meterman

Yeah, imho they're really good value for money. I've owned a lot of the 'real' keyboards in the past (Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200, Vox Jaguar etc) and honestly the YC and CP are brilliant. Yes, there's only 3 octaves and they're mini keys, but you can always hook them up to a midi keyboard and get full size keys and extra octaves if you want. The original Hammond M3 that was used on "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG's only had two offset 44-note keyboards. A lot of players want at least 5 or 6 octaves but depending how and what you're playing, you can get away with three. And the Refaces have an octave transposition dial so you can do Doors-style piano bass, or pitch it up to get the higher octaves. I've seen Refaces in quite a few studios, they're definitely worth a go 👍

Yep, twice a year for me. I never have the drugs beforehand though. I've seen YouTube videos of drooling colonoscopy patients and thought, "nah". I'm all over the place as it is.

Oh no, that's just awful, awful news. Rest In Peace, Herbie you legend 🙏

Sorry 😔 But I bet the person who thought that finish looked cool, or ehrmazing, has never had one. Urgh.

Not so keen on the colonoscopy finish on that last one. 🤔

Honestly it was like being handed a bag of crisps or something. Actually, Hofner ought to start making crisps. There was already some crisps called Ringos in the 1970's, they ought to get some more Beatle themed crisps on the market.

I cut down some 34" scale La Bellas to put on my 25" scale Precision copy. I found the La Bellas in the pocket of a gigbag I'd bought so they were free and I thought "what the heck" and cut them down anyway. They're still on the bass 10+ years later. I know now that cutting down flatwounds is a bad idea, as everyone says they can unravel, but I got away with it on this occasion. But if I was going to cut them down again I'd use £8 Harley Bentons instead of £50 La Bellas. I got the bass in a charity shop for less than a fiver anyway, so I didn't mind experimenting on it. Good luck with whatever you decide to do 👍

Apologies for being a bit slow but do you mean the Vic Firth iso's that have a cable, like regular headphones? I meant the ones that just act as ear defenders, like you'd wear on a building site or something. I had a pair, the red £89 jobs. No cable. Not sure how a mic and mixer would help with those? Or something else?

The Vic Firth isolation ones are good for cutting mostly everything out, but I don't know how suitable they would be for rehearsals. I'm not sure how much of the rest of the band you'd be able to hear?

I like the Dunlop 0.73mm (yellow?) ones, they're a good balance between being too flimsy and they still have a decent percussive attack. When I started playing electric bass I used to use the 3mm purple Dunlop picks all the time, but I tried one again recently and it was like trying to play with a Lego block.

They should get Matt Lucas in his Adidas tracksuit, not to play bass, just to annoy all the dad rock Wellends in the audience who spaffed thousands to see Oasis. "Peanuts!!!"

That'll be why when the courier delivered it, I thought he was handing me an empty box!

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.