Fat Rich

[quote name='barneyg42' post='926149' date='Aug 16 2010, 09:07 AM']Just off out to check the local skips for an ironing board to put my Pandora on Nice set up btw, my GAS is growing![/quote] Doesn't need to be an ironing board, you could use the fingerboard of any bass with more than 6 strings!

[quote name='steve-soar' post='924488' date='Aug 13 2010, 10:56 PM']Yet another lame thread, destined to hobble into the pond of much draught. Let's love our craft and not pound it into the dirt.[/quote] A good point, although after 8 or 9 pages we haven't really come up with any definitive answers..... every "awful" bassist named so far has plenty of people to defend their playing. I reckon it's actually turned out to be quite a positive thread proving that everyone has different tastes.

[quote name='Doddy' post='924120' date='Aug 13 2010, 04:45 PM']I would never recommend learning rhythms this way. Eventually you will begin to recognise patterns and won't have to count them,but I would always suggest that you learn to count initially. That way you can still play through any unfamiliar rhythms by counting.If you just learn the sounds and you come across a rhythm you've not previously seen,you'll be buggered.[/quote] Well, the point is to learn all the combinations, there's not many for sixteenths in a beat. Granted there are a few more combinations for triplets.... As you say if you come across something you haven't learned you wouldn't just be buggered, you might be bu bu buuu bu buuu buggered

Best bit of advice (can't remember which book I got it from) was to learn the different rhythm combinations of 16th notes as sounds rather than counting them 1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a etc. For example, a sixteenth, an eighth and sixteenth would be [b]ba baaaaa ba[/b] rather than [b]1e a[/b]. Also, make sure you know all your notes on the fingerboard and on the stave, there are apps for iPhone/iPod like Bassclef that are great for that, plus probably others online. And keep practicing, I used to be able to read reasonably well but now I can't remember and I'm having to relearn.

Very nice, and no problem making them left handed either.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='923593' date='Aug 13 2010, 10:43 AM']Lovely to see your new basses, Rich. Stunning examples of the breed. How're you getting along with them comapred to your existing Statii?[/quote] I feel immediately at home on the fretless 5, I always struggled with the old Series 1 six string fretless.... the extra string and concentrating on intonation was just too much for my tired old brain. With the five I only need to think about playing in tune, it's a joy to play and has every kind of usable tone you could want from a bass. It's a little dark with Hotwire Halfwounds but I'm going to try your suggestion of Elixirs and see if they give me the tone I'm after without biting into the fingerboard too much. I'm getting to grips with the fretted 6 although I've not worked out anything yet that properly uses the extra string. I'm going to look into some chord based stuff and harmonics when I get some time, I seem to be working round the clock at the moment. It sounds different again to my old Series 1 and the newer bolt on S2 Classic, almost hollow sounding but with lots of projection - not sure if it's the maple fingerboard or the individual bridge pieces (rather than the all in units on the other basses which sound more focussed). It's got a nice floaty, lighter tone that works for more fancy playing, so I'll probably still be using the 5 stringers for the more day to day playing. It's early days yet and I'll do some experimenting with different strings over the coming months, I'll hopefully get some samples recorded and get a better idea how everything really sounds and will try to post something here or on the statii site.

[quote name='Thunderitter' post='922718' date='Aug 12 2010, 01:43 PM']Here's my headless Lecompte 6 string. A very comfortable bass to play, sounds great and never had issues with being out position. (It's currently for sale to make way for some new acquistions!) [/quote] Is it just me or is it shaped like an elephant? With it's trunk sticking out? I don't usually like single cut basses but with the controls on top it makes more sense..... stunning looking finish too. (And no, I'm not shaped like an elephant although if I get much heavier...)

+1 on the Status Streamline, they sound huge. There was also a Hohner Steinberger type thing in the 80s, but made out of wood. Sounds a bit weedy instead of woody in my opinion but you could probably pick one up fairly cheap. Blimey, just looked on Ebay and they're still making them £400! [url="http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=hohner+steinberger&_sacat=See-All-Categories"]http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trk...-All-Categories[/url]

Not exactly famous but my recently acquired S2 Classic was previously owned by Level 42 guitarist Nathan King (Mark King's brother) according to The Gallery where I got it from... And a very poor quality vid of him playing it: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVoPYJg7TdU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVoPYJg7TdU[/url]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='919275' date='Aug 9 2010, 08:49 AM']I am loving the fact that no-one (yet) has said; [i]"Nah, waste of money, mate!"[/i] So it must be a justifiable expense! [/quote] Nah, we've just all got GAS! I feel like a talentless monkey everytime I pick a tasty bass, but I worked hard to get it and that gives me plenty of satisfaction. And as OTPJ said it inspires me to (try to) become a better player. I needed a new car a few months back, started out looking at basic models and inevitably wanted a fully specified flashy top of the range model. Then I thought about the depreciation, the extra petrol and the other running costs and bought an older basic car that does everything as well as a new posh one does. The money I've saved from that has gone on a couple of posh basses that don't depreciate as much or have any running costs and I'll still be playing them (probably badly!) in 30 years time long after the posh car would have been scrapped. Some people spend a fortune on paintings, sculptures or other art just to look at and enjoy, I've spent my money on some basses I can play and look at. However, I would think twice about gigging a super expensive bass in case it got pinched, so you might still end up gigging with your old gear.

