leftybassman392

I was very careful not to suggest I would put it here (as I'd hoped was obvious from the way I said it). Just so we're clear. As it happens I'm with @Cat Burrito on this one. The bass, like every other instrument, is there to serve the song. If the song is best served by a very simple bass line then so be it.

Presumably Smoke on the Water will find its way onto this list sooner or later...

From the back catalogue: Hey Dude Arnold Payne 20th Nervous Breakdown Barman Voodoo Style Sharp Dressed Nan Viva Las Palmas Hit me with your walking stick WonderBall Armenian Rhapsody ...

I have a Vanderkley 1x12 (EXT I think) rated at 300w and which goes VERY LOUD with my Streamliner 600. Weighs around 15 Kg. Aguilar do something similar (SL 112). Barefaced a good shout too.

Sounds about right. Is there anything of his you'd recommend?

Long time acoustic player. I'm a little out of touch with the current generation so my list is perhaps a little backward-looking, but people I'd recommend would include Martin Simpson, Richard Thompson and John Martyn. Plenty of others out there of course, but these three would be near the top of any list I were to come out with. Adrian Legge is a fantastically good player too, but never quite floated my boat for some reason. Not quite sure why. I have a couple of his albums but never listen to them these days. Perhaps I should... John Martyn Martin Simpson Richard Thompson

Like others here I very rarely get the 'wow' moment when listening to music that's new to me these days, especially as I'm not involved at the sharp end any more. I guess the closest I've come in living memory would be Guthrie Govan's Erotic Cakes CD. Guthrie gets the limelight of course, but brother Seth is a mighty fine bass player IMHO. In the dim & distant past I remember seeing Free play live at the Lees Cliffe Hall in Folkestone in 1970 and being mightily impressed even though they never played 'All Right Now' at any point in the set. In a similar vein I recall first hearing 'In the Court of the Crimson King' while at school and liking it quite a lot. Zappa's 'Hot Rats' would be a broadly similar vintage IIRC. I don't doubt there's some great music out there that I still haven't discovered yet so who knows...?

I'm aware that I'm in a bit of a grumpy mood this morning, but is it just me or did this thread stop being funny an awfully long time ago? As to where Wonky2 is, I don't know but since he hasn't even logged on for over 18 months I rather suspect he's long since voted with his feet (making this thread even more pointless than it already was). Nice work guys. Oh, and yes I'm also aware of the irony of posting on a thread I'd like to see an end of, thanks for asking.

Good to hear you're back on your hind legs again so soon. Long may it stay that way. As to advice, I'm firmly in the 'pay attention to what your doctors tell you' school and always have been. We will all have the very best of best intentions for you, but asking a bunch of hairy-arsed bass players about major medical issues.. I mean, Really? Here's my two penn'orth: the fact that you're on here asking us at all probably means you want to do it if at all possible and are here seeking, well, not permission exactly; more confirmation that it's ok. Much as we might like to offer you sound advice, we're really not the people to ask. Others have said it already, and now I've said it. Again.

As with most people I guess, far too many to list here in a single post. Most of it is stuff I don't really regret not hearing first time around (life's too short to be overly concerned with that kind of thing 40 years on IMHO), but on reflection I should probably have paid more attention to bands like AC/DC and Queen at the time.

Not really taking sides in this one, but what I would say as a (now retired) professional tutor for both guitar and bass for around 15 years is that among my adult students more time was spent undoing bad habits learnt in their youth than on any other single aspect of playing technique. Yes it does take all sorts, but when I hear bad technique justified by saying things like 'it never did [insert name here] any harm' I do get a bit annoyed. People who succeed in the music business with poor technique mostly do so in spite of their technical failings, not because of them. If one is happy with the way one plays then there's not much that needs saying, but to advocate it as a method others should emulate is (as you might expect) something I would caution against.

Could just as easily have been, but no. It was guitar, and I'm not ashamed to say it.

For a while I actually made a living (well part of a living anyway) playing - mostly - Jazz to rooms full of people who were too busy yakking and/or eating to pay much attention to what I was doing. And yes, you can get away with playing pretty much anything you fancy for as long as you fancy. Good money, minimal gear and you don't have to share the proceeds with four other people. What's not to like?

In a complete fantasy world with no consequences (and without wishing any actual physical harm on anybody) I'd have a bomb put under the Houses of f*cking Parliament. A big one. In a slightly less fantastical world I'll take a house with enough garage space to house all my fantasy cars.

Oooops! Solihull area (roughly south-east of Birmingham city centre). Good access to M42 from several directions.

We're getting a new sofa in a few days, and have a 3-seater leather sofa available. Colour is chestnut brown (sort of a very dark tan). It is a little over 5 years old and still has plenty of life left. It breaks down into 6 components and might fit into a large estate although I'd recommend a van just to be sure. The sofa has a recliner at one end but unfortunately the motor has conked. Not a difficult fix for someone with DIY skills I would think. Collection only for what I hope are very obvious reasons. One final point: if anybody is interested can they please let me know ASAP, preferably by mid-afternoon today (10th December) as we have the option of getting the supplier to take it away. I'd prefer it to go to a good home but if not we'll need to arrange the pickup when we go to pay the balance later today. You don't need to pick it up today, but I do need to get it sorted. Apologies for the short notice.

Nothing musical: I don't teach and I don't play in public anymore so I have more than enough gear to see me out (although I reserve the right to change my mind on that one...). In general terms I'm going to go pretty much completely over to Apple technology, hopefully with a Macbook Air. After the events of the last few weeks on my laptop I've finally had enough of Windows. I'll say no more on that one, 'cos if I start I'll find it hard to stop.

Another perspective: a good friend and fellow BassChatter was Alvin Stardust's bass player for a number of years. I don't doubt that Alvin enjoyed what he did, but the primary motivation was apparently financial. He didn't write his own songs so didn't benefit from royalties. I believe there were other factors at work too but all the same... Not sure how many of his songs Cliff writes, but could be a factor.

Does it count if I can go da-doo doo doo da-daa daa daa?

Follow-up: There's a nice video here on the difference between 3-finger and clawhammer styles.

Goldtone Orange Blossom Special here (It's a 5-string), which cost me around £900 if memory serves. Lefty of course (which partly explains the price). Haven't played it in anger for some time now (although I did do a sequence of beginner lessons for a friend about a year ago). Word of warning: closed back designs are much heavier than they look: mine weighs in at nearly 6Kg (around 13lb). Open back types don't have the richness of tone but are an awful lot lighter - and correspondingly cheaper. I keep meaning to go back to it but somehow it never happens. Ho hum.

Organisers are happy, punters are happy, you're wealthier. All part of being a professional musician. Take the rough (except that in this case it isn't, really) with the smooth and keep smiling.

This. All of it.

I think the loos in our house were made using the wrong standard.