skej21

Jade Pearl Metallic precision with flats. Winner!

[quote name='naxos10' timestamp='1465843586' post='3071530'] Treat yourself to an ACG, plenty of styles to choose from. [/quote] I did that. Last July. Received it a few weeks ago and it's worth every penny and more. The best thing is it means I still have THIS year's purchase left :-D

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1465841311' post='3071495'] Heavens to Murgatroyd man, have you not seen Grease? "Better shape up, 'cos I need a man" etc and so forth. [/quote] Cleared that right up! Thanks ;-)

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1465839420' post='3071479'] I thought his communication was very effective. "Shape up or your out" Blue [/quote] What does 'shape up' mean? I'd much prefer a band leader with the musical intelligence to give specific feedback that is actionable... "Every time you play the seventh over that Cmaj9, it's killing the momentum of the sequence, play a third next time'... Even just "what you're playing in that bar isn't right, try something else next time and I'll tell you when I'm happy with it" etc etc IMO you shouldn't be able to criticise someone unless you can offer at LEAST one genuine solution to the perceived issue.

I'm neither offended or inspired by Buddy in this clip. To me, negativity breeds negativity and Buddy's approach is simply an old-fashioned, out-dated way of communicating. If you're playing at "the highest level" you should be able to communicate EXACTLY what is wrong with what your band mates are doing and explain why you want them to alter it so they can see your justification. What's the point in spending hours practicing and refining your musical abilities and expanding your musical vocabulary if you can't communicate effectively with another musician to improve what you are producing together?

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1465206414' post='3066013'] That's a shame but can retort with: Brought a stock body from them, it arrived damaged and offered to replace it or a full refund. Didn't want to send it back so they gave me a partial refund. Been nothing but helpful with me. [/quote] From the other side of the fence I just view that as 'easy option first' customer service. Can't be bothered to actually provide you with what you ordered (ie an item that isn't damaged and is the spec you asked for) so they offer to give money as it's quicker/easier for them to deal with. Decent customer service would have been to arrange the return for you at zero cost and ensure the correct product arrived with you (in perfect condition) as swiftly and as pain-free as possible IMO. It's easy to throw money at a problem and hope it goes away. Which is fine it that's the outcome you want :-)

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Pino's playing on Erykah Badu's groove-packed album 'Mama's Gun'... One of my favourite albums ever and up there (IMO exceeding) his ideas on the D'Angelo stuff. The groove on "Cleva" and "Penitentiary Philosophy" are incredible. This is the only YouTube example I could find from the album though (and it's not Pino!) http://youtu.be/Np21rH7Ldto

I never used to like Singlecut basses but fell for ACG's Finn R Type body shape after stumbling upon a few photos. Ordered one and it turned out to be incredible 😊

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/hercules-gs422b/107862?gclid=CLHWudvc5swCFbEW0wodVHMAqA "Specially formulated foam - safe for your finish" :-)

[quote name='EvilSmile' timestamp='1463069399' post='3048324'] Thanks again to all the new people for both giving it a go and also to those who've completed it I really appreciated it! Thats a fair point. The end goal is to be able to take a piece of music that has been notated, a detailed transcription or some other detailed annotation of the music and have a computer automatically determine how difficult the piece is to play. Some pieces of music might require you to play beyond the 12th fret or any other the other things i'm asking - i'm just trying my best to be thorough! As for purpose of the study... being able to compare pieces of music based on their difficulty is something I need to be able to do in my PhD, and will likely be useful to other research in music information retrieval and musicological fields It could also help or aid in bass player education contexts, and help in recommending musical pieces that are of a similar difficulty, or are slightly more/less difficult to a given piece/pieces or suitable for someone playing expertise/ability. If you would like more specific (read: technical) information i'm happy to PM you and to answer any other questions [/quote] +1 to what Beedster has said so far. I also think the survey has a few pitfalls in attracting a range of players. If you notate a piece played above the twelfth fret as standard notation but 'octave above' it'll be much easier to play than if you notate it in standard notation but on ledger lines. It's also affect the difficult if the read if you have clef changes, as some players will be more fluent in switching/reading other clefs. So the "difficulty" of notated music is more to do with how easy it is to translate the dots to notes. I'm not sure a computer could tell the difference between those scenarios. It would judge both as "playing beyond the twelfth fret" and deem them as equally difficult when a simple nuance of notation could make one way of reading infinitely easier or more difficult depending on the players reading experience/preference. The same goes for octaves for example. If you notate playing a first fret F on the E and then and octave F and you don't have any positional knowledge or only a vague knowledge of where your notes are (common for beginner players) or hell, you just know that sliding up/down in to that octave SOUNDS better for the style of music you're reading, you might end up jumping from the first fret F to the 13th fret F on the same string. I've seen 'unschooled' (as Beedster put it!) players do this at open mic nights etc and players doing it because it has a very specific style/sound. I've also had had students early on who do it because they don't know the same note is on a different string closer to the original lower octave note and it's simply not knowing otherwise. They know 12th fret is an octave and they never learnt the notes elsewhere or someone who tabbed it out online didn't know better and tabbed it like that, so they play it like they've been told to. Again, a computer wouldn't be able to judge the difference in difficulty between a player who chooses to play their octaves as jumps all on the same string and one who plays it positionally within a two fret space with string jumping. In fact, the computer would not be able to judge any positional/reading decisions made by a player when reading notation and the whole point of understanding positions when reading is to counteract as many of the physical difficulties as possible. Therefore, creating an algorithm for the "difficulty" of a piece can only be judged by the experience of the reader and how many strategies they have to make reading the piece easiest for them IMO.

