Fat Rich

[quote name='Robert Manning' post='1291193' date='Jul 3 2011, 05:18 PM']i'm thinking about penguins! hahah[/quote] That's just typical of "you people" There are plenty of cheap basses with plenty of sustain but also some that have so little they're just not suitable for some type of music (like Doddy's example) I think a reasonable amount of sustain is needed for a decent tone, it helps the harmonic overtones to develop and add a bit of character. As has been said you can always mute the string with your fingers / palm / foam etc if you want less sustain. If you don't have enough then you're sunk.

I would say 5s are very common in R&B, soul, funk and hip hop although there will always be plenty of Fender Jazz and P and Stingray basses there too. Most slappers seem to prefer 4s maybe because of muting issues and string spacing although there are plenty of exceptions. Quite a lot of music these days seem to be more about image and that means a classic Fender, Ric, Gibson, 'Ray (not that there's anything wrong with those basses) maybe 5 or more strings would be making the wrong kind of statement. I think (rightly or wrongly) of ERBs as 7 or more strings but maybe that's because I've been playing 5s pretty much since I started out.

[quote name='Batfastard' post='1290506' date='Jul 2 2011, 09:13 PM']What is this bass? Its extremely nice.[/quote] Thanks! Yes, it's a Status S2 Classic. It's a great bass but this particular one is a bit on the heavy side.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1290196' date='Jul 2 2011, 04:00 PM']....... and here are 50 pages of amendments... .......[/quote] LEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEAR NTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWR ITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELE ARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTOWRITELEARNTO WRITELEARNTOWRITE etc. well you get the idea with that one! Fantastic that it's nearly finished, sounds like it's going to be great! I'll definitely be buying a copy.

There are plenty of bolt-on basses with extended neck joints, the neck extends beyond the end of the fingerboard sometimes right down to the neck pick-up like this: and that gives you full access to all the frets, much the same as a neck-thru or set neck.

I don't remember ever buying a pick in my life but I seem to have dozens of them.... I vaguely remember getting a few thrown in as part of deals on basses or guitars. I think the most I spent on picks wasn't on picks, I used to use plastic golf tees because they gave a fatter sound. They were cheaper too but a bit uncomfortable to hold for any length of time, give one a try sometime! (Edited to vaguely resemble English)

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1288284' date='Jun 30 2011, 10:00 PM']I like that I will try it when I get time, Cool![/quote] It's something I used to do to anything with a constant tempo, the indicator click on my car. Or in time with my footsteps, the better you get at subdividing the faster you get where you're going!

[quote name='Geek99' post='1286567' date='Jun 29 2011, 04:05 PM']....... I told him I want help with subdividing the beat, I tend to get a bit lost as I'm concentrating on playing the right notes ( i've tried practicing myself aginst a metronome and I''m not getting there) - i have no trouble finding the 1 each time (theres an online tester somewhere(Korg?) and I averaged 6ms off). Any advice from those who take lessons regularly?[/quote] You could try setting a metronome going really slow and playing: (you don't need to play the notes on bass, you can tap your hands or sing them) 4 bars of whole notes 4 bars of half notes 4 bars of quarter notes 4 bars of quarter note triplets 4 bars of 8th notes 4 bars of 8th note triplets 4 bars of 16th notes 4 bars of 16th note triplets 4 bars of 16ths and back up the sequence to whole notes again Try to play through the whole lot without stopping, it can be quite tricky switching into triplet mode but it'll soon become second nature. Good luck!

