Chris2112

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1480082321' post='3181537'] The stickiest necks I've ever come across were on new Warwicks with an oil? finish, followed by a Traben bass that had such a thin satin finish on the neck, I could feel the grain of the wood. Neither were very nice to play. [/quote] If a Warwick had an oil finished neck, something has went wrong somewhere. They're supposed to be played, and the oils on your skin keep them supple. I have heard of people applying the body wax to the open grain of necks which creates a sticky clag. That is a costly mistake, you can tell straight away when someone has done it. I don't seek out glossy necks but I don't mind them when they're done well. The Status gel coat and my old ACG stand out as beautiful, glassy finishes that felt great to play. Badly finished glossy necks become tacky under play, which gets worse the long you play as the finish picks up sweat. Les Pauls are dreadful for this.

It's not something I had ever really considered until now. I'd play it in the E on the A string. That said, I'd rather play pretty much anything else, it's one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

Cort do make some tremendous instruments. I'd long been aware of the quality of the Artisan series and the GB Custom. I remember trying a Yamaha TRB1006 against a Cort Artisan years ago and even then (probably 12 years ago or more) the Cort was easily the better bass at a time when the TRB was being touted as the answer to everything under £800. I had a long break from playing any Cort bass until I got hold of a Rithimic earlier this year. I'd seen videos of Jeff Berlin playing them and I considered it a guaranteed way of getting top tone and playability. I wasn't disappointed either. The appointments on this bass are fantastic. Amazing hardware, pickups, a dreamlike neck and lightweight. It's gorgeous too. If goes out of the door for what, £799 or so at a retailer? Slap a Fender badge on it and you could charge over twice that and players would still bite your hand off. Cort have an extremely highly skilled team in house, make no mistake.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1495634425' post='3305473'] Simple, back then basses weren't build by the accounting/marketing teams... [/quote] This rose-tinted glasses view is something I've hears about 70's Fenders before. A little of throwaway sentiment. However, whilst I'm no Fender expert, I sm aware of, and I agree with, the consensus that the 70's is really when the bean counters got down to business at Fender and that comes with CBS ownership. Fender was by no the company it is today back then, either. It is apparent that CBS started cost-cutting and this was felt at many levels. One of the results of this was a perception formed by many players that lives on to this day, and that is that CBS cut quality. This bore out into the used market, which until a couple of years ago didn't seem to give much of a toss for 70's basses but was deeply in love with the 60's product. Perhaps the biggest problem I've found with the 70's basses is the inconsistency in the builds. Some play and sound great, but a large proportion don't. That effect is more evident in the 70's range than for any other Fender era. A lot of it, I think, has to do with the Ash bodies. It sounds a lot different to Alder and in a lot of cases, it seems like any old bit of wood was used, whether it was resonant or or not. If the luck of the draw determines it, you can end up with a bass that is a tonne-weight whilst sounding utterly dead abd flat. The market for 60's instruments became so stratospherically inflater in recent years, no doubt bolstered by speculators and 'investors', that Joe Public has tried to rewrite history to make the 70's basses really desirable, and they are already becoming the next target of inflation.

I had a look at that too. It's a right looker.

I had a Rebop 4 DLX about ten years ago and even now, it remains in my mind as one of the standout instruments I've played. Simply magnificent.

[quote name='mep' timestamp='1494272852' post='3294636'] I'm I being too PC or just overreacting? What do others feel about this term? [/quote] Both. It's terribly modern to be offended by every little thing but there is something to be said for having a certain degree of robustness, to the point where one doesn't need to feel the need to try and censor what others say so that they can feel better. 'Guitard' may seem mildly offensive to some since it's obviously a derivation of 'retard', but I wouldn't break too much of a sweat about it, we're all grown men here.

Bireli Lagrene was my first thought. He does an excellent impression of Jaco Pastorius.

I like ramps but I don't think I'd ever fit one to one of my basses. I just don't have an issue with the 'detach' following a plucked note. If I'm playing chords, I'll use my thumb and three fingers independently to pluck each string but even then, I don't need it. I know some players say it stops them digging in too much, so they detach with greater ease and can move onto the next note with less effort. I find it just makes it easier to play very evenly and consistently. It can help if you want to soften your attack as you'll naturally pluck with less vigour. Not all ramps are created equal though. For me, I prefer them to be radiused in line with the fretboard. I played a Bass Collection bass with just a thin, flat piece of perspex for a ramp that just felt weird. If a ramp helps you to do what you want to do on a bass then great, and if you don't like it you can always remove it.

Be mindful that the house you play at hasn't been served a noise abatement order previously (though I doubt the occupant would tell you even if it had). If they have been served such notice, a further noisy party could see council officers turning up to issue fixed penalty notices and seizing noisemaking equipment, which could include the band amps and PA. Personally, I'd stick to licenced premises with proper insurance, and not just because house parties are anti-social.

1988 for me. Probably a Status Graphite Series II, an Alembic or maybe a Ken Smith at a push! Edit: I did used to own an 87 or 88 Series II, as well as two 1989 Kubicki Ex Factors. Close enough!

The 'Extraction' band of Greg Howe, Dennis Chambers and Victor Wooten was fantastic. The album they put out was brilliant. A shame they only made one, and the name 'Extraction' was an in-joke as to how difficult it was to make (see also: cover art of someone having teeth pulled out). It came from an era of great fusion trio records, but the likes of GHS and CAB did three and two records respectively.

