RhysP

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='602726' date='Sep 19 2009, 09:37 AM']Melissa Auf der Maur brushed by me in a corridor.......[/quote] You LUCKY bastard!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='602361' date='Sep 18 2009, 05:08 PM']Anacrusis? Is that a disease?[/quote] It sounds like the name of a Progressive Metal band.

I got up & played guitar with Todd Rundgren at a gig in the Kentish Town & Country Club in 1995. As I was strapping on the guitar I said "what key are we in Todd?" He replied with the key & I started playing. After a few notes it was pretty obvious that I'd misheard what his reply to my question was as I was nowhere even close to the notes I should have been playing. I fumbled around the neck until I found a note that sounded OK & carried on with a not very good but at least in key solo, all the while being filmed by Todd with a handheld camera that projected my awful attempts onto some video screens. If that wasn't embarrassing enough the gig was released as a commercial video, so I have my awful solo captured for posterity on film...... :blush: I still get a kick out of the fact I played on stage with Todd though.

[quote name='Rich' post='601248' date='Sep 17 2009, 12:56 PM']This thread is starting to morph into a cross between 2 old favourites... the age old anti/pro-covers band saga, and the "everything I like is great and everything else is sh!t" chestnut... [/quote] I don't think anything "Anti-covers" has been said; I was merely commenting on an observation I've made on the forum where a percentage of people playing in covers bands don't seem to enjoy playing a lot of the material they do. To me that seems strange, but if some people enjoy the interaction and reaction of an audience enough to compensate for playing songs they may not like then fair enough. Getting a great reaction from a crowd is one of the best feelings I've ever experienced.

[quote name='OldGit' post='601115' date='Sep 17 2009, 10:46 AM']Different strokes.....[/quote] Oh totally, and please don't think I'm being snobby about the whole covers band thing. The reason I replied to that particular post was that the poster was obviously unhappy about playing the songs, and there seem to be quite a few people on the forum who play in covers bands but really don't sound like they enjoy it. The reason I don't play in a covers band is not for reasons of "artistic integrity" or any other such pretentious crap, it's because the material I'd have to play is, for the most part, stuff I just don't like. I can see why they'd have to do it if it's their main source of income but if you're doing it "for fun" and you don't like the material then why do it? Anyway, I'm derailing the thread here so I'll let everyone get back to it.

[quote name='The_D' post='601020' date='Sep 17 2009, 08:08 AM']Its like Blondi: One Way or Another or The feckin Killers one we do Mr Brightside. I keep askin to drop it and without fail it goes down a storm with people jumping on chairs and swinging pints about. Our guitarist just looks at me and shrugs when we play it cause deep down I know we cant drop it [/quote] That's why I could never play in a covers band. I could never play something I really don't like just because a bunch of gurning pissheads like to jump around to it. I'd rather play music I enjoy to an empty room.

I've been playing for 30 years & for 99% of that time I've thought about giving up because I think I'm crap - I'm my own harshest critic. I've mainly concentrated on keyboards & guitar the last few years. I'm crap at them both but seemed to get more enjoyment from them than I did from bass. Part of the reason I joined Basschat was that I wondered whether it was time to hang the bass up once & for all. A few months after joining I've just bought a new bass & am possibly about to join my first new band for 20 years. I spent hours today playing bass & went from feeling great about it to abject despair and back again. I do that because playing, and music generally, matters to me more than almost anything else in my life.

Are you buying new or secondhand? If you're buying new then be aware that any manufacturers warranty you get won't be valid in this country. Also, in case you don't know this, the VAT & import duty is calculated on the combined cost of the bass AND the postage.

I did it in 2005, and was really glad that I did. We got back together to celebrate what would have been Chris our guitarists 40th birthday - he died from a brain tumour in 2001. I left the band in less than amiable circumstances around 1992, and the reunion gave us all a chance to put some bad stuff aside (albeit temporarily with regard to one particular member) and remember Chris in a way we and his wife & children thought was appropriate. We had three rehearsals which went really well, and we ended up writing a song that was, in my opinion, the best thing we ever wrote. The gig itself was very emotional, especially for the guy that stood in for Chris on the guitar - he had replaced me on bass in the band & had been a good friend of Chris since school. We played really well & the crowd, which was full of people who used to follow us years ago, loved it. It was very special & something of a surprise to hear people singing along with songs I hadn't played for over a decade. Chris's wife & daughter loved it & it was great to reconnect with some old friends.

I think it sounds like that because he's playing it on an old precision, and probably with flatwound strings.

[quote name='chris_b' post='598841' date='Sep 14 2009, 11:21 PM'].....a didgeridoo player..........[/quote] Oh Christ.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='598803' date='Sep 14 2009, 10:53 PM']Seventh Circle of Hell - Middle Ring: Anyone recognise the gig?[/quote] Cambridge Folk festival 1992 - the one in the middle is me. I woke up the following morning in a skip. Talking of Hell - I was in a Pret a Manger in Oxford St on Saturday buying some sandwiches & a coffee. My bill came to £6.66 & the guy that served me laughed & pointed to his name badge - it said "Damien".

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='598675' date='Sep 14 2009, 08:44 PM']Am I getting the impression here that Jam nights are really blues nights? (I think my band played a 12 bar blues song once!)[/quote] If you're idea of fun is playing a bloody walking bassline while some fat old guitarist plays endless clichéd pentatonic solos then you'll have a blast. If you detest the blues as much as I do then most jam nights are the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Come on, own up - you must have at least been hoping to get a shag out of it...........

You could just use chrome Precision/Telecaster knobs a la Jaco Pastorious.

Rather predictably, my favourite bass shape is the Zon Legacy. I just think it's a great original design. I also love the look of Rickenbacker 4001s. And Thunderbirds.

Cool bass. That flightcase must be bloody massive!

I think that's a pretty cool looking bass.

If it looked like a Warwick Thumb I'd say it was a Vester (Vestax?). Excellent basses, and they can be picked up really cheaply.

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='591429' date='Sep 6 2009, 02:28 PM']Not tried the basses, but my old teacher claims they make the best Strat copies ever.[/quote] I've got one of the old F*nder headstock Texas Standard models & it blows away any Strat I've ever played. An absolutely fantastic guitar, especially as I only paid £179.00 for it in my local Cash Converters!

[quote name='Bassassin' post='591288' date='Sep 6 2009, 11:37 AM']More interesting (to me, at least) is Paul Gilbert playing a vintage JapCrap LP copy - it's an Ibanez Deluxe 59er, pre 1976. Respect. Jon.[/quote] He's got an enormous collection of vintage Ibanez guitars.

I had one of the original B4 basses up until about two weeks ago - a fantastic bass. The only reason I sold it is that I just don't get on with Jazz bass profile necks anymore - I just find them too narrow. here's a link to my original thread about the bass: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=46075&hl=levinson+blade"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...=levinson+blade[/url]

[quote name='chris_b' post='591162' date='Sep 6 2009, 02:45 AM']Is it your time of the month?[/quote] Was there any need for that? I was expressing my opinion, which I stand by, which is what I thought these forums were for. IMO music shops are there to sell the gear they stock, not belittle the stuff they don't stock. I have no opinion either for or against Aguilar gear, but to me that's irrelevant. It wouldn't matter if I was using £5,000 worth of amplification or a £20 practice amp, I don't want to hear some sales assistants comments about it, "light-hearted" or otherwise.