The Last Bass Outpost

It might only be something as banal as changing the width or the length of the strap. And I dare not say it, but TBirds are not the most ergonomic creation on earth, tough it's difficult imagining you of all people playing anything else.

Do consider changing to ballerinas before giving up performing!

I was impressed with the shorter heels!

Tom, a man of great prudence, has decided to banish all undue excitement from his life. 

He only found his voice and place in the mix within DP with the Ric.

Curiously, when Glenn (a committed Fender player with Trapeze) recorded Burn at the recommendation of Ritchie (who liked Roger's Ric and played it frequently for fun) that didn't work at all. For lack of significant mids, Glenn's bass playing on Burn is sonically hard to catch (and no remix could correct that so far), it has sub-lows (more than Roger actually) and zingy presence, but no mids to speak of and less overdrive (though Glenn by nature digs in harder when playing than Roger and these days even prefers a very overdriven to already distorted sound). People always lament "Burn needs more bass in the mix!", but, no, it doesn't, it needs more mids in the bass signal.

It might have something to do with Glenn playing Hiwatts while Roger played Marshall guitar amps (and Martin Birch's engineering methods were to Glenn as new as Glenn's bass playing was to Martin, + the bass probably sounded great and mighty over the studio monitors of the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit too).The Ric didn't last long with Glenn, already halfway on the Burn tour he started playing Fender P again and both Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band are devoid of Rickenbacker playing. So is Made In Europe (the pics on the cover are from previous tours before he ditched the 4001).

For a while, Roger would dig out his 4001 in the Morse era of DP for encores or when playing "dun-dun-duuuhhhn", but he stopped doing that as well a while ago. He still has it though (after re-purchase).

Mark, you eternal Thünderqueen, long may you reign on stage - and if it is in flip-flops or Birkis (do they offer them in a reptile skin look?)!

I hear you, but the reality is that Roger never really wanted that sound, it was a product of circumstance and the absence of overdrive-free amplification, he always looked for something cleaner thinking that Blackmore’s and Lord’s respective signals were already distorted/overdriven enough. These days he’s simply a devout active bass player hence the Vigiers which he prefers in live settings. He also records with his Stingray and even Bob Ezrin’s sacred P-Bass which was already employed during the recording of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and reputedly hasn’t seen a string change since because Ezrin fears it might lose its trademark sound.

But that Ric sound Roger had on Machine Head, Made In Japan and Who Do We Think We Are was indeed great  and the reason why I prefer these albums sonically over In Rock (Fender P) and Fireball (Fender Mustang).

The small dinosaurs died first (mom and pop stores), but the larger ones followed in due course.

Not forgotten by some …

”Just heard about the passing of the wonderful Duane Eddy who was my first guitar idol with songs like Rabble Rouser, Shazam, Some Kind Of Earthquake. I would always rush out and buy his long playing records. My favorite all time tune from him was The Lonely One.

He was a brilliant guitarist in his own right. He was the first guitar player with that deep bass sound which I loved. Unfortunately, I never saw him live, although I tried to see him playing on a couple of occasions. One particular time, when I was 12, I went to London airport to meet him. I sat there for hours waiting, so I could get a glimpse of him. After 2-3 hours, I asked the ground staff what time his plane would be in as it was obviously delayed. They told me his plane actually came in early and I missed him. That was my first of many futile attempts to see him. But I would play his music night and day.

He was very kind to me last year, because I had missed him on so many occasions, he sent me a Gretsch Guitar as a present for Christmas. I couldn’t believe it.

He will always be my number one inspiration from the time I took up the guitar until now. He was so unique in his playing.

The world has lost a great guitar player. A truly unique guitar player.

Our hearts are with Deed and his family.”

Credited to an unknown & irrelevant Brit former ‘stadium rock’ guitarist and now Long Island resident with later in life a penchant for tights - before I get accused again of letting all threads end (or begin!) in the inevitable!


RIPnRoll for the man who invented platform crowd surfing long before KISS …

I like McBride better than Morse.

Is little Ian okay? Looks a bit stiff in the vid. Barely touching the skins of the drums

Little Ian meanwhile does what his last name says: He’s pacing himself for the rigors of the road. There is no drum solo anymore and he himself says that luckily his technique allows him to play loudly without requiring too much strength, otherwise he’d run into issues today he says. He keeps fit via playing drums with Purple tribute bands whenever he can (and Purple are not on tour).