TrevorR

I loved these guys back in 89/90 but this cover was their only visit it the upper end of the charts... http://youtu.be/tkP7mMQ9o_A

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1458926506' post='3012203'] But the actual performance was by Justin Hayward, who was hardly a stranger to the charts. [/quote] And then there is The Eve Of The War, also from JWWotW and featuring JW and JH...

Apparently the guitar and bass techs for that Finnish band who won Eurovision a few years ago have an endorsement deal with a top manufacturer...

I bought my Audere direct from them and there were no problems. It's a great preamp. Very versatile but always musical with a lack of silly extremes. Dead easy to install too. I'd say take the plunge, you know you want what your really want! ;-)

All amazing bassists in their own right. However, depending how you define it I'd say only 1 or 2 or 4 could be said to have a shaping role... Kaye, no brainer. Weymouth, certainly. Gordon and Deal, probably in the music shaping class. Not a sexist thing, just an influence assessment. Of my top ten favourite bassists only about two or three could be claimed to have a modern music shaping influence. Top list of top players, though. And as Kirky says, great to see credit going to world class female players. On a personal basis I'd add Clare Kenny and Gail Ann Dorsey to my personal list

[quote name='Vinny' timestamp='1458818292' post='3011136'] Don't forget to take into account the universal constant - 'During any given performance the number of people who give a monkeys what the bass sounds like is 1.' , [/quote] [quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1458818792' post='3011145'] This is also very true. We bassists obsess about tone, but almost nobody else can hear any difference between bass x and bass y (or amp x and amp y) at all! The rest of my family and my bandmates are utterly bemused by the idea that I would ever need more than one bass - after all, they all sound the same, don't they? [/quote] [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1458821623' post='3011202'] If you are happy with your own gear choices, you are more likely to enjoy playing. This means you are more likely to play well and look like you are enjoying yourself - and these are things that punters DO pick up on! [/quote] [quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1458891437' post='3011833'] I could gig with any bass I own be it 4 / 5 / 6 string or even fretless. It's nice to have a low B for some stuff but not insurmountable is it? A twiddle on the amp will give you a useable sound. Apart from that, will the audience or other band members really care? I doubt it. [/quote] Thing is, we're not talking about minimum necessary requirements here, are we. Frankly, we could all manage a gig with one of those £60 basses from Argos and the punters wouldn't notice. This is about nuance and satisfaction and enjoyment. It's true there's probably only one person at the gig who notices specifically how the bass sounds but he's a very important person to me and I have a vested interest in him enjoying the gig. And audiences do notice subtleties on a subconscious level. If you do Walking On The Moon with a thin nasal sound they won't enjoy it as much as if you do it with a deep, solid, dubby sound. Similarly playing Angels with a Peaches tone... I exaggerate for effect, of course but even though they don't know why, they know. I agree with Conan, the more I am digging on the bass feel and look and tone, the more I enjoy playing, the more relaxed I am, the more I am in the musical moment and the better the experience for the punters. It's the opposite of the minimum necessary you can cope with, it's about maximising the experience for you, the band and the punters. And if you can self indulge a bit without being too anal or arsey about it (thinking about a guitar player I know who takes it way too far up his own orifice) then why not?

The tonal versatility is one of the things I love about my Mk 1 Wal. Like the OP I love being able to go from a plummy jazz tone to a punchy rock sound, to dubby reggae, to almost double bass with a simple knob twiddle and change of hand position (oo-er matron). Loved that when I was playing in a function band. I've shared before but it fits well here... I recall a teenage lad watching me intently at a wedding gig. In the second interval he came up and asked what effects I was using to get all those different tones. That evening my entire pedalboard comprised of a Boss TU2 tuner pedal...!

[quote name='pmjos' timestamp='1458750588' post='3010518'] ... lots of wah and growl and naturally a firm bottom [/quote] As no one else has mentioned it yet, that description sounds like the classic combo of a walnut bodied, ebony boarded Wal 5 string bass. No shortage of "mmmwah" or defined bottom end there... You'll need to start saving the pennies though...

