Cat Burrito

I played Hofner for a while after 20yrs of Fender. If you practice enough I don't think scale length change makes a huge difference and it's easy to adapt to the change. I reckon it's mostly in our heads and a lot of players are put off short scale before they've really tried them or given them a proper chance.

They sound like a fun bunch of guys

I think all musicians wind up seeing a band at some point move away from what it started out as and equally we all work with people we don't like so much at some point - so yes to both those. Try and resolve it and if you can't and it bothers you, walk. I've done this for 25yrs now. The next band can always be better. I'm currently playing what I want & like everyone in the band which is why I'm 4yrs in with this lot

We use a cajon sometimes and I think they really are great. First time I saw one it blew my mind so the last 3 bands I've been in we've bullied drummers into getting one

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1347436328' post='1800658'] For me it's the Hofner Verithin, my only bass I play these days [/quote] I wonder if I'm the first one here to have sold their "keeper" since this thread? No issues for me though, life goes on

I refinished with a, um, no finish! I just love that 70s no paintwork look

Price also depends on if you have the original bridge too as some buyers don't want an upgrade, they want it as original. The £8-900 ones might be for sale at those prices but if you look you'll see they only get listed like that, they don't sell and certainly not in the current climate. I sold mine with the upgraded Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup, spare white pickguard & a hard case for £500 which was a real bargain & unsurprisingly snapped up within an hour of listing.

I spent the last 4 years gigging one bass for a year & then rotating. My anti-GAS phase finally has me down to 2 basses again and I think it's too early to say whether that'll be a 50/50 thing

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1360617429' post='1973587'] All the MIJ and CIJ basses I've owned [s](3 jazzes and a precision)[/s] were excellent. [/quote] This is my experience too & all of a similar quality

Just watching this now, looks pretty good. Ideal for those who think we are the rubbish guitarist. All things bass, not just bass guitar [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grDl2aFJUrM[/media]

Probably more from my earliest years buying records. I bought 7" singles by Bucks Fizz, Shakin' Stevens and Adam Ant. Upon reflection they didn't hold up to the records my parents had

I appear to be the most popular answer to every category at present - I have most control over what I play, enjoy the creative process of writing bass parts which comes fairly easily, write for maybe 8 - 12 songs a year and find it easy writing for simple songs. The only point I'd add is that whilst I write a part quickly I do occasionally tweak little bits sometimes even years after the initial writing of the song. For me all of this is the most enjoyable aspect about being a creative person

The beauty of getting a little older is you don't have the hang ups over what others think of you. So I'm afraid I don't care if people love or laugh at my tastes

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360240640' post='1967168'] I would have thought that now only the kind of money that a major label could offer would be sufficient to tempt a band away from what they could do on their own, given how cheap and easy it is to produce and distribute your recordings. Are the label completely funding your album or do you have to put some of your own money in? What's the budget? What promotion are they going to do for it? PM me if you don't want to discuss these things in the open forum. [/quote] Yep, agree with the first point here and I think the increase at the time of sites like MySpace was when things started to really change. My band at the time had 28,000+ hits to our page which is a far cry from spending the early 90s cutting up sleeves for our C20 cassettes to mail out. Yeah, our label is tiny but very credible within the scene I play. We've part funded a lot but they have done a bunch of stuff we couldn't do ranging national press to endorsements. We're realistic, the Americana scene in the UK is small but dedicated so we'd never hope to make a living with this. We recently did a national press interview with a bloke in the know and his first question was "well, you've all obviously going to need day jobs so what do you do?" I appreciate my circumstances are perhaps very different to some kid at music college or someone playing a different genre. I think some of the smaller sub genres must be similar to what we do in outlook and attitude. And I certainly hope nobody misconstrues any of my points as some misguided declaration that we've somehow "made it". We do ok but it is what it is and operates nicely on the level it is at.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1360239895' post='1967145'] Wouldn't a 'decent' label with 'muscle and a solid reputation' make them a major label? I'm with UncleP - the terms of the contract should be what counts, not the name of the company A friend's lad has signed with Columbia after his first year of a music and performance course at Bristol uni. Apparently, the labels treat the course (and no doubt others) as a shop window and those offered deals then leave uni to concentrate on their music career - which might suggest that all the graduates of such courses are the ones the record companies didn't want. [/quote] Re your first point, not necessarily and I wouldn't want anyone to misconstrue what I say as a purely Anti-Majors rant. I do think the Majors have ripped off a lot of acts but then I'm sure most on here have also been had over by 2 penny promoters too at the other end of the scale. Some so called Indie labels were always major labels trying to give themselves an edgy vibe by making up a new name but there are plenty of small record labels with some weight behind them. Of course we're all wanting the good contract over the name and only an idiot would sacrifice artistic freedom for the name (plenty do!)

My thread from a while ago http://basschat.co.uk/topic/111302-1979-fender-precision-re-mojod/page__hl__fender%20stripping Nitro Mors really was the best way to go for me. A couple of doubters re this method but I've done it a few times and can't recommend it highly enough Cheers

I'm surprised anyone would want a major deal these days. Sure, I would have loved one 20yrs ago but the industry has changed a lot. I'd rather a decent Indie label with some muscle and a solid reputation. We signed to the record label who I wanted in 2010 and we're doing our 2nd record with them now. I guarantee the return is much better and we get much more creative freedom which was the main factor. In an ideal world I'd like to be able to do this full time but I suspect that ship sailed 20yrs ago!

I stripped the paint off my 79 P-bass. Totally devalued it but it looks cool as fish now. My view is that people who worry about resale value probably aren't looking to keep the instrument long term. The hours I put in stripping my bass really helped me to bond with it. I feel I now know every contour of that instrument and interesting that in the "great instrument cull" of 2010-11" this was one of two that I just couldn't bring myself to part with.

My friend's 4yr old girl asked me why I wear a necklace when I'm a boy. I replied it's been something I've personally wrestled with for nearly 40yrs and she gave me a meaningful look and just nodded. My girlfriend's 7yr old lad has taken to trying to dress like me. I came over the other week and he arrived at the door in a frighteningly identical outfit, looked at my shoes in genuine horror and simply said, "Shoes, Timmy, no!"

[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21332048"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21332048[/url] Had the pleasure of seeing The Troggs about 12 years ago. A great character

I used to have a few that fitted the owned but not played category so I then started selling and buying... which was a bold step sideways really so these days I only own stuff I play. Much healthier than the bad old days of owning a silly amount of instruments, for me at least

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1360007308' post='1963514'] i ain't surprised given that it is a public forum. So far i have been extremely fortunate with trades. [/quote] This. I'm surprised we don't have more idiots to be honest so it's a credit to us all that most of us behave with such decency

Probably somewhere between The Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo and the OST of The Banana Splits!

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1359827079' post='1960890'] If we were bluse players, we wouldn't be getting any respect for at least another 30 years! [/quote] Probably applies equally to country and soul too. I think the trick is to leave the teeny pop stuff to anyone who doesn't make a noise when sitting down

I had my age, ahem, crisis around 25 and actually gave up for a few years. I probably needed a break after 10yrs intense gigging etc. However returning to bass in my early 30s I realised I'd been silly. I turn 40 next month and feel / look / act younger than in my late 20s. We do what we do and the joy of getting older as personally speaking I couldn't care who is looking or laughing. I did have cause to note this week that most of my clothes I buy online seem to have the tag "fancy dress" or "gay interest" though. Worryingly that's just the stuff I wear out around Sainsburys!