FWIW, I've read similar criticism on Talkbass. That is, a Joe Zon-esque penchant for delays but coupled with a rather abrasive personality. I gather Jerzy has an administrator working at his shop to manage e-mail inquiries and the website, along with anything else that isn't carving wood and winding pickups. It seems to have been a good move for the company even if communication is slow because neither Jerzy nor his employee are native English speakers and stuff often can only be answered by Jerzy. There seems to be a theme amongst the criticism that Jerzy has an inflated opinion of himself and it would appear that a few customers have been put off by that.

Funnily enough, I bought a Cort Rithimic from Neil, which is Jeff Berlin's signature model. I didn't realise Neil had played with the Bruford band!

It's a good channel. I found it when I was looking for Jeff Berlin videos. There is a good Studio Jams clip of him playing Bill Bruford's 5G with some other guys. It's a great clip. I like the fact the channel leans towards jazz and fusion as it makes for an interesting listen. The fact you often see the players talking about the arrangement and how they're going to approach a song also provides interesting context.

Some of those estimates seem very low.

[quote name='Dazed' timestamp='1493057260' post='3285273'] Animal Logic anyone? Stuart Copeland, Stanley Clarke and Deborah Holland. Late 80s if I remember. Just well crafted pop. Well I liked it [/quote] Two albums and that was it. Deborah Holland didn't really dig the touring and performing aspects of the band.

Sounds good. Neil is a good lad and it sounds like an entertaining evening. I'd love to go.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1493128298' post='3285851'] Have always wondered about people buying a house next to a known source of noise and then complaining. In 80's my local pub / venue sold off flats above the pub. Low and behold the people that bought one of them complained of the noise from the bands. Didn't help that one of the couple was in the police and knew his rights. No idea how they got around it or whether the couple just moved but al of a sudden it was ok again. Have to say if i would never buy a flat above any bar / pub / venue as there will always be noise during busy nights. Dave [/quote] I'd be surprised if this bloke was actually in the police. He might have worked for them but not been a police officer. They have very strict rules about residing on licensed premises, for whatever reason, it's just not allowed. A girl I know in the police wanted to move with her husband (a landlord himself) into a flat that was part of the title of the pub. It wasn't physically part of the pub, it was actually in a courtyard round the corner and was simply a small bedsit. No trade went on at all there and you'd never know it was part of the pub. She put in to live there, thinking it'd be okay as it wasn't physically connected to the pub. She was refused the move because it was on the deeds and rules is rules. That went for unafilliated flats that were above pubs too, but those rules wouldn't apply to police staff. Anyways... I find the culture of the NIMBY rather distasteful, particularly when someone is moving to an area and taking issue with the established landscape there. I can see why you might not want a football stadium being built next to your house and I wouldn't chastise a reasonable objection there, but to move to an area and start shutting things down is just insulting and moronic. I find the noise limits at UK racetracks to be complete nonsense. Barely a decatted car can get round without being flagged for noise now that they're no longer turning blind eyes to people lifting off past the noise sensors. TVR's driving round with slip-on silencers and motorbikes with bungs in the exhausts. It's stupid - my road bike has an exhaust so loud it wouldn't even pass a static noise test on a UK circuit, yet it's road legal, just about. I display a little consideration in my home village when I'm riding in or out, of course. The restrictions on the UK circuits are down to NIMBYs, many who moved in knowing their neighbour was a full time track.

A drummer really has to know 'Mr. Brightside' to avoid making an arse of it because it's such a well known tune. Everyone screams when the guitar plays the opening bars but it's driven by the drummer really working the hi-hat and snare. It needs to be played fast and clean. The drummer doesn't need to be Simon Phillips but he will need to know the parts well to keep the rest of the band in check. For a relatively simple song, it's not really one I'd want to wing.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1493111031' post='3285609'] Some of their celebrity success stories are a bit iffy. Would be interesting to know how genuine some of the claims of celebrity alumni are. [/quote] What are their claims? That they secretly taught pro players a few tricks?

As mentioned, your reading will need to be absolutely spot on. Even moreso than if you thought if yourself as a reasonable session reader, as the MD will expect perfection at the first pass and for the audience to hear a flawless performance. The music will be dreadful and the audiences often far from discerning but you'll have to perform the parts well. It tends to be a gig given to known faces hence well regarded theatre bassists are often very busy despite not being household names. I believe the Basschat user OutToPlayJazz is active in that scene. Edit: I've just realised he hasn't logged in to the forum in five years!

Every player has their way of working something out. I find it to be a really great way of getting to know the fretboard by ear. I usually start with the root note. Find the first or second note in a line and work from there. I use my ear and listen for chord tonality, so I can check the nearby chord tones and then start working on any 'outside' notes once I've been through the obvious stuff. It's not much help for Mario stuff as it's written on keys, but a lot of bass stuff is played with the next note in easy reach of the last. I really think that singing a part can help you to make sense of it. Any tricky parts, just sing them back to yourself. This will quickly get you on track.

[quote name='Bass Culture' timestamp='1492954248' post='3284327'] If it was the blue one, Chris, I think I may have sold it to you. The bass above is a much more reasonable - lighter, in fact, than I thought it was going to turn out. I think Mike's down-sized his bodies a bit recently. [/quote] It was indeed. I can't remember what the body wood was, possibly maple. It was something heavy, certainly, but the lightweight neck probably made it feel heavier than it was. I didn't keep that bass all that long but I certainly wish I had kept it a bit longer.