jazzyvee

On 16/09/2025 at 07:49, Cato said:

You can over think these things.

 

Some of the best songs tell a story, you don't have to have a connection or even empathy for that story in order to retell it. Indeed sharing stories is one of the ways that people learn about each other.

 

Having said that I'd feel pretty silly if I had to sing Redemption Song in front of an audience, so there's definitely a 'Partridge' line somewhere, but it's probably very much an individual decision rather than a blanket rule you can apply to all situations 

A few years back my band did a a couple of gigs where we played some jazzed up versions of reggae songs and reggae versions of jazzy tracks. I had a couple of superb white female singers from a local folk band, whom i'd depped with on bass, to cover a couple of Wailers tracks that we were including from the twist of marley album by Lee Ritenour. One was no woman no cry and also Exodus. First one they were completely happy singing, but Exodus, they both felt the could't authentically identify with the context and message of the song and deliver it with the passion it deserves because of who they were.  So they did all the other tracks and we had a black female singer to do Exodus.  I totally accepted their feeling, the gig went down a storm.

I would use one of those if i got to the stage where my currently heavy basses started to be a problem. Though I do wonder how stable they are as they would have a high centre of gravity with a bass on the top.

I had one of those gigs last night with a Tribute band and same thing, some different keys as the singer was also a dep, different arrangements,starts, endings etc.

Kept me on my toes trying to guess what and when the breaks would be and how the songs would end. The most uncomfortable was that many of the starts were different to the original records which you only discover when you start playing what you know and it turns out that they don't start like that anymore. Makes starting the next song an anxious moment. 🙂

But overall it was a nice gig. 

Here are a couple that came up on FB today. They are two promo videos for the band Elizabeth Fields Collective. I joined the band after the tracks were recorded so a not playing on the tracks. Sadly the band leader passed away during covid from non covid related illness.

Oh I see, it's for double bass.👍🏾

3 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

. . .  . or you could give it to me. I'm a lot younger than I look. . . .  really!

Hahaha good try. Joking aside, personally having a bass like that go free to someone who will appreciate what it is, is far preferable to selling it dirt cheap. Of course they could just sell it and make a killing but hopefully I will find a keen buyer. 

what is a bass buggy? Any pictures of it?

7 hours ago, Bolo said:

Build an acrylic display case around it. Now it's art, not a bass. 

I have had such a hard time selling this bass. It was my first decent 5 string and I don't play it any more and the interest i've had with offers are no good to me. I'm seriously considering the thought of having it embedded in acrylic to make an actual coffee table bass. I'd take the electronics out of it as they can be used in a  non alembic bass.

An alternative is what I have done many times in the past when tormented by the idea of selling an instrument or gear that I no longer use but have become attached to, Which is give it away to a young musician. I did that with some mesa boogie gear. I have someone in mind who is a young bassist  that I have become a big fan of. But I don't know if they even like alembics so I won't mention it here in case they are a member and I change my mind. Ha.

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I would imagine if you swapped the cabs over and did the same eq process as above the results would have been equally satisifying as they are both FRFR. But in the heat of battle you found a way for the show to go on.

If it's uneconomical to repair by a tech, you won't lose anything by trying yourself. I'm sure you'd find a good youtube video and get a few clamps from a hardware shop or B&Q, or somewhere thar repairs furniture. It's just wood. Removing the string tension will stop it getting bigger before the repair.

I don’t see anything there that a decent competent luthier would have problems dealing with.  I’ve read of headstock cracks like that repaired. Where it has split rather than coming apart, a syringe can be used to get the glue right inside the crack before clamping it up. I hope you get it fixed. 👍🏾

5 hours ago, stevie said:

 

I thought I'd just look up the figures for the sake of clarity. The BB2 measures 56 x 45 x 37cm. The Goodwood measures 52 x 36 x 30cm. Calculating a volume from these dimensions  gives us 93,249cc for the BB2 and 56,160cc for the Goodwood. So, the Goodwood is almost half the size of the BB2 - not practically the same size. 