"Great playing" is judged by the person watching, not the person playing. Every player has weaknesses and issues with their playing. It's how you are as a person/musician dealing with other people/musicians that really counts. Nobody calls the "great player" who turns up with an attitude 30 minutes late because he thinks his 'chops' are good enough to act like a diva :-D

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1462779767' post='3045526'] I've been playing 33" basses for a long ol' time now, and I've not found the low B to be any worse than on any 34" basses I've played. Part of it will be that you can't really get a 33" bass with a low B without getting one made by a proper luthier as a custom bass, so they're likely to always outperform any production line bass, although Ibanez do one now. The only slight issue is that some low B strings are wound a bit longer for long extra long scales and you can end up with a bit of the fully wound string on the tuning post, rather than just the tapered bit. Having said that though, it makes no difference to the playability and sound of the string, it's just a visual thing. I now also have a 31.5" 6 string bass, tuned B to C and the low B on it is ridiculous considering the scale length! It's not going to be as good as a 33", 34" or 35" low B, but it punches well above it's weight and is absolutely useable. Here's a quick sample I recorded just after I got the bass to demo the low B string >> https://soundcloud.com/eudeboy/low-b-noodle I've since swapped the 130 B for a taperwound 120 and the definition is even better, although I may split the difference and try a 125 next for a slightly better feel. Scale length does mate, it's certainly something that can be countered to a certain degree by a talented luthier, but you can't defy physics. The other issue is strings, almost all string manufacturers make strings to suit 34" and 35" basses, certainly when you're talking about low B strings. Not so much of an issue on a 33" bass, but if you go much shorter you can encounter issues. My 31.5" 6 string has strings custom wound by Newtone, to try and get the feel of a 34" scale on the shorter scale, using heavier cores. I have to add though, I have tried some regular strings on the bass and they felt pretty darned good, so if Newtone weren't able to make me strings any more it would not be a deal breaker. Callowhill make short scale 5 and 6 string basses which are incredibly well received and he strings them up with regular scale Dunlops. A lot more luthiers are building shorter scale instruments with extended ranges these days, but I imagine it'll take a VERY long time before it would become mainstream, if ever. Cheers, Eude [/quote] Agreed. Also, I'm pretty sure the Ibanez production 33" scale bass (BTB33) is tuned E-C, so the low B wouldn't be applicable :-) So basically, if you want a nice 33" scale bass with a good low B, custom build is your only option!

Question answered! I'd never considered the 'straight' comments to be describing the lack of twist in the neck. Glad I asked :-)

I've been setting up basses for about 10 years for me and other local players. I still look in disbelief (or misunderstanding?) every time I hear someone say in a sale thread or when discussing their own set up "the neck is straight as an arrow" or "the neck is lovely and straight" etc... I never ever have a straight neck relief on my instruments when setting them up. It's simple physics, right? You don't want a straight neck... A string moves more in the middle than at the fixed points, so you need relief to accommodate it!? Or is this just my assumption based on my technique? I'm quite a light player and even I get fret buzz if the neck is straight because the string clatters off the frets in the middle of the neck. I'd be interested to know from the builders and real set-up experts whether this is just one of those "plays like butter" sayings that is just nonsense subjective term to aid a sales pitch or whether there's actually reasoning behind a neck being "straight"? Thanks in advance!

