BrunoBass

Punters don't care. They just want to drink, dance and sing along with their mates. They aren't interested in musical perfection because they're not really listening, any more than they're interested in what make of bass you're playing.

Making pop records is and always has been highly skilful. It's no surprise how good some of the musicianship is. It's designed to sound good on the radio, blatantly appeal to it's target audience (few of whom I'd imagine are Basschat correspondents), and subliminally appeal to the parents of said audience. It's certainly not crap 😊

I discovered Pepper at the age of 11, when I discovered my dad's complete collection of Beatles vinyl. Listening to the whole back catalogue back to back for the first time was revelatory, to my young ears, and I've never strayed far since. Pretty much everything I would have said has been said in the thread already, however I would like to say that 'Pepper' is by no means my favourite Beatles album (that'd be Abbey Road or Revolver) but I do think that if Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields had made it on to the album instead of When I'm Sixty Four and George's song then Pepper would be pretty damn perfect.

New bass day http://basschat.co.uk/topic/306640-nbd-jd-75-jazz-bass/page__pid__3310792#entry3310792 Took it to practise tonight, in a hot sticky rehearsal studio, and struggled all night with a sticky glossy neck. My Stringray has a lovely smooth, 'dry' neck, and I'd like to gig my new bass on Saturday, so what are the best recommendations for smoothing out a sticky lacquered neck? It's only a £100 bass so I'm not bothered about affecting the resale value - thanks.

I've been weighing up getting a backup bass for live work for a while, and considering something cheap and Fender-y to use in my rock covers band. I love my Stingray, but it's not doing it for me tone-wise in our rock trio lineup. Anyway after much research I whittled the choice down to a Harley Benton '70s Jazz from Thomann, or a J&D '70s Jazz from DV247. The J&D won; it was slightly cheaper, was coming from a British supplier, which in the case of a return made sense, and with the general consensus being that HB basses are ridiculously heavy the J&D was likely to be lighter. I put all the tales of poor set up and sharp frets to the back of my mind and placed the order. It arrived today. I'm stunned. The finish is flawless, the pickups and tuners are perfectly adequate, the set up straight out the box was very good (very slight intonation adjustment required on the D and G strings). But the action was low, with no truss rod adjustments necessary. The frets are level, and while some of the edges are less smooth than I'd like they're certainly not rough or sharp. The nut is cheap but looks well cut. And it sounds great. It's not heavy (9 and 1/4 pounds, exactly the same as my Stingray) and it's perfectly playable. For one hundred and nine pounds, delivered. Unreal. The only area where the bass reveals its budget nature are the pots, which feel cheap and nasty, but are quiet and not scratchy, but bearing in mind the price this is an extremely solid, incredible value instrument. The J&D is certainly comparable to some of the Squiers I've owned and played over the years, and is probably superior to instruments I've played in the Affinity range, which is double the price. I keep reminding myself, one hundred and nine pounds... The strings feel and sound good, quite high tension which personally I like, and they feel slightly glossier than the Slinkys I usually favour. The hangtag says they are American, but offers no clue as to which manufacturer. I put some Schaller strap locks on it straight away, and I'm sure that over time I'll replace the pots, and maybe the tuners and pickups, but I'm over the moon with it and have spent all afternoon playing it when I should've been working. What is difficult to reconcile is that it cost a tenth of what my Stingray cost. Of course you only have to pick up the 'Ray to notice that it's on a different level to the J&D, but is it ten times better? Who knows. Anyway I'm taking it to rehearsals tonight and I think I'm going to gig it on Saturday. DV247, by the way, were very good thoughout the whole process; great customer service.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1495911746' post='3307548'] Well, I just pulled the trigger, as the cool kids say, on a J&D 75 Jazz Bass. It should arrive Thursday. It was a toss up between J&D and Harley Benton; I went for the J&D as it was ever so slightly cheaper, but more due to the weight of the HB equivalent, which seems to be something that comes up a lot. I may find that the J&D is a heavy beast as well, but as no one seems to comment on it I can only assume that weight isn't a problem. Customer service from DV247 in Romford has been very good so far; I look forward to Thursday to see if I've got a gem or a dog. [/quote] It's arrived. I have a gem.

I'm a solo singer/songwriter when I'm not playing bass with my band, and I've looked on several occasions for decent blogs along the lines of what you're looking for, to no avail I'm afraid.

