Conan

Clicking on the Vintage link takes you to the info about the Super Fifteen...

Alex Lifeson - mainly so that I could go out for a beer with him, Neil and Geddy afterwards!! Failing that, Jeff Beck.

[quote name='endorka' post='1097565' date='Jan 21 2011, 02:23 PM']Many bass players attempt to make this more apparently interesting by adding "fills", which in practice usually amounts to plodding along on the root note with the simple rhythm mentioned above, until they unleash a flurry of mid to upper register notes aptly described as a "widdle", before settling down to the simple root note pattern again. Needless to say, this is not a good approach to making music.[/quote] Great post!!

[quote name='silddx' post='1097215' date='Jan 21 2011, 10:44 AM']I reckon some people go through life thinking they can have a RELATIONSHIP with their bass, and if they find the ONE bass they can have a relationship with, then that will improve the relationship they have with music. *snip, snip* Shame I sold that Squier though, maybe I could see if JustOneMoreTry1963 willl sell it back to me? Just so I have my first bass back, don't know why I sold it really, I love the neck on it, even though it's a Squier. Three weeks later .. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=119512"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=119512[/url][/quote] Man, you have [i]way[/i] too much time on your hands!! Brilliant post though!!

[quote name='icastle' post='1097276' date='Jan 21 2011, 11:30 AM']Do you take your own guitar strap? [/quote] Always!

Some interesting and good points made above. As with most of these discussions, its about context. If you play in a covers band playing mostly sixties soul music - then simple is pretty much where it's at, leaving plenty of space for the horns and vocals. However, if you wish to show your own personal dexterity and skill then join an original band playing some version of modern 'techno-metal' where everyone seems to be soloing simultaneously... Without trying to be patronising, a lot of this is also down to how long you have been playing - and more specifically, how long you have been playing [i]in bands[/i]. At the start of most bassist's career it is fairly typical to want to show off your chops in every track. That might impress your other bass players in the (probably small) audience, but the majority of the other punters will neither notice nor care (at best) and will hate it at worst. With experience tends to come taste. The gut feeling of what is required for the piece of music, rather than to just impress people. Throw in the odd chop simply for effect by all means, but despite what most of us on here would [i]like[/i] to think, most music fans rarely notice the bass unless it does something wrong. We are, in effect, the referee of the band situation! Do your job well and nobody notices. Screw up and it's all your fault. Such is life... All IMV of course!!

I always think that this question is like asking a guitarist which he prefers - chords or notes! I would expect a 'rounded' player to be able to use both. I personally prefer my fingers most of the time, but for certain feels, tracks, or sections of tracks (i.e. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain - the 'Grand Prix' bit...) a pick is the only way. Most of my early influences were finger players, so I was later coming to a pick. I still need to practice it a bit!! One player who (sort of) combines both is Geddy Lee - with his long fingernails giving almost the attack of a pick, but also the fluid dexterity of fingerstyle. IMO of course!!

[quote name='icastle' post='1096867' date='Jan 20 2011, 09:47 PM']I'll always insist on playing it standing up AND sitting down - does it feel comfortable or does it feel like I'm sat there with an Ikea coffee table in my lap?[/quote] I use the same technique when shopping for coffee tables... For me, tone is less important. Actually, that's not what I mean at all. Tone is very important - I'm just less bothered about that particular bass matching some perception of tone that I have in my head. Even then, it depends. If I am trying out a Fender Jazz or one of it's derivatives then I expect it to sound a certain way (within reason!). But there are some basses I've tried (not always expensive ones) where the tone has just made me go "Wow!". Sometimes though, the kind of tone that makes you go "Wow!" in a shop can become rather wearing in a band situation... Balance is very important. Having had a number of neck-heavy basses I know how much I hate it. I'm a big bloke, so the weight of the bass is a smaller factor - as long as it balances well... Controls and ease of use. I want to play bass not pilot the space shuttle. Too many knobs and switches that I can catch while playing and alter the sound is not good. Not that I'm saying a P bass is the way - but that controls can sometimes be badly positioned. To be honest, I will have already pondered the physical looks of the beast before I ask to try it. Having said that, I am quite open-minded about body shape, colour and so on. After all, I play a Status!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1096267' date='Jan 20 2011, 01:01 PM']I gather the forum is divided where Vic is concerned. [/quote] I think he's absolutely awesome! He seems to be a great all-rounder too - not just a soloist but he can really groove in a band context too. When I first bought 'A show of hands' I couldn't believe that there were no overdubs... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkqUbiYQjgg&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkqUbiYQjgg...feature=related[/url]

He was great in The Mummy too...

