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They look like they're from Claire's Accessories

@tinyd - Yes agreed mate, I use the appeggio as the starting point and then try to link smoothly and satisfyingly from one to the other. I work by ear during this process, as I don't know the underlying jazz theory about why a particular dominant third is best to link to a V chord when in a II-VII-V progression and that type of thing, but I'm slowly learning more about this. So if it sounds right, it is right, at least to me ;-) Recently I have done more site reading of bass scores, which feels a bit like reading a book, and I enjoy concentrating on the reading rather than trying to remember what comes up next. But I also enjoy playing my own lines from memory, and it also means that I don't have to use a music stand and use my reading glasses LOL. Of course you can always do away with theory go free-improv, like the double bass solo at 2.15 here, that was in the Grauniad recently - gives me a headache I'm afraid so I'll stick with my amateur jazz method...

@petebassist - arpeggios are pretty fundamental to walking lines so your approach isn't wrong. However, apart from outlining the chords, one of the other 'jobs' of a walking bassline is to provide a sense of forward motion, so using diatonic / chromatic tones to lead smoothly to the next chord can transforms it into something more musical. I'm not saying that I can do this consistently of course, but it's one of my goals

And your point is?

This is getting a bit out of hand. I’ll probably have a Manta by the end of the week too. It seems that Q is a fitting moniker. Or call me Mr. Envelope Filter.

I can’t believe in this day and age people are still making fun of something as serious as Dyslexia, my best mate was dyslexic and had a terrible and tragic life, he sadly died choking on his own Vimto. (sorry couldn’t resist)

Well, I feel like browsing, so I thought it would be nice to compile a list of the various online shops selling vintage and used basses in the UK, or indeed the EU. I'll add your suggestions to the original post. Here's the list so far, in alphabetical order: The British Isles: Absolute Music (Bournemouth) Andy Baxter (London) AngelDust (Multi-location?) Bass Direct (Warwick/Leamington Spa) The Bass Gallery (London) Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience (Hampton Wick) Classic and Cool David J Pym (Hungerford) Guitar Classics (London) Guitar Village (Farnham) Jimi's Music Store (Dublin) Live Music (Edinburgh) London Vintage Guitar/Hanks (London) Lucky Fret (London) Mansons (Exeter) Mudpie Music (Brighton) The Music Locker (Ripley, Derbyshire - by appointment only) Nicks Guitars (Wetherby) New Kings Road Guitars (London) No.Tom (London) Oasis [Musical Instruments Ltd] (Ringwood) Promenade Music (Morecambe) Really Great Guitars (Ombersley) Rich Tone Music (Sheffield) Some Neck Guitars (Dublin) Strung Out Guitars (Glasgow) Tommy Twang's Guitars (Glasgow) Vintage and Modern Guitars (Thame) Vintage 'n' Rare (Bath) West End Music (Ipswich) Wunjo Guitars (London) Continental Europe: Bass Classics (Somewhere in the Netherlands) Bass Club Paris (Paris, France - can you believe it?) Bass N Guitar (Somewhere in France) Guitare Collection (Paris, France) Le Guitarium (Paris, France) Guitar Point (Maintal, Germany) Guitar Select (Lyon, France) Hendrix Guitars (Lavagna, Italy) (Truly ungodly prices) Kitarapaja (Helsinki, Finland) Paul's Bass Matters (Nijmegen, Netherlands) Scolopendra (Bologna, Italy) Tip Top (Stockholm, Sweden) Vintage Guitar (Oldenburg, Germany) Vintage Guitars (Rennes, France) Woodstock Guitars (Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark)

A friend and band mate made this for me for a bit of fun, I just said build me a steam punk bass. I like it muchly and it plays great.

Just got a set of Newtone strings... never heard of them until a few weeks ago, and initial impressions are very good. Quite a bit firmer than my usual D'Addarios, but full, bright and consistent. I shall report back after tomorrow night's rehearsal...

It just popped up on Ebay, BIN or Make An Offer, I expected it to be exactly the same as the yellow/orange one I have but there are differences.

Aye... I tried that too, and thought 'Naaaah...'

