Conan

From a therapeutic point of view, this stuff is excellent! [url="http://www.hadriansbalm.co.uk/"]http://www.hadriansbalm.co.uk/[/url]

Sounds like you've already answered your own question! If you can't or won't use a pick it looks like you're kinda stuck with the "grin and bear it" option of using ya fingers with a possible "additional non-natural skin-type layer" upgrade. I've been there several times before, so I feel your pain brother!! It will be bloody sore for days afterwards and be really careful because there's a pretty high risk of getting an infection in your finger too. Might be worth going to see your GP for a precautionary course of antibiotics? Especially as blood poisoning is far more serious (and painful!) than a blister...

Would like to be there, and will try - but babysitters are as rare as unicorn droppings round here at the moment...

[quote name='TKenrick' post='704411' date='Jan 7 2010, 04:45 PM']he's one of the few guys that can really groove with a pick...[/quote] Isn't that a Pink Floyd track?! Great player BTW - thanks for posting that, I'd never heard of him before. Who does he play with?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='712637' date='Jan 14 2010, 03:05 PM']Not an issue for decent musicians, of course, but that would count me out [/quote] Heh heh! Me too!!

[quote name='martthebass' post='712549' date='Jan 14 2010, 01:55 PM']as Bruce Foxton said 'I can find all the notes I need on a 4 string'.[/quote] I would partly agree with this, but a lot of it depends on the music you play and the band you play with. Much of Foxton's playing is in the kind of "middle" registers of the bass rather than low down on the E string for example. Within the context of a three piece with a very "cutting" guitar sound that works. A lot of players find a five string necessary if they play with a singer whose range has dropped over the years... A good example of this would be Fish's band (ex-singer with Marillion if the name doesn't ring a bell). As the ravages of age, cigarettes, alcohol, etc have taken their toll, his ability to hit high notes has diminished. In many cases, the band has had to drop keys to accommodate this. Many of the original keys were C, B or even E - so if you drop from there on a four string the only way to go is up!! If the track is in D and you only have a four, then you will be playing on the A string at the fifth fret! No bottom end at all! This is where I see the main advantage of a five. Or in metal bands where that really low-end riffage sounds massive...! Just my opinion of course!

I was wondering about them too, as there seem to be quite e few of them on ebay and the prices are good....

[quote name='Veils' post='711785' date='Jan 13 2010, 07:19 PM']+1 for fodera too. I played a monarch a while back at music ground Manchester a while ago. Nicest playing bass I've ever played![/quote] You'd bloody well hope so at the prices they charge!!

I think I used to play in a band with Jack Sleeve. Good guitarist IIRC...

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='711358' date='Jan 13 2010, 02:49 PM']Ok so I'm adding a couple to my shopping list.. and now have serious GAS.. [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/80975"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/80975[/url] [url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/41071-ibanez-mdb2-mike-d-antonio-signature.html"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/4107...-signature.html[/url] I think I just wet my pants.[/quote] "Money no object" Sarah!! Shouldn't you set your sights a bit higher than that?!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='711214' date='Jan 13 2010, 12:55 PM']Fancied one of these for ages..... [url="http://www.fodera.com/a_jackson.html"]http://www.fodera.com/a_jackson.html[/url][/quote] At $25,000 that would definitely come under the heading "money no object"!! I personally find it ugly... but I just don't really get these single-cut basses I'm afraid - no matter how "balanced" they are supposed to be, I just think they look silly! The Fodera Monarch range are REALLY beautiful on the other hand. However, what I'd love to do is go to Frank Usher and ask him to find the most amazing piece of wood in the world and turn it into something similar in shape to the Monarch. Probably four strings, but maybe five... three band active EQ... solid gold hardware, oh and a team of beautiful naked women to transport it around for me. After all, I could afford to pay for them, couldn't I?! [url="http://www.frankusherguitars.co.uk/"]http://www.frankusherguitars.co.uk/[/url]

I always wondered what it would sound like if every member of a "band" soloed at the same time.... It's like a car crash. Horrible, but somehow I couldn't look away.

[quote name='blamelouis' post='709205' date='Jan 11 2010, 07:12 PM']Hey don't diss the KARN ! [/quote] Diss my arse!! That's a compliment!! Don't diss the Soup Dragon!!

[quote name='Rayman' post='707996' date='Jan 10 2010, 06:48 PM']Fabulous bass tone, love it.[/quote] I've been wondering exactly what it was that Karn's tone and style reminds me of. Serendipitously (now there's the word of the day!) I was watching The Clangers with my daughter this evening when all became clear... It's the Soup Dragon!!