skankdelvar

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1345032029' post='1772553'] Peter Cook Twin Neck, from around 1973-74.[/quote] Be still, my beating The Peavey and the Ibby aren't too shabby either.

I worked my way through various slides over the years and came to the conclusion that plastic slides weren't to my taste - too 'sticky' on the strings. Glass was good, steel was better and brass was best - for me. The most important thing, IMO, was that they had a bit of mass, so I eventually settled on a brass one where the thickness increased towards the top. Very heavy but it felt easier to control. Downside was that you had to give it a quick polish with brasso every so often, because the tarnishing spoiled the sound a bit. Slides - def a YMMV thing. And anyway, you can always play slide on a bass's G string. Such larks!

[i]"Dear Basschat[/i] [i]Like literally thousands of people I suffer from EIS (Easily Influenced Syndrome) and thanks to your banner ads my living room is now full of luxury divan sofas, Dell computers, Pizza and local slags. The slags are getting pizza all over the sofas and the computers so I won't be able to return them for a refund. [/i] [i]I am at my wits' end. Please stop bannering now.[/i] [i]Yours, Skank"[/i] That's what I [i]would[/i] have said before I discovered a new Japanese miracle yoghurt that suppresses the desire to spend money. WOW! It worked for me and now it can work for you. TELL ME MORE! Just one tub a day will save you £££'s. GOSH! Send £25.00 for more details. CRIKEY!

Funnily enough, there are any number of people on BC who will say that an Ibanez RS-900 can deliver the Precision sound better than many actual Precisions. So that's half your question answered!

[quote name='cazzag' timestamp='1345022466' post='1772341'] I hope its ok to call the guitarist a "guitard" [/quote] Here, yes. To their face? Not so much NB a drummer who gives you attitude is a 'drumtard'. Strangely, I've not yet encountered a keys-tard, but there's plenty of time, i suppose.

[quote name='cazzag' timestamp='1344897051' post='1770947'] Is it a case of everyone generally gels with each other instantly with a few tweaks here and there, or is it like you can meet up with them and it takes a while to get stuff together?[/quote] Can be either but - in my experience - usually the latter. [quote name='cazzag' timestamp='1344897051' post='1770947'] Within the band, I come up with a lot of the ideas for new songs. I find this slightly uncomfortable as everyone always ends up working around my basslines – and majority of the time it ends up being something I don’t really like![/quote] Then don't present the song as a bassline, live in the rhsal room, but as a recorded demo on keys or guitar with vocals, however dodgy the quality. Jot down the structure and copy it out for each of your bandmates. Doesn't have to be a major production - just the bare bones of the song. Show them the tempo, time sig, intro, verses, choruses, end, etc all down, then politely invite them to contribute. If you don't like what they're doing, smile sweetly and suggest an alternative approach. Always use the word 'different' rather than the word 'better'. If you can't persuade them to do it your way, politely tell them you think the song "needs more work on the structure", then take it away and stick it in your back pocket for the next band. [quote name='cazzag' timestamp='1344897051' post='1770947'] The lead guitarist keeps copying the bass lines I come up with, but then gives off an air that she thinks she is better than me at my instrument. Very frustrating!! Is this normal behaviour to expect?[/quote] It is quite normal for [i]some[/i] guitarists to think they're better at their instrument than they actually are. That's OK, but if they proceed to make unsubstantiated and invidious comparisons with others, we call them 'guitards' and sometimes give them a jolly good slap. Yes, it is normal for [i]some[/i] guitarists to slavishly copy basslines, but it is a far from ideal practise. Of course, there are times when doubling a riff is good. But the guitarist should not copy you to the exclusion of chordal work and harmonisation. Your guitard needs to shape up. [quote name='cazzag' timestamp='1344897051' post='1770947'] Do you just keep moving until you find a musicians you gel with or do you work with musicians who’s styles you are not really into, but just work hard to accommodate with them? [/quote] The wise bassist does both. Always keep your options open - bass players may [i]seem[/i] to be lower on the band totem pole but there are fewer of us around. Supply and demand, see. Lots of people here are in more than one band. And you being in London helps. Shitloads of bands all around you. There are always frustrations in any band and one has to balance the positive aspects of any band with the bad side. So, at one extreme money can tie together individuals who cordially loathe each other. At the other extreme there are plenty of amateur bands who'll gig for next to nothing just for the pleasure it brings.