[quote name='chilievans' post='1286598' date='Jun 29 2011, 04:25 PM']On my shuker I cuttently have a gotoh bridge fitted. I've been concidering buying a badass upgrade. Would it be worth it?[/quote] Depends what Gotoh bridge you have and what sound you're after.... so the answer is who knows! If it looks like a standard Fender Bent Bit of Tin bridge then you may get a little more sustain from a Badass and possibly a slightly more modern sound, but I suspect it won't make a huge difference. If it's a more solid cast Gotoh I'd be surprised if the Badass sounds any different at all. I tried all sorts of fancy bridges on my Fenders but ended up going back to the primitive Fender stock item as it just sounds more vintage and agricultural like a Fender should

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1285638' date='Jun 28 2011, 08:01 PM']Now you have to tell us how you got on. I'm thinking of taking the plunge myself but the possibility of total humiliation is a bit daunting. The experience of someone in the same position would be great. (the lessons not the humiliation)[/quote] Unless you go into the lesson with the wrong attitude you won't be humiliated (unless you choose a really bad teacher!) Go for it!

De-fret and level the board?

As soon as I think about opening my mouth my fingers stop moving. Which is probably a good thing because I have a horrible singing voice.

If it feels like a bruise then I get it sometimes, hurts like hell Taping it up may help, I find that it's caused when I'm learning music theory and seem to tense up and grip too hard. Good luck!

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='1281864' date='Jun 25 2011, 09:23 AM']A fairly basic question - trying to brush up on my technique a bit, been browsing through youtube bass tutorial videos - what is considered the best or preferred technique for the right hand - there's a lot of conflicting information out there? Some say root the thumb on the pickup cover, some say keep thumb static regardless of which string you pluck, others say the thumb should move up and down with the fingers depending on the string plucked, resting on the string above the one plucked. What is the concensus on best technique for the right hand?[/quote] The concensus would probably be to do what works best for you, although on Basschat we might not even agree on that If you're playing a 4 stringer you can usually get away with keeping your thumb anchored on the pickup but on a 5 or 6 string you'll probably run into muting problems with open strings ringing out. Probably the most logical way is to hop your thumb off the pickup and up to the E, A, or D strings if you're playing the G and C, it should give you a more consistent tone across the strings because you'll probably be attacking them at the same angle. This can be modified to the floating thumb technique where you don't dig in with your thumb, just rest it flat against the lower strings you're not playing like this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU[/url] I've ended up using a random array of techniques including lots of left hand muting on simpler basslines (necessary for slap or pick playing), muting with my ring and little finger on my right hand, or occasionally the floating thumb technique. I don't really pay too much attention to what I'm doing until something doesn't work and some open string gets away from me, usually the floating thumb technique fixes that.

Whereabouts are you slapping the string and how many frets do you have? 24 fret basses sometimes are a bit more prone to this. Try thumbing over the top 2 or 3 frets and see if that helps, if not try slapping further back between the end of the fingerboard and the neck pickup. Also you could check your technique, are you really bouncing off the string or is your thumb muting the string a little? You can get away with it on the heavier strings fretting lower notes on the neck as the string has more weight and momentum and is harder to mute, above the 12th fret and the string is much more likely to be affected. Finally, you could try thumbing more from above so you're putting more energy into moving the string side to side relative to the pickup, if you thumb it into the neck there's a limit to how much movement you can get into the string. This can drastically increase the volume of your slap tone and also add clarity. Hope that makes some sense! It's partly down to experimentation and finding what works for you, good luck!

[quote name='TomKent' post='1280801' date='Jun 24 2011, 12:03 PM']Still amazed how they call that London. Don't think it's even within OysterCard zones haha.[/quote] Don't think it's even within the same Time Zone Looks like a good shop though, will have to take a look sometime soon.

I don't really miss playing the extra frets but I find it a bit disorientating going between Fender and 2 octave necks, I sometimes slide to the wrong fret at the dusty end if I don't concentrate.

Dunno what's happened to Cee Lo recently, I've seen him singing effortlessly in the past (starts about 2:15) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUpbor_Teps"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUpbor_Teps[/url] but everything I've seen him on recently he's been pretty disappointing despite having an album full of good songs. But that was a disaster all round, apart from the drummer!

