Musicman bass on BBC Radio 2 - mine!

[GreyDad]

Hi Guys, Gals and Bongoloids!

I've been AWOL for a while so humbly offer my apologies (I've taken a bit of an electric bass sabbatical this past 6 months and learnt a bit of double-bass but shhh! don't tell BP)

However in a bit shameless self-promotion I thought I'd let you know I got to play live on BBC Radio 2 last Saturday on Patrick Kielty's show, as a song I wrote and recorded with my old band won a little light-hearted competition they were running. They picked an original song a week over 9 weeks and the one that lasted longest before 2 of the 3 judges shouted "stop" won (sophisticated eh?) Anyway the prize was to play live in the studio on Sat 25th Sept 2010. My wife nagged me to send something in so I did (the day before the competition ended) and, well, it won! A week later I'm in the Radio 2 studios like a kid in a sweet shop ready to play in front of several million radio listeners

The song is called "Say What You Want" and it was actually written and recorded 9 years ago in 2001. My band was called Men In Spex and with a bit of a hasty line-up alteration we were able to get back together and play with about 6 days notice!!

Now the Big Question is, of course, which Musicman bass did I take to play? Was it the original Stingray 4H 3EQ in Teal with the maple neck? Was it the fabulous Bongo 4H? Was it the sublime Stingray 5HH?

Well, whichever it was it would go through the trusty Ashdown amp so watch the vid and find out:

Men In Spex "Say What You Want" live on BBC Radio 2

This was a real hoot, me and the band are still on a high over it, never done anything on this scale before. The BBC Radio 2 staff and Patrick himself were wonderful, we had a fantastic time there. Thanks to them and of course to BP and everyone at EBMM for a fantastic bass to play on!

For anyone in the UK the show (the last in the series) is still available to hear again online if you really want to

Cheers everyone!

Neil

 

[lowliferumble]

Nicely done !!! You must be flyin' high after that !!! I can see how you won, the tune just pulls you in especially at the chorus. I like the bass tone, fat , solid and very punchy!

 

[drTStingray]

Fantastic

Stingray and Ashdown rocks eh? Seriously that sounds great and glad you had success - I think I actually heard that on the car radio as they kept it going for ages.

Good to see you back again.

(PS I got a Bongo now as well )

 

[fly]

dude...........nicely freakin' done..........congrats.

 

[GreyDad]

Nicely done !!! You must be flyin' high after that !!! I can see how you won, the tune just pulls you in especially at the chorus. I like the bass tone, fat , solid and very punchy!

Thanks! All credit to the BBC sound guys, they took a dry feed through a DI and then put a posh mic in front of the cab and mixed the two. Sounds like they compressed it a bit as well but it's a lovely growly tone

That Stingray has been lying in a case in the bottom of a locker in a boat in America for 3 and a half years (long story...) and I only got her back about 4 weeks ago. I took her out, new battery and she played straight out of the case! She's my beauty, I recorded our CD with her and it's great to be re-united again.

 

[GreyDad]

Fantastic

Stingray and Ashdown rocks eh? Seriously that sounds great and glad you had success - I think I actually heard that on the car radio as they kept it going for ages.

Good to see you back again.

(PS I got a Bongo now as well )

Cheers mate, good to hear from you too! We must meet up sometime

Actually, any Musicman bass and an Ashdown sounds great, you should hear my 5HH through it, wow.

I'm really really stoked about that radio gig though, I'm still floating around wondering what to do next Patrick was great, he was plugging us all the way through the show. His bounding around to us on the video is priceless

Jason Donovan was in the studio as well, he was just behind the glass wall when we did a rehearsal and we had him bopping around pretty well too He was very cool and very friendly, all credit to him.

 

[GreyDad]

PS Well done on the Bongo! And a 5HH too! That's got to be my favourite. When I'm a rich and famous bassist I'll get one of those too

 

[GreyDad]

dude...........nicely freakin' done..........congrats.

Thanks!

 

[MattOfSweden]

Great sounding Stingray and awesome story, thanks for sharing!
Really like the song as well.

 

[GreyDad]

Thanks Matt!

The song is a little homage to my late teenage years between about 16 and 20 years old. I grew up in Montreal during my teens (family emigrated there from the UK) and it's about ending high school and having big ideas about going out into the world and doing stuff, in particular about wanting to be some sort of rock god This is when I first picked up a bass guitar and started to learn to play.

