Dr.Dave

I don't make mistakes. I long since accepted that during the course of a gig there would be incidents and issues which would not be as planned. Some of these would likely be as a result of my concentration going or being distracted or simply forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. In which case - as I accept that these ar going to happen - they are not unforeseen. For that reason , using a combination of aquired skills and experience - I have learned to cope with them when they occur. Not to panic - not to be thrown in any way - but to react quickly and professionally and get back on the path. So for those reasons - when something I can foresee occurs and I've already prepared myself to deal with it............... how can it be a mistake??

I love singing - our guitar player et moi share vocal duites and our drummer wades in too. Why pay some preening prima donna that won't lift your gear and has none of their own?? Soapbox issue for me but....... practise. That's all it is. Such a simple , obvious point but so many don;t get it - we practise for months and years on bass because we couldn;t just play perfectly the first time we ever picked one up BUT we then have one go at singing and say we 'can't sing'. What's that all about?? The thing is we 'don't' sing - not 'can't'. Practise. For me. I wasn;t confident when I started singing so I just pretended to be confident. I put on the actors clothes and went at the mic like I was a superstar. Do that - and after a while you become what you portray. Playing while singing - never really been a problem for me. On one or two occassions the bassline has been well out of sync with the vocal line so I've mentally underlined certain words that are accented as I play a certain note - that does the trick. Again - it's just practise. Pitching - mine's not perfect. Practise makes it better. The timbre of my voice is bland as well , so I've developed a sort of Aled Jones sings Noddy Holder gravelly fog horn. Not a natural voice but a useable one. Rod , our guitar player , has developed one of those 'talk sing' voices that sounds very natural and the opposite to mine - so between us we've got pretty much everything covered.

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1357926801' post='1930793'] Judging by the audience reaction when we play it, far fewer than I'd like [/quote] We morphed it into a swingy jazz version and it worked very well , though we've dropped it now. Rather than dump stuff if you're bored - change it so you're not !!!

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1357920247' post='1930671'] Eye of the Tiger. I ' ve never liked it, it's horribly cheesy. [/quote] This will probably put you off your tea - I couldn't eat for several days and considered chucking myself off a bridge - but I once heard in a shop on a CD of bagpipe music. It was possibly the most horrific moment of my life. Even the main riff was played on that horrid instrument - in fact I'm off to throw up just thinking about that awful day.

I sing the theme to True Blood - think it's called Bad Things. I'm bored to death with it but keep getting outvoted. I introduce it as 'who wants to hear a song off the telly?' so I've taken to following that up by singing the first bit of the Jim'll Fix it tune in the hope that the rest of the band will drop it on grounds of bad taste. Sadly they're as sick as me so we're still doing it. Rodders sings a ZZ Top album track too so he can toss himself off with the extended solo. It's pointless but he won't drop it even though Mart and myself are shameless about cocking it up on purpose every night.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1357734628' post='1927379'] Sorry Mel. On a serious note then - I don't really see why women would have a different agenda to chosing basses than men would. Other than on the whole women tend to be smaller than men and therefore may prefer a smaller lighter instrument. Although there are bound to be exceptions to that. And in all seriousness you can't wear a bass high with a bosom like mine. But then I wouldn't want to anyway. [/quote] The theory of it is you adjust your strap whilst sitting - then when you stand up the bass is in the same place so it won't ever make a difference whether you're sitting or standing. Like most folk I know I find that leaves the bass too high when I'm standing - and I only ever stand to play. I suppose the ergnomics of your average bass are designed to suit a regular framed bloke - except we're all different shapes and sizes anyhow without even starting on breasts. All of which means the theory goes to rat sh*t so you can only find something that suits you as an individual and not give a toss about what other folk like or you're 'supposed' to like. And - to be honest - if you ask a question along the lines of 'this one's for ladies only - what are us girls supposed to use' - which could be construed as a sexist remark anyway you're going to get a load of gags about lady bumps in reply. The basic rule of instrument choice applies to everyone. Choose a bass that feels right and but it - anything that's still wrong to you can be fixed with a screwdriver , a soldering iron and a spray gun , but no amount of money will ever make it feel right.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1357686763' post='1926934'] I think it's more that some people in a lifetime of gigging learn to use more than one sound. [/quote] May well be true but not in my case. I want a sound that pleases me (no idea if it's good bad or indifferent , that's all just opinion) and id easy to acheive. I might roll a bit of bass off if the room's big and boomy but other than that the knobs don't get moved for months at a time. It really is how I choose an amp. If I have to swing on the knobs I don't buy it. I love to play - I hate fiddling with gear. It's just gear. Maybe you can get attached to an instrument that you have such a tactile relationship with but not amps. Black boxes with knobs on. Who wants to be thinking about that when there's a job of work to be done. I expect it's the same thinking that means the fx stay at home. All this tap dancing.... pah. Just another link in a chain that makes it ever more likely something will go tits up. They suck your sound too. Never yet heard a 'true bypass' that didn't lie.

I've owned plenty but I just can't be arsed to plug them in at gigs. Too much effort. Pints don't drink themselves. Besides - I like the sound of my bass through an amp. If I didn't - I'd sell one or both until I found a basic tone I liked. Too many people using fx because they aren;t happy with their basic tone , I reckon. But that's just a side issue - as I said the main reason is I can't be arsed to set them up.

A lot of multi effects units can have the pedal assigned to volume but my own choice was a morley unit which someone had altered from a Wah Wah. Very useful. I don;t use it any more because I rarely use compression these days and can therefore get what dynamics I need with my fingers.

Still looking for the grey in the world. Pity.

The point is that people are listening to music differently. Their listening habits have become more mobile so - Yes - sound quality is less important to most people. Music is less important to most people.

