meterman

I remember the Stagg short scale BC300's being about £159 - £179 when they first came out. Confusingly there was a 34" scale version too but the short scale ones were really good for the money. Only ever saw those in black and natural. Bright pink is a new one on me!

I only remember ever having had it twice, once was at a pub gig where the band were set up in a corner. Some písśed up idiot came up beside me (I was playing drums) and started randomly hitting my cymbals with his hands for a laugh in front of his mates. He didn’t do it for long because first I whipped the back of his hand at full pelt with a drumstick, then when it looked like he was going to get ársey I whipped him across the face with a drumstick and gave him a look and luckily for me, he scuttled off. Him and his mates could have easily battered me but it didn’t happen, thankfully. Other time was on a stage and we had a few drunken but fairly harmless idiots trying to climb onstage. The stage was fairly high for a ballroom and so it was easy to see them trying to climb up. I’d just put a foot on their shoulder and give them a gentle shove back into the audience. That was again in the late 80’s when I had a load of vintage guitar gear onstage with me, probably near £15,000’s worth today. I wouldn’t take posh gear out on gigs if I was still playing live today. After that I rarely played gigs without stages, and often with a row of monitors at the front, and rarely had any bother from punters. (Apart from them shouting at me to “get off, you’re śhït” 😂) Load out time is a different story though...

Oh bugger. The Talk Talk track "It's My Life" probably isn't from 1982 either. I'd still take either of them over Duran Duran though. Oh, and a Curly Wurly and some superglue as well, please. 🙏

This ⬆️ absolute monster 👍 Also "It's My Life" by Talk Talk, even on crappy laptop speakers or on a site radio you can still follow the bassline. Absolutely beautiful bass line 👍

I play a 25" scale Precision copy, and I hadn't really considered different hand positions or finger techniques at all. I just play the same as when I play my 34" scale Precision. They both work just the same for me. But I love playing the little 25" scale bass, it's total fun 👍

That was my reasoning for buying the Nord 5D61 whenever it came out (10 years ago?) - all the acoustic and electric pianos and organs, plus the Mellotron samples and orchestral samples and the synth patches, with a 5 octaves all in one keyboard. Having said that, I bought the YC and CP anyway for even easier transport. I do wish Yamaha had included Mellotron strings and flute in the YC but you can’t have everything!

Damn, I spent a lot of money with them over the years. I hope nobody on here was part of their current team.

The '81 USA Fender Bullet and the Squier MIJ that I bought on here both had the '51 neck and headstock. Nut width was 45mm. I loved them but they were like playing classical guitars or something. God knows how bassists who play 5 or 6 stringers manage! I'm so happy to have a Jazz width neck on a Precision body now 👍

I'd never heard of her before this thread, and even though her playing isn't my cup of bovril, she's a waaaaay better player than I'll ever be. On any instrument, and without any performance enhancing substances. Also she's apparently famous enough to get Fender signature models, which is more than I'll ever do. Full respect. Sadly the bass itself looks like it's made by the same people who design Haribo, (or overdose on it) so I'm out on that one. But fair play to her. She's got a bigger career than I have.

A regular old Boss FZ-5 always worked for me, particularly the 'Maestro' setting with the boost almost on full. Rock solid build quality as well and £50 off ebay.

I had the Pyramid flats on my Ignition violin bass. It's true that your choice is restricted by the tiny holes in the tuners, which are more like guitar tuners btw. The scale was something like 39 - 95 but they felt fine on the bass. Never used strings as light as that before but they were pretty solid. The E string was fine and the intonation was as good as I'd ever need. If I'd had the extra money at the time (we'd just emigrated and were skint at the time) I'd have bought La Bella flats but they're my favourite for any bass.

Maybe Ian Anderson’s the fellow to ask if he would fancy a South of France tech holiday? 😂 I still think “17” is one of the greatest late 60’s tracks, and it was only a B-side. JT have some really underrated but brilliant tunes 👍

I started out on a short scale and stayed with them and for 30 years they were my main preference, despite every ‘proper’ bassist laughing at my Mustangs or Musicmasters or whatever. I owned 34” scale basses too but they always felt like a bit of a struggle until I discovered the joys of the Jazz neck. Now I have two basses - a 25” scale Precision copy and a regular 34” scale Precision but with a Jazz width neck. But short scales are still my #1 go-to bass, and it’s great seeing the multitude of choices available now for everyone.

I would love to be my own tech, but my bipolar lithium medication causes hand tremors, and so I’d be too scared / clumsy to use a soldering iron, or use nut files, etc. Also I don’t own any tools, other than a few truss rod allen keys. I would love it if I could find a tech anywhere near me, but if there are any they’re very secretive about it! I haven’t found one in four years and none of the local musicians I know have anyone to go to either.