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1496174014' post='3309376'] You can't talk about being in the wrong key without mentioning Jemini at the Eurovision Song Contest finals a few years ago... http://youtu.be/Eu5kgSeZHfw [/quote] Thanks very much. I watched the video, and now I can't get the bloody chorus out of my head.... 😉

[quote name='Elfrasho' timestamp='1496147696' post='3309109'] That album is probably my biggest influence in my playing. Rhcp are far from my favourite band, and flea is nowhere near my favourite player but that album was good enough, but achievable when i first tried to learn it. To me, under the bridge is just the 'pop' song off it. Just like 'More than words' off pornograffiti, or to be with you by Mr big. [/quote] Agreed, Blood Sugar Sex Magic is one of my favourite 'bass' albums and one that I played along with constantly when it came out in 1991. I'm not a massive RHCP fan but I do enjoy some of their early output, BSSM being their peak, in my opinion.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1496142777' post='3309036'] We still got our fee, and it was only an hours drive, but yes, frustrating. I can only assume that someone made a call that other bands were entertaining enough to run over their set-time, where as we were not entertaining enough to play the full slot. Either that or some form of politics. Never mind! [/quote] Conversely, we're doing a small festival on Saturday and we've just learned that our 45 minute set has been extended to an hour. Nice.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1496139711' post='3309007'] Great festival on Sunday but we were pulled off after playing 25 minutes of our 45 minute time slot. The organisers kept trying to blame the other acts for running over, but if they can cut us short, they can do it for everyone [/quote] I'll bet that was annoying, all the effort of getting there, setting up etc only to get cut short. I wouldn't have been happy...

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1492326676' post='3279355'] Irrespective of what amp I've used, bass wide open and treble wound back about 20-25%. I set my amp flat as default and tweak depending on the room. It sounds exactly as expected. I've got a bit tired of the Stingray tone tbh (the brittleness in the treble specifically), but I've yet to find another bass that is as comfortable to play. I don't know if I just lucked in or if they are all this good, but the neck on mine is absolutely perfect. [/quote] I could've written that post! Tone settings - same Comfortable to play - very Getting tired of the tone - yep, to the point that I'm considering moving it on or trading. Still an awesome bass though.

Reading this thread has been very useful. Mine arrives next week.

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1495907301' post='3307513'] Similar experience. Try the swan in Cheltenham instead. Ade the landlord is in a band and is a proper legend. [/quote] Thanks for the steer dude, I'll look them up 😊

Well, I just pulled the trigger, as the cool kids say, on a J&D 75 Jazz Bass. It should arrive Thursday. It was a toss up between J&D and Harley Benton; I went for the J&D as it was ever so slightly cheaper, but more due to the weight of the HB equivalent, which seems to be something that comes up a lot. I may find that the J&D is a heavy beast as well, but as no one seems to comment on it I can only assume that weight isn't a problem. Customer service from DV247 in Romford has been very good so far; I look forward to Thursday to see if I've got a gem or a dog.

We (Til Dawn) played this excellent little festival last year and we're back again this year. Great line-up, family friendly, Hook Norton on draft, all in the courtyard of an ancient, historic pub. Perfect.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1495875927' post='3307195'] What was the interesting response? [/quote] It was very curt and aloof, and the general tone was that 'we will decide who is worthy of playing here and if you are deigned worthy you will be very honoured to be contacted by us'. At first we thought it was a wind up, it was that funny. A simple 'thanks but no thanks' would have sufficed. It reminded me of booking gigs in London in the late 80s.

Has anyone played The Iron Road in Evesham? We contacted them, being impressed as we were with the venue and thinking that we'd be a good fit for them. The response we received was, er, interesting. Kind of put us off wanting to play there at all.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1495717736' post='3306102'] I've heard it's under new management as of a couple of weeks ago - has anyone been in since they changed hands? [/quote] We played under both of the last two managements. To be fair, the girl that booked us the second time (about a year ago) seemed slightly more on the ball, but the whole combined experience made me not ever want to play there again.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1495652832' post='3305670'] wasn't the Billy by any chance [/quote] Yes it was. A pity, because it's a good venue.

A fairly well known rock pub in Northampton that has booked us twice and on both occasions have done absolutely nothing to promote us, despite us sending in posters, creating Facebook events, contacting local press etc. The last time we played there the landlord said we were too loud (we weren't - we were balanced against our un-mic'd drummer) and spent the whole night walking around with his fingers in his ears, grinning at us. He thought he was being funny. Everyone else, including his own staff, thought he was a rude, unprofessional ****. I will not play there again.

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1495443022' post='3303671'] Other than Chic it was really early-mid 80s electro, mainly Japan, Simple Minds, Level 42, Paul Young, Sade, Duran, Blow Monkeys, FGTH, Wham and Heaven 17 when the bass was mostly slap or fretless. [/quote] Such a great era for bass; synths were the main melodic element in the pop of the time, rather than guitars - lots of room for inventive, melodic bass playing. Can I add Haircut 100 to your list? Les Nemes' tight, funky basslines inspired me a lot.

Just reading this thread and it occurred to me that in my current band I only use the D twice. A two hour set of covers and I hardly touch it. Mind you, I don't use the G at all...

For me it was the ska revival in the very late seventies and very early eighties. All the 2 Tone bands and players like Horace Panter, David Steele and Mark Bedford attracted me, as well other bass players of the time like Paul Simonon and Sting. As I was about 11 at the time I couldn't afford a bass guitar and amp (that came later when I started earning money) but I did have an old acoustic guitar and I'd play along to the records on the bottom strings. If I had to pin it down to one song that really grabbed me, it would probably be The Business by Madness, the instrumental B-side of Baggy Trousers. http://youtu.be/DuLbcqzmURo