[quote name='gazzer86' post='1275708' date='Jun 20 2011, 11:26 AM']Any advice anyone? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Gary[/quote] First off, learn your notes on the bass... if someone says it's a D, a G then A and counts the song off at 150 bpm you don't want to be looking at your bass wondering where to find them. Also if you don't know the note names it'll slow your progress with any music theory to a crawl. Also, learn your major scale, minor scale and mixolydian mode (for dominant chords) as well as major and minor pentatonics, plus arpeggios. Learn to play them all over the neck, like this: [url="http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-021-MajFivePos.php"]http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-021-MajFivePos.php[/url] (but apply it to bass), should keep you busy for a while! I would recommend getting a teacher as soon as possible so you don't pick up any nasty habits. And get stuck in with a band, you might find yourself floundering around a bit every now and then but you'll make much quicker progress that way. Good luck!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1275067' date='Jun 19 2011, 06:27 PM']Oh no, bloke sitting in his bedroom tapping on a singlecut, this isn't good for the stereotype! All the same, that Thumb singlecut...yuck. I can't believe it took two people to make that![/quote] [quote name='Roland Rock' post='1275072' date='Jun 19 2011, 06:32 PM']I can - one to design the upper half, and one to design the lower half. Trouble is, they didn't talk to eachother [/quote] Or one to draw it, one to hold the bucket.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1274259' date='Jun 18 2011, 11:32 PM']..... edit: obviously the attachment is a crap mockup done by me on a saturday night - God, I miss gigging![/quote] That actually looks better than I thought it would! I've played a few singlecuts that sound great and balance well but I always feel like I should take a jigsaw to them and finish them off

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='1268718' date='Jun 14 2011, 03:09 PM']Ooops[/quote] Ah well, could be worse.... could be in the wrong forum!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1261684' date='Jun 8 2011, 07:35 PM']Looks fantastic! But is that not the Matrix body shape? Possibly a one off custom graphite bodied Matrix with soapbar pickups? Anyway, here are a couple of shots I have of the Series 2 that will be travelling to me soon. I hope the previous owner doesn't mind me using them but they are better than my usual naff iphone efforts! Quite simply one of the most beautiful Status basses I've ever seen. I have dreamed of owning an 80's Series 2 for years, but I never thought I would find one with a maple facing like this. It's the best look for them, IMO, the contrast between the black graphite and lighter wood looks amazing and it really brings the accent line and the chamfered edge next to the bridge to life, much better than similar models with say, a walnut facing or another dark wood; not to say that they don't look great because they do![/quote] Very tasty bass, I bet it sounds epic! How are you getting on with it?

[quote name='Floyd Pepper' post='1261500' date='Jun 8 2011, 05:36 PM']So, here's my latest arrival. I'm reliably informed that it's a 1994 Series II - Graphite body, Blue Sims LEDS. Taking it to rehearsals tomorrow night for a good blast. I doubt it will replace the Miller Jazz as my main bass but not bad for a back up and encore bass! [attachment=82115:DSC_6983.JPG] [attachment=82114:DSC_6982.JPG] Cheers, Jim[/quote] Very nice bass, Chris is right about the Matrix body shape but it seems there was a Matrix Series 2: [url="http://www.statii.com/status_cats/adverts/matrix_series2/matrix_series2.jpg"]http://www.statii.com/status_cats/adverts/...rix_series2.jpg[/url] which is probably different to the original Series II.... all very confusing. The all graphite finish is pretty unusual though on an early headed Status and could well be a one off, although Rob is now making headed all graphite S2 Classics if you specify. Edit: I would date it at '93 because the bridge doesn't have slots in, you have to feed the strings though a hole at the back.... I might be wrong though!

Mine are all between 3 and 4 mm at the 12th fret. I like to be able to play cleanly whether I'm picking over the bridge pickup or up using the end of the neck as a thumb rest, a low action just doesn't allow me to do that. But not such high action that I can't add a bit of grit to the sound by really going for it.