Jaydees. Well made , versatile professional instruments but Lisa Riley to my eyes. In second place - an even better (many would say) bass. In fact they look great from the body end pin , through the bridge and pickups , way up the neck and then.......... ............. a hideous squared off canoe paddle instead of a head Sorry Wal owners

You want a simple definition ?? I'll cut through all this subjective opinion and give you one. A bass is a classic when someone else makes money by copying it and keeps doing so over time.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1357299681' post='1920511'] Respect to anybody who can play bass and sing at the same time.. RIP Phil [/quote] Respect to all players who get off their arse and play from me - but I can assure you playing bass and singing at the same time is not difficult at all if practised. I can do it. I couldn't do it - so I practised - Now I can do it. That's it. I'm always saying this - but I make no apologies for taking this opportunity if it helps someone else..... We spend months and years learning to play an instrument. We get better at it very very slowly but we do get better because we put the work in . When it comes to singing - or playing/singing - we expect to be able to do it off the bat or say 'I can't do it'. Rubbish. Phil is a good example. I've played a lot of his lines and sung a lot of his songs and I can certainly see why his phrasing in both fields is the way it is. It's because that's the way he taught himself to do both at once - fitting his bass lines around the more important vocal melody. As bass players we could learn plenty from that whether we sing or not.

I've a lot of time for Phil the musician. Great rock frontman and songster whos songs and band continue to influence. Rightly so. Let's not forget WHY he's gone though. Nothing cool about that. I like to think that if I'd had the talent and the breaks to aceive such siccess I'd have done better than abuse the rewards that brings and force those that love me to watch me do it.

No - I'm grateful for the input and I haven't a better explanation than yours. Just that it raises more questions , in partic why they countersunk the hole. Mind you , Fender are a funny shower and the CBS lot seem the least logical !

Simple way to remember how to do it using a tuner - 12th fret harmonic v 12th fretted note , use the '3 f's' rule , if the [b]F[/b]retted note is [b]F[/b]lat move the bridge saddle [b]F[/b]orward

Here we are The 2 holes on the top edge of the new installed pickguard line up perfectly with the original body holes where the thumbrest was. The mystery countersunk hole can be seen near the G string slap in the middle of the body - no body hole there or anywhere near. The pickguard I just took off is under the bass - it's not the original (which I cut into a fancy shape). You can see it has a countersunk hole in the middle of the top edge. I had to drill a new body hole for it years back. The new one does not have that hole and is a bit flappy as a result. I'll likely countersink the 2 thumbrest holes as they're in the same vicinity , put a couple of screws in them and that should firm it up. If I were Mr Fender I'd have had a couple more screws around the jack socket too - or even better a plate like a Jazz bass or the original Precision. Bloody cheapskate. I might have ' Dr ' engraved on the tone knob and ' D ' on the vol. It's an incredibly tacky thing to do which increases the chances of me doing it ten fold !! I must get round to having the badass rebated in too - unless anybody wants to swap it for a badass 2 so long as I can keep the brass saddles.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1357145903' post='1918135'] My understanding was that it could be fitted in the "where it should be" place OR there was a hole for the old fashioned 50s style just below the strings for that Brian Wilson technique with the thumb. If you post a picture it may help [/quote] That sounds bloody reasonable except for one thing - why countersink the hole ? The other 2 aren't countersunk and neither are the ashtray holes. I need to feed and shower then I'll take a pic.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1357144953' post='1918101'] If you do it is a throwback to some of the 70's stuff Fender made, the Geddy lee has a middle screw as well, it is basically for looks nowadays. Originally it was there to hold the plate, the plastic could warp and twist over time and without the middle screw it could buckle of pull inwards cracking itself around the edges. [/quote] I had considered that but why , then , if it had been an improvement based on what has happened over time to earlier basses , did they dump the idea after the 70s? I thought the idea behind 3-ply material was because of its anti warping properties.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1357144652' post='1918093'] Hey Dave, You mean under the strings? [/quote] For clarity Originally mine had a thumbrest on the top edge of the pickguard where it would be in the way for my fingerstyle playing so I took it off. The holes are obviously still there in the body and the new pickguard has holes in the same place. 'OBBM' Dave's same year bass has a thumbrest below the strings - the idea being to hook your right hand finger under it and pick the strings with your thmb (possibly the worst idea anybody ever had). BUT - if my thumbrest had been in that location I'd have left it there because it wouldn't be in my way. The central hole I'm wondering about is countersunk - just like ordinary pickguard holes (though the ones for the thumbrest are not) - and is pretty much right in the middle of the pickguard almost under the G string , neck side of the pup. There's no hole in the body though and it's the same on OBBMs.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1357142584' post='1918046'] My '73P has the thumbrest below the strings [/quote] If mine had been I'd have left it on for the asthetic value because it wouldn't be in the way down there.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1357141778' post='1918018'] Unless I'm mistaken it's a hole for the thumb rest but the hole isn't drilled [/quote] Think you must be mistaken because the two holes for a thumbrest are above the pickup on the top edge of the pickguard and the bass has the 2 holes to match. It had a thumbrest on originally but I took it off the day I got it !! Sounds from OBBM's reply that the central hole only exists to confuse greying folk called Dave !

Just treated my 73P to a nice shiny red t'shell job. I got the proper '70's job with the weird central screw in the middle. My bass doesn't have a screwhole there and I can't recall if the original pickguard did either. Not really bothered but I am wondering why Fender deemed it a good idea to have a screw there in the 70s period. Were the bodys drilled or was it just a pickguard hole. Anybody know why??

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1357138899' post='1917960'] I refuse to wear a sweatband on the grounds that it's not 1985 [/quote] Is it not ?? News to me.