Looks as if it's been used to sweep the chimney

you've done the right thing Paul. It doesn't matter how good the singing or the playing, if you're a tw@t no one will want to play with you. I still have issues with my band but the main issue (drummer) is gone now. I was so close to leaving too. Glad you have a new project to wave those Thunderbirds at

I think it's a difficult balance - what if the founder is the weak link (and no suggestion that Paul from the OP is in WKNJ so this is more of a philosophical question)? Should band members who have put years of work into the band put up with them, or split the band up just because they want to pack it in? Though it does feel odd when a band like Tank are still touring and recording with nobody that was on the first two albums still in the band I was once in a similar-ish position, last to join (although for practical purposes always regarded as a founding member - they were a band who had been practising and writing a few songs without any bass player for a few months, and didn't start playing live until I arrived) and a few years of gigging down the line it was apparent that we needed to shed one of the guitarists. So we all got together, invited him to the pub and sacked him, in the nicest "it's not you, it's us" way possible. I always found him to be a bit of an odd bloke and we were never close friends, but we did move in the same circles at that time, although I've rarely seen him since. But when I did there was a very chilly air that didn't extend to the rest of the band. It became apparent that he'd been slagging me off to all and sundry as being the one who had ousted him from his band - it had all been fine before I arrived, and i was the last one in so it wasn't my place to get rid of him, etc. Didn't actually bother me in the slightest and I've never suffered because of it, but it was very noticeable that I was thought not to be a full member of the band despite having written or co-written almost all of the songs. In fact the only thing I hadn't had any input into was the band name (which I always hated)

OK. I really should be worried.

I’m not sure that his name sells that many basses. It’s his design choices that people buy into. He takes maybe 15-20 basses on the road when he goes on tour and genuinely uses a lot of them at each gig / TV appearance. Of course he doesn’t really need to use so many but, given that he can easily afford them (and the techs to get them ready at a moment’s notice) then I can’t see it does any harm to anyone. Because his band is such a ‘showcase’ he often chooses bright colours and bold designs to stand out on stage. Manufacturers like this because it gives them a chance to show off some flashier designs. The number of Clayton ‘haters’ are limited to a few players who hang out on forums. Not many of them and with little influence on the general bass buying public. By making some of the signature models as limited editions this increases immediate demand at launch which, in turn, generates much-needed publicity, and subsequent revenue, for what is an increasingly beleaguered industry. I’d think this particular run ought to sell out relatively quickly. It’ll be interesting to see how well they are made and what UK price comes in at. Looks like they’ll be around the same build spec and quality as the current American Vintage models so may be the same price - possibly a bit more because of the higher grade blocks. Of course, the real test is how they sound but even this is going to be pretty subjective. At most ‘everday’ gigs that they are likely to be used at, I doubt any audience member will be able to hear the difference between one of these and a pre CBS vintage model. They might get noticed as looking a bit different from run of the mill sunburst/Black/white/natural though. If the player feels good about him/herself whilst playing and has a good time then that feels like the most important thing I very much doubt anyone is going to see someone with one of these and go “ooh look it’s an Adam Clayton wannabe, bet he can’t play”. . .

I'm certainly not offended, you *&%$£! Swanky hotel in Scunthorpe.

Darn it! I wondered why my Ritter and Warrior were slow to sell Better not put my Wal up....I mean WHO would ever want that? LOL

Is Classic and Cool an Internet-only outlet? The only clue as to where they are physically located is the STD dialling code and that is not a reliable indicator. My suggestion would be to identify any shops that are only accessible on the 'net or that don't have a place where you can go to look at the goods other than by prior arrangement. It's a great topic. Thanks for posting.

shame. I'm usually on the side of those who want to play more and accept every gig (and one of my bugbears is those band members who claim to be really dedicated when the band forms...and then you find that their definition of "really dedicated" is playing whenever the football isn't on or the garden needs weeding, etc) but that's not the case here, it's clearly that life is currently throwing some of the brown smelly stuff at you. If they can't allow for that then they're not really very good human beings Good luck with your future project - hope it takes off any they're begging you for a support slot before too long.

Give him time, mate, give him time ...

You'd have to do a damn site more than that to offend me :-)

Thanks @geoffbassist - it was just a quick job that I did while I was in the car waiting around for one of the kids. I'd like to try and transcribe a few choruses of the walking bass line next so I'll post that up if I get round to it...

