Beedster

Unless they were in appalling non-functional condition, you'd have to work pretty hard to lose money on £500 for a '77 neck and body. Frets/nut replaced, possible work on neck finish (especially if maple/maple) plus decent PUP and circuit, and you're talking circa £800 for a playable late 70's Precision. Works for me

Body weighed a tonne so likely original late 70s? PUP foam worn? £500 still sounds a bloody decent price frankly. Even the worst Precisions tend to do the job with a little effort and patience

I've done a couple of things for BBC Radio and the voice quality compared to what I'm getting in my studio was noticeably better. I'm interested in knowing what sort of processing is routinely used in radio, the rooms themselves and the mics are pretty standard, and there doesn't appear to be a standard mic/room setup (for example in one studio I had a ceiling/shock mounted SM7B I think and in another a much smaller and desktop mounted unit) so this isn't about acoustics or mics, placement or any of that stuff. Keen to hear thoughts and experience Cheers Chris

Now selling my MPC and moving back to live drums for those sessions where it works (I now have a kit that fits in my booth) and software for those where it doesn't. As new MPC + case for sale here at bargain price folks

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance

I suspect The Simpsons no longer have an audience under 40 hence its parodying icons its audience recognise

The more I listen to the Higsons 1982-1984 the more they remind me of RHCP a few years later

Agreed to a point. Vibrato is certainly a skill, but less of a skill on some instruments, voice included, than holding a sustained note in tune, something I learned the hard way when I switched from orchestral violin to bluegrass fiddle, the former requiring lots of vibrato, the latter demanding sustained and often double stopped notes with none. Without using vibrato it’s a whole lot harder to sound in tune with other instruments/voices, requiring more technical control plus a better ear for your pitch and that of the others

Not a theory but a tried and trusted technique. Plenty of singers - and instrumentalists for that matter - can’t hold a single note at pitch for more than a few milliseconds. It’s why vibrato was invented

Ha ha, I remember even at the time recognising that neither songwriting or lead vocals were their strong point. But the bass, rhythm guitar, horns and BVs are at times outstanding

Had the pleasure of meeting Ian yesterday when he came to collect yet another item of bass gear that's departed Beedster Towers. Great guy, wish I could have invited him in for a decent chat about basses, amps, etc. Next time mate Chris

Used to love The Higsons about 40 years ago. Stumbled across them again today and found myself realising what a great bassist Colin Williams was/is (no idea what he'd oing now, Wikipedia entry simply says "Got a full time job after the band split in 1986).. In fact, having assumed that my main slap influence in the 1980s was Flea, I think the relatively humble Higsons might have beaten the RHCPs to it Live version of Run me Down (many of you will recognise Mr Higson form his later incarnation as part of The Fast Show). Studio Version

Alright Lawrie, don't rub it in, and everyone knows '64 was a far better year anyway

£2.5k for a ‘64 in 2015 seems an altered reality! Good luck with your search, if you find it for sale I hope you get equally lucky with price

Binding works for me

Isn't that just another example of the horrible eBay translation algorithms that many Japanese sellers appear to use, often resulting in 'Mis-shapen Bass' or 'Abandoned Interface'?

I was wondering where you'd been dude, hope all's well. Chris

I think we sometimes forget that music isn’t a science, it’s an art. It’s not about whether the science says they should work together, it’s about using our skill - and some nice cabs of course - to make them work together

There is something of a Mesa renaissance on BC at present. May it long continue

I read TB a lot, there's a lot of expertise there as there is here, and the US bias there around gear/music can balance the at times UK/Euro bias here. The two sites complement each other rather well