I'm not sneering at musical knowledge or study. I'm simply pointing out that there are far too many people out there - and here on Basschat - who declaim as a matter of proven fact that it is always better to study music. Bollocks. Horses for courses, and moderation in all things.

I quite often watch the TV while playing, especially when the footy is on. The rest of the band don't like it much, mind.

Of course it doesn't matter ... it really is all about the music you make. The technique is irrelevant. If I rebuild a multi-cylinder motorcycle engine so that it works better than when I started, does anyone really care how I used the socket set? Or what make of socket set I used?

I'm now trying to visualise what he must have done to the Rick to justify modifying the pickguard like that. I'm not much enjoying it ...

The best line in that review is "add $10,000 for the speaker cables ..."

The BVs in that song are consistently off the beat, making it a right bugger to sing while playing.

OK, I'll play too.

I don't play guitar either, but I suspect that I'm just weird anyway.

It still goes on. Take a look at these, on eBay for another 55 minutes as I type this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shure-SM57-LC-Cardioid-Dynamic-Instrument-Microphone/183175482964?hash=item2aa61c0e54:g:C7wAAOSw-vda0DHZ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shure-SM57-LC-Cardioid-Dynamic-Microphone-01/183175483485?hash=item2aa61c105d:g:k~AAAOSwZ3Ja0DIU https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shure-SM57-Cardioid-Dynamic-Instrument-Microphone-02/183175484125?hash=item2aa61c12dd:g:dawAAOSwx3Va0DJT So that's a new eBay seller with 0 Feedback score selling three brand-new SM57s at the same time, with the same photo for each, all at knock-down prices. What could possibly go wrong?

+1 to the first sentence. Maybe not so much to the second.

That was one of the nicest days I can remember - really lovely bunch of people, played some excellent (and thought-provoking) kit, met some old friends, made some new ones. Basschat at its finest.

£9500? Not sure I can count that high to Bassie.

They don't make 'em like they used to. I don't mean that as a compliment.

I particularly liked the BUY with CONFIDENCE line.

Now you can play The Funky Chibbon.

Roger Warner / A. Watt? Odd name for a band ...

So a pick is the cure for tinnitus - who knew?

Silvie & me.

The preamp on the SWB Pro is a thing of beauty. I'll be very surprised if you're disappointed.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tannoy-15-inch-Bi-Amp-Dual-Concentric-Monitors-Speakers-Teak-Wood-Cabinets-Puma/282884426863?_trkparms=aid%3D777001%26algo%3DDISCO.FEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D50981%26meid%3D1f677775ee3f4fed854a584a65569313%26pid%3D100651%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D282884426863&_trksid=p2481888.c100651.m4497&_trkparms=pageci%3Adbccdff3-3dd7-11e8-894d-74dbd180b4c4|parentrq%3Ab6d4625a1620aa144835915ffff81540|iid%3A3

Did the Government destroy the UK cheese industry? Well? Did it?