synaesthesia

Only bass player these days that will make me get up and get tickets....and on this topic...why do these US tour agents organise European tours for top musos like Messrs. Swallow, Scofield etc that always come as close as France, Holland and Belgium but never cross the channel? Surely there is money to be made in the UK? Hotels, taxes, licensing, venues, promoters in Paris are probably as bad as those in the UK, so what's the deal? These people have no pop entoruage, and no containers of gear. Steve Swallow uses a WW head FFsake....

Marc Johnson's Sher Publishing book, as above; if you read dots already. Also have a look at Bunny Brunel's Bass Power, less academic a bit more streetwise (viz. he makes up names for some scales) - but it takes you through the modes in various stages of complexity. Frankly, I'd look outside the bass genre if you are looking for improvisation books, the genre is no reknown fo this sort of material. And look for improv books with some thought to it... improv is improv and musically the harmonic ideas apply whether you blow a flute or pull strings on a bass. As per Mr Berlin, there are lots of 'improv' books out there which are 'copy my licks' only. Useful if you want to pick up someone else's licks. See e.g. Pat Martino's Hal Leonard series - monster player if there ever was one, but the book contains his very complex improv licks only. What he doesn't tell you is how he thinks about it, so outside the licks you've copped, you'd be pressed to apply in a different harmonic context.

I have the older style Fender double gig bag, less plastered with the name 'fender' and the zipper pull is not a stylised fender pick. You can have it for £10 + post.

[quote name='SteveO' post='254888' date='Aug 4 2008, 10:18 PM']digital systems don't suffer from a restrictive dynamic range,[/quote] Technically this is not true. the AD/DA process has limits.

[quote name='obbm' post='254448' date='Aug 4 2008, 02:40 PM']Not quite. The V8 is a more sophisticated version with 7 valves.[/quote] Thanks for the update.

[quote name='Catalin' post='249435' date='Jul 28 2008, 10:48 AM']Hello guys ! I have a Trace Elliot V-Type all tube head. The head have 4 preamp tubes: 2 are closer to the power tubes and the other 2 are lower situated and closer to the input - i think these are preamp tubes and the others are drive tubes, i'm right ? The preamp tubes are Tronal, what do you know about these tubes? Tnks ![/quote] Here is a 1996 schematic of the V type preamp, or preamp section. The first two v1 and V2 are in the preamp proper, other two ECC 83s or 12AX7s are in the input gain stage of the power amp section. The V type preamps are all the same , they are 2 valve preamps. FYI, if you are looking for these, across the pond they turn up cheaper and you can re-wire them to work in the UK.

[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='254269' date='Aug 4 2008, 11:44 AM']Hello What are the advantages of 18v over 9v? I'm going to put a pair of EMGs in a project bass, and EMG suggest using 18v. Not a problem - I'm going to cut a hole for one battery, so it's not much harder to do it for two, and I know how to wire them up to give 18v. Some questions, though: a) Why bother? "More headroom" is a little too abstract for me. What effect does this have on the sound? Does it sound "better"? If both batteries are dead, and I only have one spare, will it still work on just one? c) Anything else to add? Ta much in advance![/quote] This is one of those things that often devolves into mindless more is better thinking. There is a context to it all, it is not a generic thing. If you are using active EMGs, with an EMG circuit, yes there will be an audible benefit, particularly in a studio situation. I have had and still have EMGs in various basses with 18V, the results can be heard in the studio if you play clean and direct. If you run trough efx, or compress your signal, or distort your signal, there's no real benefit. Whatever headroom gained by 18V is subject to the consequential headroom of whatever you run it through. The batteries are in series and that's how you get 18V. The circuit I guess will work on about 5- 6V cumulative supply, so if one battery dies, the circuit should operate. FYI, an EMG system will work with very low voltage supply, you can hear the circuit distort. What voltage that occurs I cannot tell you as I have never bothered to to measure it. My guess is it is around 5 V. But if you are using other pickups and circuits, the answer really is, it depends. Some circuits are engineered to work with 18V, some not. Some will benefit, others will not.

