Conan

As I have already said once this evening in a PM... music gear falls into the "things" category - and I try not to get attached to things. My Status has been with me a very long time and has been instrumental in (see what I did there?) several important memories... but I guess I would still have the memories (for now, anyway) if I no longer had the bass. I recently sold a very good Geddy Lee J bass. I feel bad about that. Not because I was attached to it, but because it was an excellent example that suited me very well. I am annoyed with myself (slightly) for selling it. I miss it when I play other basses, but I don't sit and pine for it in a sentimental way... But I have a little figurine... I'll take a pic of it when I remember to... it came out of a Rice Krispies box about 25 years ago. It is one of the charicatures (Pop, I think!) and he is playing a guitar. I cut the head of it (the guitar, not the figurine!) so it looked like me playing my Status. It used to be glued onto the little recessed shelf on my Trace Elliot AH250. I painted him with Tippex so that he glowed when the UV lamp was on..... Him. I would definitely miss him

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379683397' post='2215688'] I will try harder in future to condense my posts into short soundbites for the alcopops generation . [/quote] Yeah, I remember Two Dogs.... Hooper's Hooch... Is that what you meant?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1379669449' post='2215418'] Sorry about that. I reckon Dingus is worse, though. [/quote] Oh bollocks! Sorry about that! I was obviously thinking about you while writing about him... er

Hercules lounges...

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1379635661' post='2215226'] does a builders fingerstyle sound different to an accountants fingerstyle , does the hardness of the fingertips affect the tone[/quote] Definitely! I notice this in my own tone. If I don't play much for a while, my finger tips get soft and my tone, as a result, also softens. When I play regularly they are much harder and give a more 'pick-like' attack to the notes. I'm not sure which I prefer, but I get far fewer blisters when my finger tips are hard!

@Dingus I love your posts mate, but any chance you could use a few more paragraphs? They are rather daunting to read!

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1379664018' post='2215304'] I practice as much as I can with a full time job and home commitments, but if I'm honest with myself, I tend to focus on getting the lines right for the band stuff rather than dedicating time to improving me technique generically, so it's hardly surprising that I'm frustrated with my progress. If I won the lottery tonight, could give up work and could spend all my waking hours bass playing, maybe in 10 years or so I could give Mark King or Pino Palladino or run for their money. However, I reckon I'll settle for being a competent bassist. . And surely that's what really matters![/quote] Brilliant post! That's how I feel about it too. When I was in my late teens I had a lot more time on my hands and literally spent 4-5 hours a day playing bass. My fingers blistered and then the blisters burst and bled. I'm no masochist, I just carried on playing because that's what I wanted to do! I admit that I got to be pretty good. I ripped off lines by Geddy Lee. Mark King, Stanley Clarke, Steve Harris, David Margen... and could play them all pretty convincingly. In every band I played in, people commented upon my skill (which was nice). Now, with a full-time demanding job, a second wife and three kids - I have different priorities. I still play in bands, but I tend to adopt the "good enough is good enough" approach. I could (and should) spend more time practising, but to what end? I probably enjoy my playing more now, even though technically I am a far worse player than I was 30 years ago! Do I care? Yes and no. I would like to be a better player, but I just can't justify the time and effort needed to make that happen. I'm OK with that, but it does sometimes frustrate me. Such is life I guess!

I guess I'm quite lucky to have big hands and big fingers. In fact that's the main reason I play bass rather than guitar as I found it impossible to accurately fret one string on a guitar neck without my sausage fingers preventing the adjacent strings ringing... For that reason I have never found [b][i]any[/i][/b] bass neck difficult to play [i]per se[/i]. That's not to say that I don't have my preferences, I do - but they tend to concern individual basses rather than certain styles of neck profile. That said, I recently tried a Squier CV 60s P bass and LOVED the neck on it! The only neck I have played that felt more comfortable was my Jap Geddy Lee (which I stupidly sold ).

I bet it sounds great with that combination on board... but Christ it's ugly!! Looks like a melted Mustang!

[quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1379603720' post='2214736'] Pick playing is just another tool in a bassists arsenal. In some songs it just fits better than anything else, in others it doesn't. As has been said, people who dismiss it without a second thought or look at it as some form of sin are missing something, same with (correctly used) slap playing as well. [/quote] Exactly. If you watch the Jerry Peek clip you will see him switch seamlessly between slap, pick and hammering styles. Not bad for someone that most bass players have never heard of! If you can make him out in all the blur, that is.

Another much overlooked and underestimated player who uses a pick (but not exclusively) is Jerry Peek. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcn5QsHCi_4[/media] This guy ain't too shabby either: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlxUqXDEHA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlxUqXDEHA[/url]

[quote name='Biaeothanata-Bassist' timestamp='1379542506' post='2214125'] I am a huge fan of "that" Spector tone as well so I might end up getting a Euro 4LX at some point just to have one for whatever situation calls for it.[/quote] Hello!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1379506388' post='2213429'] calmth.[/quote] What a lovely word!

How about this - [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Jazz-Bass-Active-24-Fret/290979718972?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D1375929139066359116%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D290977604843%26#ht_140wt_1141"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Jazz-Bass-Active-24-Fret/290979718972?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D1375929139066359116%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D290977604843%26#ht_140wt_1141[/url] It's being sold local to me. I am quite interested in it myself!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1379495869' post='2213256'] IMO there is question around whether it's reasonable to advertise it as such, without being open about how the figure is arrived at. [/quote] Yeah, I see that too.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1379428902' post='2212579'] Line6 POD X3 LIVE. Because real amps and cabs are a pain in the arse (heavy, expensive, limited sounds), and because I can get almost any sound I want from the POD, loads of amp, cab and mic sims in a tiny box [/quote] But only if you play in venues with good PA systems, or you take your own. But real PA amps and cabs are a pain in the.... see above!

I prefer to judge an amp by the way it sounds and the features it has, rather than some arbitrary value like its (supposed or otherwise) power output.