meterman

I thought the block on the Ignition was just under the bridge? Hence the cheapness? Happy to bow to superior knowledge though

I did a year of solo gigs after my band split and two things became apparent immediately. One: not having the rest of the band around you means you have to be hyper focused on how to pace your set, how to balance your vocal against your guitar playing, and how to work a room. There's a real knack to all of this and I never had any of it. Two: vocal range? I had about an octave and a half when I was playing with others that sang harmonies and the first few solo gigs I did really exposed my limitations as a singer. I did improve with practice and more gigs but I never really enjoyed doing solo turns, so jacked it in. My voice now is shot, although I still sing, and one of my American friends describes it as sounding "like hot pïsş on a rusty steak knife - no, but in a good way!" Bless her 😂 Good luck @EssexBuccaneer if you decide to go for it 👍

Actually, seeing @luckman67's picture, I think I might have had the Ignition violin bass. @Dad3353 might be able to confirm this as he was at our house when it was delivered and he played it too. Decent bass anyway, just a bit ergonomically not right for me. Used it on a couple of records though and nobody's asked for their money back. Yet 💥😂

I lasted about 30 seconds listening to that, his voice did / still does me head in. But if gazillions of folks are into it then fair on 'em. Lieutenant Pigeon though. Proper band, that 👍

Neither did Oasis, really. 😂 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is just a load of Beatle bits with some Lennonisms chucked in for good measure, and Noel Gallagher has said in interviews that he nicked half of 'Half The World Away' from Burt Bacharach's 'This Guy's In Love With You'. Can't comment on 'Live Forever' though, as I've never knowingly heard it. If I'm gonna get involved with nostalgia then let's go the full Lieutenant Pigeon, not arf!

Don't forget the massive industry PR machine behind them, ensuring that they wouldn't / couldn't fail. (Arctic Monkeys had a similar push) I remember seeing Oasis at the 100 Club about a month before their debut single was released and the audience (not packed to capacity by any means) was largely made up of label folks and industry figures. Also, there was a 'street team' walking up and down Oxford Street giving out free tickets to the gig. I only saw them because I'd being doing session work with the band they were touring with, and I can honestly say Oasis were one of the dullest gigs I've ever seen. Zero stage charisma. Bunch of blokes stood rooted to the spot churning out their resolutely stodgy T Rex and Slade riffs at 25mph. There were people in the crowd shouting out the song lifts ("Get It On", "Cum On Feel The Noize", "Holidays In The Sun", "The New Seekers" 😂) Absolute mystery to me how their songwriting still gets praised over the likes of Teenage Fanclub, or Supergrass, etc.

They don't require a visa to visit France or Spain?

I had a Contemporary one, and it was a great bass, very light, sounded great with flatwounds on, and it was only about £279 new. They can be found cheaper used, and are worth trying if you get the chance.

Closest I ever got was with a late 70’s Mustang strung with flats, plugged into a Vox AC30. No foam at bridge but palm muting and pick were part of it. It’s a classic, recognizable sound and style, but I’ve only heard a handful of modern players really get it. Dave Richmond didn’t have to try - he was just doing his thing. Everyone else was just trying to do his thing. I’m not sure if he’s playing on this, but it’s a similar vibe:

For years I struggled with trying to get the bass sound on the "Histoire De Melody Nelson" album by Serge Gainsbourg. Before the internet and what was subsequently revealed in interviews I tried all kinds of different basses, different strings, different amps, but never quite got there. I could play the notes but the sound wasn't really there. Then two things happened. One, I saw the bass player in question, Dave Richmond, playing his dust covered Burns Bison with black nylon strings (which he reckoned to have never changed) through an Ampeg at the Jazz Cafe. And two, I realised there and then that you can get close, but unless you actually are Dave Richmond (with his flared slacks and scruffy slip-ons) and are playing the exact bass used on the record, it's a futile quest. I never bought an original Burns Bison but I did stay with flats and foam at the bridge though. That's a forever move for me. No pedals, just amp and bass 👍

Tell him to get to f***

After the court case, Mike Joyce probably wouldn't share a stage with Morrissey, neither would Johnny Marr, and Andy Rourke is sadly no longer with us. Which begs the question, how would Morrissey tour as The Smiths?