I've got into using playlists more over time. The most played was one that came preset on my wife's iPod Touch but wasn't on my Classic 160 so I did a very simple smart playlist to pick it up. On a lot of albums I've tended to mark my favoutite songs with either 4 or 5 stars. That way, rather ran just using shuffle I've done a smart playlist which picks them up. Then when I play them on shuffle it's basically a radio station that only plays stuff I really like. I've also therefore also done best of playlists for particular bands... Lizzy, Yes, Beatles, Motown, ELO, Horslips, Doobies, Gordon Giltrap, Rush etc that only pick up 4 & 5 star tracks by those artists. Then there are themed playlists... Wal Bass Tracks, TVTheme rock songs, Best of Bond, stuff for my 5 year old for the car... And so on. Gets a bit addictive, I should probably go out more...

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1448265060' post='2913948'] Needed to test out my new phone camera... It was either a photo of Mrs C, the Cat or the Wals... I went with the Wals [/quote] Rob, There's a whole load of bass envy/Wal love happening right now on the Facebook Wal Basses club page now that the new owner of your old fretless 4-string has posted his new aquisition... [url="https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/2413094311/permalink/10154093338734312/?comment_id=10154094336879312&notif_t=group_comment_reply"]https://www.facebook...p_comment_reply[/url]

So what floats your particular boat? I'm sure that most of us have a generic fruit-based listening device or similar... Was looking at the most played playlist today and though that it was an interesting cross-section of my listening tastes - overall a pretty good snapshot. I wondered what other Basschatters' favourite tunes might be. iTunes conveniently lets you cut and paste a copy of the playlist. So here's my favourite tunes. What have you been listening to? [indent=1]1 Heartsong Gordon Giltrap[/indent] [indent=1]2 Sweet Talkin' Woman Electric Light Orchestra[/indent] [indent=1]3 Mr. Blue Sky Electric Light Orchestra[/indent] [indent=1]4 Love Is The Drug Roxy Music[/indent] [indent=1]5 The Boys Are Back In Town Thin Lizzy[/indent] [indent=1]6 Games People Play The Alan Parsons Project[/indent] [indent=1]7 10538 Overture Electric Light Orchestra[/indent] [indent=1]8 Tom Sawyer Rush[/indent] [indent=1]9 The Spirit Of Radio Rush[/indent] [indent=1]10 Pick Up The Pieces Average White Band[/indent] [indent=1]11 Fool for Your Loving Whitesnake[/indent] [indent=1]12 Starship Trooper Yes[/indent] [indent=1]13 I Should've Known Aimee Mann[/indent] [indent=1]14 Good Times (LP Version) Chic[/indent] [indent=1]15 When I Was Young (New Version) River City People[/indent] [indent=1]16 The Mayor Of Simpleton XTC[/indent] [indent=1]17 The Enemy Within Rush[/indent] [indent=1]18 Don't Kill The Whale Yes[/indent] [indent=1]19 Takin' It To The Streets The Doobie Brothers[/indent] [indent=1]20 Let's Groove Earth Wind & Fire[/indent] [indent=1]21 Fear Of The Dark (Single Version - Bonus) Gordon Giltrap[/indent] [indent=1]22 L'Arc En Ciel De Miles Incognito[/indent] [indent=1]23 Tempus Fugit Yes[/indent] [indent=1]24 Hard Candy Counting Crows[/indent] [indent=1]25 Turn It On Again Genesis[/indent]

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1457336302' post='2997379'] Already said this on the other thread but Yes' Tales works better for me by throwing out part 3 completely. OK this only works as a single CD as it would still be a side and a half of vinyl. [/quote] [quote name='jonsmith' timestamp='1457337808' post='2997390'] Yes's Tales could lose side 3 I agree & it took me a while to enjoy sides 1 & 2. [/quote] As a huge Long term Yes fan I've always thought problem with ToTO was that some of the tracks should be dropped. Rather that all of the tracks should be broken down to their constituent parts and then re-recorded with the 10-15 minutes of self indulgent filler that each track contains removed. Would have probably made a pretty decent 35-40 min album if you just used the actual moments of inspiration that are smeared thinly across the album.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1458308078' post='3006447'] I'd put Leland Sklar in the 'versatile' bracket. One minute James Taylor, the next Billy Cobham. [/quote] And then the next, Phil Collins... I was going to nominate Mr Sklar too. I'll add Abe Laboriel too. Whether on film soundtracks, working with the Q, Donald Fagen, laying it down for a Dismey song or funk fusioning it with his own group Koinonia he's never less than wonderful!

I went Pedaltrain plus soft case. Works fine.

