super al

I take spare everything to pub and club gigs. Both my basses are active and I check how much gas is left in the battery but always feel safer with a spare. The problem I have is that we are a 5 piece or (with horns) an 8 piece band and that I usually get a postage stamp of stage space between the keys and the drummer. No room for a spare bass usually so if I needed to change bass I'd have to leave the 'stage' and go to the pile of kit hidden away somewhere 'off stage'... mumble grumble...pub gigs 🙄. I always end up hitting a cymbal and Dave (drummer) goes all dead pan and tells me off... bit of a running joke, at least I think it is! Haven't managed to clock the keyboard player with me headstock yet.

I was thinking about '85 recently... I too bought 'Dream into Action' when it came out. So many other great albums and hits that year that I remember well, I was 14 and I guess we all have one of those years where music becomes so important. Hounds of Love, World Machine, This Is The Sea, Our Favourite Shop...Live Aid...first kiss, that's it, my first kiss was in '85. Definitely a good year for me to reminisce about 😊

Steve Lawson uses loop pedals to great effect, I would say he has probably experimented with a few and has a good knowledge of what's good n bad. Check him out. I borrowed a Boss rc-20 for a while, it was good fun but I didn't really get on with it. It might've been my stupidity but it didn't seem that user friendly 🤯 I've heard the rc-30 is much better.

Some call me Big Al (it started after Eat the Rich) so when I discovered there was a bass with the same moniker I thought I need to check this out. They say never judge a book by the cover...I say never play a bass that looks like a thirteen year old's woodwork project! Having said that, give me a Squier Katana any day 😊

Apparently you can get a MM signature pork pie hat too!

That's exactly what the wife said when we ran over a giraffe at Longleat 😆

You missed out the Soup Dragons' 'I'm Free' (loved that tune!). I remember going to Reading Festival and seeing Ride, Living Colour, Buzzcocks, Pixies, FNM, Iggy Pop (or was that '91?)...I think I stopped watching TOTP about then so watching them now feels like I missed a great chunk (or not so great 😆) of music from that era.

I think Overnite Sensation was part of that sweet spot of Zappa's that I love from the mid 70s. One Size Fits All is my favourite (Inca Roads... what a tune to start an album with!). For his live albums I love listening to Roxy & Elsewhere and The Best Band You Never Heard (inc Bolero). I think some of his albums blur the lines between live and studio output, Sheik Yerbouti is a good example. Anyone here listen to Lumpy Gravy much though? 🤔 This film sounds right up my street 👍

Your wife sounds like a keeper... I'm fast approaching 50 and no mention of any bass guitars let alone a 5 string from my missus! I think a stingray 5 would be my choice if I was allowed a lovely new bass on my birthday... actually it would be nice to have a day or 2 just going to music shops to try a few basses out, that in itself would be a novelty these days! I hope you get what you wish for.

I agree with Let's Dance, I was sat watching it and thinking to myself "that is a really cool arrangement" and then the Mrs pipes up "I know this", followed by 30 seconds of guessing and then "her voice is awful for this song" Bubble burst, moment gone! Really enjoyed the live studio stuff, it seemed like they all put in a "I really miss doing this" shift... I know the feeling!

One of my clients is a mate of Trevor's, he told me the story about his wife's shooting accident, horrible family tragedy. I wish I could get as much for my worst bass...maybe half that for the other one too!

So many great singers that aren't classically great singers already listed here. I love Julian Cope's style and Tom Waits too...Nick Cave is quite new to me (only become a fan in the last 5 years!) but I'd say in similar territory to the first two. Richmond Fontaine frontman Willy Vlaughtin has a voice that suits the little stories in the lyrics of their songs, a classically trained singer couldn't couldn't pull off the honesty and the emotion that Willy's voice gives every line.

Anyone near Southampton? There's 19 Premier League clubs below them at the moment 😆

2 pages in on a thread about Krautrock and nobody has mentioned Julian Cope have they? I'm sure the arch drude wrote a book about it...never read it myself but I love a bit of Can and Neu.

Looks like they're over compensating for neck dive!

I was a devout 4 stringer for 30 years but joining a function band changed all that. I tried to avoid buying a fiver by converting a 2nd bass into an Eb bass and buying a drop D tuner for my main bass but I found lugging 2 basses around was a pain. Occasionally I would forget to flick the drop D back to E too! I think trying an Ibby 5 was my epiphany and now 2 second hand fivers (from basschat!) and 30 months later I'm a very happy chappy playing 5s. Every now and then I pick up my jazz bass and that teeny tiny neck feels like I'm gonna crush it 💪

I have a bh250 too and started out using an old laptop bag. Then I was given a Targus laptop backpack...a game changer! It has so many places to stow away leads, amp, screwdrivers, straps, nail clippers, bananas, marker pens, a towel, etc... I can hardly lift it now but it's perfect for gigging. Btw, I'm sure other laptop backpacks are available but I love my Targus 😊

Love this...that Funkadelic sticker. And is that an Ozrics sticker? I bought a cheapie Peavey bass about 15 years ago (Milestone 1, £60 2nd hand). As well as new pups, bridge and tuners I covered the scratch plate in any stickers I could find. I was in an indie rock band at the time so it went with the image. 10 years down the line and I find myself in a function band and, only owning basses of the 4 string variety, requiring a bass to drop a semi tone. I just removed the scratch plate and hey presto...a future proof, multi tasking cheap bass 👍

I think I'm like one of those restaurants you see on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. I look pretty good until you delve deeper, then you discover the freezer is full of shop bought, the fridge has mould growing everywhere and the chef is some dysfunctional idiot who taught himself to cook! I do a pretty good 'Tears of a Clown' though 😁

Great album...the audience singing along always makes me smile, Weeks bass playing is spot on too.

The 'Vulf' in the top left corner gives it away, didn't the guitarist from Vulfpeck post this? He's a pretty decent bassist apparently.

I'll have to listen to that tune with my bass ears, I've never really taken much notice of the bass playing in the Tull (light blue touch paper, stands back waiting for fireworks of abuse! 😁). The last 5 years I've been playing Stevie Wonder tunes more and more. I love playing and listening to the bass parts in I Wish and Superstition. Very challenging too when you change drummers and they have a different way of playing their part. All the Stevie tunes we play are interesting, difficult and fun, as I'm not James Jamerson I've had to adapt (simplify) For Once In My Life, it would probably take me about 6 months to learn it properly...oh, hang on, I've probably got about 6 months of free time 😆😷

I want you back by the Jackson 5 has that bridge and I'm suffering to get that at the right tempo. I've played it slowly for a while then speed it up but it's a real sausage to get it right! Great tune to learn otherwise 👍, I'll get it eventually.

Higher and Higher was a challenge for me too! At first if my mind wandered I lost it, eventually I found that focussing on smiling (or clenching my teeth 😁) got me through it. Playing it live, everyone gets up to dance to it... this somehow made it easier if a crowd were up enjoying themselves.