Lemmy and Hendrix
both the perfect singers for their style, both excellent musicians at the same time and neither of them an embarrassing uncool knob. A million, million miles away from Dickinson's excruciating personality.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:38, 3 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I think the thing is
Dickinson perfectly suits their music, which is a technically good, yet kind of tongue-in-cheek type of thing.

and if you don't like that, you won't like him.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:40, Reply)

Lemmy is a bass player and is therefore not a good musician :p

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:42, Reply)

don't let Mr Crow hear you say that

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:45, Reply)

TOO LATE.
An accomplished bass guitarist (i.e., not Sting) is the anchorpoint for the band's rhythm section, and the more modest counterpart to the show-off on lead guitar.

Vipros is going to post that cartoon now, isn't he?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:53, Reply)

I might

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:53, Reply)

Go for it
You can't dent my pride now: I had a truly awesome spell on bass at a blues jam in Soho last night.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:56, Reply)

can't be arsed
also, I love playing bass, especially jamming crazy stuff.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:57, Reply)

Finally! Got it in writing
I always suspected you really wanted to trade in that gorgeous Strat for a Fender Precision...
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:00, Reply)

as if
I've got a Stingray copy, and if I got an expensive bass it'd be a Stingray. Bass player in my band has a gorgeous purple Stingray. A snip at £1600
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:03, Reply)

I've never had the pleasure of playing one, I must confess
I've always been put off by the position of the pickup though: I've never really taken to bridge-position pickups on basses. However this is doubtless a bias from years of playing a Precision copy, and I know you can get variants with a 2nd pickup. Probably shouldn't knock it until I've tried it.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:09, Reply)

they are a really nice shape
and the necks are very nice.

I can't say I have enough experience on the bass to have considered pickup position
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:10, Reply)

My other bass
has neck and bridge pickups. I guess it depends what sound you're after, but I've found that for all the combinations of sounds it produces, the only worthwhile one is the neck pickup alone. Though it does have a much smaller body and neck profile than a Precision or a Stringray, so that might have something to do with it.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:16, Reply)

pretty sure one of my mates had the 5 string equivalent of that
nice bass to play
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:22, Reply)

They are a delight in that respect
Really easy to get your hands around. Still, every band I've played with has said they preferred the sound of the Precision to the Aria. Again, maybe it's just down to playing style, but the Aria just doesn't have quite the same clout to it. Still lovely to play though...
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:30, Reply)

I think
the fundamental divide here Monty is that you need some level of 'cool' in a standardly defined sense from your rock icons, whereas I don't as such. And while I'm hardly an authority on Hendrix apart from his music I think he's a bit of a twat (unsure what tense to use there.)
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:44, Reply)

I cannot actually believe I'm reading this.
Hendrix (upon whom I really am something of an authority) had some weaknesses - he found it hard to say no to people and was easily pushed around, but I challenge you to find a single account of a contemporary of his saying anything other than that he was a really, really nice, shy, pleasant man.

He also had more talent in his little toe than pretty much any other musician that I'm aware of. Maybe Miles Davis was as able, but I know nothing of him or his work, I confess.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:47, Reply)

But Monty
it's personal opinion. What I've read (obviously I'm too young to have seen him) and what I've heard simply strikes no chords.
I think that was a bad pun, but anyhow the point stands. My grounds for rejecting Hendrix as a personal icon (though obviously musically brilliant) are personal ones.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:52, Reply)

It's a personal opinion, but it's one
I share with every single person who has ever had anything to say about the man.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:59, Reply)

I'm thinking about it
and I can't recall ever hearing anyone say anything about his personality (other than you of course)

this may shock you Monty, but while I obviously have an appreciation of how awesome he was, aside from a select few, I don't really care to listen to his stuff.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:00, Reply)

^
Pretty much this. Sorry Monty but being in complete agreement with everyone else simply isn't cool remember ;)
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:02, Reply)

That's a daft remark.
I've based my opinions on years of researching contemporary accounts, you've classed him as a 'twat' based on, it seems, nothing at all.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:13, Reply)

I don't
like him enough to do research into him. I don't think anything about him seemed especially likable or decent or warranting further enquiry into someone whose music while as I said brilliant, leaves me emotionally cold and un-connected with it
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:16, Reply)

As a guitarist I'm really surprised to hear you say that.
I could watch him perform or listen to his records all day long. To my ears his work creates almost a year 0 for rock, like years BC or AD. The studio innovation and stylistic variety in his output, not to mention the technical ability simply amazes me.

Each to their own, of course. When my father played me Hendrix when I was about 7 or 8 I was floored. No-one since has affected me anywhere near as much.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:12, Reply)

it's not that I don't like it, or appreciate how good it is
and there are a number of his songs that I really really love.

I think it is probably the case that I don't know enough of his stuff, and the ones I do know are the obvious ones which get overplayed.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:14, Reply)

I regard 'Driving South'
on the BBC sessions LP to be the best guitar playing, by anyone, ever.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:16, Reply)

I will check it out then
I assume you've heard the recent album. I've heard a few bits, and have to say that the version of Sunshine of your love is fucking awful.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:20, Reply)

I'd like to proffer
'St Pancras' by Quintessence as a strong contender for that title. For all the daft mystic chanting, Alan Mostert did play some superb lead guitar. But that recording of 'Driving South' is excellent - is that BBC session worth having on the whole?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:27, Reply)

brace yourself

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:48, Reply)