The ones I just put on my Pro bass are 760FLs which are 104, 82, 60, 43. To be honest I've not really noticed differences in tension to my previous 105-45 Picato's and Elites, but maybe that's just me. I'm a pretty standard player and not trying to Wooten all over the place where subtleties in tension might make more of a difference? Don't know what the others were, as they were an unpackaged gift, see above, but they feel much the same so I'm guessing they are...

Isn't the guitarist thing of wah and OD in front of the amp and modulation in the effects loop mostly about how distortions interacts with modulation sounds, plus taking account of signal path gain structures... Do you distort chorus or chorus distortion? The philosophy being all the tone /EQ changing stuff comes first wash, OD, distortion and then distortion/overdrive from the preamp circuitry itself. Then you put the modulation and delay/reverb effects after the preamp and before the power amp to modulate the distorted sounds... Also minimising the amount of extra noose amplified through the various distortions and ODs. If most of the tonal and effects processing is being done in the B3 and the Rumble is largely being a clean amplifier then there's no great benefit in having it in the effects loop and bass - efx - amp input should work just fine...

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1457640168' post='3000577'] Single cut - especially those that end up looking like a cartoon whale trying to eat a ladder. [/quote] Brilliant. I am definitely nicking that description!

For me it's... - Lakland bridges, - modern single cuts, - maple necks with black block inlays, - 5 strings are pushing it so any more just forget it, - white plastic pickup covers (sooooooo cheap looking), and - comedy paint jobs (define that however you like but I know them when I see them...)!

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1457856862' post='3002277'] Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach [/quote] [quote name='SICbass' timestamp='1457857885' post='3002293'] (It's Got to Be) Perfect - Fairground Attraction Breakout- Swingout Sister [/quote] [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1457858016' post='3002294'] Sixpence None The Richer - Kiss Me [/quote] Was just thinking I should have mentioned those songs too... I'll add Coisich A Ruin by Capercaillie (and the B-side, Waiting For The Wheel To Turn)... The highest charting ever Scots Gaelic single.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1457859908' post='3002311'] Not sure if one hit wonders but :- January - Pilot Dave [/quote] More of a two hit wonder... "Oh woh oh, it's magic..." Another cracking Pilot hit. Talented band, went on to be the backing band for Kate Bush's first two albums and the Alan Parsons a Project. Davey Paton and Iain Bairnson, top players!

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1457860759' post='3002324'] No! 😄. Never had to play it, luckily! Mr Beck is, as we know, a stellar guitarist with a distinguished career. But to maybe 95% of people he's a one hit wonder. [/quote] I for one always loved playing Hi Ho. Not for the song but for the guaranteed audience reaction as a bunch of tipsy wedding guests linked arms and sang/yelled along to it half way through the last set of the evening. We always medleyed it with Sweet Caroline and it was guaranteed to bring the house down. Like it or not, when your remit is to please the crowd don't look down on a guaranteed crowd pleaser!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1457821197' post='3002161'] In that case: Andrew Gold: Lonely Boy Nena: 99 Luftballons [/quote] In that case... Wax, Building A Bridge To Your Heart. Also, River City People, California Dreaming

Rosewood fingerboards Twin pickups Pick up pan Ash body with a clear or trans finish Natural woods and figuring Slimmish neck Versatile but still natural sounding EQ (think Wal and Audere - love those preamps) Chunky bridge Asymmetric double cut bodies (and not... Well, I'll leave that thought hanging...)

Perhaps I should have posted this pic I saw on Facebook in the RickenFakers thread... It's certainly the only Faker that's made me think, "Ooooh, I'd love one of those..."

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1434442777' post='2799516'] . Yes, he'd certainly be a good choice of interviewee. Not sure if I want to do anymore though. The problem is WHERE to put the interviews afterwards. Print publications work to a maximum of 1400 words - that's why they're often brief and rather boring. This interview above is nearly 6000 words. FB online bass blogs are usually equally brief or work to a schedule dominated by their sponsors...or do not respond when you email them with an offer of a free interview. And here on BC interviews are no longer pinned, and you cannot imbed more than two videos (they don't seem to show anyway). All this puts me off doing more I'm afraid. [/quote] Blogger or Wordpress are dead easy to set up and use - that's what I plumped for when we moved provider and I lost the web space I had with our broadband and was usin gfor the Wal History Blog. I've often considered starting another Blogger blog just to host my old non-Wal music writing for the sadly now largely defunct Wears The Trousers magazine... Another thing I never quite got round to...