meterman

I often wondered if the 1970s Ric copies went as far as featuring this? Hond-O-Sound? Shaft-O-Sound? Ib-O-Sound? Someone must have copied it, surely? I want to hear it now!

I confess I don't have any answers about a drop of 8Hz but for years I thought everything was automatically in A440Hz. It was only when I bought a vibraphone, which was in A442Hz if I remember correctly, that I realised there were other options. I recorded it along with other instruments in A440Hz and never noticed any difference. Still don't understand any of it.

The only famous musician that I own records of that was a bit of an árșe when I met him was Clem Burke from Blondie. It was him and his tech, and his tech was super friendly, but sadly Clem must have got out of bed on the wrong side of the hotel that morning, because he was grumpy AF. Made for a loooong few hours that day. Can't think of any other examples, everyone else I've met has been friendly enough. Even Van flipping Morrison! Just goes to show, you never know who's going to be alright and who isn't. Wouldn't want to meet Bob Dylan, mind. Everyone I know who's met him has said the same thing: "miserable git" haha 😂

Woah, Bootsy!!!! That's brilliant 😎

Only time a pro player has ever sat down in front of me and showed me how they play a particular line, btw. And even though he was taking the píss out of me a bit for using a pick, he was still friendlier than a fair amount of the non-famous punters that came through the door of the shop I was doing part time work at for 6 months, back in 2012.

I've met Glen Matlock and Paul Cook a few times each. Both of them were nice fellas. Matlock even showed me how he played "Three Button Hand Me Down" finger style, certainly something I could only manage with a pick. Decent guy 👍

Nothing really, except maybe a ballsier little practice amp to record with. Ampeg, maybe? And I've been looking for one of these Antonelli organs in the super rare turquoise finish for years, maybe a decade. I always see red or black ones but... If I ever find one, I'll pay the full €10 they go for. Otherwise, I'm sorted. 👍

I see preowned Jim Harley basses and guitars and amps on the French classifieds site 'Leboncoin' all the time, and they're usually super low prices. I'm often tempted to get one of their Jazz basses or a Strat or something, because they're always about €50. Only thing stopping me is that if the electronics or wiring aren't up to scratch, I'm not skilled enough to fix them, and the nearest repair shop to me is about 3 hours away. Some of their P basses have strong Encore or Sunn vibes to them.

There's always the bass > interface > Laptop > monitors route, but the simplest and least expensive way would be to get a practice amp and some headphones, just in case you need to practice quietly at any time. Used Fender Rumbles or similar are easy to come by, and for not much money either. Oddly enough I've got both options but if I'm just noodling away I don't even bother plugging into anything. I am very, very lazy though 😂

Yes, in my band with some mates from school. We were all only 15 and playing a warm up set for a jazz fusion outfit made up of 40 to 50 year old jazz guys in a local pub. September 1983. We were still at school and we thought it was brilliant to get An Actual Gig! On the night we only played four original songs before the headliners cut our set short. We'd just recorded an EP in a proper studio and everything, and we were on top form. I can definitely remember us counting in 1-2-3-4 and then blasting the şhït out of the place. And I still play the opening song today. It's in Velvet Underground / Johnny Thunders territory and totally rocks. The jazz fusion crowd didn't know what had hit them, it was a right laugh 👍

Sound. Weight. 38mm neck width. 4 strings. La Bella flatwounds. Then possibly colour? Tugbar? I always had short scale basses like Fender (& Squier) Mustangs, but when I started to get remote session work (you know, recording your parts and sending them back via email) I found that Mustangs weren't quite 'there' enough for certain jobs. So I bought a Jazz bass which was an improvement, as the E string recorded better. But I still found that it wasn't quite right for me. Eventually I bought a very lightweight Squier Sonic Precision and put a Jazz neck on it. I don't know what pickups Squier use for their Sonic series Precisions, although they'd certainly be fairly cheap, but the bass is incredibly loud and versatile. Well, as far as a Precision goes, anyway. Without fail, it records brilliantly, either DI-ed or miced up through an amp. I've hit upon my perfect bass almost by accident and it was around £150 plus the price of a set of La Bellas. If I ever had to get another bass it would have to be pretty close to that. I sometimes fantasise about having a small but niche collection of say, a Jazz, a Stingray, an Ovation Magnum, a 51 P, an Ibanez Blazer, a Telecaster bass, another Mustang, a hollow body bass, and a fretless of some kind, a double bass, etc... But even if I had them all, I'd probably still use the cheapie Precision for most of my work purposes.