The chorus, though, is about the true teenage male obsession, chasing girls and trying to, well, ravish them I got tripped up by this though, I met the girl and I'm still with her! The later part of the song is about our first date - any Montrealers on the forum may recognise the references to "cruising down St Catherines on a Saturday night", "dinner and a dance and a drink on Peel" (actually, it was at the Kon-Tiki, anyone remember that? is it still there?) and "high up on the Mountain see the downtown lights, chillin' in the heat of lazy Montreal nights". OK, not the best lyrics but I do what I can I mention CHOM in there too, I listened to it all the time in the 70's, all the heavy rock bands where on there and lots of bands from the UK. Maybe I should send the song to them by way of thanks?

It was my wife that pushed me to send an entry in, I wasn't going to bother. By another strange coincidence I posted it to the show on the 30th anniversary of that first date I wrote about in the song!

I'm rambling. Sorry guys, my age is starting to show...

 

[lowliferumble]

Your rambling just made the story into an EPIC !!!! That is beyond cool! I think you must be living good and doing right by every one around you , because karma has definitely smiled at you!!!! Enjoy this , seems like you have earned it !!!

 

[GreyDad]

Yeah, and I was laid off from work on the Friday, then the song was played on Saturday and won the competition! How cool is that!

(By the way, I'm ok about it, it was a sort of mutually agreed separation because I want to do something different anyway).

So I'm really happy - my wife says it's karma too, it must all mean something eventually

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

CHOM is still playing the same songs they did in the 70's! There's not an hour or two that passes without them playing either Zeppelin or Neil Young!

Fun song!

 

[GreyDad]

LOL! Yeah, I thought so, I've been back there at various times over the years either on business or visiting friends and family and I always tune in for old times sake and they're still playing the stuff I listened to as a teenager!

 

[drTStingray]

When I'm a rich and famous bassist I'll get one of those too

I'm neither lol - just addicted to MM basses

I'll PM you later in the week - PS sorry to hear about your job

 

[Jim_F]

Nice one - congrats

 

[GreyDad]

I'm neither lol - just addicted to MM basses

And that make you different somehow?

I'll PM you later in the week - PS sorry to hear about your job

Cool, I'll look out for that.

I'm ok for quite a few months so I'm just stepping back, chilling out and deciding what I want to do next. It won't be the same as I've been doing I know that, time for a change.

 

[TheAntMan]

Waaayyyy Cooool!!!!

Welcome back

Awesome story and loved that song. Had me bopping in my chair That bass sounded great and your playing was spot on! Great fun to watch The Men in Spex

I always say life is a strange ride. Things do happen for a reason. You have to look at things as opportunities - of course they will come with come challenges along the way to keep it interesting!

This is such a great inspiration to realize you have to just "Go for it!" (Surest way to fail is not to try). Glad your wife got you to go for it. We all benefit from the story, the lesson and the fun music. Thank you

--Ant

 

[jlepre]

Neil,

Welcome back! I was thoroughly entertained, and really impressed with the song and sound! That Ray really shined! What cab were you using?

 

[GreyDad]

Thanks guys.

I just called the BBC sound engineer back and had a chat with him about it. We had the 'Ray going through a DI box which split into a direct signal to the desk and another into the amp. So far so pretty normal.

The amp is my Ashdown EVO 500 with an Ashdown 1x15 cab, which was then mic'd and that taken to the desk as well. I just looked at the amp now and I had quite a lot of input gain and the pre-amp was set so that it was nearly all valve (tube!) which warms the sound up. The amp EQ was flat, but I pushed the bass and mids a bit on the Ray and cut the treble slightly (I use light-ish gauge strings on the Ray 4 for doing bends and stuff and it has an amazingly low action so it can get a bit clanky and rattly if I get excited ).

What Jamie the engineer said was that he used mostly the mic signal and mix in some DI, although not too much. He used a bit of compression, again not a lot, but doesn't think he did much else EQ wise. So what you hear is mostly the tone of the Ray through a slightly overdriven tube pre-amp into the main amp and speaker. He did use a rather fine looking microphone, an old D12 which I think is from AKG and seems to be used for kick drums and basses.

I must admit I like the sound too, felt good when we were playing - can you tell?

Hope that helps!

Neil