I’ll get this out of the way quick as I can to avoid derailing the thread any further, but yes - stone buildings and lime mortar are an essential pairing. I apprenticed in masonry repair and traditional lime repointing so I’m well aware of the need to use it, even though it’s not my favourite to work with. Once I got a 5p size blob of lime mortar stuck to my kneecap inside my trousers (still not sure how that happened) and it burned the top of my skin off. One night I knocked the scab off while getting into bed, and during the night the open skin must have got infected. Next morning I was in hospital with sepsis, and my leg looked like it had been inflated to double its size. So yeah, lime with stone buildings = essential, but be super careful when using it. Just remembered re: moisture in buildings, one of my old studios in the late 90’s used to be in a converted factory. It always smelled a little bit musty when you went in there, but there was no obvious signs of damp anywhere. When I gave up the lease and did the tear down, I remember one piece of rack mount gear, a reverb unit, had completely corroded on all the metal parts that were hidden from view. Then I noticed a few of the other pieces of gear in the same rack had gone the same way. A couple were saveable but a couple didn’t last much longer. Sometimes you can’t tell where the moisture is getting in from unless you tear the place apart. I just gave up my lease and set up elsewhere. Lesson learned though. Keep checking all RCA contacts and exposed metal parts, just in case 👍

I think we’re going to try and get an insurance claim to get at least some remedial work done on the roof, no guarantees though. The ground floor under the roofed area is concreted and that’s angled to a small central drain, the rest is just a hard dirt floor. The fountain is a bit of a mystery. Nobody seems to know the source of it, and there’s a run off in case of overflow, but that goes to the street drain. I’m restoring some of the collapsed interior walls as and when I can, but it’s tiring, dirty graft, and doing it takes me away from financially more lucrative studio time. I don’t think I’ll be able to do much with it in my lifetime, but at least I can store the winter wood delivery in there 👍

No photos, but it’s basically a stone built 20 foot x 80 foot rectangle. One half has a pitched roof and a 1st floor. The roof has a number of holes which let rain in, which is infrequent here but still inconvenient. The half without the roof is completely open to the elements. The roofed half is open from floor to ceiling on the inside of the structure. There are structural beams which show it wasn’t always like this, there would have been doors or a wall, and windows, but it would require new beams, roof repairs, re-timbering the 1st floor, totally replacing the electrics.... it’s a lot of work and it would soak up a lot of money. Also there’s a fountain about 10 feet away from it, so there may be hidden water somewhere near, if not running underneath it. The floor is usually dry though.

One of the things I hadn’t considered before we moved to the south of France was how dry and warm it is, compared with the places I’d lived in the UK. Downside is the high temperatures do affect the tunings of stringed instruments and drums from day to day. But retuning instruments during recording sessions isn’t really an issue. For hi-fi, I don’t know, we’ve only been here four years. But the house is kept ventilated so it should be okay. I know for certain that I wouldn’t leave anything of value in my barn, it’s really damp, from floor to ceiling, even though it’s of the same construction as the house and it has plenty of ventilation. I had initially thought it would make a great recording studio but went off the idea after our first year here. I’d be running dehumidifiers 24/7 all year round, and the electricity bills would bankrupt me 😂

In some festivals it’s common too. I remember Bestival, Isle Of Wight, Glastonbury and a couple of others offering bands non-paying slots for “exposure”. They’d get local bands in to make the numbers up or fill gaps in the schedule. IOW used to (might still) have a big tent that only featured local artists, who played for free, in exchange for Access All Areas passes for the whole 3 days. I did those a couple of times when the gig was on Friday night and you could sell your wristband for £100 for the Saturday and Sunday on FB marketplace in advance. Shït festival though. It’s like being part of a Carling Black Label marketing event. With hen do’s and stag do’s 🤮

Somewhere in Covent Garden springs to mind, was it called the Rock Garden? I remember in the late 80's our label at the time getting a promo mailout from them saying we could play in their actual central London șhïthole if we bought £35 worth of tickets and could guarantee a 150 punters on the night. I think the label replied but with the caveat that a champagne and 7 course meal rider would be provided otherwise the venue would have to pay them £5000 or something daft like that. Still waiting to hear back from them 🤔

Forgot to mention, the return on the uke bass was free, and that wasn’t even B-stock. Thomann are pretty good for returns. Bax have been similar in my experience. 👍

I got a B stock Squier Telecaster from Thomann the other week. The red Fender decal was still on the pickguard, as was the protective film. The only signs of use were on the back of the guitar, where it looked like someone’s jacket zip had left a couple of tiny marks. I didn’t even spot them until I’d had it for a couple of days. They’re so fine that they might well buff out, but in all honesty I’ll probably leave them. You don’t see them unless you look for them. My Squier Jazz was also a B stock, but that was spotless, it looked box fresh. I guess it varies from instrument to instrument, but you can email them for details ahead of purchase, if I remember rightly? **EDIT** I had to return a ukulele bass to Thomann the other week and it was really straightforward. They emailed me the returns shipping label to put on the box, and all I had to do was hand it over at the nearest post office. The refund was in my account 5 or 6 days later. I am in Europe though, I don’t know how easy it might be from the UK, if you’re based there?

That kit with the custom finish is going to be really difficult to shift on, if all the local police, music shops, FB groups, Crack Converters, etc, have been notified already. I hope they get it back ASAP.

Throw acid, ecstasy and smack into the mix and it sounds exactly like my old band 😂 https://www.discogs.com/release/2771606-The-Prescriptions-Psychedelicatessen We’re all almost tee-total boring middle aged gits these days although some of us do have a penchant for hot milky drinks. And we eat biscuits. Not sure if those are classed as performance enhancing, though?

The necks on the 1st run of Jagstangs are said to be some of the best that Fender ever put on a 6-stringer, especially the 24” scale ones. Very nice score 👍