Cat Burrito

Loosely related but I had a new neighbour move in last weekend. I did my usual "if bass frequencies are coming through the wall, let me know" type spiel to which she replied "It's okay, my ex is a drummer - if anything I will be asking you to turn up!"

My previous rig before I returned to Orange. The head didn't wear that hat during the performance!

I've got two cats so who's laughing now... er?!

Agree with Lozz. The bass sounds great.

I thought I'd breathe some life into this long running thread with this Good Friday phone snap.

It's the thought that counts, right? 😸

Despite being 48 myself, most of my bands are guys in their early to mid 50s. I assume I am there for the youth vote?! No wonder we're not more successful! We did a gig during 2020 with a 56 year old guitarist (obligatory pointing out of social distancing measure etc being in place etc) and some of the other guys are good to go for post lockdown shows. On the plus side, they are all vacinated now whereas I am still waiting. Oh and reading this thread, a Basschat Happy Birthday to @Nail Soup who apparently reaches a thread appropriate 55 today.

Yep, I am afraid I did mention it first. My memory had it at a quickly fixed problem and having had three of things, I never had an issue. Certainly when it first came out they were blowing left, right and centre (& interestingly never the PF350s or the later PF800s - of which I have no personal experience with). @Beer of the Bass, hadn't clocked the weight and that would be a deal breaker!

I love Ampeg and used them for years but it just looks like an overpriced Portaflex aesthetics combo. When the PF heads fit inside the cab so easily, I am not seeing any real advantages. (& before anyone mentions the problems with the PF500 heads, that was just the first batch that was quickly fixed but seemed to repeatedly get mentioned on here for years).

Nice one. I was hovering over this one but funds weren't at their best to go for it.

The only time you need a valid DBS check for an audition!?!

It's the style I use the least and the style I rarely listen to, unless it's incorporated into a part of a bass line but I would never write off a technique fully. I am afraid I automatically think less of anyone who posts anti-plectrum comments and I guess that cuts both ways. I slapped on an old punk recording in the 90s because the producer recommended it and it worked a treat. Some of the tasteful soul playing that spilled out into other genres in the late 70s and early 80s is great. It's not how I play (strictly speaking) but I can appreciate it. Walking into a bass convention to a deafening racket of 80 players slapping the hell out of basses is an experience I would look to file under "not my bag" though.

I agree. I think on many levels he is a national treasure but definitely his musicality is undervalued. John Lennon had the hip element in many people's eyes and Paul maybe less so. Similar relationship with Gram Parsons / Chris Hillman. I spent a while studying his bass lines in the earlier days of my playing and was amazed with how clever he was / is. I don't think it's necessarily just your generation. I'm 12yrs older and I would say that it is the case with most people who weren't around during the 60s.

I think generally when we are young we are much more black and white in our views. I was very closed to liking one genre and didn't get that I could acknowledge a pop song as great as it didn't fit my image. I've always liked getting older as I am so much more comfortable liking what I want. And the other side of all of this is that some stuff I thought was brilliant actually wasn't anywhere near as good as I remember it.

Perhaps you were in Londonbeat and have deliberately forgotten?! 😁

I never thought I would see the day when Wrathchild UK made Basschat! I did a festival with them a couple of years back. Barely recognisable from the Stakk Attakk days. Different line-up now too, obviously.

I don't think any of the looks are wrong and as you correctly point out, we can have a lot of fun mixing up pickguards for different looks. I do it on both my Fenders and I am surprised more players don't do this. It creates a new bass vibe at a fraction of the cost.

I like the original white personally, but hey, it's your bass.

It is really sad because it wasn't the bands fault. I thought she had an amazing voice (she now teaches songwriting at my old university in Bath - not the posh one!). I had the first two albums but that second album was a little folky for my taste. During lockdown I checked out the last 2 albums and they were a real return to form.

This exactly the sort of thing that my Grandma said to me circa 1986!

I think 2019's inclusion in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame has put them very much back in the public eye. @Maude picked four good examples but with the 80s radio station at work we regularly hear Boys Don't Cry, Close to Me and Pictures of You as well. Plus songs like A Forest and Charlotte Sometimes get regular airplay on alternative radio stations. I can't imagine Robert Smith worries too much about paying his next electricity bill!

I wasn't a fan myself but Terrorvision's Tequila springs to my mind.

I think this is a good post, although I would say it varies very slightly from my own opinion. The performance is important but not as important as what is played. Some people look ridiculous bopping around and some people look cool as you like stood motionless. There are whole genres that made an image from having no image. I guess your instrument should be an extension of your personality. Whatever we choose to do, some folks will think we nailed it and others will argue we should have done something different. Equally sometimes a Dr. Funkenstein masterclass may well be what is called for but there are also songs and genres where an AC/DC level of restraint on the bass is what is called for.

I'm definitely into the show. My father in law (a very well regarded bass player) brought me crashing down to earth when he summed up my bass playing upon seeing me for the first time by saying "yeah, quite good but a bit of a poser!"

I was massively into punk from my pre-teen years. Being stranded at the parties of my parents' adult friends in the bedrooms of their slightly older kids in the early 80s unlocked my interest in bands like The Damned, The Clash, The Pistols and the Buzzcocks. Personal view but I found the punk sensibility in acts like Elvis Costello, The Police (first three albums especially), The Jam etc far more credible than the cartoon punk bands that a lot of people pass off as punk. To me I found bands like Siouxsie and the Bansees and Television far more "punk" than GBH. Than again I was a little kid growing up in a small market town in Wiltshire so I guess I was never the target audience of the Exploited! Over the years I have played a range of styles but the punk vibe has always been in the background (& that doesn't mean I don't practice or want to be good!).