Doctor J

Desperately sad news. He was my version of Neil Peart - i.e. the drummer who changed what you thought was possible. While being technically astonishing, he was a very musical player. What he did lifted the music, he was never just flash because he could. I was a massive Death fan back in the day and was so disappointed when it all fell to pieces, only finding out when the Chuck-less Death took to the stage before me on the ill-fated Kreator tour - the beauty of the pre-internet age. When, months later, I read an interview in Metal Forces that he was working on a new album with the best musicians he could find which would be more aggressive and more technical, I was very excited. When Human was finally released, I bought it straight away (along with Unquestionable Presence because if these Cynic guys were good enough for Chuck then they were good enough for me and I had to hear more). It is a bus journey home which I still remember vividly. Human is an album which lived in my walkman for a long, long time, largely because of the drumming. Revolutionary does not do it justice. I saw Death on the following tour in McGonagles in Dublin, after queueing for hours to ensure I would be up front. Reinert’s brief warm-up remains one of the most impressive things I have ever seen and thinking of that gig still gives me goosebumps. It showed what great musicians could do with songs I thought I knew inside-out. What they did to the old songs was mind-blowing, as well as getting to see what went into making Human so special from touching distance. I got one of his sticks at the end, still have it, and when I was threatened with a knifing by some scumbags after who moved swiftly from “Are you lookin’ ar me?” to “Give me your jacket or I’ll knife ye!”, I was thinking “How do I get out of this while keeping this stick?” When ITP came out without the Cynic guys, it took some time to get over. I like that album but never loved it. Luckily, Focus came shortly afterwards and remains a milestone in my life. As metal got replaced by the dreary nu-metal, it was one of the albums which stayed in constant rotation through the 90’s, part of the ultimate trinity with Human and Unquestionable Presence. When the internet arrived and one could check to see what happened to musicians who seemed to just vanish, I was so happy to find the likes of Portal, Gordian Knot, Aeon Spoke and Aghora. The Cynical Sphere forum (RIP) had contributions from Tony Teegarden, recalling how he lived in their rehearsal room leading up to the recording of Focus and how Reinert would relentlessly practice the songs, determined that there would be no overdubs on the album. There I also discovered that he lead with his left foot when double-bass drumming, allowing him to incorporate hi-hat, which was a massive “Ah-haaaaaaaaaaah!” moment explaining how he could perform things I couldn’t believe were not overdubs. I saw Cynic three times as they toured Traced in Air, finally able to bring mates to actually see the drummer I had raved about for so many years. He had matured and gotten even better. For my mates who accompanied me to the Dublin gig and then on to Belfast for the next gig, this has hit hard. I last saw him play as part of DTA, going full circle and see him play the songs which introduced me to his incredible skills and musical ability. For me, he was the best of the best. This one is tough to digest and 48 is no age to leave at.

Oh no, that is awful news.

Also, this should be the forum motto.

Nice. That looks like a right goer.

Livin’ on a Prayer is far from being crap. It’s a masterclass in commercial Rock songwriting, structure, performance and production.

The volume is too low, too much string clacking being picked up by the mic. When he’s at full concert volume, his rib-shaking schtick is quite something.

I'd have had that green Maruszyck off you a long time ago if you shipped. Having to travel internationally to collect a bass was a complete deal-breaker 🙂 My last few purchases have been from either here or ebay. As it's a specialist community, the pricing tends to be about right here. Ebay shares both fantatically low and stupidly high pricing, so there are stlll great bargains to be had there, occasionally.

Does that mean if you put it in the fridge it gets harder to play?

Still won’t be joining facebook, no matter what.

They should have got a Fender Precision and strung it with flats. Leo got it right first time.

You have no idea how good it is to know that actually happened 😂 What year was it, do you recall? I’d love to see it again.

I have a fretless Streamer LX Jazzman with an ebony board which I have been thinking of having fretted, wanna talk? 🙂

I can’t wait until every bass purchase comes with end-user safety training.

I never would have figured that out for myself. Now for a reckless sip of what I presume is room-temperature tea I just made.

I want one.

Sweet bass but “last of 2020”? 🤣

Work with me on this one... back in the 80’s, there was a TV show called “You Bet” where contestants would bet points on a challenge of some sort to be completed by guests they wheeled on. I’m pretty sure I’m not making this up. But I digress... I am reasonably confident a challenge on one episode was a guy who said he could name the bass being played from a selection of, let’s say, 50 basses. This was from the mid-80’s, before I started playing, but it stuck in my mind. Does anyone else remember this? He had to name something like 13 out of the 50, picked at random, based on listening alone. I think he couldn’t do it either. Tripped up by ebony not sounding dark like its colour and non-laboratory conditions making a mockery of the science of it all.

The distorted wah tone he uses only for the intro?

Your 20 fret neck may have enough overhang to install another fret. If not, you could get a luthier to add a small extension to the end of the fretboard to facilitate the extra fret. Or you could just get a short scale bass with the number of frets you’re looking for?

Mine was also faded and grey. These were the t-shirts I lived my teens in, they were far from museum pieces. Very, very far in some cases 😂

Exactly. It presents you with the results of your cognitive bias, nothing more. I remember a thread on talkbass years ago (before the humour vanished and the Fender shills ruined it) where someone put up samples of a late 50’s Precision and a bottom-rung Squier with a high-quality aftermarket pickup and listeners were tasked with picking which was which from audio alone. When faced with not being able to pick out the mojo, musically charged old-wood molecules, nitro, mellow aged magnets, pre-CBS sorcery and all the other guff we convince ourselves of and apply value to, some people got surprisingly defensive about it all. It’s amazing how much we hear with our eyes at times 🙂

Foxy. White is a great colour for 54 style basses. Bassdirect had something similar a few years ago, white 54 style Custom Shop jobbie but with a mint scratchplate. I couldn't find a buyer for any organs, sadly.