I think we've got two issues here - quality control and product development. Gibson USA QC has been questionable for some years now, whether at the cheap end or the high end. For example, my £600 faded LPS had a control compartment where only the pot backs had been soldered. Every lug was a twist on, including caps. But a guitar mag recently reviewed a £5.5k Kossoff LP replica, with splintered wood in the control compartment and grain filler splashes on the wiring and pots. I mean, WTF? Who in their right mind is grain filling with the electrics in situ? That's not a question of economics vs model price. It's just mad-arse slackness. Or very diligent replicating perhaps? Funnily enough, I haven't heard many bad QC reports about MM series guitars. Maybe it's because they haven't sold very well, or because popular opinion can't get past the looks. Following on from the QC thing, there's the question of product development. Frankly, I think Gibson's strategy is too diverse and too shallow - they're trying to do too many things and doing few of them well. Artist guitars are generally too expensive compared to Fender, their mid-range pricing is too high, the cheap guitars tend to [i]look[/i] cheap and - IMO and NOI to any owners - Epiphone is a bit [i]too[/i] distinct from Gibson. Epi headstocks really should be the same as normal Gibbos, particularly if an inexpensive Epi is better value than an inexpensive Gibson. Strategically, Gibson have hurtled up a blind alley and that's even before we get into price-points, QC. workforce morale and heritage vandalism. For example, their strategy of engagement with digital is too patchy, half-hearted and engineer-driven. Expensive and sometimes fugly guitars (FirebirdX, anyone) that disappear seemingly as soon as they are launched. They even sent the Firebird X out for review without a manual or a functioning support section on their website And once Trevor Wilkinson does a deal for his bridge thingy with Fender, tuner-end self-tuning is dead anyway. Couple of years ago, a guy I know went on a group luthier tour of the Gibson factory, organised by the bods in Gibson PR. As soon as they arrived, they were dragooned into a meeting room to be told [i]not[/i] to ask questions about 'Heritage', because Gibson was a company owned by guys who'd cut their teeth on Wall St and that optimal corporate management was (is) the driving force behind the operation. If only. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='alanbass1' timestamp='1343547449' post='1751835'] I'm an out and out tele fanatic. Got three at the moment ('56, DeTemple and Custom Shop) with another DeTemple on order [/quote] Good man. I love Teles - always have - and another will be incoming shortly though none of mine are likely as gorgeous as those you mention. That said, I like lots of other guitars too. In fact, there isn't a guitar I [i]don't[/i] like - I just like some more than others. Life's so much cheerier that way.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1344771413' post='1768892'] That tele - looks like the exact same one all the way through - was it? [/quote] Pretty much. He bought it in 1976-77 when The Pirates reformed and used it till he died, apart from a short diversion onto a blue Peavey Tele-like in the 90's, for which sin he got some serious stick from the fans (a bit like Wilko and his infamous Strat diversions). He used the Tele Custom with McCartney and a Strat with Van Morrison and Bryan Ferry. In the early days he just used a standard Tele. FWIW, he used to teach guitar to schoolkids right up to his death. All of this is severely subject to IIRC. [quote name='pst62' timestamp='1344784115' post='1769068'] Best of the Pub Rock lot IMO. ([i]Eddie & The Hot Rods[/i]) [/quote] As I'm sure you know, the original lead singer was Lew Lewis. Fell out with manager Ed Hollis (the 'Eddie', if you see what I mean) so they hired Barrie Masters instead. I mention this because the band 'Lew Lewis Reformer' is definitely worth checking out if anyone likes that Feelgoods / Canvey thing.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1344767999' post='1768838'] The Pirates! I saw them *fairly* recently - this century, rather than the the last, so maybe +/-2005 - and they were not quite as frantic but still on the money. [/quote] Time, the conqueror. Frank retired with emphesyma, Johnny's mostly on a golf course in Spain IIRC and Mick's dead , though his two sons occasionally go out as The Green Brothers. The Tele custom goes with them.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1344766648' post='1768818'] It was Englebert... [/quote] Thank you, Sir.

[quote name='pst62' timestamp='1344688607' post='1767997'] The Pirates yeah [/quote] Good call. Three south London thugs in dodgy stage gear and perhaps the best pub rock band of all. The drummer was moonlighting from his jobs as a wrestler and bouncer. The bass player / singer sold used cars and the guitarist did session work for Tom Jones (or was it Englebert?). [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS8uC7ea9oE[/media] I remember seeing them at a gig in Hull when some numpty lobbed a pint glass (the heavy kind with a handle) at the guitarist. Caught him smack in the face and shattered, but he carried on playing till the end of the song then wobbled a bit. Blood everywhere. The MC demanded the culprit be brought backstage and a skinny, terrified little f**ker was seen legging it towards the door as fast as his (at this point unbroken) legs would carry him. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1344718646' post='1768450'] Uh oh I'm in trouble... [/quote] Not as much as if you'd walked up to a group of strangers in a pub and said what you did. It's never going to go down well. Look, friendly advice. We've all said daft things on here in our time. Just put your hands up to it and you'll get respect from your peers and we can all move on. Cheers Skank.

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1344712202' post='1768327'] Seems you are right Skank - I've just had a severe reprimand from HQ, threatening me with suspension for insulting the gods.[/quote] Really? Gosh. [quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1344716782' post='1768410'] ... my violin concert in Dm [/quote] The saddest of all the keys. Love your work though, Maestro. I may get out the tinest violin in the world and give it a go. Got the tab?

