chris_b

High end gear is sold for exactly the same reasons as less expensive gear. I sold my mk2 Wal so I could buy a better mk 3. I sold the mk3 Wal because I had moved on in my playing situation and it was not being played. I sold one of the best basses I've played because I found a better one. None of this has any bearing on the quality of the gear.

My loft is insulated to 400mm and there is ventilation on all sides. It gets very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. I wouldn't store my basses in that environment. If you really think burglary is a possibility, can you leave the basses with a neighbour? But then your neighbour could be burgled. Where does it end?

Can you count these songs in?

Fender already have their relaunched series. These are supposedly the instruments that are going to save the company. They don't need to churn models, like the US auto industry in the 50's and 60's. A rename, small adjustments and few extra colours is just rearranging the deckchairs. If the shape of the truss rod adjustment is the most important thing to potential buyers then they are sunk. IMO more players would appreciate 2020 being the year of a step change improvement in quality and tone at all levels and at the same price. By now Fender must have realised that players won't buy Fender just because of the name. If they did Fender wouldn't have been inches away from Chapter 11.

. . . . worth their weight in gold?. . . . and then some. A couple of weeks ago I did a dep with a band who I'd never met before. It was an easy enough set but afterwards they were saying all the nice stuff people say when things have gone well. I didn't let on, but the drummer was the guy who made it all possible. He was fantastic. Like riding on a magic carpet.

I'll only buy a new bass that does something better than my current bass, usually that means it'll sound better. So my new bass always supersedes the old one. The old bass is replaced and becomes the backup. That's how it's always been from a Fender Precision thru MM SR5, Lakland, Wal and Lull to Sadowsky. Any mistakes, and there have been a few, go on the transfer list immediately.

True, but in small technology led companies, those products don't make it to market.

I think one term that cannot be used for any Bergantino cab is mushy. I have yet to see a bad review or comment about Berg cabs and when I used them the tone in every part of the room was fantastic. There are several manufacturers, Phil Jones, AudioKinesis and Bergantino, with a range of upwards and rear firing drivers and tweeters in their cabs. If designers of this quality think they can get an acceptable and workable upgrade to the sound of a cab by firing drivers in different directions then I'll believe them.

I'm sure you all love your tats, but IMO, many stickers are like tattoos, good in theory but usually pretty naff in practice.

I think Year Zero for this vocal style is buried way back in the black gospel tradition, but Aretha Franklin put it into the mainstream in the mid 60's. The difference was, she could sound good doing the vocal gymnastics, many others don't. There is much to like about the likes of Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan (mostly their bands) but those vocals are always a turn off for me. Whitney goes from good to "shouty" at the drop of a hat and Chaka just shrieks her way through too many songs!!

I totally agree.

I bought all Joni Mitchell's albums up to Hejira. I know I'm in a minority here, but I thought it was a great album ruined by overplayed and unsympathetic bass playing.

IMO we don't need "new" music all the time. We just need good music played well.

This my problem with these comments. You're all sounding like my Dad. He was wrong and so are you. We should be fighting intolerance not adding to it.

That's what a drummer I play with uses. Doesn't fix starting at the wrong tempo, just helps you maintain the tempo you started at.

"Putting off going lightweight" is a false economy, like not worrying about your back until to get pain or your hearing until you have tinnitus. It's like not worrying about your car insurance until you've had a crash! Do start working out and boosting your general fitness when you still feel lively. It's tough to get back what you've lost and age and inactivity has taken from you.

I had a suit made earlier this year and the waistcoat didn't sit properly at the front. I went for an adjustment fitting and the tailor spotted my uneven shoulders, left much higher than the right, thanks to years of holding up a bass.

Ah, the JJ Cale version.

Yep. Everyone should have a good internal clock.

Most of Terry Callier's recordings are slow to mid tempo and all have great, simple and very effective bass lines. . . . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jJXJUy3I8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxfHtxp1QCI

I put GHS Precision Flats (a re-badged Lakland set, bought from Happy Jack and the first set of flats I'd used since about 1970) on my P bass and saw an instant step change improvement in tone. I was getting a great sound with DR Lo-Rider rounds before that, but I definitely preferred the sound of the flats. When I moved to a set of TI's I didn't notice any difference in the playing but the sound improved again. I play on the top of the strings and don't "dig in", so this tension "thing" doesn't affect or bother me.

If you want to dig in, you can't use a ramp. If you don't want to dig in, improve your right hand technique so that you don't! It's like having stabilizers on your bike. You learn how to ride the bike then you don't need them Same with a ramp. I don't understand Gary Willis. Someone with his amazing technique doesn't need a ramp so why does he use one?

There's no need for the rest of the band to use a click track. If only the drummer hears the click, he counts in and the rest of the band just play to the tempo set by the drummer. That's a good way of ensuring all tempo's are right. Clicks are used in most west end shows and many big touring bands. When you have learnt to play with one it fades into the background and you don't notice it.

Seems like a lot of people are putting up with a drummer who can't keep time! That is like a guitarist who can't tune up or a singer who can't sing. Before you do any more rehearsing you have to sort that problem out. Being in time is part of their craft, so drummers speeding up or slowing down can't be tolerated. It doesn't sound good, it makes the whole band look bad and wastes all the effort of the other band members. I would fire any drummer who doesn't have a good sense of time. I'm lucky, this isn't a problem I've encountered in the last 20 years because I haven't played with bad drummers in that time. In bands most of the songs have been counted in by the drummer but I'm playing with a lot of guitarist/band leaders these days, and they tend to count in.

You can either stop the song and restart in the right tempo, or take the tempo up or down during the song. It's never pretty but if continuing in the wrong tempo is unacceptable you can make either way work. I know a couple of drummers who have a digital metronome, one on his phone, so they can count in at the right speed.