The Last Bass Outpost

You mean Sauerbraten makes for better and more enduring cunnilingus?

I have to digest this.

Sauerbraten is largely undigestible, especially when it has the proper dumplings on the side, which are made from used kitchen sponges. Legend has it that a few years back, somebody threw a batch of them into Lake Mead...

Who's the dude on the left? 

Even though it's just a photo, I can almost hear the shitty tone. At least his mouth is closed so I don't have to imagine his voice.

Even in a still picture, he's playing out of key.

I have a hard time getting excited about this. First of all, Fender was never the standard bearer for bass amplification. As noted above, many found their voice as guitar amps. That aside, you can buy a clean SF Bassman for around $1k or so - a Traynor YBA-1 (or 1A) or Ampeg V2 for probably less. Finally, Ampeg is already doing the PF-20T and PF50T for the low-wattage and studio crowd. As for the elusive "midrange distortion", you can get that out of a pedal for under $100. Seems like the only people who MIGHT drop $2200 on this are U2 or Adam Clayton freaks.

This the P I lust over. I could do maple or rosewood fingerboard and be just as happy.

So then, either Dee Dee or Sid.

Since you don't have to pop the octave (a lot of slapping involves octaves, but not all prominent octave bass lines are slapped or popped), you can just refer to it as octave playing or octave patterns. Everybody will know what you mean.





For a while, it was referred to as "disco bass" in German musician circles, but that is too limiting a term though its use in 70ies disco, funk and soul music was widespread. Of which "Miss You" was of course a prime example.

But there are enough other uses.





Always loved Glover's subtle octaves in the coda of Smoke On The Water (at 05:00), but the verses are full of his octave playing too.



Blackmore would do the same thing, never a passionate rhythm guitarist, his default playing style instead of chords was often just the root with the octave on the back beat.

I'll see your Blackmore connection and raise you... Gene! (well, 'twas actually Paul Stanley on the album, so he gets credit for the part)

is a 60's bird more in my price range than a bicentennial?* are they the holy grail of T-birds?

The holy grail of T-Birds means different things to different people. For me, it's Uwe's "BuchholzBird", but I digress. A 60s reverse body is certainly the most valuable, all else being equal, but when I played one after having my Bicentennial for a few years, it was anticlimactic. What Mark said above about Bicentennials and amplifiers is true to some extent. Mine doesn't sound its best unless its connected to an old tube amp and turned up loud.

You're looking at north of $4k for a 70s model, depending on color and condition. Honestly, if you want to play it without worrying, you're better off grabbing an Epi Vintage Pro (or whatever they're calling it this week).