Here's a quick reference sheet from Bert Ligon that summarises some of the most important aspects of walking bass lines in one page - it's obviously no substitute for everything discussed above, but it's handy all the same. Bert_Ligon_Fundamental_Bass_Lines.pdf I got it from here - there are a few more bass-specific downloads as well: http://nationaljazzworkshop.org/freestuff.php

cheers, I've now been able to delete my duplicate post

Yes that works, thanks. Though I'd like to have the option in PMs, too. Doesn't seem to be available in a Conversation.

He's going to be SO chuffed with them ...

Yes, but the guitarist will be able to lay down better versions of your bass lines, no problem ...

Not a very nice guy. I'd say more, but threads have been locked for less. You look nothing like him anyway .Well maybe if I squint and try to add 40 years...

Some really useful advice here, thanks. What Abersold books would you suggest checking out? A tip to accompany this is to use Real Player and programme chord changes in (unless they already are in there...), and practice 4 bar lines.

I'm not quite sure of what you mean, but if you mean what I think I mean, then absolutely, that's my intention.

Hahaha. Paul will do for now. This weekend, we/they were due to mix six tracks that were recorded about two months ago. I have contacted the the studio and asked them to remove my bass off the recordings, which is what they're doing. That'll be a nice surprise for them when they turn up on Sunday.

Wow.... check mate! EXACTLY the same thing happened to me a few months back with a band I formed 27 years ago. Pretty much the same 3 character traits for my other 3 band members too....!! They removed me from my band admin rights on Facebook as well.....Freaky!! Sure we weren't both in the same band?!?!? lol! You're right though. A HUGE relief and bigger better things are often just around the corner! I'm now out on the theatre circuit in a much better band and collaborating elsewhere with higher profile and better musicians. The rest of them - same old egos, lies and the sticky-floor club circuit merry-go-round...

Arrived yesterday, 8lb of black sparkly SX Gypsy Rose which I think I'll mod using the black scratchplate from my orange/yellow one, new pick-ups and wiring loom, Ultralites and maybe get the neck refinish in the new year.

You're correct that it isn't actually a 0 and 1 travelling over the wire in a digital cable, and that it is something like a square wave. But the circuitry / protocols used to send the data will convert these to digital data and eliminate any differences. As long as the cable itself is capable of reliably transmitting a signal, it will work, and all digital cables meet this requirement unless they're actually broken. Once this "bare minimum" requirement is met for a digital cable, it is impossible for it to make any difference to sound quality. It's the same if you download a track from iTunes, it's been read from a disk in a data centre somewhere, transmitted internally over a bunch of bog-standard ethernet cables and optical cables, broken up and bounced between various servers around the world, and then maybe down a phone line to your router and finally wirelessly to your phone. At the lowest level, all of these 'hops' involve some kind of analogue signal and can consist of crappy cabling or a dodgy connection, but the protocols that are used make sure that you get either an exact copy of what was sent, or nothing at all (if something is seriously wrong). What doesn't happen is that you get a better- or worse-sounding file depending on the quality of all these components. One slight caveat here is that many digital services like Netflix and Skype use a technique called 'adaptation' which deliberately modifies the quality of what is being sent to you if your connectivity is poor. But this is deliberately engineered to happen and it would be pointless in an audio system since all cables are more than capable of handling the bandwidth required.

I've got a Babicz on my Squier VM70s. It's a brilliant bit of engineering, easy and fast to set the intonation and the action and is absolutely solid as a rock. It has no sharp edges so palm muting is a very comfortable experience. In terms of tone or sustain I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the Babicz and the BBOT it replaced. One thing to bear in mind, the Kickass is an old school high mass bridge,whereas the Babicz is built from light weight aluminium and weighs pretty much the same as a BBOT, so if you want the classic high mass mod, the Kich Ass is probably the way to go. Edit. One more thing, I bought my Babicz, mail order, from Bass Direct and initially they sent the bridge without the screws. No big deal, they sent the screws immediately after I informed them, and I'm not sure if the mistake was BD's or a packaging problem with the manufacturer. Either way I'd check your new bridge has all the bits with it before leaving the shop.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1453682464' post='2961846'] Based on the South Coast too at Poole Dorset. Often in Bournemouth, Southampton, Romsey and Winchester areas. Will do basic setup and any electrics/electronics. Including action, intonation, pickup replacement, preamp design and/or installation, pots, caps Jack sockets and general wiring. Custom instrument cables and speaker/speakon leads. Still learning fretwork and finishing so can't do that at the moment. [/quote]Now happy to do fret levelling and crowning.