chris_b

I've seen RC quite a few times, mostly in the early days, and the best (IMO) was the original line up. Richard Cousins, what a player. I saw those guys a lot. I've played many of his numbers and we opened with Phone Booth for longer than I care to remember. I last saw him at Shepherds Bush a couple of years ago, and was very disappointed. He played efficiently, did 60mins to the second, no chat, hardly acknowledged the audience and no encore. He just looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1413639564' post='2580425'] ....I was wondering when the British motorcycle industry would come up.... [/quote] Happy to oblige..... Fender have lost the plot. Bono on the board? wtf! What problem was that move supposed to fix!! Where's Jeff Genzler? Buried in an office counting widgets? They need the likes of Jeff or Dan Lakin on the board with the power to get things done!

Fender has no God given right to exist. Ask Pan Am, the British motor cycle industry and the French aristocracy about that. But they will continue in the short term because they owe too much to be shut down. Their business model has been wrong for years. If they don't get that right they'll be split up and sold off.

I get blank looks on deps when I question the keys. Guitarists are the main culprits.

Tastes change. I wonder how many Trombones, Clarinets and Saxes are sold these days in comparison to the 20's? And the bottom seems to have fallen right out of the Hurdy Gurdy market in the last 500 years. Sales are down and from the classifieds on BC and Talkbass people seem to be selling their "collections". So multiple ownership is decreasing. The relative cost of a Fender bass in the 60's was pretty close to the custom shop prices these days. Fender have been too good at reducing the cost of a bass and with it the magic that was being an owner. The last I read FMIC was in debt to the tune of about $250 million and their biggest single customer, Guitar Center, is also in financial trouble. An investment company owns about 50% of Fender and wants out but no one wants the stock so they couldn't float on the stock market. That only leaves the Chinese as the easy way out. But the thing that is really killing Fender is that, these days, the competition is just too good.

Don't slouch. Warm up before you play. Alter your playing position to lower the bass and straighten your wrists. Lower the action. Turn up the volume so you can develop a light touch and play with less energy.

I'd stick with your Squier until you've had more lessons and some months playing. IMO, it's too early to decide which direction to go with the instrument.

IMO, modular rigs are the best every time. My big rig was 3 112 cabs and an 800 watt amp, the regular rig was 2 112 cabs and a 500 watt amp and the small rig was 1 112 cab and the 500 watt amp. I load the same gear in and out on every gig (except the number of cabs). Makes life so much easier and I get pretty much the same sound on every gig.

Spot on. Loving these guys.

For 25 years I had that one bass; my old Precision, but then I went to 5 'ers. Since then I've owned five basses, three of which made me think, I can't get better than this. . . . but I did. IME, don't worry about perfection, just get the best bass you can afford and play it until something else comes along. And if that next bass doesn't appear, guess what you've got? I probably wouldn't get a custom. You loose too much when you sell it. Also I would sell your basses for one quality instrument.

These guys are good. I played with a very talented 13 year old blues guitarist. He could blast all the old guys into the weeds. Very funny to hear him singing in an unbroken voice, my woman done left me, etc! He's now living in the US playing in a Hip Hop band. Doing quite well from what I hear. Really talented kids develop early and keep going. Most start fast then run out of steam and, when they are 19, are no better than any other good player.

Buy 2. Those wheels won't last long being dragged over pitted pub car parks.

I'm in the house band for a jam night so, every month I see how people treat gear that isn't their own. Even people I know and really should be able to trust leave me thinking; why are you trying to break my cabs? Some players do seem to treat their gear well but I have two rules; I control the volume when someone uses my back line on a jam night and I don't lend my basses at any time. I've seen hundreds of bass players digging bits out of their basses with belts, studs and chains so mine will never be lent. I only own quality gear so these rules are not negotiable.

Peter Cook Guitars in Station Road, Hanwell have a repair and service dept. I haven't used them but they might be worth checking out.

There are several videos on YouTube detailing the songs Page and Plant "stole". They lost more than 1 court case over song writing credits.

I've just come back from China and apart from amazing rudeness, totally absent health and safety, filthy toilets and a Government that censors all news, this time of the HK protests and then puts out it's own lies, it's apparent that China can do anything, from sending a man into space to cheap plastic toys. Where Made In China gets a bad rap is when the commissioning company cuts corners, budget and QC. There are a million high class Chinese made products out there, from PJB to Lenovo. They can do what ever they are paid and required to do. Don't blame them for greedy western companies.

Where do you draw the line when you're trying to polish a turd? If the exercise is to mess about modding a bass then fine, but i didn't get that impression from the OP, so IMO there comes a time when a better instrument is what you need. If the OP changes the neck, pickups etc he's going in the direction of Triggers broom . Just sayin.

This sums up Chuck Berry songs perfectly. Everyone can play them but [i]no one[/i] plays them as well as Chuck does. . . . [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClgtoM2RwQY[/media] . . . . or can, when he's in the mood!

Hey.... knocking a great product for such trivial reasons.... I must be in the UK.

I agree 110% with that.

Light strings will move more than heavy strings. Some players are animals, some are kittens. He plucks the strings pretty hard as well. It's just his playing technique. There is no right or wrong, all that matters is what comes out of the speakers.

Technically, at the time, Chuck Berry was considered to be R&B. Chuck, with the likes of Jimmy Reed, kick started the musical careers of most of the bands that went on to create the British Invasion of the US in the early 60's which in turn gave birth to Rock and everything that came after. There will be a lot of Blues suggestions along later, so I'd say check out Lightning Slim, Slim Harpo, Elmore James, Etta James and [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc5x-KM5Dmg[/media] for R&B. PS How could I have forgotten Bo Diddley!!

Hi Higgie, I put Lakland flats on my Lull PJ5 a couple of years ago and the sound went from great to better than great. I haven't used flats since about 1970 so the improvement to an already fantastic sounding bass was a pleasant surprise.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1412808948' post='2572403'] I'm not entirely sure that it works correctly since for optimum fretless playing action it should be raising the fingerboard not lowering the frets. [/quote] I wouldn't say that a high or low action is "correct" or "optimum".

I'd agree 100% that, in a loud environment, anything is better than nothing. With ear plugs, the difference that a higher price brings is the quality of the sound you hear while you're saving your hearing. IMO, if you were sky diving, deep sea diving, potholing or mountaineering you would be mad to put the price of your gear above function. All hearing protection messes with the quality of the sound but you won't believe how much more hearing loss screws you up.