dclaassen

Tou folks really have a significant amount of hate….

I don't think it is an either-or. I read pretty well, and enjoy working out exactly how someone lots better than me plays something. I also love jamming to great songs. Both are valid.

"Vegetarians are cool. All I eat are vegetarians - except for the occasional mountain lion steak."-Ted Nugent Sorry he triggers you....do you need a plush toy to cuddle now?

I personally think it is more important to make sure the crowd is enjoying themselves. This is often best accomplished with the energy you get from feeling and reacting to the music, and altering what you are doing musically to help that whole process along. For me, this means a good jam on a great song. I cannot imagine doing something like "Freebird" exactly the same every single time. You do need to give a shoutout to some iconic licks, like Clapton's intro to "Wonderful Tonight" or some Merle Haggard songs, but, other times, the crowd will love it, and I love playing it, even when it is not close to the original.

This is accurate. I had an unlined, maple P Bass made in 68 or 69. I wish I still had it, but the fretboard was getting rough even then.

'63 Jazz, Sunburst with rosewood finger board...best playing bass I have every even picked up...period. Sold to finance life at one point...stupid! '68 Fretless P bass..maple FB...sold to finance the next one.. Gibson RD Artist...Maple with Maple FB. Heavy beast but a fantastic gigging instrument. You could get a great sound out of this no matter the room or the amp. Downside was the shielding...it tended to pick up radio signals in the middle of a gig. Also sold to finance life. Honorable mention goes to how stupid I was to sell a MusicMan Head....SS with tube preamp...lovely bit of kit.

Enjoying the comments. I think I will keep it as is for now.

Okay, this is going to be difficult. I am, by and large, a Classicist. Your response suggests to me that you embrace postmodernism. So, we are already seeing different truths. However, the general assumption I have seen expressed here is that anyone who is not offended (not ever sure what that term even means to you) and who does not blindly label anyone associated with a symbol, flag, statue, a subhuman hate-monger is just too stupid, backward, and detestable to be in the presence of all this moral superiority. Here’s an idea…if you don’t like the guitar, don’t buy it. I support your right to think and believe however you wish….right along with everyone else. As a bonus, you might want to read up on all the fine Englishmen who supported the confederacy.

I guess I am more concerned with ideas than symbols. Doc Martens used to be skinhead wear…I’m not offended by a pair of shoes, but will happily work to combat ignorance and blind hate. The fact that you are reacting to something you know almost nothing about concerns me as well.

All while shrugging off the British slave trade which brought slave to North America in the first place…

It’s interesting to me how many folks are triggered by the flag here. I wonder who it was that brought slavery to American shores? How many American Southerners today who might fly the Confederate battle flag would support slavery? What is it precisely that offends you? If it is historical slavery, how about doing something to combat modern day slavery? Btw, I do believe slavery is a horrible thing.

Double check comments from Lozz and Lemmiewinks….and, btw, that’s not the confederate flag.

As some who loves country music, and has lived in the American South, I find these comments amusing, especially those who want to show their higher moral authority by assuming all Southerns (and/or country musicians) are ignorant and inbred. Didn’t Kris attend Oxford?

I am on the fence. I think a good long-scale traditional bass will have lower strings that sound out as well as the fan-fretted instrument. I suspect that shorter-scale basses would benefit more from fan-frets though.....

I'll go on the record to say that I doubt I would ever use this feature, but somebody must....kind of like a Scruggs tuner for banjo...:)

I was watching an interview with Lee Sklar. He was talking about his Dingwall 5, and was showing off the B string machine head which has a drop function which, I guess, let's you go to a A or, at least, Bb. I checked on line and these things for my bass would be about 100 pounds....for one. My question...does anybody that is not a metal player use one of these and, if so, under what conditions?

Pedulla did this as well.

Yup...that's it. Great sounding bass with a low-impedance jack...first I saw like that until Alembic did it.

Didn't Gibson also make a "Recording" version of the bass? I seem to remember that....

I almost bought one of these in the '80's, but it was very, very heavy....couldn't make myself think about schlepping it around.

Gear is important so far as you need the tools to consistently get the job done. Me, I don’t like compression…probably because I’m an old fart who didn’t grow up listening to much compressed signal. For me, it’s bass, amp, patch cord. That’s not everyone though, and you have to respect what others are doing.

I’m rehearsing with a band with the leader’s name affixed. Won’t bother me unless the current dynamics change. always wanted a pub band named “free beer”

I think the perfect instrument has to grow on you. I bought a l2000 tribute thinking, at the time, it would be a great workhorse, but we never quite got along. This has happened to me a couple of times. But, the ones I count on have never impressed me that much at first glance.Plus, I am convinced that you have to gig with a bass under different circumstances (pop, rock, country, pit work) to really know what you’ve got.

Thanks for the thought!