All Activity

Swingin' - Tom Petty

The older I get, the more I see bass as a percussion instrument that has pitch. I went to a gig last night and all I could think was "Bassist! Calm down and lay it down!!! No one wants to hear your pentatonic noodlings". "And while you are at it, tune the instrument".

Playing with these "Real Books" is an excellent way to learn the songs instead of using a score, it's what I've been doing for so many years. A bit of an accident (in fact 5, if you look at the key 🤦🏻 ) as it was requested by my wife... I'm learning a non Christmas tune bearing a Christmas title and I love it. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryūichi Sakamoto aka Forbidden Colours by David Sylvian. In fact, I was a bit fed up by classical musical scores these days, especially Moonlight Sonata, and my wife said, you could try to play Forbidden Colours. Being a David Sylvan fan, I said why not, so listened to the last piano solo instrumental version available on YouTube with Ryūichi Sakamoto himself playing the piano (one year before he died, his playing was so fluid and emotional), bought the official score from the official website and ... I'm having so much fun. Even my tutor was delighted by the tortured Japanese sounding chords and great melody (melodies in fact) that she's also learning it. Sorry for derailing your thread...

Just put a new 9V in and it works perfectly. I will look under the pickguard but am guessing that this is the original preamp. It sounds great as passive or active. The bass needs a setup, a little cleaning and the output jack needs its solder to be touched up as its a bit shorting when the cable is moved in it. Be back to post gut shots later.

The bass just came in and its a total Time Capsule! It has the original Eveready battery in it from the early 80s...like the Bunny...still going! Union Carbide, Cleveland Ohio. They sold the brand in 1986. The battery compartment and screws appeared to be untouched. The original foam was covering the battery. The battery measured at 5.4 volts. Not bad for 43 years old! The action on the bass is very high. It has round wounds. All of the screws appear to be untouched. The active output was very weak and the tone controls did not work. They do work on the passive side and it sounds good. I am going to continue to look in to that and gently examine the electronics. Here are photos of the unboxing. This bass has not been played much and probably was in someones closet for many years. It could use maybe a bit of polishing. Frets are close to perfect. No marks or gashes on it anywhere.

A large box was delivered today... and yes it contains a musical instrument. And yes, it is at the low end of the spectrum, but it's not a bass (I hav eplenty of those already). I started a new instrument in September (because I don't have enough already...). I already play tenor viol (and bass but I sold mine a while ago); cello; sax (mostly tenor and baritone, but I have sop and alto as well); electric bass; and organ. Until now, I have not attempted to play a brass instrument. So, I started on euphonium with a local brass band. Brass bands are really good and they generally have instruments you can borrow on a long term basis. The range of a euphonium is similar to cello and baritone sax. I've been playing on a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial, which dates to 1974 according to its serial number.

For me, I think of rhythm and good note choice as one. As a Bass player, laying down the foundation of the chords and changes is as equally as important as rhythm. They go hand in hand as a Bassist. But then again, we are all different and approach it in different ways.

Sultan of swing. Dire straights

Milkshake - Kelis

Just come off stage with Stray at Strings on The Isle of Wight. We’re supporting British Lion. It’s the fourth night of the tour - we had a rest day yesterday. Last week we played Bradford, Manchester and Nuneaton. To aid quick changeovers I’d decided to di straight from my Stomp XL and Junction DI into the desk, use in ears and rely on monitors for the rest of the guys. The rest of the band hated it, I wasn’t keen either, despite decent monitors (BL travel with their own monitors.) So on Thursday I asked Harry if I could use a couple of his cabs. He was fine with that so today we were in our bloody element. I only used one side - two Orange 4x12s - what a glorious sound. And to top it off The Man let me have a noodle on his new signature bass! Anyway we had a fabulous gig - waiting for them to finish now so we can load out!

Go Vest

From down under: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/167375511813

Lid Zeppelin

The Dorkness

A very different lesson this week. My teacher happen to have a copy of The Real Christmas Book on the piano when I arrived. In spite of the name, it was a Fake Book - one of those books beloved of jazz performers. Melody line, chords, bar lines, time signature, and nothing else. He suggested that I have a try (he knows that I know the chords, so, it wasn't totally cruel of him!) I spent a happy hour picking out the melody with my right hand, and working out how to play C^7 , D-b5#9, Ab-11 etc. And it sounded wonderful! I am now looking for the full Book- and other Fake Books too.

The Dankness

Charlie Parked

Fizzy Gillespie

Ah haaaaa

I had a WHUFC one. It had its own sound maple body. Massive difference in sound to alder or ash I prefer alder to ash. It's worth a listen.........................but too heavy for me now

I think I may have missed an update... Well, almost two weeks ago we got a singer! It's been a palaver to find one, we had some promising leads and some that wouldn't be up to scratch. I'm so glad we kept on putting a set together. The drummer and I got our heads together and each contacted singers we had been in bands with before. The drummer's contact had been wanting to do less and less many years ago and couldn't be persuaded back to it, a female singer I knew from trying to set up an 80s band in the past. I didn't hold out much hope but wanted to give her a go... Well, she has kept her hand in and sounded really good doing almost the whole 'set' with us. The band unanimously agreed to bring her onboard. Risky Business is in business! A proper rehearsal booked for Tuesday night where we can get our keys sorted for the songs and work on arrangements and get used to playing together. Hoping to get some low-key pub gigs booked for early next year, give us something to aim for.