ZilchWoolham

It's definitely a stunner! I wonder how the re-branding came to be. Was it an old Mayones that didn't sell, or was it commissioned directly to be branded Fame? And why are they so reluctant to talk about it?

Shedua seems closer in colour. Don't know if it's ever used for solid bodies, though. How heavy is the bass?

I'm going to have to agree, though, something about it sounds better! I'm assuming it might be because I tend to favour 60's soul recordings over 90's soul recordings.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1507825830' post='3388258'] I think it's a clam ...It's a bad fit with the vocal and not in keeping with the spirit of the original. If it's not a wrong note and a personal choice, maybe he couldn't hear the vocal line when recording ? If you listen to the original, it's an 'A' (Bmin7 chord) and sits much better with the vocal. As others have said, it's not wrong to play the G# (well maybe in strict scale terms it is), but in this case it don't sound so nice. (All in [i]my[/i] ears opinion of course). The original (I think) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2apquxKKQ[/media] [/quote] I'm gonna have to say that's also a G#.

Actually, hearing it again, it sounds fine. Unexpected, but fine. It's not like he's playing the major 3rd. It is unusual, though.

That is actually very noticeable. It's low enough in the mix to not be all too jarring, though. Funny thing, psychoacoustics.

It's a late Roadstar model, an RB850 from 1986. That particular finish isn't represented here, but there were small variances between export and domestic models. Feel free to ignore John McVie.

I see what you're getting at, but this is the best channel on YouTube: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-2YzZk-cWo[/media]

I appear to be dead.

I'd nominate Simon Nicol.

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1505409793' post='3371749'] In a modern DAW you can make a 'groove map' from a varying tempo track and trigger drum samples from it - it's not really a problem anymore with modern software and confusers [/quote] Oh, I didn't know that. What a time to be alive.

Yes, in the end it doesn't really matter, as long as you're in tune relative to each other. A similar phenomenon is the fluctuation in tempo you'll find in most live performances, or in songs recorded without a click track. The shifts are too slow and slight to notice, but if you're trying to match, say, a recording of a rock song from the 70's to a drum machine, you're probably going to have a hard time.

I have to assume it's because the band all tuned to each other and not to, say, a tuning fork. It makes sense that this practice was more common before the days of cheap digital tuners. I've noticed an example of this myself. At least several songs, if not all songs, on Buzzcocks' "A Different Kind of Tension" are tuned to what seems a quarter note sharp of A=440. This makes it impossible to play along to the album unless you tune up yourself. But of course, you can't tell if you're just listening to it. EDIT: Just saw Twigman's post and that does sound convincing too. He was there, after all!

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1505383928' post='3371469'] The only one of that band I have any time for is George. [/quote] I'm with you on this one. Seemingly also the nicest chap out of the lot, and seemingly mistreated for it. I was in my local record shop the other day and they had the White Album on. It became very apparent that While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a cut above the rest. In fact, it's really the only song from that album I can remember off the top of my head. Well, apart from Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, which I remember much in the same way you'd remember a car crash.

Slightly inspired by the overrated bands thread. Do you ever remain unimpressed by a band even though you really quite like one, or several, of its individual members? Personally, I think Brian May is a terrific guitar player, but Queen never manages to move me. His tone is great, and his solos are exciting and ear-catching, but the songs they're trapped in always leave me cold. It's almost a bit frustrating!

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1505314688' post='3370974'] there's a few songs about w***ing that people don't get, Teenage Kicks is another [/quote] As a contrast, Whip It is popularly believed to be about masturbation, but is in fact not. There's a [i]handful[/i] of other Devo tracks which definitely are, though.

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1503316019' post='3357074'] YES covering S&G's America. [/quote] Speaking of prog bands covering songs called America, The Nice did a very capable version of America from West Side Story.

If I went to a show in the UK and saw a confederate flag, I'd probably assume naivety or ignorance, assuming the general mood is rather cheery. If I saw confederate flags and nooses, I'd turn away immediately. I know this isn't what you intended, but the one thing that would immediately spring to mind is, honestly, lynchings. So, I'll join the chorus here and recommend you drop those elements ASAP.

I feel that often times, whether you argue that less is more or that more is more, an instrumentalists view on their instrument can ironically be quite reductive, in terms of what is should or shouldn't do. A composer, arranger or producer will often have a much better view of the big picture, and maybe more importantly, less of an ego to feed through performance. Adopting this role as opposed to the role of "just" the bassist will make it easier to see whether you should be playing the lead melody, a drone, or anything in between.

[quote name='DanH71' timestamp='1499374195' post='3331191'] No, I get that, but was looking for a pup that did that and added the potential warmth and richness of a wal 'type' sound minus the expensive exotic woods and expensive hardware and name;) [/quote] Well, the good news is that the reason a Wal sounds like a Wal is 99% because of the pickups and electronics. The bad news is that there's no way you're going to get that from a J pickup. A Wal pickup is a massive ceramic magnet humbucker with two coils for each string, as compared to your regular J pickups which will have one coil (two if noise-cancelling) for the entire pickup. I know there is at least one pickup maker who does offer Wal style pickups; I believe they're called Bassculture, and I know Maruszczyk offered their pickups as options a while ago. I can't tell you how close they'll be to the real deal, but on paper they do sound very convincing. Of course, that's only one part of the Wal sound. If you're looking for the Mk series sound, you'll need a filter-style preamp. ACG makes one which should probably land you in that general area.

Peeking at your signature I'm now interested to know how it compares to a '75 Jazz! Seems especially pertinent what with Marcus Miller's love for that model and decade.

That's really great, actually. I've always avoided even thinking about fivers since I'm sure the necks would just be too wide for me. Something like this I might actually be able to play! With standard 18mm string spacing it must be very tapered, though.

[quote name='Fisheth' timestamp='1498907583' post='3327897'] 40mm Nut Width [/quote] Hang on... really?

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1498543533' post='3325310'] [/quote] A thing of beauty, this one! How heavy is it, by the way? With a European ash body I suppose it's not the lightest.

Some further impressions: The neck is very rounded, a nice and quite chunky C profile I'd say; 40mm across the nut. It's [i]especially[/i] comfortable towards the upper frets. The width at the 12:th fret is 53mm, which is rather standard, but it feels much narrower than my Ibanez SR of the same width, which I assume is because of the chunkier profile of the Riverhead. It's more to wrap your hand around, which, even though I don't have very big hands, suits me perfectly as I almost always play with my thumb over or by the fretboard edge as opposed to planted firmly on the back of the neck. There is one downside to it, ergonomically, and it's very expected. There is quite a reach towards the first fret, but with a body style like this, it's practically unavoidable. Luckily, there is no neck dive, and I think that's quite expected too... It's also silly light. I had a Steinberger Synapse a few years back, and that managed to weigh quite a bit despite its small body. The Riverhead, on the other hand, practically floats, which I, being a man of a less than imposing physique, find very very appealing. I haven't had the chance to try it out through a nice, proper amp yet, and I haven't put on a new set of strings either, but from my limited experience with it I can say that it sounds, well, big. It has two passive single coils, and for passive singles they sound pretty damn monstrous. The controls (volume/volume/tone) are very responsive, too. With both pickups turned up fully, you get a fairly scooped sound, much like you'd get with a Jazz (which of course has a very similar setup). Rolling off one pickup, even slightly, alters the sound rather drastically, so just by mixing the two pickups there is actually a lot of EQing to be done. Rolling off the tone yields a very smooth, sweet tone that still manages not to explode your eardrums with mud. It's been a while since I've had a passive bass, and I must say it feels very good!