Doc B

[quote name='andy67' post='129786' date='Jan 29 2008, 09:11 AM']Another miserable day here in the west of Scotland. Leaving home from Edinburgh provided for a fairly perilous journey! this weather brings the idiot drivers out in abundance. Most of the journey felt as though I was aquaplaining, the road was that wet, however, some folk don't pay much attention to the conditions and think they can drive at 80mph, cut in and brake leaving very little room for others to stop! Ah well, got here in the end a good half hour later than normal, fizzing mad and stressed out! Need to relax before the students appear! andy[/quote] I only started to enjoy driving once I stopped commuting from Glasgow (later Blantyre) to Stirling every day. I've just applied for a job in Edinburgh so I may be feeling that pain again - the M8 is pish.

[quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='129643' date='Jan 28 2008, 10:51 PM']Hi guys I wanted to open up my thred earlier about there being no modern bass heroes by stating that music since the turn of the century has been on the whole pretty crap.[/quote] Isn't this a repeat of a previous episode of Grumpy Old Bassmen that we've had on here before? I'd agree to some extent that there does seem to be a lack of inspiring rock bands around just now but I tend to put that down to my advancing age and the changeable nature of music scenes, fashions or whatever. I was inspired to play by hearing bands like New Order, Faith No More, Therapy, Fishbone, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Living Colour, STP, Radiohead, RHCP, RATM etc in my late teens and early twenties. Most of my favourite albums are from 1985-1995. I think that has more to do with youthful enthusiasm though. IMO there's been plenty of great music around since 2000 - but I don't just listen to rock artists. Goldfrapp, Muse, Audioslave, Elbow, Doves, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Regina Spector, Cold War Kids, Isobel Campbell, Jose Gonzalez, and Mark Lanegan, System of a Down and countless others have produced fantastic music in the last few years. I've listened pretty much exclusively to BBC 6 Music for the last 3 years as Radio 1 died for me when Mark and Lard left. I'm quite proud of the fact that I didn't hear Rhianna's Umbrella song until I was in a pub in December and I had to use Google to find out who Leona Lewis is and I've still never heard one of her songs all the way through. Mainstream chart music has never really been that good IMO but I'm prepared to accept that I am old and out of step with the musical trends and the youth of today - I've just turned 34. 'Yer old, yer old, yer old, yer old' - Gary Stringer, Reef, 1997

[quote name='cheddatom' post='129412' date='Jan 28 2008, 05:00 PM']What kind of a celebrity would let you swab their mouth without demanding sexual favours? You're being a bit niave me thinks. :-p[/quote] I thought this thread was meant to be about tenuous claims to fame and not your sexual fantasies. Seems like you've been watching some weird gay porn version of CSI (CS-Guy San Fransisco?).

[quote name='Wil' post='129103' date='Jan 28 2008, 09:27 AM']Hugh Quarshie (Dr Ric Griffin from Holby City) bought a bike from me when I worked at Halfords Cribbs Causeway... is that tenuous enough?[/quote] Never mind Holby City - he's been in a Star Wars, even if it was just The Phantom Menace!

I could get jailed if I shared mine with you as it involved someone I swabbed for a court-directed paternity test.

[quote name='JoeS' post='127649' date='Jan 25 2008, 11:52 AM']Nick Oliveri was a big one for me when he was in QOTSA, but now you mention it I'm struggling to think of any others...[/quote] TBH I stopped listening to QOTSA when he was booted out - In The Fade is my favourite of his lines. +1 for Muse and Killers I don't like the band but I really like the girl from Magic Numbers melodic basslines - they really carry the songs. Same goes for guy from Fratellis - the intro to Chelsea Dagger is fantastic - don't like the rest of the song though!

[quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='127545' date='Jan 25 2008, 08:54 AM']Is just me or are there no bass heroes anymore? You know the guys who you saw on Top Of The Pops and thought “My God!...I want to look as cool at that guy” For me people like JJ Brunell, Paul Simenon, Simon Gallup, Peter Hook….all made the bass look like an offence weapon. I just don’t see anyone from contemporary bands inspiring an apathetic youth to play the bass. While I continue my rant……can anyone suggest any bands around at the moment who have inspiring bass lines as I’m struggling to find anything worth listening to in this current trend of ‘femmepop’ as my mate calls it. Emasculated rock[/quote] What about bands like The Stranglers, The Good The Bad and The Queen, Monaco, Free Bass... oh hang on a minute...

[quote name='andy67' post='127577' date='Jan 25 2008, 09:44 AM']Morning folks, not very good weather for taking the bass outside today! it is freezing here in Galsgow, blowing a gail and I could swear Noahs ARK has just passed my window! I'll just leave the bass in doors today.....[/quote] I think you'll find that 'pure Baltic' and 'pishin doon' is the correct patois in Glasgow's East End. It's pishin doon and pure Baltic man in Blantir anaw.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='126932' date='Jan 24 2008, 02:33 PM']At last someone else who has seen and heard of my Bass! I have the one as on the link enclosed below and would have to agree regarding the tone from a passive instrument. It is a neck through design and the wings are part of a separate body, which you can change for different colours or shape (but this is not cheap!). It has a lovely balance and sustain too due to the neck through design. The coolest visual thing however is the controls which you can only just see, 2 knurled knobs set under the bottom of the neck-though so you have a nice clean finish. They have really thought about the design and used good quality components e.g. hipshot tuners and the input jack has a set screw rather than a ring that can loosen off. Apparently they are an industrial design company in the US who came up with a new design stand and then decided to do guitar and basses as well. It was strung with red DR's in the photo (simply red?) but I have reverted to Elixirs as supplied when new. I appreciate that because it does not conform to the Fender shape it will upset some luddites [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11286"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11286[/url][/quote] They look cool to me, especially that bubinga one, but I haven't seen one of the basses in person yet - would be interesting to try.

I was in Merchant City Music in Glasgow and they had a few RKS six-string guitars on display. They look and are constructed really differently from other manufacturers. Have any of you tried their basses or know more about them? [url="http://rksguitars.com/new/bass.php"]http://rksguitars.com/new/bass.php[/url]

I love Danelectros - used to have a 30' scale Baritone single cut that I had modified with a set of grovers and re-tuned to EADGBE like a bass with 2 high strings. Sounded good and played really well. If I'd kept it I would have tried to get a metal bridge though. The control pots were crap too but it's part of the vibe!

See if you can borrow a bass with even more strings for the next time you play together!

[quote name='theosd' post='124494' date='Jan 21 2008, 12:28 PM']It was actually styled by the people who designed the innards of the mini, not BMW. I think a bongo which incorporated these colours would be wicked sweet: [/quote] I stand corrected - a lot of info I'd seen just said BMW. It looks like a separate design house did it now I've down some digging around. Speaking of Beemers - a white bass with the Alpina stripes would look pretty sweet too.

[quote name='Hamster' post='124470' date='Jan 21 2008, 11:59 AM']Rule 1: - Always start off with fresh fruit before progressing to lumps of wood with metal bits sticking out of them. I think MPFC did an instructional video about this advice? (albeit a slightly different subject) Hamster[/quote] It's an 11 week course so the guitars are something I'll be progressing towards. I want to avoid fresh fruit because I don't like to buy out of season produce grown hydroponically under glass that tastes of nothing and costs too much - which is mostly what you get this time of year. I have some nice whisky bottles, ornaments and other objects to use as well - I don't want to have to pay for my subjects either.

[quote name='Machines' post='124456' date='Jan 21 2008, 11:40 AM']I've got one of the Italias here .[/quote] I know - I've just read your review, which helped reduce the GAS a bit. Shame about the wiring issue. My Yamaha AEX500 guitar also has a piezo bridge and neck humbucker combination but with master vol, p/up blend and a 3 band EQ for the piezo but with a single jack socket and it works really well, especially considering I only paid £250 for it!

The Musicman Bongo was 'styled' by BMW's styling team led by Chris Bangle. The body contouring follows the 'flame-surfacing' approach on the current 'controversially' styled BMWs.

