RhysP

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1380398702' post='2224845'] I'm surprised at all the John Giblin references, to my mind Derek Forbes was the better bass player of the two and probably the one above all others who most influenced me. [/quote] People aren't mentioning Giblin as an influence because he was with Simple Minds for a while, they're mentioning him because of his astonishing catalogue of work with some of the most influential & innovative artists of the last 40 years: Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel & John Martyn to name but a few.

Talking of Tony Levin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nqjB-jHOuM

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1380360648' post='2224203'] I used to use charts, then tremolo on ethereal melodic / improvised stuff and couldn't really get the sound that I had in my head. Then my brother bought a NUX Mod core pedal [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SgDcO4wWP0[/media] Turns out the sound I was REALLY after was a rotary speaker. Cheap as chips too! [/quote] That's a really good rotary speaker sound - lots of pedals claim to do it but never sound very authentic. I love tremolo on both guitar & bass.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380558521' post='2227071'] No cigar! But I can see where you are coming from! [/quote] I said that because when I worked in a music shop many years ago we used to stock & order quite a bit from John. Some of the things he used to say were outrageous but he was a very funny bloke. The guy who ran the shop wanted to order a custom Supernatural bass with a small body - John said "If you want a small bodied bass f*** off & buy a Wal" & put the phone down.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380552235' post='2226951'] Luthiers have a particular skill when they do choose to communicate. When contacting a certain luthier about my specific problem... "If it's good enough for <famous bass player #1> and <famous bass player #2>, then it's good enough for you." Charming! [/quote] This MUST have been John Diggins!

When we played on Saturday we didn't have a name so we had to think of something fast. Thanks to the last ever episode of The IT Crowd we played as "Coffee Tramp Toss Bitch"......

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1380551051' post='2226919'] Sorry, didn't mean to diminish your experience. Sounds like the builder you dealt with is better out of everyone's way. [/quote] No problem - I didn't mean my reply to sound like a telling off, I just still get really angry about it to this day !

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1380546521' post='2226795'] Great story! [/quote] Really? You wouldn't thinkg it was a "great story" if it happened to you, believe me. I was only in my late teens at the time; I'd ordered the bass with money from my first job & dealing with the whole thing was a f***ing nightmare. [quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1380546521' post='2226795'] Any pics of the band and your bass? [/quote] No pics - the whole incident got very nasty indeed. If I found & posted a picture people would be able to see the bass & therefore who it was made by & that's somewhere I really don't want to go.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380544818' post='2226762'] These people don't change. They are artisans who generally (i.e. I'm not talking about every manufacturer here) have no idea about business. Legal action will push them to throw the towel in. Just sayin'. [/quote] Fine by me - let the useless lying, cheating f***ers give up pissing people around & ripping them off. Let them go & get a proper job where their bullshit excuses & laziness wouldn't be tolerated. These w***ers must be pissing themselves laughing when they see people like you making excuses for them. I had major problems back in the 80s with the first custom build I ever ordered. The time quoted for delivery came & went & all I got from the arsehole building it was a series of increasingly bizarre lies about why it was not ready. The bass in question had a unique set of inlays designed by me - Imagine my surprise when I saw somebody on Top of the Pops using a custom bass by the same builder with exactly the same woods as mine & with my inlays! To make it worse this was about a week after the builder told me the bass he was building me had been destroyed in a workshop fire! The guy ended up leaving the country with a long line of people he owed work & money to chasing after him.

The Men from Outer Labia.

Loads of people slag them off for making these silly films for the tours, but they're always one of the highlights for me. They obviously have such a great laugh making them.

[quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1380455227' post='2225429'] Would I be right in thinking a 2nd hand Markbass setup is probably going to sound a lot better than the TC? [/quote] I'm a recent convert to markbass gear after using Trace Elliot, Ashdown & EBS gear over the years. I did my first gig with my little Markbass 1x12 combo last night & it sounded fantastic. A couple of other people used it so I was able to hear it out front with a few different basses going through it & it was just superb. Easily held it's own with a drummer without PA support. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Just back from playing my first gig in over eight years. Enjoyed my brief time onstage, and the audience response was fantastic, but I was also reminded why I dislike gigging so much - so much fannying about for a short period of enjoyment. Can't see me going back to doing it regularly.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1380097806' post='2220633'] Look for a track called 'The Last Three Minutes' [/quote] Already owned it for years.

Just heard about this - awesome news! If only it was Harrison Bruford & Mastelotto......

House of Freaks - "Monkey on a Chain Gang". Also the EP I played on a few months ago so I can relearn my own bass parts ready for a gig on Saturday.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1379870440' post='2217597'] I wasn't being persona; - Your post was a typical and just happened to be the last. Like us all you have real-life to deal with. I think I heard Flea practices 12 hours every day. When did you have that kind of time to comit - even if you wanted to? When you're doing the shopping or washing up Flea would be practising. He probably has staff who do that cr@p for him. Again - not being personal. [/quote] I didn't think you were being personal for a second. I was also, once again, not being entirely serious - I've been playing for 34+ years so hopefully I've gained a bit of ability in that time but I'm far from "f***ing brilliant"! At best I can produce a reasonable facsimile of the sort of things that bass players tend to be required to do but that's about it. There are people who have been playing for a few years who, due to the amount of dedication & discipline they have, are better players than I am but the truth is being a superb musician isn't really high on my list of important stuff & never has been. Given the choice between spending a few hours practicing scales or just sitting down & doing nothing I'd pick the latter every time. If I was able to practice for 12 hours every day i wouldn't, in fact I can't think of anything worse. I have no ambition & even less drive but I've never seen that as a problem to be honest.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1379868568' post='2217576'] It's very easy to knock your own ability like this..... [/quote] I wasn't knocking my own ability - I think I'm a f***ing brilliant bass player, just a very lazy one.

I realised decades ago I'd never be able to play like my bass idols so, largely because I'm a lazy indisciplined bastard, I just didn't bother trying. I still get asked to play with people & do sessions fairly regularly so I guess I must be doing something right, even if it's not how "proper" bass players do it.

Could just be a duff string, it does happen.

Is it just me or does the reflection on the back of the bass (picture 2) look like Darth Vader?

[quote name='action_panzer' timestamp='1379850767' post='2217363'] How can you have crap sounding fingers?! [/quote] Well, if tone is in your fingers & some people sound much better than others then logically some people must have crap sounding fingers, yes? I'm not being entirely serious BTW.....

[quote name='action_panzer' timestamp='1379848823' post='2217332'] ....I suddenly understood what all that greats say: [b]tone is in your fingers.[/b] [/quote] It most certainly is, which is unfortunate if you have crap sounding fingers like I do.