Cat Burrito

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!).

No effects, just bass into amp. I don't crank it and I play with some pretty loud players. I am on my tablet so struggling to hear bass on a good YouTube clip but any live 2019 clip of Last Great Dreamers will be me with that set up if it's UK (Europe we had a supplied backline).

Just from the discussion of the Terror MK2, I previously owned the MK1, bought the attenuator that fixed it running hot, sold it, bought the MK2 and now have the AD200B as well. Incredibly I haven't lined up my Mk2 Terror Head with the AD200B. I just figured the Terror was great for pub gigs and anything bigger was the AD200B. They are quite different but with a huge crossover. I certainly think the Mk2 Terror head is a very positive step in the right direction from the original. And to be clear, I liked the original.

I liked this reverb drenched effort.

I like that colour. Always have.

Levys do an extra long strap. Search EBay for extra long straps and loads come up. Gibson moved the strap button which fixed this issue. I assume the strap button on your bass is on the side, rather than on the back of the bass?

Tony James (Gen X) used Thunderbirds and Ric 4001s. Steve Severin used a Musicman. Those three basses seemed pretty popular too.

I own an Eastwood BV - Eastwood even re-posted my Instagram post on it a few years ago. Common sense says I should sell it but I can't bring myself to part with it. Short scale (I think most V's are) and great fun. Sounds better with fingers than a pick, which surprised me as I thought it was a rock bass.

I use Orange exclusively now and I am not a metal guy, at all! I play across several acts ranging power pop, New Wave, Americana, post punk and 60s Garage rock. I use three different set ups; a 4x10 & 1x15 with a AD200B all valve head for big shows, an SP212 with terror head for smaller venues and an Orange Crush for home practice. If it is one trick, it's the trick I want.