Cato

Off topic, but my understanding is that there are a load of classic Stones songs that Wyman, Jones & Watts made major contributions to that are simpy credited to Jagger/Richards. I'd guess that from their perspective a smaller slice of a big pie was better than no pie at all.

I always thought he was a massive duck.

[quote name='keefbaker' timestamp='1455194659' post='2976881'] Muse - in the way that you can always play the "what song have they blatantly ripped off for this one" game. [/quote] Even more confusingly there seems be a whole new batch of bands coming through that sound a lot like Muse.

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1455143308' post='2976505'] Ah yes, in the context of the original comment it's much more appropriate. Which reminds me, quoting doesn't seem to work at all on the Android version of Firefox - I have to do it manually, which is even more error prone :-( [/quote] No worries

5/10, at least three of those were educated guesses. Metal & I parted company in about 1993, no idea about anything past that date.

I suspect everbody experiences plateaus where we feel that we're not improving or have a hit a brick wall with where we want to go next. I don't think learning an instrument is a smooth learning curve of constant improvement, its more like a series of steps and landings, some of steps are quite small and some of the landings between them are longer than others. (apologies if I sound like a budget guru).

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1455123723' post='2976194'] That is such a crass comment. [/quote] Ah, I think thats my fault. Pretty sure Mr Geek accidentally included that when he was quoting something else I'd written. I said it, in the context that none of us are in a position to judge Adam Clayton's actual level of technical ability because we've never heard him play outside of U2. For all we know he may be able to give Victor Wooten a run for his money but never demonstrates that side of his playing because its innapropriate for the band that he's in. Hope that clears that up.

They've got some good deals. I bought a pair of aguilar ag 4j70 pickups from them a couple of months ago for a fair whack cheaper than they were advertised anywhere else,prompt delivery, absolutely no complaints. They also seem to have got a fair bit of Fender Japan stuff in recently, if anyone's interested.

From memory Billy's sig bass is scalloped from the 17th fret onwards but only on the D & G side of the fretboard, but it doesn't always come out in photographs, so the ones on the maple are harder to see than the ones on the black fret markers. As mentioned above it's to reduce friction on bends so the string is only touching the fret & not the fretboard. I've never played anthing with a scalloped fretboard, but I've heard you need a very light touch otherwise you can pull the string out of tune (by pushing it down past where the fretboard would normally be) just by playing with normal pressure. I'd guess that's why he only has scallops at the top end of the neck.

The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails is one of my all time favourite albums. It does a superb job conveying its themes.

There are definitely degrees of story telling when it comes to concept albums. At one end of the spectrum you have 'The Wall' by Pink Floyd or 'Tommy' by the Who where there is a relatively clear and easy to follow story being told accross the album. At the other end of the scale you have stuff like Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son', where apparently there was a story being told but to this day I have no idea what that story was,apart from a vague idea that it might have had something to do with wizards.

Those gauges should be absolutely fine for slap (or any other style). Is it possible it might be a technique issue? You don't need to slap or pull the strings very hard to get a good slap sound, a lighter touch is generally better. Also basses are generally noisier than electric guitars when it come to string noise & fret buzz, especially if you hit the strings hard. Other than that my only suggestion is to take the bass to another luthier or tech, demonstrate the problems you are having and get a second opinion.

Clayton does exactly what he needs to for the U2 gig. Whether or not you are a fan, the popularity of their music speaks for itself. I don't think any of us will be in a position to judge him as an unimaginative or 'bad' bass player until he releases a solo album that showcases the full range of his skills. He hasn't always helped himself mind, I remember an interview in Guitarist ( or possibly Bassist) in the 90s where he spoke about using sequencers and loopers on U2's most recent tours and essentially miming for large parts of the show. I have wondered if those comments are the fountainhead of a lot of the derision aimed in his direction.

11200ish. I'm not really surprised. I've spent a lot of time at loud gigs in small venues & its only in the last year or so that I've started wearing ear plugs in an attempt to save what I've got left.

I don't know about Spector pickup width, but I installed a set of AJ70s in my squire jazz a couple of months ago and they're standard Fender Jazz size, with the neck pickup being slightly shorter than the bridge. If its just pickup covers after and your not bothered about branding then try http://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/plastic-pickup-covers/single-coil-jazz-bass-style

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1454676057' post='2971929'] Nice live stuff from Frankie in 1984 here... Mark O'Toole rocking a nice Cutlass I by the look of it. I thought they couldn't play..? [/quote] The recording of Relax is legendary & there are a lot of myths and rumours about it. From what I've read over the years my impression is that the problem wasn't so much that the original Frankie line up couldn't play ( they'd been gigging for a while before they got signed) it was that Trevor Horne had a definite idea in his mind about how he wanted the song to sound and neither Frankie or half the session musicians in the UK, including members of the Blockheads could get the song to sound the way he wanted it to. The eventual single release was stitched together from about a million different sessions ,including some from band members ,with some serious post production thrown in for good measure. Of course others may have heard different versions of what actually went on during those sessions.

Strangely I like that a lot more than the bass.

I can't imagine Quo are short of cash. I imagine it would take a fair whack to be enough of an incentive to do a one off private gig.

I think it depends on your mobile, mines a bit rubbish for internet stuff in general, but the mobile version of the site is generally excellent on my Kindle Fire. (Apart from not being able to watch embedded youtube vids since the last software 'upgrade' but thats entirely a problem with the Kindle, not Basschat).

I've got the first couple of Cribs albums, which I like a lot. I suppose their biggest claim to fame is that Johnny Marr joined the band for an album & a tour. Pretty surprised Gary's got his own signature model though, although they've been touring internationally for years, maybe they've got wider appeal than I realised?

I thought it was great.

I'm not sure Fender can really win. If any of us were offered our choice of any new Fender bass from the current range how many would go for a Dimension? Over the years they've had a few goes at doing something different both with guitars & basses, none of which, as far as I know, have set the world alight sales wise.

They seem roughly in line price wise with the deluxe line they are replacing. The natural jazz with black blocks looks very promising, similar to the Squire VM 70s which for me is just about the best looking bass in the entire Fender range (especially now they seem to have discontinued the natural deluxe).

I'm sure you could rig something similar up with a slotted cork superglued onto an old drill bit & a Black & Decker cordless... What could possibly go wrong?

There's no definitive answer for me, my tastes are in constant flux. As an example, for years I found Rickenbacker 4001s & 4003s to be unspeakinkaby ugly, then one day I saw one in darkest blue & fell instantly,inexplicably, head over heels. If I'd had the funds I'd have bought it on the spot, about 30 seconds after seeing it, probably without even trying it out. I also used to be pretty indifferent towards Jazz basses. Now I own 2 & think its generally just about the sexiest shape around. My love is fickle.