'Maruszczyk' is the answer to almost 95% of Basschat queries in 2016...

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1461759681' post='3037370'] Mine's black with oxblood cloth too - love it. [/quote] What fine taste you must have!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1461608395' post='3036133'] Saw some with a black cloth front. Looked great... but I think I'd have gone red cloth... [/quote] Black with oxblood cloth. That's my cab :-)

I love all the old stuff but 'Chelsea Rodgers' is one of the newer ones I keep going back to. Such a great track! http://youtu.be/FIVzgOTDJP8

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1460968550' post='3030139'] How does it work? Do you have to order through a dealer or direct? Presumably the prices all have vat and import duty on top? Thanks chaps not buying anything, just weighing up some options [/quote] Last time I heard, ANY Fender CS authorised dealer in the UK could only acquire their dealership by buying in a minimum of 10 models. In most cases, these would be taken up by a majority of guitars with maybe a couple of basses for good measure. I tried the new Journeyman CS Jazz not so long ago. It was beautifully finished and the attention to detail was actual very good. However, from an enjoyment, feel or sound point of view, I don't think it was any better than my old MIJ '62 jazz... Or my Geddy for that matter. If it was my money, I think id probably get a Sadowsky before a Fender CS.

D'Addario chromes on my old MIJ '62 RI Jazz. Sounded incredible!

The void left by all of the music he still had left to contribute is the bit that hurts the most. Truly an icon. 'Sometimes it snows in April, Sometimes I feel so bad, Sometimes I wish that life was never ending, But all good things they say, never last' :-(

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1461160790' post='3032002'] [list] [*]Utterly Godawful condition - check [*]Absolutely NOT all original - check [*]Owned by famous musician but not particularly associated with him - check [*]Completely irrelevant mention of famous band - check [*]Ludicrously inflated price - double check with bells on [/list] What's not to like? [/quote] You forgot to add: Awful slightly fuzzy/out of focus mobile phone quality photography that would not inspire a hefty purchase - check

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1461183599' post='3032318'] Bumping this up to ask if anyone has taken the frame off the front of their cab? I picked another s112 up second hand and there is a bit of a vibrating noise behind the grille cloth. There are the two little tabs, but I don't want to yank it off if there is a knack to it?! [/quote] I've never taken mine off but apparently they are affixed in a manner (hook and eye? rather than just Velcro!) that is supposed to eliminate ANY noise from the grille cloth. This would make me wary of just trying to pull the front straight off. My advice would be to message Tommy on Facebook. He's a super nice guy and he'll give you the info on how to safely remove it in no time at all!

Funnily enough, my first bass was a Geddy Lee Sig Jazz. I'd never heard of him. I knew nothing about bass specs or what I liked. I hated the idea of signature basses but my bass tutor went with me to the shop, got the assistant to get every bass down in my budget and I just loved the feel and look of the Geddy. My bass tutor had to talk me into looking beyond the signature. Im glad I did and now signature basses don't bother me so much. I see 'signature' more as a way for companies to say 'non-standard spec on a production model'. It's funny that the OP talks about the idea of the original simply being 'the best of the bunch'... Maybe Geddy's original jazz was the 'best of the bunch' in the shop and they then modelled his signature on it which was the 'best of the bunch' when I went in to the shop. Funny world!

[quote name='MrBump' timestamp='1459417536' post='3016275'] Hey - so I'm a relatively new bass player, although a long time guitarist (some 30 years). I've often dipped in to bass, but last year I bought my first half way decent instrument (a Yamaha 5 string BB series bass), and I'm taking it all a little more seriously. I have a question about picking fingers. As a guitarist I use all digits on my right hand to pluck, particularly on acoustic, and a plectrum and fingers on electric. My guitarist mentality states that more is better - therefore, when I started to learn bass I was keen to use as many fingers as I could on my right hand, rather than just the boring old two fingers. More Billy Sheehan than Steve Harris, if you know what I mean. I'm getting better with 3 fingers, but I'm still way more fluid and consistent if I use just 2. Four is out of the question, as my pinky is way too small to reach... Should I persevere with 3, or accept the received wisdom that 2 is superior? Or just use a pick? [/quote] Matt Garrison uses a right hand technique that is very similar to a guitar picking technique. Doesn't suit everyone but it might work for you if it's already a more natural movement? Worth a shot either way :-) http://youtu.be/rW0Hoxo32FA