Doctor J

Yes, a Duke Master. I used to have a PRS McCarty soapbar until the Duke arrived 😂

Another Bacchus fan here. Actually, Ead’s former Woodline P Classic above started life with me, sold very reluctantly. I have a 24 and a 04 Standard 5. I love them both. The 24 is scaled down body, light and really comfortable. Their pickups, particularly the ones with the Handmade logo, are excellent. I have a Stingray type I’m in the middle of restoring too, plus some nice 6 strings. I love them all. I got most of mine second hand from Japan, but bought the P and the LP new. Keep an eye on Ishibashi u-box, sometimes there are deals there which negate the shipping and import duty woe.

I am quite partial to Ultrasound’s version of Big Ship

Some great albums in there. Rhythmeen is a particular favourite of mine.

It’s great apart from the way it misses the last 35 years.

Niiiiiiice!

If you like what Wong does, you’ll enjoy this. If you don’t like what Wong does, you might still enjoy this. Give it a go. Wonderful stuff. Seth Tackaberry doing a fine job on bass.

This. To get as far as they have under their own steam, with no biz support, is testament to them doing something right. I have been into their music since someone posted a video of It Gets Funkier here, what, eight years ago? They’re just regular guys who have made a success of doing what they love on their own terms. More power to them.

E.S.T. remain one of the finest live acts I have ever seen. Sublime. I’d recommend anyone who likes them to check out the E.S.T. Symphony album, Berglund and Ostrom with the Stockholm Philharmonic orchestra, it’s simply incredible.

It's only a $150,000 bass if somebody pays that much. Otherwise it's just another seller who has lost touch with reality 😉

I was supposed to fly to Desertfest in London tomorrow and to see Cory Wong with Metropole Orkest in Amsterdam at the end of the month.

Yep, and that was my point. Is greatness technical accomplishment to a specialised audience or someone whose music and playing resonated worldwide? I feel they couldn’t decide and their list is deeply uneven as a result. There are players in the list who even a lot of bassists will never have heard, never mind the public. Is greatness having the milkman whistle your bassline or some jazz dudes snapping their fingers in appreciation? At what point does technical virtuosity overcome the gift to communicate with non-musicians? The list doesn’t come close to clarifying this and just comes across as a mess as a result 🙂 Don’t worry, I didn’t for one second, expect to find Tony Choy or Sean Malone or Doug Keyser or Dan Berglund or Colin Hodgkinson in there. I do understand the difference between my personal favourites and bass greatness, thanks for checking 😉

I don’t see the merit of additional stress on the neck so I would vote “Supported from the derrière up” were it available.

The list had lots of technically superb players of selective appeal but omitted lots of bassists whose playing has communicated to the masses. Is greatness playing lots of notes gracefully and with sublime skill or is it playing something which resonates in the hearts of millions all over the world?

I had a 3 band Stingray before and, to get the best out of it, I always felt a little mid-boost was required. Personally, I would set the input gain on the amp to just below where it’s starting to clip, set all the amp EQ to flat and use that as a starting point. I always find amps sound best with the input gain set that way. Then, a subtle mid-boost on the bass with a gentle roll-off of some treble and follow your ears from there.

Bernard Edwards also used a BC Rich Eagle during Chic’s metal phase.

It's fine. Your pickup functions as a magnetic pickup in the normal way all the time, they just usually have a lot less coils than passive pickups and are far less prone to picking up background noise as a result. It contains an active pre-amp which boosts the output level to roughly what we accept as a standard. When the battery is flat or disconnected, it's only the pre-amp which stops working. A vibrating string over magnet and coils will still generate a quiet signal and that's what you're experiencing. Edit -> Think of them as really, really low output pickups with an active circuit used to bring them up to an acceptable output level.

And everyone should SFA’s Welsh material a go

This would be a banger in any language Shouty punk is fantastic aus Deutsch.

Unloftify it and hang it on a wall. That is art as much as it is an instrument. It should been if not heard.

Sounds like sheeet

New players who use Rotos on their 50 year old instruments?

I wouldn't say there is a metal uniform (outside of a black t-shirt and jeans, of course) when it comes to instruments. I think for every radical new instrument you see there will always be someone with a P or a J or a Strat or a Les Paul. Metal seems happy for the new and the old to co-exist, however, in ways that you don't see in a lot of other genres. Would Guigsy (insert alternate mainstream band bassist as applicable) have played a Dingwall? I'd say that's unlikely. Dingwall are right to promote themselves in that market because it will work for them. Outside of metal you could argue that session guys and jazz cats might get away with them but, elsewhere, they might struggle to be accepted alongside or in place of the instruments the player's grandad's might have played. Let's not forget the recent kerfuffle over a particular Jackson guitar 😉

The P-bass-‘n’-flats crew aren’t going to go for a Dingwall no matter what it looks like. Rock and metal bands tend to be a little less... let’s say “precious” about the aesthetics of the instrument compared to a lot of genres where conservatism has become the uniform.

A Bongo is one hell of a start, very nice.