RhysP

If you PM me your address I'll happily send you my copy of the Guy Pratt book. To be honest I thought it was sh*t; little more than a tedious list of his famous friends & where he got really drunk with them. He's meant to be a great wit & raconteur - I found no evidence of it in this book. Still, plenty of people seem to like it so maybe you will too.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1323467410' post='1463810'] I'm fascinated to know how you think music has let you down. [/quote] I guess it's because music has always been the one constant thing in my life that has helped me through the tough times (and made the great times even better), and now I need that more than ever it's just not happening. Music was always the most important, inspirational, life affirming thing in my life; now I think it's just a load of dumb noise.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1323457847' post='1463694'] The first is that once you have hit the absolute rock bottom, there's nowhere to go other than up. [/quote] I haven't reached rock bottom yet, by my reckoning I should be arriving there round about March next year. I'm not constantly in the depths of despair - I can't allow myself to be as I've just got so much stuff to sort out before there can be any sign of things getting better. It's just that music is no longer the universal panacea for me that it once was, and to be honest with the amount of time I've invested in music over the last 32+ years I'm feeling badly let down by it.

This past two years or so have been the worst time of my life, and it's going to get worse. I find music, either listening to or playing, is of absolutely no use, help, comfort etc. whatsoever - so much so that I largely don't bother with it. It's the first real time in my life when I have not gained anything positive from listening to music & I'm finding it pretty strange. I've never been one of those people who needs to express what's going on in their lives through music; I'm far too guarded & insular to do the old "Heart on the sleeve" bollocks. This is why I find it impossible to write songs. I've never considered myself to have "musicality", whatever that is, but I have reached the stage where I am wondering why I bother continuing to own a pile of expensive instruments that I get absolutely nothing from in the form of enjoyment or fulfillment. I've pretty much decided it's time to stop hanging on to the past & realise it's time to call it a day.

When I was gigging I only ever took one bass with me.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1323307817' post='1461970'] They need to sit and listen to Hold Your Fire over and over again and really get into those songs.... [/quote] Oh God no! I think what they're doing now, and have been since "Counterparts", is to try & distance themselves from all that over arranged, over orchestrated lame AOR they were producing on albums like "Hold Your Fire" & "Presto", and I for one am very glad that they are. I don't even own a copy of "Hold Your Fire" anymore - I binned it as I just think it's awful.

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/orangefan-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/orangefan.jpg[/IMG]

Hated my Rickenbacker 4001's; I loved them so much before I owned one that when I finally got one it was a total disappointment - build quality was average at best & I just never get a really good sound out of them. Loved my Jaydee Supernatural, but hated the fact that the neck was so unstable. I spent more time adjusting the truss rod than I did playing the bloody thing. I also now think they're incredibly ugly. Loved my Levinson B4, but ended up hating the skinny jazz neck & the four-in-line headstock.

His best bassline was "Working Man". He should have called it a day after that.

Before I give the fingerboards a dose of WD40 I take the Zons down to my local garage for a blast with the jet washer* - brings them up a treat. [size=2]*Not recommended for semi acoustic or acoustic instruments.[/size]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1323180912' post='1460186'] Steve played a large part of his career with just a Trace Elliot preamp, straight in to power amps and then 4x12 cabs with EV speakers in right? [/quote] And a Peavey bass rig very early on.

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1323181191' post='1460195'] I'm told that the notorious Simonon photograph (cover of London Calling) was a mistake; he thought it was his backup bass but at the moment it hit the stage he realised that he hadn't swapped, and it was his best instrument. [/quote] As it's a Precision always thought he was just trying to put the neck back in alignment in that photo.

I must be the only male on Earth that finds her totally repellant.

WD40 is what Joe Zon Recommends for use on his fingerboards too.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1323110114' post='1459456'] Milking this thread with a 2 minute follow up piece on CBS the next day [url="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7390432n&tag=mncol;lst;1"]http://www.cbsnews.c...tag=mncol;lst;1[/url] [/quote] I know it's a cliché, but that really is the sort of publicity money can't buy. Pete seems like a nice guy, and what a day job! He's been right in the middle of some pretty serious & historically significant stuff by the look of it.

That's a monster! What does it weigh? That's really cool that you've found the original owner & are letting him use it for the gig.

[quote name='stonecoldbass' timestamp='1323033260' post='1458562'] Is Pete a Scot?? [/quote] I thought I detected a slight Welsh twang to his voice. First sign of him becoming famous & we're all trying to claim him as our own!

[quote name='REDLAWMAN' timestamp='1323033303' post='1458563'] Anyone who plays at gigging/band/recording standard remember feeling just this way: in awe really of proficient players and not having any clue how to emulate them and seeing it as 'mission impossible'? [/quote] I've been playing for 32+ years now & I still feel like that on a fairly regular basis.

Fantastic stuff! I'll have to check out the album, as it sounds very much like the sort of thing I'm really getting into lately.

I used to love Sweet, they brought out some great records. Saw them live as a three piece (without Brian Connelly) in the late 70's & they were fantastic - still got one of Andy Scott's plectrums from the gig!

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1322874604' post='1457002'] ......soft human shitbags...... [/quote] Best description of a gig audience I've ever heard.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1322841303' post='1456562'] when I hear Mark King, Marcus Miller etc (both I greatly admire) these are not the natural sounds of an unplugged bass guitar. [/quote] It's an ELECTRIC bass guitar, why would you think it's "natural" sound is it's unplugged sound - the whole point of the excercise is that you plug it into an amp.