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Bass players! Here's your annual Christmas present from https://tomreadbass.co.uk - 22 charts added to the site this evening, taking the total of FREE accurate bass transcriptions to 1720 - still the biggest open free resource of bass notation in the world! As it's Christmas, we'll start with the seasonal offerings: White Christmas - Elvis Presley https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_6243c71d69aa4d128705509498cd99d7.pdf Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_38854becd5bf4c24905d9e434cb651b7.pdf Winter Wonderland - Elvis Presley https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_6dc8e09c11bd49858fd0b69e9a901f62.pdf Winter Wonderland - Bing Crosby https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_4437e665820848208b5bc2e08de1cd0f.pdf White Christmas - Bing Crosby https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_dfc36dd8bd62491ead1d6358cc2b2ea9.pdf Now a bunch more Elvis stuff (I've been doing a lot of ETA gigs recently!) All Shook Up https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_3a3207939d954e929081fa447892bca8.pdf Kentucky Rain https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_6fbd32c4fd1c499cb1a07a688b3712a2.pdf My Babe https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_85c6337ffe864ead87525aa159d84269.pdf Polk Salad Annie https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_5bfa987d7d3e41aea362ecf6f8e28e4c.pdf Sweet Caroline https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_449985c4329646568b0927fd278e4d17.pdf Little Sister - Get Back https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_eaed59fb287b469cabac6a627460925a.pdf Trouble - My Babe https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_e5c27df377954eb69707bab7ac0645e2.pdf Some refurbished/enhanced Queen bass charts: Radio Ga Ga https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_7f6607cc6d7e4a9bbc78ff35e5cadfe6.pdf Crazy Little Thing Called Love https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_32a3f35a7bfa4c8298d15db87cf9c561.pdf Fat Bottomed Girls https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_5cb08e4407324ce6b9308be108fd1612.pdf Who Wants To Live Forever? https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_0839114bd5a44aa2bad0e80dca72be2a.pdf I Want to Break Free https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_8afcd6b0cce245c6bea00a6b204341fb.pdf One Vision (radio edit) https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_7f6607cc6d7e4a9bbc78ff35e5cadfe6.pdf One Vision (full version) https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_7985e4167a0941ada7655da583187c51.pdf And now the rest: Whipping Post - Allman Brothers Band https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_0f13d33573ca439d8c234ab1addab8d9.pdf More Than A Woman - Tavares https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_506d3fb07d4f4f51a6b5e9ac4b0ac4e1.pdf I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_923ac502a803420ebff1d63ea0aeeffb.pdf The Irish Rover - Pogues & Dubliners https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_bb833af75c7649ad8902a1c0b7943107.pdf Get Back - Beatles https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/_files/ugd/238d8f_2306b2bbcbee4e8ab6f3e009ff05ee3b.pdf Hope you enjoy using the charts, and please feel free to share the website with any bassists you know, or in any bass communities you are in. A very Merry Christmas from Tomreadbass Transcriptions!

Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil

Mr. Blue Sky - ELO

Thanks @Geek99 that's really helpful. I think, my thoughts are to play what I play as comfortably and as natural as what I do on a fretted 4. If I then find I use the B string for anything of any significance or as an extra dynamic then all good and well but the main aim is is play my 4 string bass lines just as competently on the 5 string.

There is a heck of a lot to unpack there. There are things I like in a bass that have no bearing on whether it's actually good or not. I'm partial to binding, lollipops, matching headstock and a slim neck with a smooth satin finish. I also like a sparkle paint job, but these things are irrelevant if I don't like playing it. You only have to look at some of the sale threads to realise that. I sat down with a bunch of new Fender Custom Shop basses the other day. I think I tried five in the end. The one I really liked the look of was the one I liked least in hand. The best one didn't have binding, lollipops or flashy paint, but wow! What a bass! Given your list of pro's and con's, there's compromises that need to be made unless you go the CS route. Here are 3 of the ones I tried.

