Muzz

Let's not forget what Les McQueen said about the whole thing...and that hasn't changed from Day 1...

Having many more younger students studying popular music (as opposed to when I wanted to go to Uni/College to study music, and was told 'Bass? Ummm, no, we don't teach that...perhaps cello? Same number of strings?') and developing their skills can only be a good thing; great musicianship and artistry are not mutually exclusive. There's still a lot of younger musicians out there playing original music (being 'artists' if you like)...you just have to leave the house occasionally: trawling through the internet means trawling through the absolute tsunami of songs uploaded every day (conservatively estimated to be around 50,000 PER DAY*), and yes, a lot of those will be electronically produced, because it's easier to write and record in a largely digital manner in your bedroom, click Upload and move on to the next one than it is to get a band together, rehearse, set up gigs and tours, etc, but the fact remains there's still a vibrant gig scene of new music out there. Live music has an energy that no streaming service can reproduce, and this still has all the appeal it ever did for kids. * With those sort of numbers, how many of the 'greats' might've come and gone unnoticed if they'd started out today?

I go to a lot of small gigs (I've mentioned elsewhere my preference for a band I've never heard of rather than a stadium of well-knowns...and not just for the money reasons), and there's lots and lots of kids out there making music with guitars and basses and real drums. The internet might lend itself to the more electronic ways of making music, but there's still a very vibrant live scene...if you're prepared to go out and attend it...I also know and play with a lot of kids who are doing music degrees, and the majority of them want to get onto a stage and do it live...and they do. And yes, most of them are very, very good players; three or four years in music college will do that...it's very annoying... 🙂

I co-host a weekly jam night, and there's many more younger bassists than older ones; in fact there's only two of us gimmers there regularly, everyone else is under 30... I also go and see a decent amount of small bands (I'd soooo much rather see a band I've never heard of in a small club for a tenner than fork out fifty quid or (much) more go to a horrible-sounding enormodome to watch some bigger names), and the vast majority of bassists there are kids*... * i.e. half my age...which is getting easier and easier to be these days...

It must be true: if you fart at the urinals at 852Hz, someone will always say 'Better out than in'...

Coronated with a Coronado? I'd pay to see that... 🙂

This...on both counts. Ohhh, OK, I'll play: theoretically, if I wasn't going to sell it immediately, I'd want a Precision from the lightest piece of Ash they had (for a 7lbs total weight), Geddy-slim Jazz neck, brass nut, birdseye maple board (no markers)...in black. East P-Retro (tho they couldn't do that), Hipshot Ultralites (probably couldn't do that), Schaller 3D bridge (probably couldn't do that), maybe a DiMarzio DP122 pickup (probably couldn't do that). Still wouldn't be as good as Jon's work, tho...in fact, re-reading that, I'd be having them make a copy of Jon's take on their original bass... 🙂

A lovely bass, made even better by the backstory...

Went to see The Bonnevilles in the tiny Retro Bar in Manchester last night...fantastic gig, they really are extraordinary, however...and brace for this...no bass player, and they didn't need one. Eeeeek. I've seen a few two-piece bands of late, just geeetar/vocals and a drummer, and while the others had the guitar running an octaver in a Royal Blood-inversion kinda thing, this time the guitar (and to an extent the drums, too) we simply and cleverly EQ'd to expand into the bottom end space, so there was no lack of heft*. Helps if you've got some great songs, too, and they do. They're playing for free in Leeds today/tonight, I can highly recommend them... * No, not that sort of heft, calm down...

On the other hand, I went to see the Stranglers a couple of months ago, and the sound bloke even managed to reduce the poster boy for upfront bass's sound to mushy, boomy mud*...I've walked out of almost every 'big' gig I've been to over the last few years (including big names like the Foos, Alterbridge) in big venues because of this trend to scoop and blur the bass into a wash underneath a cannon-kick... * See another post somewhere for my post-gig rant/bleat for more details...