[quote name='SteveO' post='253300' date='Aug 2 2008, 01:55 PM']Why wouldn't you want a compander? It seems to be used to give a better signal / noise ratio and to prevent the loss of dynamic range through radio transmision. both of these are good things aren't they?[/quote] A compander compresses a signal so that it travels with ease an then expands the signal again upon reception. Effectively, it is the sonic equivalent of reconstituted food.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='253058' date='Aug 2 2008, 12:00 AM']As for the "poorly skilled" whilst I don't condemn you for being depressed as you point out, I don't think it's fair to begrudge an individuals success (financial or otherwise) becasue they provide large numbers of people with something they enjoy. IMO that is no less worthy.[/quote] ++ Cf. Life of young George Benson, saviour of jazz guitar, heir to Wes Montgomery, jazz snob par excellence, plays rings around everyone young guns included, hated Hendrix grew up, sang pop songs, made a lot of money (but could have flopped big time), enner-tained millions, most of whom would not have heard him play, shows the world what chops he has at the same time, they are astounded but prefer the pop songs. Dennis Budimir, Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine et al were monster jazz players who played four to the floor rhythm for millions of pop songs....it's music people, it's enner-tainment, it's not even sports enner-taintment let alone competitive skill sports Post Beatles everyone claims musical integrity - to be a composer of artistic merit, or musician of accomplished merit. Once we had a guitarist in a funk band who said he 'wrote' a song. It was a 2 chord vamp without a melody. He was a guitar teacher, whose hero was Steve Vai. I've come across this more than once. I'd rather one of the pop idol wannabees whistle me a happy tune. Musical integrity my arse.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='251894' date='Jul 31 2008, 10:40 AM']This is a strange attitude from someone who loves Jazz so much! Surely it should be "there's no logic to music, you just have to learn to groove like a cat who's in touch with his soul".[/quote] In actuality you can play anything, and you can play any note - if you are talking about note choices. The notes chosen do not matter as much as the harmonic context in which they are played against, and the duration & frequency for which these notes are played. So Messrs. Scofield and Corea et al, or for that matter Messrs. Wooten and Berlin in this context, can go outside the harmonic context, but it resolves in the end or ends as may be in modern jazz structures. How the improvised notes work against the harmonic context as a spur of the moment composition is how you'd judge it. Frankly you do not find this in jazz only, you'll find it in pop, country, blues, rock etc. The suspension of the out of traditional harmonic context is usually at endings or in passing in pop music - you hear it all the time.. .from Roy Orbison to John Lennon. For the bass player, whose role in establishing or implying harmonic structure, outside of taking a solo, you'd hear a lot of jarring notes particularly with slappers who play repeated patterned licks with dominant 7ths when the harmonic contexts are anything but. You are right that there is no logic to music, music has never been prone to think or operate like Vulcans. But there is harmonic structure in music, whether it is ancient Babylonian reed flutes or Ornette Coleman's supposedly free jazz.

[quote name='tauzero' post='245194' date='Jul 22 2008, 11:06 AM']The Bassix? Depends if you want a full-scale or a bass guitar scale - that was a 34" scale IIRC, like several of the BSX models.[/quote] Actually Dino only makes one model in 34" scale, the Flip bass. The half note is not full 41" but 38" or thereabouts. The mini Allegro is 36". My lefty Allegro is 41" and is part of the main stable of his basses that derived from the early BSX's which were also 41" scale.

OK, I confess, my phone rings to the riff in "Spain". I'll go see Chick Corea anytime, and he always thrills. The only bass player these days who will make me get up and get tickets is Steve Swallow. See below if interested in part Bitches Brew reunion, + Vinny C , C McBride and Kenny G (not that one) --- Royal Festival Hall Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band With Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett & Vinnie Colaiuta Sunday 23 November 2008, 7.30pm John McLaughlin and Chick Corea have created some of the most explosive electric jazz of all time. They join forces for the first time since they were an essential part of the seismic days, some 40 years ago, when Miles Davis brought the language of jazz into collision with the technology of rock and funk. Their own bands of the 1970s, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever, were further landmarks in the evolution of a post-acoustic vision of jazz. Reunited, they play music from past, present and future with a stellar band. Kenny Garrett continues the Miles connection, the saxophonist from the trumpeter's latter-day bands; and Vinnie Colaiuta and Christian McBride are the drum and bass team providing irresistible power and groove. book tickets Select your preferred date and time below. If a performance is no longer available it will not be clickable.

It depends on the the construction, the nature of the bridge suspension, the action and the electronics. Whilst many argue that a hollow body sounds closer to a real DB, some advances have been made with creating some give between the bridge and the surface that supports it. The Palatino modification is essentially this, some rubber underneath the bridge and some modification to the tailpiece. The Palatino is actually hollow but sounds like an electric fretless bass for various reasons. The Merchant vertical bass is solid but uses spruce suspension bars to support the bridge, therefore offering some give. A French design, the name escapes me now, has a similar suspension design and it is completely solid. It got some very good remarks for some seasoned symphonic players. Before the onomatopoeia 'mwah' was popularised via the American press, the desired electric bass tone was referred to as fingerboard buzz. For this reason, Pedulla refers to his fretless models as "Buzz' basses. This, contrary to popular misconception, is not derived by any magical fingerboard material, coating or bass construction, but purely low action and a relatively flat fingerboard... the lower the nut height and the bridge height, the more buzz, and the steeper the angle of the string to the fingerboard, the less buzz you get. Try these adjustments on your fretless now if you don't believe this. Most traditional DB players will recognise this and when playing pizzicato, they usually avoid too low action. You can listen to DB players who play with low action, such as Brian Bromberg (sometimes, when he does his typewriting licks) , and Stanley Clarke (usually low action) and you can hear a greater, dare i say it, "Mwah". Listen to Marc Johnson and you will hear little if any fingerboard buzz. A parallel to this is the Coral electric sitar, the bridge is a flat piece of plastic and instead of a fulrum point for the string to bend over, it buzzes against a length of solid phenolic to create the sitar like sound. Lastly - electronics, if you have a magnetic pickup, it will sound more like a typical EB. A piezo electric pickup system, can be installed to sense the different phase waveforms for arco and pizzicato playing. The placement of pickups also affects the sound. So far most Db like tones have ben achieved via piezos mounted in the bridge, usually in some kind of perpendicualr arrangement.