One of the worst for me was when I was doing a session on drums for an indie/dance crossover band that were playing the dance tent at Glastonbury, in the late 90’s. I won’t name the band because they were all gakked up arśèhölés and just a nightmare to put up with. One of those “only doing it for the money” gigs. Everybody’s done them. Anyhow, one of the vocalists had the bright idea to let off a distress flare inside the tent about 10 minutes into our set. Visually the first 10 seconds were amazing but then there was thick, choking smoke everywhere. The audience and bar staff evacuated pretty quickly and security escorted us off the site. I had to plead and beg to go back in and get my drums out first. No way was I leaving a 1968 Ludwig kit and rare cymbals behind. I was furious. The tour manager (ex-army) clumped the idiot singer and quit there and then. The band had 3 days booked in a hotel in Castle Cary, but I f***ed them off and got the train back to London the next morning. With my drums, traps case and cymbals case and everything. Stuck my invoice to the management agency in the post on the Monday and that was that. Lesson learned? Take your B-team gear out on gigs you’re not sure of, and don’t gig with arśèhölés.

Okay, quick update on the Harley Benton fretless ukulele bass. It arrived this afternoon and once I'd got it in tune, it stayed there. So far, so good. The rubber strings actually didn't take much getting used to and the weeny scale length is pretty easy to adjust to, although I do have a 25" scale Precision copy so the uke bass isn't too far off that. The good - it's a lot of fun to play, and acoustically it sounds bigger than it really should. It's been a while since I've owned a fretless and I'd forgotten how they make you focus differently (in a good way) while playing. Mic-ed up rather than plugged in is where it really gets good. Even a half decent condenser makes it sound like more than a €144 bass. It sounds massive mic-ed up with a touch of compression, even with me playing it. The bad - the E string has fret buzz from 1 to 8 and then 10. I'm hoping this might disappear after a day or two. When the parcel was delivered it was quite warm (it was 39 degrees here today) and when I opened the box, the bass was warm. So maybe it'll settle. The other thing is a black mark in the natural finish on the front. Had it been on the back it wouldn't have bothered me, but on the front it does. Will I keep it or exchange it? Don't know yet. But it is a funky little thing to have 👍

It still is cool, I'd definitely go for one of those! 👍

Actually we might all be larfing at it now, but some of us are old enough to remember when barely-affordable starter basses weren't much better than this. One of my mates had a Satellite short scale Woolworths special that had special effects built in like: every note had fret buzz, the action was higher than my mate Kev on a glue bender, the strings were rough and sharp to the touch, it wasn't earthed properly so electric shocks were part of the deal... It was only when decent Japanese copies started turning up in the UK, and then Squiers and Westones, etc, that things started getting good for kids buying their first paper-round-money bass. Mind you, if the above bass has flats on it, I'd give it a go 😂

Edit: I can see the pics on a laptop screen now, and the back of the body is clean.

Does it have the fold-out stand, like the 60's ones? I always thought that was a cool feature.

Yep, the instant giveaway is the truss rod access on the headstock. Also the shape of the headstock is a bit off, even for 1970's Fender, and that decal was probably made by someone that's seen a picture of a fake Precision bass once on the internet and tried to replicate it. Hard avoid.

Does it have a Tele-style headstock with sharpie scrawlings on it 🤔

Can't comment on rounds as I've never used them, but on various Fender style basses I've always had flatwounds: La Bella or Chromes are my favourites but it depends on what gauge you feel comfortable with. Then maybe Olympia or Picato or Pyramid? They're all good. Harley Benton's cheapie flats felt better to me than Fender or Rotosound, both of which felt like cables even at 40-100. And Thomastik Infeld flats lasted about a week before being replaced by La Bellas. Couldn't get on with the feel or sound. Good luck with whatever you try 👍

Personally, I'd develop a good finger technique if I was starting again, on both hands. I'm up to speed with thumb style playing but I couldn't play "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" that way, I'd have to use a pick, or pay someone else to play it for me. I'm self taught and just went with what felt right for me as I went along. I certainly wouldn't advocate thumb style as a technique at all. It's just how I play.

Good question - my playing technique is weird, I actually do play with my thumb. Like, instead of a pick I use my thumb. I've only seen a couple of other players do it, but it's what I'm most comfortable doing. I can use a pick for most things, and my middle finger if the tune isn't too busy. But I can't slap to save my life. It helps that I usually only play bass on my own material, so I can choose between thumb and pick, but it's mostly thumb. Hence the tugbar. I'm lost without them.

Now that’s just blimming weird 😂

It does, but it’s maple. I’ve put it on my Jazz and am selling it. Nowt wrong with maple, I just like darker ‘boards.