meterman

“When The Levee Breaks” - Led Zeppelin “The Man Who Sold The World” - Nirvana from the unplugged gig “Been Caught Stealing” - Jane’s Addiction “Paranoid” - Black Sabbath “Motorhead” - Motörhead there’s probably loads of others, but these come to mind right now.

We had a 1952 Telecaster for sale shortly before I quit the job, the asking price was more than my current house cost. Bonkers!

There’s also the ‘birth year instrument’ factor, which may or may not play a part in whether certain guitars hold their value or continue to increase in value. I did a fairly brief stint working for a company that specialised in selling vintage guitars and basses, and would be asked on a daily basis if we could source a 1976 Fender Strat, or an ‘82 Precision, or a 1967 Tele, or ‘79 Jazz or whatever. And folks would pay whatever the asking price was for those instruments just because they were manufactured in the same year the customer was born. Not because they were otherwise sought after, just because they were ‘birth year’ instruments. Personally I found (and continue to find) this to be irrational sentimentality. Like the guy wanting any ‘83 Strat, it just had to be an ‘83, when a MIM reissue would probably knock it out the park. But it happened all the time. It’s probably still a thing now, but how long it’ll continue to be a ‘thing’ I’ve no idea.

For boomers, it’s the association with the players that used them, and the so called ‘classic’ records they’re on. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mike Bloomfield, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Keith Richards, etc, all used 1959 models and that’s why boomer guitar nerds seem to lose their marbles over them. Personally I’d rather have a ‘52 or ‘53. Or a reissue. Or a Minimoog. Or...

Hmmm. 🤔 I’d found Gotoh lollipop tuners online but not Fender ones. Not sure if they’d be a simple swap or not. Never changed tuners before.

Kind of my outlook too. I had a pair of vintage instruments that I’d started to get a bit twitchy about flying with, or touring with, so bought some cheaper backups for European or overseas gigs. I realised fairly quickly that my s/h £150 Squier from 2015 was more reliable than my 1968 Fender. And by taking it out on gigs I didn’t have the whole anxiety about the possibility of a vintage instrument getting trashed by baggage handlers or lost or stolen, or whatever. Eventually I sold off my vintage stuff and kept reliable cheapies. There’ll probably always be a market for ‘all-original’ vintage gear to collectors or investors but I’m not part of it.

The ‘66 looks amazing, and the mods on it wouldn’t bother me either. Love the lollipop tuners too. My Squier Mustang is my #1 bass and the only thing I would possibly change on it are the tuners. Looking at lollipop tuners online nowwww....

Today it’s been Wire’s 1st album...

I think you’re right 😂 I’ve only liked a couple of tracks on each Yes album so far, and they were usually the ones without all the noodly riffage and solos. One of my mates swears that “Tormato” is his fave album of all time. But he does smoke a lot of weed and rarely leaves the house! Might have to bow out at this point...

Use what you’ve got! Seriously, don’t spend money on more gear, if you’ve got a mic just use it. Dynamic, condenser, diaphragm, whatever, they’re all just mics and will record whatever you put in front of them. You can always EQ the recorded sound afterwards anyway. I used to have a collection of so-called ‘classic’ old mics (I also had a whole studio but that’s another story) and a lot of the time I’d end up using a cheap Shure dynamic mic or a Radio Shack PZM for everything, vocals included. In fact my favourite used to be an old Sony electret (battery powered) condenser mic that I got off ebay for £2 or something. I used it on everything for years until it stopped working. There’s no rules. Use what you’ve got and make it work. Just remember that with percussion, anything like maracas or tambourines can make your signal peak into the red real easy, so experiment with mic positions and distances to avoid them distorting horribly. Depends on your room as well but mic positions are still important. And if you’re working in a digital format there’s always tape plugins available that you can use for individual instruments or you can run a whole mix through. Or preferably run a mix down onto a cassette deck with a high input signal if you have access to one. It’s not hard to avoid the clean steppers vibe. If you’re familiar with Pachyman have a look at some of his videos on YouTube, there’s always ideas you can get from them. Taggy Matcher is another one who can nail the classic old sounds 👍

I wish I’d kept my Wharfedales too. Linton, they were. Sounded ace 👍

I listened to the first four Yes albums this week as part of my personal Prog odyssey and have currently got this on. Am about 10 minutes in, hopefully the good bits will start soon...

