The Last Bass Outpost

Batio’s career is hilariously lacking any pointe or tastefulness.

https://youtu.be/aGf5NxLQoEo?si=DKxa496J8AEUwz3o

The 1997 version sounds like they chucked compression and smiley-face EQs on everything. The Dweezil version sounds more honest, somehow.

It reminds me of the handful of prog albums (mostly Gentle Giant) I own that Steve Wilson remixed and remastered. They are the old albums, but on a good day! Still plenty of dynamics and headroom, but instrument separation is better and the overall balance of the instruments is better.

The worst remix/remastering I've heard is the version of Obscured by Clouds slung into the Pink Floyd 'Early Years' box set. I like the original album as it is a bit of grace under pressure; recorded quickly as a soundtrack to a weird art house movie. It is somewhere between archaic space rock Floyd and a tough first draft of Dark Side. For the remix, David Gilmour added way to much of that slushy, modulated and compressed latter-day Floyd sound. Too glossy, too warm and bloated in the mids. They also did something ugly to the soundtrack to Live at Pompeii in the same box set. It is like they discovered Spatial Audio plugins like Izotope and set them all to 100%, matched with a brittle EQ that causes ear fatigue. All to try and 'rectify' something recorded on a mobile recording setup in 1971 using grimy European electricity, spliced cables, ground hums and crackles.

Slash really has enjoyed a long, comfortable tail on his career! How many albums of pointless covers and awkward collaborations has he done?

Yup, that worked fairly well 30+ years ago and Alan might have been interpreted as being a bit more complimentary. Or......?? I wonder what a bald, wild, creek living beaver looks like? Hmm, well maybe something like this:

Jesus! I know we are a bit pale and pasty in Scotland and all!

For the record, my wife was fully clothed!

Alan has a track record of being misunderstood notwithstanding his best intentions that permeate all his communication, be it oral or in writing. Tragic.

I shall savour this lingering ambiguity.

It's more about the pickups than body construction. Jingle-jangly single coils are good for retro and indie, heavier genres call for humbuckers.

Lennon's 325 looked fantastic but it can't hold a candle to George's Gretsch tone.

Lennon's woody, zero-sustain and badly intonated 325 is like the real rhythm keeper on those early Beatles cuts! It kept right out the way of George's lead lines and drove the songs along. Not a tone I would want to be getting, but quite recognisable.

For me the lack of a hugely influential bass player associated with a 4005 is a bonus. I don't like looking like a fanboy.

Mani from the Stone Roses is the lone bassist I can think of who used one. Even then, I can't think of a specific identifiable 4005 tone jumping out their records. He uses Jack Casady basses these days.

I find it a bit crushing that this sort of tech could be used for good, but it always gets used for the shittiest purposes. There is so much hype around AI, and where it could be used improve services, products etc.