mikel

Did he? Doubt that. Even so, if he liked beaten up basses he didn't have to destroy a new one to make it his, did he, he could have simply used his own.

Tone Cowp as we call it in Geordieland. The bigger the Cowp the meatier the tone. I do like a fat bass tone.

Same here. Some Punk was great but most of it rubbish imo. Post Punk was more my thing. XTC, Clash, Talking Heads etc. Better songs, clever lyrics and more music

If he wanted a beaten up and neglected bass, why did he keep buying new ones then????

Oh yes. Not so much overtly but giving an age range of current members. But there again, being in my 60s, I wouldn't want to hang out with a few teenage morons. What would we talk about? My arthritis, their acne. Sometimes being given an age range or gender is a good thing. On the add in question, perhaps they are saying there are currently no women in the band, so any female interested can make up their mind if they wish to be part of what is currently an all male combo.

A mate of mine said back in 2012 that he believed CDs would die out and people would either download music or listen to vinyl. I laughed at him. But it seems he was correct. There is something about vinyl. The ritual, the cover and sleeve notes. The fact you listen to a whole side, in order. Also, I think, that on music recorded from the 60s to the 80s it just sounds better because it was produced to sound good on that medium. Luddite, me?

I have never played, with the exception of really cheap/poorly set up basses, that I believed were noticeably more difficult to play. Any half decent well set up instrument I have played was eminently playable regardless of whether or not I liked the amplified sound.

I find that even cheap, by instrument standards, basses are of a general high quality. Manufacturing processes mean necks are straight, intonation is spot on and electrics are reliable on mass produced instruments. Pickups are easy to change and come in any configuration you can think of so customising is easy. It might not look like a Chipendale table but a £300 bass with my choice of pickups and strings, set up perfectly by our local genius for £25, sounds and plays perfect for me. I doubt a custom built megga buck instrument would make me noticeably better. If you like a Fodera and have the cash then why not? I would prefer to spend it on hookers and Gin.

In a nutshell. If you care more about what others think about the name on the headstock then you need to have a word with yourself.

My first thought on musicians with megga expensive kit is "They must have lots of money" nothing more. If you like nice equipment, in any hobby, art or sport, then why not have it. Life is too short to worry about the "All the gear, no idea" brigade.

Chris Squire. You could argue he "Only" sang harmony, but what harmony, and while playing those amazing bass lines. Oh, and Phil Lynott.

As in "Playing for the song".

I always thought the sign of a great musician, on any instrument, was to play for the song, not to get all their chops out.

Aye the old....booked the wrong band thing. We played all original proggy type stuff in the early 70s, and avoided CIU clubs like the plague. We were booked to play one by an agent, so questioned him about it. "Its probably a private party for a younger audience" was his excuse. After setup, and a drink or two in the pub over the road, we come on stage to an audience of typical CIU regulars, average age about 55, and just look helplessly at each other. We did our usual first three songs and a couple of women of a certain age walk up scowling "Can you not play something we know?" as the tumbleweed rolled over the empty dance floor. Errr yes, no problem I lied. I introduced our next selfe penned song as "The new one by T Rex". It went down a storm and the dance floor filled up. I carried on introducing our songs as the new stuff by the current incumbents of the charts and the audience were happy enough. They must have thought we had our fingers on the pulse of popular music. Managed to avoid the clubs after that.

First gig with a band I was in with a bunch of old mates In 1970. We were invited to "Lighten up" half time at a local pub gig that a modern Jazz quartet were trying out a new set. This was before the days of cheap guitar tuners and it took us ages and ages to tune up by ear in the toilets. Pressing the headstock of the guitar against the door amplified the sound a lot. We eventually got the guitars and bass in tune and set up at the opposite end to the Jazzers. No guitar stands so we propped the guitars up against the bass drum. Our moment arrives and we walk on stage, the drummer whacks his BD to be sure his pedal is working, the guitars slide over and crash to the floor knocking all three out of tune. We shamefacedly spend what seemed like hours re tuning whilst the audience and the Jazz guys looked on with gathering amusement. What a night.

Agree 100%. The Who were exciting because of the styles of the individuals involved. Much like any other real "Band".

What Jazz? Trad, bebop, modern, jazz rock etc etc?

Agreed, music is music, you either enjoy a piece of music or you don't. Genre has nowt to do with it.

I would love to whisper in his classical composer ear..."Yes could do all that stuff, in a two and a half hour show, without the need for sheet music." Just a joke.

I wonder what he would have thought If he had seen them pull all that off live? It never ceased to amaze and excite me. Tell him that Chris did all the bass parts live on stage, while nailing the high harmony, and he would be beyond impressed.

I have Vintage SG copy. Its excellent, cant fault the build or intonation. I gig it when playing 6 string.

Agreed. I always thought Blur were very creative and out there. Just taking their singles as examples, I was always interested to hear what they would come up with next. They are, or were, difficult to categorise, whereas some other acts at the time had two songs, a slow one and a fast one. Mr James? I love most of his lines and would be happy with 10% of his cool.

That's why I didn't mention technique. Locking in with other musicians is all about feel, not technique.

Good pick. Even more left field as John Glasscock was ill and its reported he only played on three tracks. Ian Anderson played bass on the rest.

Nah. If you have a good inbuilt sense of rhythm and can lock in with a drummer you can funk it with the best.