I briefly thought about putting the old “Not The 9 O’Clock News” gramophone sketch up as a reply, but then realised you wouldn’t have anything to watch it on! 😂

Yes super basic, and if you couldn’t afford that you’d either use a recording Walkman or a piece of string and a tin can. Similar sound quality either way 😂 There’ll be a limited run of 30-odd lathe cut 45’s for the folks who still want physical tangible stuff, plus digital downloads for all the modern folks. But the vinyl will be a nice little thing to have - 45rpm 5” single in a picture sleeve, with both tracks exclusive to that edition. Shouldn’t be long before I get a copy then I’ll put it on the YouTube 👍

From the other end of the postal chain I’ve recently had items take up to four weeks to arrive here from the UK. Used to take about 6 days. And yes, import / customs duties might well happen. I just paid €16 to receive a £5 secondhand mic. And that took 30 days to get from Brighton to the south of France. Things do seem to take longer now.

Not very hi-fi. The 4-track has no EQ controls. And I used a Boss overdrive pedal as a mic pre, which shouldn’t really be done. And it’s in mono! 😂 But I’m handing in the masters tomorrow and it’s coming out on a 45 soon enough anyway so it’ll probably be alright. The A-side sounds like Jackie Mittoo circa ‘68 playing through a knackered music centre, and the B-side sounds like Augustus Pablo with Jackie Mittoo on Hammond, playing through a knackered music centre. Proper roughneck. I’ve got Pro Tools and Logic but this kind of stuff always sounds too clean and antiseptic when I try to do it in a DAW. It’s quicker and easier to just bash it out on a 4-track. The end result is always grittier 👍

It does! I flipping love Lionel Blair. And his sister, Lionette. ❤️ Phwoar!

I often wish I had taken up bass first, before any other instruments. And studied at college etc. I’m always in awe of proper bassists. If I hear an XTC record or a Blockheads tune comes on the radio, I’m always focused in on the bass line. Same with Motown or Stax or disco or certain punk records. Coming to bass last is something I do regret.

I’m probably behind the curve on this one, but why are the basses named after Lionel Ritchie? And if they are, why isn’t the retail price £15? (Cockney rhyming slang - a Lionel is £15. Lionel Ritchie was in The Commodores, they had a hit with “Three Times A Lady”, a ‘Lady’ refers to Lady Godiva - a fiver, £5.00 - so a Lionel is 3x a ‘Lady’) Yes, I may have been at the French equivalent of Special Brew, but still. I’ve wondered about this for a while now. I apologize in advance...

Today I have mostly been recording reggae music on a cassette 4-track, heavily influenced by Jackie Mittoo, Augustus Pablo and King Tubby. Hi-fi studio folks best look away now...

I started as a percussionist (aged 7) then graduated to drum kit, then later took up guitar in my teens so I’d have a compositional instrument. I only bought a bass much later when the bassist in our band quit and we didn’t know any others, and we had studio time booked. So I bought the cheapest bass I could find and got into it that way. Coming from a drums / percussion / guitar background definitely helped me understand where to put the notes, where to leave spaces, and whether certain bass lines worked or not, etc. I eventually got into writing songs on bass, so it’s been a real help for me. Still wouldn’t call myself a bassist though. Nor would anyone else, probably 😂

Ooh those do look interesting 😎

I got a Squier Mustang bass a few weeks ago and put a set of LaBella 760FLMUS flats on, and I swear they just work. I’ve had half a dozen Mustangs from vintage USA, MIJ reissues to Squiers and this latest one with those strings is the best one I’ve had. Perfect combination. Love playing it. Hope yours hits the spot for you 👍

I’ve tried playing left-handed but it’s too weird for me. Didn’t feel natural at all. I’m not ambidextrous or talented enough to get away with it. Might be different for you though?

It also might depend on what style of playing you want to do. But if you’re right handed then maybe start playing right handed and see how it works out for you. I never use my left pinky finger when playing bass (I’m right handed) as it’s very ‘clunky’ and tends to lock in a straight position if I try to use it, or if I reach for a note with it, it might lock and go to a wrong note or stick to my ring finger. I can’t rely on it to go where I want it to, so I don’t use it. My left hand technique looks weird but I make it work for me, I use 3 fingers and sometimes my thumb for root notes. You wouldn’t guess from hearing recordings as they sound alright. But my mates call my playing style “the mitt” because it looks like I have no finger interdependence. Skinny bass necks and short scale basses work better for me. This is my playing from 20 years ago without using my pinky, it’s only an old funk vamp and I’m not Jaco Pastorius or anything but don’t let that put you off 😂 Definitely give it a go, you never know. You might love playing and be amazing.