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1344704410' post='1768204'] Saw one of them close up, they look awful. Not played it but surely it's just an exercise to sell to people desperate to have a Gibson but can't afford £800+ ? [/quote] You mean people like Mac, the OP, a veteran BC-er and pillar of the forum who's so happy with his new Gibbo that he's started this thread and posted pix of himself playing his cherished new baby at a gig? A gig where the bassplayer is our very own HappyJack? A gig which was attended by other BC-ers who confessed to admiration of Mac's new Gibson and took delight in the pleasure with which he cradled the innocent little Melody Maker in his arms, a look of tender, loving solicitude on his face? You can see where I'm going with this, can't you

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1344705867' post='1768224'] Wayne, you are ...get you down.[/quote] Lovely as a PM, maybe not quite so lovely as an open post. Frankly, I can understand that people might feel overlooked, but I suppose you have to tell the team that you'd like to help out if any vacancies come up. I mean, they're not telepathic. Y'know, that thing where you make stuff fly around all on its own.

For myself, I'm pleased that an infusion of new mods will take pressure off the relatively tiny number of people who've been curating for the forum to date. Since I joined about four years ago the membership's gone up five-fold and various new sub-forums have been added. There's been a change in board software (a punishing exercise for the team) and many other enhancements, including the blog, links to social media and other electrical wizardry. It all adds to the work - at least one admin was spending a whole day at a time doing nothing more than dealing with spammers. Everybody say 'Thank you, Hamster.' So I think it's good the current guys are going to get some help, because without that help the forum would stagnate or even go downhill because the existing team will be running just to stand still. We would lose the forward momentum that has brought the forum as far as it has. Perhaps some of us see moderators simply as being 'exercisers of power', without realising the full scope of a mod's commitments. Were that the case- which it is not - I could understand why a popular mandate might seem desirable. But even if it were the case, how would a nomination procedure work and how many nominators would be required? How would we avoid the effect of cliques? Would we use AV or first past the post? What percentage of membership would count as a viable constituency? Who would organise the vote? Would candidates have to publish a manifesto and - if 'elected' - be required to hold to it? Given the alarms and excursions occasioned by as small a matter as the 'Like Button' poll, frankly, we'd be playing with fire. And don't forget, some poor bastard would have to take days out of their life to organise and manage such an enterprise. Leaving aside these and other issues of framing an election, we must recognise that BC is not a co-operative but a forum wholly owned by Ped and Kiwi who pay for it out of their own pockets. The mods give their time up for nothing. The rest of us get a free ride. If the owners want to add to - or even subtract from - the number of mods, it's their choice. The selection process is their choice. The future direction of the forum is their choice. If they want to invest their own cash in a couple of new, separate forums founded on the basschat ethos, it's their choice - and a good call, IMO. Doesn't cost the rest of us a penny. All we have to do is sit back and enjoy it. And if we don't enjoy it, well, we're pretty much f***ed because there ain't no better bass forum on the web. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1344437670' post='1764492'] Here's a recipe at least [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/frenchstylepeaswithm_89051.pdf"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...withm_89051.pdf[/url][/quote] Looks like I set the surreal bar too low. Damn! I couldsa bin rich an' I suckered mahself, y'all. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

Prawn scratchings will do fine, m'man.

Big thanks indeed to Urb and Mythste - and to the modding team as a collective. As for the newbie mods - well, that's six absolute pillars of our community, each of whom is an awesome dude in his own right. Good call.* [quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1344415885' post='1764001'] a basschat equivalent for guitarists and drums soon. [/quote] 'Squeaks with excitement'. [size=1]* PayPal gift accepted[/size] [color=#ffffff][size=1].[/size][/color]

[quote name='debwilliams' timestamp='1344423654' post='1764172'] Who were they when they weren't Wombles? [/quote] Batt was Orinoco - the others were a rotating pool of musicians, including Steeleye Span. Here for more: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wombles_(band)#Live_performances"]http://en.wikipedia....ve_performances[/url] IIRC, the costumes were made by a Basschatter's mum (or was it his auntie?) - he posted about it on here one time. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

That's not a Squier. It's a Jedson from about 1973 - same as my mate Baz Barrell's first bass. Mr Justin Norvell's first mis-step at Fender, methinks. And so it begins - Fender's twenty-five year cyclical dive into hubris and disaster.

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1344349962' post='1763178'] Excellent selection, all killa, no filla........ oddities? [/quote] 'Shaft' cover? Never heard it before. Quite odd, but very good, IMO, YMMV, etc.

Do you realise that you are now BC's official 'Go To' guy for resonators? Nice stuff Mr L - more pix please

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1344272665' post='1762073'] Why would I buy her a guitar that costs more than any of my basses? [/quote] Because you're a lovable old grouch and you'd play it yourself anyway.