Mostly it's the neck width on 5's that I can't get on with. Also, in 35 years of playing I've never been in a musical situation that's required even a drop D, let alone a low B. But then my playing is usually simple enough that even 4 strings is more than enough.

It's funny, I was going to mention this album - "Walking In Space" - I'm a big fan of Ray Brown generally but side one of that album has some sublime bass playing on it, upright and Fender. Another favourite would be Wilton Felder's playing on "Root Down (And Get It)" by Jimmy Smith. That was a live jazz club recording and the bass is freestyling a lot of it. The off the cuff fills and spur of the moment melodic runs and changes are brilliant 👍

Looks like a Custom Shop reliced version of Ocean Turquoise Metallic, although they did do some that were described as "7-Up Green Metallic" but I'm blowed if I can remember which players those particular ones were for. Gorgeous colour, whatever it is 👍

You checked out any of the early albums by French double bassist Henri Texier? Some of what he was doing had bass as lead, rhythm and percussion instruments. Tracks like "L'éléphant" or "Les La Bas" are good examples of what could be taken at face value as primarily bass solos but are actually pushing the songs forward. He played what he was feeling, and it worked for the songs. Albums like "Amir" or especially "Varech" are great 👍

I had an early 70's Fender Twin nicked from the boot of my band mates car during a 9am load in to a studio back in the 1990s. Yes, I was super annoyed but also amazed that anyone could break into the back of a locked estate car and carry off an amp that to (younger and skinnier) me, weighed a flipping ton. I was only away from the car for 4 or 5 minutes at most. This was in Teesside though. Different rules apply in Port Clarence 😂

Thanks for the help Dad, you know I never learned much edumacation at skool. Its' a wonder I know how to speak any Engerlish let alone any French 👍

I just used to shove my guitar in it’s gigbag under the mattress and leave it there while I was out, whether in the UK or not. Same with laptops or anything of value. Looking back it was possibly a daft strategy but I never had anything nicked.

I quit gigging at the end of 2019 but still kept two basses for recording projects, and I'm glad I did. We're all different though, and we all have different needs and wants. I hope you're alright in your decision and are feeling okay with it. Best wishes 👍

No way, that's crazy talk! Never mix cross-ply and radial, that's what the old 1970s tv ad said and I still stand by it. I might only have two basses but they're both sporting La Bella Deep Talking Flats. And I have D'Addario Chromes flats on all my electric guitars, always same gauge. And my acoustic has Hofner flats on it. (No, I haven't moved on since 1968) 😂

If anyone hasn't got his album "Walking In Space" (A&M, 1969) then it's time to head to your record shop or streaming platform of choice and get stuck in. Ray Brown on upright and Fender bass, plus Grady Tate and Bernard Purdie alternating on drums... it's brilliant stuff and side one of the original album is especially good. Grady Tate in particular is a revelation, and I was a fan of his before I heard this. His playing is fantastic. Probably my favourite Quincy Jones record 👍

Definitely true, networking is essential, although sometimes (as I was) you'll be out of your league and it won't matter who you're playing for or with - sometimes you will never see those people again, except on TV on the Graham Norton show, or SNL, or with Robbie Williams on the main stage at Glastonbury or something. I wish I'd been a better networker. And a better musician. But it's okay. I've done the best I could whilst hogging the slow lane 👍

Fella's surname might possibly rhyme with "Sherry" ; ) Also, the rehearsals were boring AF.

I bought a rosewood one off eBay for my Telecaster. The original neck was maple and had seen about 25 years of hard gigging. It was very good for the price - under £100 - but I eventually found a bargain used Fender rosewood replacement. I wasn't let down by the Chinese one though, it was decent quality. 👍

I'd want paying for that. Once, one of my mates got a gig playing drums with what you'd nowadays call a 'heritage' act. Big in the 1970's / 80's / 90's and pretty much a household name. Amazingly for me, he managed to wangle me in on percussion duties. We did two days of very weird-vibe rehearsals, minus the lead vocalist, and everyone was talking in hushed whispers to the guitarist who appeared to be MD'ing the rehearsals and shows. At the end of the second day, me and the drummer were taken to one side by the guitarist who thanked us profusely for our time, but said that they were reverting to their usual drums and percussion team for the shows. Basically, we were there under false pretences, thinking "Yay! Two well paid high profile gigs in decent venues!" but in reality we were just placeholders for the two musicians that couldn't make the first two rehearsals. Invoice after invoice to the artists management seemed to 'go missing' and in the end I gave up chasing it. It happens at all levels. And it stinks. It's your choice obviously, but I'd want some form of reimbursement for my time, and so should you. 👍