Moving on with studio clearout, I've built my own custom racks and have 2 of these free to go to a good home. A bit rusty and beat, they will adjust and lock. The wheels will also lock. The bottom of each takes 10U and the top another 10U. These were from the days when I had a BRC, a few ADATs, and lots of rack FX in my studio..... total 40U racking capacity. Collection only, from Notts. No money wanted, but it would be nice if you can light a candle in a church/temple somewhere for more measured sanity in the world, or give some money to a charity of your choice. Pic is a generic pic of what these things look like.

Sad news. Who would have known, last video I saw of him he had gained considerable weight.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='249440' date='Jul 28 2008, 10:55 AM']That's not what I am talking about. I am refering to his stated position on things like metronomes and 'you can't teach groove playing' type stuff. Gary Burton, who I consider to be one of the most competent improvisers in jazz, does advocate for metronome usage and I personally believe you [i]can[/i] work with someone to enhance their groove playing. His thinking on some of these issues is concrete. I have exchanged correspondance with him on some of his views and his responses were astonishing (not offensive in any way but indicative of concrete thinking). I have no doubt that he means well but I find his position on some things to be too inflexible and ill-argued. I do agree with him on TAB tho' - bl***y useless! [/quote] Ill-argued is the correct description. If Wittgenstein was around, he would say it was a problem of language. Do you remember the "You can't practise without an instrument debate?" The operative word "Practise" was largely misunderstood in the American context. If you think about music, it is not physical practise, sure the mental gestation may help you but the physical practise is not the same. I can imagine things I 'd like to play but I can't physically execute them. I don't believe Jeff Berlin is precise with language, but then the community his arguments are mainly put to aren't either. So what you have is chickens and ducks attempting to talk about how to be a better bird. It won't be long before I think I would probably stop reading bass player magazine. I find the forced and mannered street language from the editors rather imbecile. re: other comments, Jeff Berlin is a great player and probably the one person you'd go to if you need to get a sub who can read ink spatter at short notice and cut it; but as a bandleader in the traditional old school jazz sense.... he is not ready. He is not in the same league as a composer, arranger, producer. God knows he needs an editor for what he types and says. I think the same applies for his solo records. In the old days, you'd take a while and worry about 'coming out' as a bandleader in your own right even if you have played for umpteen years with TommyDorsey/TitoPunete/MilesDavis/whomever... these days all you need is a computer and you are a 'solo artist', in all probability without a voice for music, as opposed to musical voice in bass, which Jeff Berlin certainly has.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='249403' date='Jul 28 2008, 09:58 AM']His teaching methods are uncontentious - he is just doing what 1,000s of standard music teachers do. Teaching the dots and basic music theory. Where he irritates me is when he starts talking in absolutes.[/quote] I'm not sure that's particularly true of the electric guitar and electric bass guitar. What's got his goat is the fact that there are many teachers who teach via TAB, and 'ape my fingers' techniques. All power to those who need to do that, and all power to those who oppose it. I don't know that he talks in absolutes - he does say you are unlikely to be called into a studio session and be given a TAB sheet; I've worked sessions internationally since the mid 80s and I have never seen a TAB sheet in a pro studio situation. The only different system I've encountered is the Chinese pop music studio sessions in East Asia, there is an internal numerical system, not the roman numeral system, but it is not TAB.

Frankly in terms of attitude, Anthony Jackson is probably worse. He insists of editing interviews, insisting on post interview insertions and pseudo intellectual langauge, his disdain is greater - he refuses to engage. Jeff Berlin on the other hand, makes time and goes out of his way to engage the 14 year old TAB stenographer. Larry Carlton was quite similar in attitude and approach, all were abrasive characters, except that Jeff Berlin is NYC Queens in your face abrasive. FWIW, he is honest to the core for all his abrasion. He walked out of Chick Corea's band because of the imposed Christian Scientist practices, whilst others would oblige for the gig. Sometimes in a business situation or to remain in a business situation you have to suck up to big time sycophancy, some people don't want to do that.