Very nice. Loving the section from 0.58 to 1.06. Tasteful use of double thumbing too!

Good enough! Some are better, but a lot are definitely worse!! I'm not a big fan of Steely Dan, and I enjoyed it...

What's your asking price mate?

Finding in difficult to buy tickets though....

[quote name='JTUK' post='1088587' date='Jan 13 2011, 08:59 PM']I had influences but no idols. I'll steal something that I like from anyone and mash it all up into what I do.[/quote] Me too! And while Geddy is someone I'd love to meet and chew the fat with, I certainly don't idolise him. In fact, I don't idolise anyone. Although Marcus, Mark, Flea, Stan, Phil, Herbie, Jean-Jacques, Bruce et al influenced me to a greater or lesser degree - Geddy is the one whose playing I most hear in my own style - for better and for worse!!

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='1088560' date='Jan 13 2011, 08:33 PM']Newcastle Carling Academy, 30th April. FISHBONE!!! Can't wait![/quote] Oh my Lord!! I'll be having some of that methinks!!! My birthday weekend as well! How good does it get?

Great stuff! Just tell us how tall you are and if you like Rush and it'll be like you've been here forever!

[quote name='JTUK' post='1088490' date='Jan 13 2011, 07:33 PM']Never ever got this Rush thing....just not my thing at all.[/quote] That's cool! That's what makes them the 'biggest cult band in the world'! It also makes some of us love them even more!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1088479' date='Jan 13 2011, 07:25 PM']Their embracing of the rock sound of the time doesn't really interest me and those two records strike me as being a band that was running out of steam. It seems when they made Vapor Trails, after everthing they'd been through, they had finally gotten their fire back.[/quote] That's interesting! Vapor trails is my least favourite Rush album - by a country mile! I just can't get into it at all and actually find it annoying and fatiguing to listen to. Believe me, I've tried. Snakes and arrows is getting there. It is still growing on me after three years but it is far from my favourite! When I started high school in 1979 (Jesus!! Am I that old now? ) my 'new best friend' was into Rush. He had an enormous "Tour of the Hemispheres" poster on his bedroom wall, which was just the coolest thing I had ever seen. Just after that, I headed off to Windows in the Central Arcade in Newcastle and parted with £4.20 of my hard-earned pocket money to purchase Rush's triple album "Archives" - which is basically their first three albums re-packaged. I never looked back. I still remember the excitement among the 'heavies' at school when Permanent Waves had just come out. Who bought it? Who had heard it? What did we all think of it? etc. Happy memories!! And due to the enjoyment that Rush have given me over the last 32 years (eeek!) I would almost forgive them anything. Except Dog Years.

[quote name='Wilco' post='1088461' date='Jan 13 2011, 07:17 PM'](PS: my son is 20 & has 'Tears' from 2112 & 'YYZ' on his iPod. Ok he's not an out & out fan, but there's a young 'un liking a bit of the older stuff!!)[/quote] Excellent! Tears is a beautiful track and one of my favourite 'ballads' by any band. Lovely stuff. And YYZ? One of Geddy's most interesting basslines IMO! Your son has good taste!

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1088116' date='Jan 13 2011, 03:04 PM']Do you know any of them?[/quote]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1088051' date='Jan 13 2011, 02:28 PM']And nobody in the 5 pages of YouTube comments picked up on it so I'd say it was a fairly good lesson[/quote] For 'comments' read [i]hagiography[/i]!

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1087996' date='Jan 13 2011, 01:58 PM']I currently find them all but unlistenable but I was a Rush nut from Caress of Steel to Moving PIctures after which they lost me. But, for a while there, they were the one.[/quote] It's interesting that a lot of us long-term Rush fans still love the band but are not keen on their recent material. The cut-off point may vary (for me they became inconsistent after Roll the Bones, but I still really like Test for Echo. I just can't get away with the last two studio albums). To me it just feels that they have become rather stagnant and are going through the motions to a certain extent. Back in the seventies and eighties, and even into the nineties, every new album had something new or different to it's predecessors. Not any more IMO. What does that say about us as fans or indeed about the band themselves? I wonder if there are fans of 'modern' Rush who hate the earlier stuff? I guess there must be, but I'm yet to meet one!