"Funk Bass" by Jon Liebman might be worth a try, comes with a CD and has tab if your reading isn't so good. It's full of old skool slap lines that would probably transfer over to rock music better than all the fancy double slap and machine gun relentlessness of Vic / Mark's style. For me, the only tricky thing is string muting (especially on a 5 or 6 string) although if you've been playing with a pick you've probably got that covered already. Most slap is pretty easy with a bit of practice, you'll soon get it up to speed.

I defretted a board with inlays and there was a definite change in tone as I slid over them, much brighter than the rest of the wood board. In the end I fished out the inlays and replaced them with some hard wooden inlays which fixed the problem and looked pretty cool. Coating the board is an easier option but may make it sound less woody.

Wow! Can't believe it survived being run over, that's great news. Hope your thumb doesn't cause too many problems

It was over 20 years ago and it was some awful Hair Rock... probably a Bon Jovi song! We went on to play some Aerosmith, Van Halen and some bluesier stuff so it improved a little. We were playing the Middlesex Poly in Bounds Green, was horrified to see several hundred people had shown up. It actually went pretty well as they were a good crowd and seemed to be out for a good time, I made quite a few mistakes but got away with it mostly. Was playing an Aria SB of some kind through a large Marshall Combo and extension cab, a fantastic bass through an OK amp, sounded alright! As someone else has said in this thread, it was all downhill from there.... the last gig I did with that band was at the Stick of Rock in east London to the bar staff and a bloke and his dog. Halfway through our first song the dog gave the bloke a look, the bloke just nodded back and they left without a word.

Many congratulations! Can't help thinking you're now a bit over qualified for this forum!

I've a feeling strings with a round core (DR Hi Beams, Status Hot Wire Premiums etc) rather than a hex core (the majority of strings) tend to have a bit more give when they're up to tension.... but there's not much in it. You'd get a much rubberier feel if you went down a guage or two. In my opinion, some necks have more give than others and that may explain why one bass feels a bit rubbery. For example my main bass has a graphite neck with no truss rod, it just stays straight whatever strings you put on it and there's no rubberyness at all (you can take 4 of the 5 strings off completely and the remaining string will still be up to pitch). It feels completely different to my newer bass with more flexible graphite and a truss rod.... that feels nice and springy, like a wooden neck.

I was doing a bit of drumming a few years ago, serious GAS attacks.... it's so easy to add a few extra noise makers here and there, then an extra bass drum and a few more toms. And some different sounding snares and some different hi hats..... then you've pretty much got two kits so you separate them up and realise two kits are really handy, one for gigging and one in the studio. But you need a few extra bits to finish them off... and the process starts again. Then you get into electric vdrums and that's even more addictive, need a PA... and VST on the computer.... It's never ending!

When the active preamp packed up on my main bass I put in a bypass switch and used it passive for a while, it seems to have a warmer and slightly more interesting tone. I've replaced the circuit now and it's nice to have some EQ on the bass for certain sounds, but I think it sounds better passive.

Class! According to wikipedia: "Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Principal Skinner, Otto Mann, Rainier Wolfcastle, Dr. Marvin Monroe and many others"

[quote name='Chris2112' post='912013' date='Aug 1 2010, 04:48 PM']Didn't Guy used to play Status basses? I'll be honest, I hope it was the room sounding dire in the video, because the video itself does the bass no favours at all![/quote] Yup, he has his own model, the Vintage GP bass. He's also on the front page of the Status web page at the moment because of his Edinburgh gig.

Bernie brought about 7 or 8 basses to the London Bass bash a few weeks ago, they're all stunning basses that play and sound fantastic. Bernie's a very approachable guy, tell him what you'd like and I'm sure he'll do his best to make it. He gave us all a talk on neck construction and set up, and set up almost everyone's basses for free afterwards. Top bloke! I would probably go for a Spitfire as it's a little larger but the Rumour is a work of art, the more you look at it the more beautiful details you spot.

A bit of a long shot but here goes.... Are the strings OK? Do you think the case squashed the strings over the frets and kinked them? If the strings have kinks in them that might cause tuning problems.... Hope it's something as simple as a string change or letting the neck settle and you can get it sorted quickly.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='911473' date='Jul 31 2010, 08:30 PM']I'm surprised your basses don't have zero frets Fat Rich.[/quote] The fretless one has zero frets, none at all! Just a nut (plus the one playing it). The older ones had zero frets but I think when Status went over to tilt back headstocks and truss rods they ditched the zero nut on the headed basses, not sure when that was though.

I haven't got any way of doing sound samples just yet, but will try to sort some out when I get a chance. Thanks for the advice, I'll try cutting the mids and see what I get. I've just whipped the Hot Wires off and put on a well used set of Hi-Beams...... and it now sounds fantastic :wub: Exactly the sound I was looking for, warm, fat, growly basic tone, with the ability to do bright and punchy or dark and mysterious. With the EQ and the brighter strings anything seems possible! I'll try a few different makes of groundwound / flatwound string and see if I can find something that gives the same sound but is kinder to the fingerboard. (I've no problem with Hot Wires by the way, I'll still use them on the old fretless. As you said, they work really well on a phenolic board)

Thanks! It's an Indian Rosewood board on the fretless, but it's almost black and looks like Ebony. I wanted to lose the slight clickyness of phenolic, but I may have overdone it a little as it sounds very woody and dark.... It's got Hotwires on at the moment which have a very strong fundamental and a bright edge but not many overtones, so a halfwound string with a few more mids will probably fix it.