Conan

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1330027836' post='1551775'] Over-playing, particularly to compensate for poor volume or monitoring is potentially very damaging to your hands. [/quote] Really?!? Is there any evidence for this?

[quote name='duke of prunes' timestamp='1329582345' post='1544524'] *snip* nevermind [/quote]

[quote name='lxxwj' timestamp='1330189340' post='1553945']there's this one Squier lefty with P/J pickups that plays pretty nice. However, I was playing through an awesome (to my ear) Fender Rumble 150 at the time.[/quote] The playability of the bass has got nothing to do with the way it sounds... as many have said (and with which I would agree) some Squiers can play brilliantly, but often their tone can be a disappointment (particularly the Affinities). Whip oot the pickups and put in some cheap but decent ones and the difference is incredible! If your hands tell you that a bass is a good 'un, then it's a good 'un!

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1330030463' post='1551849'] When I posted about Blur on the Brits, I was referring to the overall performance being crap and not Alex James. [/quote] Whatever his short-comings, he makes very nice cheese.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1330186488' post='1553899'] I really like him, he's creative and enthusiastic, a lot like Flea actually - the sort of guy who could light up stages all over the world, inspire a million kids to take up bass guitar, and then get slated in forums decades later for not being technical enough. [/quote] I'm a big fan of his stuff. He is very creative and has done some very interesting interpretations of songs from very diverse artists. I don't know him at all, but he seems to be pretty ego-free too. Much love from here!!

In most bands I've played in over the years, every musician is too keen to point out the perceived inadequacies of everyone else's sound instead of looking at their own. It's always someone else's problem. As long as this view persists there will be issues. Part of the problem is where we spend most of our time playing and practising. For most of us in amateur or semi-pro bands this will be in our own houses. We set up a tone that sounds pleasing in that particular environment and then stick with that tone when we move into the full band scenario. It almost always doesn't work. It's a shame that ego also gets in the way. Guitarists and singers are, of course, particularly prone to this. They know everything and we know nothing. It seems to be the way of the world...

[quote name='bottomfeed' timestamp='1330092435' post='1552602'] This, I guess...[i].( albeit rough & unfinished)[/i] [url="http://snd.sc/AB6eMW"]http://snd.sc/AB6eMW[/url] [/quote] I LIKE that!! A bit "Squarepusher-esque" if you don't mind me saying so...

And it has the power to improve your spelling and sentence construction too!

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1330087113' post='1552457']... to my rather bass-inexperienced ears a lot of that tone is in the overdrive and EQing after the bass. COuldn't a J bass make pretty much an identical tone with the same processing ? I'm actually very interesed in this. I've tried out a couple of RIcs (admittedly just in shops) and I didn't feel they added any "clankiness" or anything much else that you don't get in a decent J bass. Please educate me ! [/quote] There has indeed been quite a lot of discussion over this exact point! Try searching for some of the older (and newer!) threads about Geddy Lee's tone and which particular basses he was supposed to be playing on which track on which album, etc. Funnily enough, some of the tracks which I thought were the archetypal Rick/Jazz/Steinberger tone, were (according to other members on here) not those basses at all!! It's all very confusing... To my ears though, the Rick tones that define the style are Chris Squire's and Dave Meros's. Clang-tastic!!

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1330088512' post='1552504'] I think for me being concise doesn't really matter. 3 notes or 30, it's all valid, as long as the person has something worth saying (which is of course entirely subjective). [/quote] You'll be a fan of Treebeard then... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhUAg4gEgEI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhUAg4gEgEI[/url]

Ability to compromise...

How about this tone? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pCw3Aw9yyk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pCw3Aw9yyk[/url]

Can't believe I've just read this entire thread! Do I feel enlightened? No. Have I learned anything? No. But it has reinforced my pre-existing knowledge that BC is a very cool place where people with very differing experiences and opinions can debate in a passionate but safe way. Jolly good show chaps! BTW, old bassists are not better - it's just that there is so much more going on in music now that the skills of individual musicians are more part of the whole than they maybe were 30 years ago. YMMV of course!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1330011242' post='1551387'] I used to use one when I was a kid, would use it to jump things on my BMX. Not sure what it's used for on a bass though. [/quote]

Swings and roundabouts I would guess. They can encourage/enforce a lighter touch, yes - but surely at the cost of limiting dynamic range? What's so bad about "digging in"? I wouldn't have one, but then again I am heavy-handed and not very subtle!

So where are all these Classics and RH450s that everyone was buying last year and now few seem to still have? According to the crits these amps were the dogs' danglies and now they seem to attract widespread slagging. Can perceptions really change that much in a few months or was this another case of Emperor's Clothes syndrome?

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1329828880' post='1547962'] There are millions of musicians who can play Beatles (for instance) songs, but it took the Beatles to write them. To me, that's the important bit. [/quote] True, but you'll wait a long time to see the Beatles. Meanwhile, there are thousands of pubs and clubs that simply wish you to entertain their punters for a couple of hours and are prepared to pay you for doing so. If the venue, audience and band are happy what's the problem? Currently I play in two bands - one originals and one covers. They are different bands because of the people in them, not because of who wrote the material we play. If i stopped enjoying EITHER of them I would quit. I really don't understand the rather elitist attitude that some people have about playing covers. There is so much music around that it CAN be all things to all people, and what is an original tune anyway? A hotch-potch of ideas that have already been used and the same notes and chords but in a different order! If you think your music is [i]truly[/i] original, then either you haven't listened to enough covers or you are Jimi Hendrix. If it makes you happy, do it. If not - stop. It's really not that complicated.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1329829442' post='1547975'] Seriously, what's odd about a seller disguising a serial number? [/quote] More to the point, why would anyone want to? But if it can be explained (rather than just "oh, it was like that when I got it") then maybe there is no problem.

If the seller can't explain the strange pixellation issue on the headstock, I wouldn't go anywhere near it. £650 may be reasonable for a thirty year old Fender, but it's a lot of money to waste!