Bassfinger

A Little Respect, the Wheatus version. 

Very simple to play, but strangely satisfying.

Drunken small hours ebay poker is how I ended up with a 1953 BSA B31 350. I not only honoured the purchase, but I nearly crippled myself riding it home from Lincoln.

34 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Carry paracetamol. 👍

 

And Superglue.

 

 

 

 

 

And make sure you clearly label the boxes. Take it from me, you don't want to get them confused!

If you do imbibe ensure you alternate each alcoholic drink with a full fat soft drink. Unless you're diabetic, in which case its coffee or bovril all night for you young feller me lad.

Am I just weird, only ever playing in bands with nice guys who are decent musicians?  The only slight friction I ever experience is minor grumbling over setlists and songs.

You could always try setting the bass, mid and high knobs on your amp to a different position if it worries you that much.

Band name - Monkey Steve and the Mediocre Drummer.

Have a wee before you start.

Buy pink leads. Makes them easy for you to spot and no one will steal them.

Often all a heavy bass needs to make it through a gig is a fat strap.

Careful where you park. If you and the bandmates park together it minimises the chances of car park damage to big, expensive motors.

Check your gear is present and correct before getting in the car. Then check again.

An extra bass is easier than faffing about restringing...unless your play a Steinberger.

You're not a wuss for wearing ear plugs.

Gaffa tape is a useful addition to your gig kit.

Always ensure you have on clean underwear and give your old chap a quick splash of cologne in case you get lucky with a groupie.

3 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Basically, it's all this guy's fault 

Eh? I thought Lex Luthor was a decent enough sort.

Ive only been fortunate enough tomplay a Rick-O on a couple of occasions, and it was pick all the way...if only because disability means Im a very poor fingerstyle player.  Didn't seem any the worse for that.

21 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

What are your thoughts on the aftermarket pickups you have tried? The stock pickup is decent but it seems to be a clone of the Duncan Quarter pounder so probably not the most traditional single coil tone, Herrick are probably not either but there promise of a brighter tone with added treble with the Neodymium pickup is intriguing.

 

At risk of starting a riot, don't believe all the guff about pickup magnets.

The only difference from our pespective as bassists is the strength of the magnetic field, and thus the output for a given number of turns of wire.

The idea that X magnets give a warm tone or Y magnets a classic 70's rock tone, etc, are hiliarious.  A stronger or weaker magnetic field can only make the output higher or lower, and thus louder or quieter. It cannot colour the tone in any way, cannot give a warmer tone, or a harsher tone. 

More or less output, ie more or less volume - that is all magnets of different type can do.

4 hours ago, Misdee said:

the pre-CBS P Basses are too wide at the nut for me. 

Many ladies have said the same about me! 🤭

8 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

...by people who were paraphrasing what they heard someone say in a pub once.

By nearly everyone, as I recall as recently as 20 years back.

Of course, the real vintage instruments are suddenly put of reach of mere mortals to the unloved suddenly becomes the next in line. It was near on impossible to find anyone that had a nice word to say about them, be it buyer or seller.

Thus it was with the Austin Allegro and the Morris Marina - both were laughing stocks while they were contemporary and for many years after, and now there are classic car clubs for them!

The altered perspective that time and history bring changes everything, logic or previous opinion be damned.

On 01/03/2022 at 09:46, vincbt said:

Just came across this Precision from 1971, not far from me. The price seems to be on the high side...

Well over double what I paid for my '69 precision only two years ago. OK, I got mine on the cheaper side as it had a new neck - the old one was damaged, but was provided in the sale and a good luthier could likely repair it - but prices for CBS era instruments have gone nuts lately.

Weird, as it wasn't that many years ago they were being slagged off for being a sheet. Oh what a difference a bit of time makes!

6 hours ago, EssentialTension said:

 

In 50 years of playing I've never broken a neck and nor have I ever been hindered by a bolt-on.

Same here. A lot of bad workers blaming their tools out there.

The off centre block markers and poorly aligned headstock decal set off my alarm bells.

I can't stand Olympia. They're either dull or boomyl sounding, and feel stiff and heavy.

For the same money Adagio nickel flats are miles ahead, would be worth 40 quid in a differently branded packet.

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

A bolt on neck always seems a bit of a budget thing to me...

 

Thats to ignore the simple engineering elegance of a joint that is typically stronger than both the neck and the body.

On 26/02/2022 at 07:27, tegs07 said:

Edit: I don’t think the old hierarchy  of Squire / MIM / MIJ / USA makes any sense anymore. 

I don't think it ever made any sense. It's just people being snobbish, often for no reason.

As you rightly point out, different product ranges from the same factory can vary in fit and finish significantly, often with much overlap and overtake between the different factories and price ranges.

On top of that Fender's, and to a much lesser degrees Squier's, quality can be so variable from instrument to instrument that it can differ significantly between otherwise identical bits of kit.  The idea that an MIA, for example, is automatically superior in "quality" when individual instruments from Fender can vary so greatly is frankly laughable.

This all oft mooted idea of a hierarchy of quality was always so riddled with exceptions to the rule that it never made a great deal of sense, and these days that is true more than ever. You can't even use it as a rough rule of thumb.

On 02/03/2022 at 11:41, Kev said:

PayPal aren't going to assist if you've been breaking their rules and purchasing things whilst circumventing their fees.  

If one uses friends and family as a means if avoiding fees on a transaction then one is commiting a fraud.

That being the case, you know you're dealing with an inherently dishonest person right from the off, so why have any expectation that they will suddenly become all honest and send the goods?

It makes no odds whstsoever to my playing.

3 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

My point was that cruising 1600rpm in a car that redlines at 4500rpm is less relaxed than cruising at 1600rpm in a car that reclines at 8000rpm. That was the point about a high top speed being good for cruising at low speed. 

Also, it's not tiny. It's just further away than you think.

1600 rpm is 70mph in my old boot.

The jaaaaagggggg is turning around 2100 rpm at the same velocity.

The Jag is a mighty hot rod and in a performance battle would steal my cars lunch money and flush its head down the toilet. However, it is spinning a fair bit faster at the legal limit so the extra performance, nice as it may be, doesn't make it any more adroit at cruising.

And it is tiny, but ive come to terms with it.  Luckily I have a 6 inch tongue and can breathe through my ears.

I doubt it. Not feeling the need to compensate for my tiny schlong, and not caring what anyone else thinks, that sort of thing didn't rate whatsoever on my list of requirements. 

My old burner is only doing 1600 rpm at 70, and that won't get anywhere near 200!

20 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

What you want is a Jaguar XFR. I can fit in a 4x10, 3 basses and a load of other gear, it has a brilliant Bowers & Wilkins sound system and do near enough 200mph. What more could you need?

If you need more space  there's the XFR-S estate which has even more power, is louder and is completely unhinged

Indeed, but youll look like a bounder who'll swipe the nights takings and deflower the landlords teenage daughter. 

Us Volvo drivers are seen by venues as a safe pair of hands,  and excellent musicians to boot 🤔