I co-host a weekly jam night these days, and I bring my BB414 for punters to use...we get quite a few guitarists with their own kit, but it's rare anyone turns up with a bass. Not had any issues, tho occasionally I have had to insist some rock god (it's a Wednesday night in a bar in a Manchester suburb, for crying out loud, there's such a thing as trying too hard) take off the studded belt/chains first...

A roadie with a good back? Great selection of gear, tho... 🙂

I co-host a weekly jam night which is attended by some very talented regulars, and there's a couple of hotel/cruise veterans (well, they're late 20s/early30s, so hardly veteran) and some pro musicians, and their ability to either know/remember or just bluff an enormous number of songs is astounding. I enjoy it because it's a constant stretch, playing stuff I've never played (or in some cases even heard) before, after a quick 30-second chat about chords or just watching the guitarist's left hand like a hawk...I also have a 'backup' iPad set up to look songs up, but I've only had to use it a couple of times (there's usually not enough time to search and scroll, plus I normally forget me glasses... 🙁). Oh, and the vets/pros can all sing, play guitar, bass and even drum to a ridiculously high level, too...then again, if I didn't have a demanding day job, and could just play all day, I'd be a whole lot better than I am...

I've just changed cars, and to buy what I did five years ago (4ish year old, 50k on the clock Skoda estate) for £10k, I would've had to spend £18k...

Oh my days...at this point I'm drawn back to that thread about improvising where the chap asserts that 'there are no wrong notes' and 'you're only ever a semitone from a note in the key' Not on a fretless played like that, you're not: you're off piste in the long grass without a map, a clue, or a hope in hell... It's actually quite an achievement to manage to play for two minutes while avoiding anything in key or tune, even by accident...

I thought Mr Clayton was particularly restrained - only two basses used in 15 minutes? 🙂 I should add, like some other posters, that I have no problem with Mr.C...other than that he's a bigger gear tart than I am...but then I'm not on his money...

I wish they'd do two versions (like the 2024), one without the shot-off pickguard, as that's the thing that puts me off them...

I'd be interested to know how the Box Pro performs; most of my tone comes from my Helix these days, and I'm looking for a single FRFR for gigs, but there's nothing I can find out there for anyone using one for bass...

I'm pretty sure both comments were funny somewhere around the middle of this pic... 🙂

I watched the whole video. Humour failure somewhere. I've played in a band where I brought a 12-string bass to a rehearsal and no-one noticed...

Paused it at 1:30, right after he said 'You don't have to play the right notes...' I'm gonna cut and paste that bit onto my phone for my next gig. Should come in handy: 'Victor Wooten says it's up to me which is the right note, and you're just a chuffing guitarist, so you can do one...' 🙂

It's a fine line, punters in pubs aren't generally going in there wanting to be challenged (when I'm considering songs for the set I always have in the back of my mind the quiet groan from an audience at a big band gig when the singer says 'This is something new from our last album'...) It ain't right, musically, but it's a fact that people want to hear what they know, so a few of the Usual Suspects need to be done. A walk down familiar but less well-trodden paths can be interesting for the band - I heard Brimful Of Asha done recently, for example (just guitar, bass and drums), and the crowd loved it. I think it's important for the band to make a song theirs and make it sound good, no matter how everyday popular it might be - as another example, an acoustic-ish version of Not Nineteen Forever (slower acoustic start before livening up after the first verse) goes down as well as the full-on version, and there's the Irony card (as long as the crowd's with you*): wedding crowds always loved I Hate Everything About You later in the evening... * And sometimes even if it isn't: we always have the start of Eye Of The Tiger in the bag for if it kicks off - that always diffuses the tension in the room... 🙂

I gig these days with a Rumble 100 (with a better 'proper' Eminence speaker in it) and PA support...verrrrrry light and loud. My tone comes from the Helix, but the Rumble makes it louder very well. Having said that, the bass is dialled back to nowt on the combo, so it's really just for stage monitoring... My bigger rig is a very old-school-sounding amp (a Walkabout, very valvey and warm) through a thoroughly modern BF Super Twin, and the cab does the same thing: makes the sound of the amp loud...I'd always say that moving to a less coloured cab only means some re-EQ-ing of the sound...