[quote name='dood' post='123911' date='Jan 20 2008, 04:12 PM']Jaguar actually had a limited addition Fender Statocaster made! IIRC it was a glossy british racing green with luxury gold hardware and the Jaguar logo. The price tag was absolutely ridiculous!!![/quote] GuitarGuitar in Glasgow have one of these and a matching Marshall amp decked out in magnolia Jaguar branded leather (or vinyl).

I've just started a new photography night class and we were told our objective would be to produce 2 still lifes and 2 portraits over the next few weeks. We were then asked to bring in examples of the types of shots we would like to take, and that's where the trouble started. I decided that my 2 basses (Warwick Streamer Std 4 and Status Groove 4 w/graphite neck), Yamaha semi guitar and my Marshall AS50R amp would make ideal subjects for still life. So - off to the guitar shops I went to collect guitar catalogues: Fender, Italia, Vintage, Ibanez and many others - so you can see where this is going! I now want the entire Squier Vintage Modified series of basses and one each of the Italia basses - they are so cool I couldn't possibly choose between them. AAAAAARGH - 18 months GAS free, now this. I also have photography GAS too to top it off. AAAAAARRGH!!!

Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and, later, Pearl Jam. Don't know if I could keep up on Jesus Christ Pose though!

I seem to think the same as the rest of you: Hollow body is lovely but the Nobby Wotshisface Sig. looks like it was designed by a 5 year-old. What a POS.

Strangely enough I was considering posting a very similar thread to this one! Bass guitar was my first instrument and still my favourite. Since I moved away from Sheffield in 2002 I haven't been in a band for more than a few months at a time. Mainly it's because I haven't found the right people who are willing to work on orginal material but only as a hobby as I have a day job (well, usually I do but I'm unemployed right now). My main problem is that I only learned bass to start playing and writing in a band with a mate when we were teenagers so I can find initial jam situations quite difficult - but I can write intricate and imaginative bass (and guitar) parts once I'm back in practice. So many people expect session player ability without paying for session players! I have also got fed up with fielding responses from people who's first question is 'how old are you' in response to my add beginning: 'Out of practice 33 year old bass player....' The most annoying thing was joining a band last year, buying and selling gear to get a sound that would work and then for the singer/guitarist to fall off the face of the earth and 'lose the plot' as the drummer so nicely put it in a text! I do have some nice gear now though - Status Groove with graphite neck and a Nemesis NC410 combo! It's bit excessive for home use though. Although I have a mini studio set up at home, I tend to get most inspiration when I'm playing with others - so I haven't written much in the last few years. I am now not actively seeking a band as it's just a pain really - much as I'd love to get back playing with others. Finding people who are happy to try and work on new ideas is hard. I have no plans to stop playing bass though - I'll always enjoy it and have invested too much time and money!

Another option would be to make a pedal board with an attached 4 or 6 way extension socket to power everything. You could plug the amp into the board's multisocket. Having a pedal board would save time connecting up all your FX, tuner etc.

I've given this a lot of thought and I decided I definitely couldn't live without my pink one-stringed bass.

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='105759' date='Dec 18 2007, 09:32 AM']This Ibanez has the same body shape (give or take a contour or two) as all Soundgear Ibanez basses. I can't see the Warwick similarity... as to the Wimbish sig. you're right, the inlays are pure Spector [/quote] To my eye the curved body and choice of woods make these Ibanez's look quite Warwick Streamer-like when you see them first hand (just my opinion). The Streamer of course used to be licensed from Spector. I always thought the Wimbish sig. was a bit cheeky as it looks like an Ibanezed version of his orange Spector. Shame they didn't do a Korean or European Spector version instead as the Spector NS/Streamer is one of my favourite shapes.

Not tried the 12 but I loved the 8 string Rhapsody I tried a couple of years ago. Playing the intro and verse from Jeremy by Pearl Jam made me grin like a fool! I'd love one of these but can't really justify. Harmonisers and octavers don't get close IMO. BTW - I'm sure I've seen pictures of John Paul Jones with a 12 string (BEADGC style) with octave strings.