Great work, I enjoyed that

I bought an Ibanez srx 5 and it was so wide that it was painful to play. I gave up on 5s then I bought a sire v7/5 which is very tightly spaced and it is almost capable of playing itself. my philosophy for 5 is this: 1. don’t try and use the b 2. if something can be played more easily using the B above fret 4 then do it. There are no prizes for making your life harder, suffering is not a virtue 3. avoid open strings by using the B - no open E, play across from B, fret 5 you have to know what you want from your 5 in order to be able to get its best value

Yes, with the OG preamp there are two trim pots behind those holes. I adjusted at them both - but they only affect the sound when the "slap switch" is activated, otherwise it goes through the three band EQ pots instead and ignores these settings. I twiddled at them to try to get volume parity between the two modes but they're not very intuitive and I realised pretty quickly that I just would leave the switch alone. Just not my thing at all. Even through the 3 band EQ instead of the slap switch mode, it was scooped as hell when the EQ was set flat. Whether it was the pickup or the EQ circuit I couldn't say, but I wasn't a fan of any of it, so I replaced the whole kit and kaboodle.

Just got mine too, waited 4 months which by all accounts is actually good … how do you find the Voicing switch, I can’t really hear any real difference between all three clicks can you?

Of the two, I'd have to take the HB (though I think the 'natural' version looks nicest, myself) purely because the nut width and board radius suit me much better. If it's a good example, though, you do seem to be getting a fair bit of bass for not a lot of cash. I've had a Harley Benton PJ5-HTR for a few years now, which I bought during a covid lockdown because it was cheap and I was bored! Whilst the one I received was rough out of the box and took some work on my part to get it playable, the bones of it are solid enough and I still use it.

I'm intrigued by these markings: I assume the holes were to adjust presets. Overall gain is obvious. The other could say 'shape depth', if so did someone have it adjusted for maximum scoop? Or have I grabbed the wrong end of the monkey?

Bullet In The Blue Sky - U2

I did this to both my Hohners and it makes tuning a breeze but at the cost of losing that long-term tuning stability. I have a plan to see if I can recess the knobs to restore the original appearance.

My take on 'elf on the shelf'... I sold my Orange Crush 25B this week and replaced it with this Elf 110 combo 😁

I've had my te1200 for a good few months now. A few gigs and lots of rehearsals. I love it. First time I've moved away from my matamp in about 8 years or so. Spades of power and proper hefty with the headroom, I pretty much set it flat with a small bass boost and haven't messed with the compressor as I have one on my board. I would recommend them to anyone.

Stock VVT for me. I've tried alternatives, including an active East pre', but only the stock set-up gives me the classic J bass sound - neck on full, bridge and tone backed off a smidge. Ymmv of course.

I decided it would be good to keep at least some of the stack-knob look by turning one volume/tone pair into master controls, and replacing the other with a rotary pickup selector or blender, using just the chromed volume knob. But can I hell get the volume knobs off? It feels like the screws have been tightened with one of those air tools that tyre fitters use. I have tried WD40 and heating the knob with a soldering iron, so far without success. The grub screws are slot-head types, and as I apply more torque the screwdriver blade starts to distort, or the blade cams out of the slot - you can only do that so many times before the screw is mullered. Any tips folks? And if you're wondering why I'm sat doing this on Christmas Eve, we've just had tea with the grandkids, and Mrs JapanAxe has sent me to my music room while she does some last-minute wrapping!

Interesting, P meets J meets S.

Love this

Where we play, each artiste has three songs. They are free to come back round at the end of the list. That makes the assumption that they aren't doing Freebird, Bohemian Rhapsody and Moby Dick (live version). This is across a few open mike clubs.

Bullet With Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins

Ben bought some hefty bass pedals off me - quick payment and he seemed to enjoy the packaging too! 🤣🌨️⛄️

Heh heh - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I have played at one several times and it always bugged me those that went home after they had played. How long do you give each artiste? I have 5 mics but need to get more mic stands. I have several DIs and lots of guitar cables. I am not thinking that there will be bands but can accommodate them if I take my subs. Now new strings for the acoustic and some real practice, fingers all soft from playing bass.