The Last Bass Outpost

I'd sell it as is and reap the rewards before I'd ever make it into a bass.

Ditto. That's a piece of history - leave it alone.

While I can understand the label "Heartland Rock" ...... a few points: a) The Killers have NOTHING to do with this style of music. They are so completely far removed from this that I'm Gob-smacked they're even mentioned. Not to say I dislike their material - quite the contrary - but I'd say they fall more into an 80's Brit Pop Revival style, b) "Heartland Rock" does not refer to a geographic region - it's a genre. Where you're located or originate from has NOTHING to do with it. Funny - while I was reading this thread I thought "Whoa! Where's mention of Steve Earle? Of Southside Johnny? CCR? Joe Ely?" ..... then I read the Wikipedia entry.  

You can call it Alt-Country, Blue-Collar Rock, Working-man's Rock ..... Heartland Rock ..... whatever you want. It appeals to the average Joe, harkens back to guitar/piano/sax-driven rock from the late 60's and 70's and draws on 50's Rock, Blues and Country at it's core. It's the complete opposite of the commercial dance-pop band-in-a-can crap on the airwaves today. A heavy emphasis on well-crafted songs, the genre - whatever it's referred to as - has spawned many fine songwriters. Definitely up my alley, I've found that many died-in-the-wool blues guitarists and bassists have gravitated to this genre as it's still very roots-based but really is a melting pot of styles and has a real "open-ness" to it.

A few others deserving of mention (IMO) are John Hiatt, Los Lobos (although def more Tex-Mex), Sheryl Crow, The Blasters, The Band, Delbert McClinton, even Wilco to a degree. In Ottawa, there's a whole movement with at least 20 bands playing some variation of this style of music and yearly festivals to support it all, not to mention all the Blues and Roots bands in town. It's been this way for literally years, too. Really a great scene that nurtures this style. But ..... it's nothing new - someone's just given it a new name.

Great, great basses - probably the best Squier has made since their original batch back in 81/82(?). I've had the 50's Precision and the 70's Jazz in the recent past and now have the Fiesta Red Precision Vibe. I actually prefer it to my MIA P. Get one.

It's really the fault of the organizers.

Absolutely. No way Robert Plant had a hand in any of that. His management team had an asking price, the fesitval agreed to it and then to recoup their financial outlay, came up with that ridiculous scheme to sell tickets and block off real estate for a VIP area. My big objection is why set up the front of house like that so far in advance of Robert Plant's appearance? If the rest of the fesitival was free, why not set up the VIP area just for the one show? Bizarre ...... but then, I don't pretend to understand what goes through these festival organizers minds.

Yeah, I figured Rob would be all over this - I think we were seperated at birth with regards to musical tastes.   

Define "modern". If you're comparing a Duck Dunn-esque tone to that of, say, the bassist for No Doubt - sure, that's a helluva contrast both in terms of tone and style. Or Maca to Fieldy from Korn, same thing. Drenched in effects, definitely not your Precision-through-a-B15-tone, that's for sure. It really depends on what you call traditional and what you call modern. To me, you do not necessarily have a "modern bass sound" just because you play a 5-string, use rounds or play a Musicman, all of which have been around for 30+ years.

I believe that really modern bass sounds reside (largely) outside of the rock and roll genre (there are, of course, some exceptions). Let's face it, most mainstream rock today still has a driving, round, big 'n fat bass sound. Some of the bass tones have less mid, some are a little more "zingy" but generally, it's a big bottom meant as a foundation for the band. Not alot of room for experimentation, in my opinion. If you listen to some of the Fusion, Acid-Jazz, R&B or cross-over genre releases over the last 20 years, however, it's a whole other ballgame. Some examples - Mark King of Level 42, John Pattitucci with Chick Corea, Victor Wooten from the Flecktones, Flea from RHCP, Marcus Miller, Les Claypool of Primus, Tony Levin, Oteil Burbridge from the Allman Bros., Billy Sheehan, Ben Richardson from Grady, Norwood Fisher, Stuart Zender from Jamiroquai, Alain Caron from UZEB, Tony Hall from the Neville Brothers ...... the list goes on and on.

What I see in common with many of these players is boutique basses, high-end amplification, a myriad of effects and - most importantly - the willingness to experiment with it all - which is something that's been lost over the last several years, sadly. I love the fact that Flea - for all his faults (and he has many) - puts the bass up front and centre and does alot of experimentation. That's not to say I like his tone - quite the contrary - but at least he makes an attempt. I'm very much of a mind that if the music calls for it, the bassist should be able to step out and shine using whatever tools are available. John Entwistle certainly did it as did Stanley Clarke and Jaco.

I'll refrain from sharing my opinion on the state of the mainstream music scene today. Suffice it to say, it just doesn't seem condusive to achieving a "modern" bass sound most of the time. As much as I love old-school styles (I'm currently playing in a Country band and a Classic-Rock cover band), I gravitate towards bands/artists that break down the barriers and allow for more expression - in whatever style of music. It's these types of bands that help to evolve and move the music forward and it's these types of bands where you'll find what you're looking for.

.... and let's not forget Canada's contribution to cuisine - "Poutine", which has become a Canadian cultural icon and is essentially a heart-attack in bowl (FREAKIN' yummy though):

http://www.members.shaw.ca/kcic1/poutine.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine

Really funny bit at the bottom of the Wikipedia entry under "Poutine in politics" where they talk about This Hour and the Rick Mercer Report (a spin off).

....... don't even get me started on Beaver Tails.