 

The weight difference is 4kg. That might not seem much but it means that the Goodwood is less than two-thirds the weight of the BB2. You'll definitely notice it. 

 

Thanks for that, however i’m not trying to replace the BB2, i’m looking for a smaller, compact setup for mainly home use so was looking at the One10T, but then saw this cab was FRFR and wondered if it would suit me better than a voiced cab. But looking at the goodwood it is significantly larger and at a tad under 20lbs it’s approx 5lb heavier than the One10T. That said i do like the FRFR approach soundwise. Things to consider and no rush. 🧐

6 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

No doubt all the LFSys cabs sound good, but the Goodwood is practically the same size (6cm narrower, and 3kg lighter) than your BB2. is that enough of a saving to warrant the outlay on a new cab?

Not when you put it like that. Thank you👍🏾

I've been considering a BF One10T for a while now to use primarily at home and low volume gigs. I love the BF 12" FRFR cabs for their clarity which I find perfect for my alembics, and do wonder whether the One10T may be too 'voiced' in contrast as i have no affinity to vintage or classic bass gear. So, these LFsys Goodwood cabs seem interesting as they claim to be FRFR speakers and might just be the ticket. I will be watching this thread with interest and holding my cash until I can make a good informed choice.

31 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

This is the earliest photo I have of me with a bass guitar - a Colombus Jazz with matt black strings. Bedroom Arena, 1986:

 

 

The bass player in one of my first funk bands in the late 70's had a fender jazz and a columbus copy, we used to do quite a bit of studio recordings back then and the producer/engineer always preferred the sound of his columbus.

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The first photo was around 1983 when I was posing for a photo student friend, trying to copy a Stanley clarke album cover pose. I've never been a smoker and didn't enjoy puffing that cigar.

In recent years I found that same bass listed on a French web site and resisting buying it.

I was a guitarist back then, the bass was really an impulse swap when I tried to sell my Laney Klipp guitar head to a small second hand guitar shop.

The more recent was taken at a gig where i was depping for a Bob Marley Tribute band. 

I was once recommended to a local singer who was putting a band together to do some gigs in support of her ‘upcoming’ album release. I met the singer and she seemed fine and so were the songs and i agreed to do the two local showcase gigs she had booked. Anyway i learnt the basslines as per the recordings and turned up to all the rehearsals to discover she didn’t know the arrangements and wouldn’t take helpful advice from me or other band members whom like me learnt the stuff. Things were changing every session to the point of us all being confused. I decided i would honour the two gigs and leave after the second gig. As expected the the first gig was dreadful (She thought it was fantastic) and the audience were as shocked as we the band were when her vibratio ad-libs sounded like a strangled turkey. Second gig was worse, and in the interval i told the drummer i was leaving immediately after the gig. Which I did quietly after the last song with a blow by blow analysis of my reasons and she marched off in a huff. I then went to cool down and got talking to a punter and told him i had just left and the reasons for it, then he told me the singer was his wife!!!  Bit awkward but nonetheless before the end of the following week both the guitarist and drummer had quit. A few years later i was compering a stage at a music festival and her new band were on my list do I gave her the same respectful intro as the other bands and then stood in front of the stage with my other half where the singer could clearly see me and enjoyed watching them squirm through their absolutely dreadful out of tune set with the knowledge that she could see my reaction and knowing I was right. Since then a couple of mates agreed to do gigs with her before hearing her and regretted it. 

Sounds great!

I bet they are to slide end down over your  strings above the pickup pole pieces and give you more bounce on your slap bass solos. 🤣
 

I have a black alembic europa 5 stringer, bought online & unseen from Germany. Firstly i couldn't get used to the narrow string spacing, i didn't really take to the black colour, and it was always way too bright, even with the filters closed. I put it up for sale a short time after buying and got a lot of interest but no buyer. So kept it, worked on the eq on both the bass and rig and now it's my first call bass. In recent years i had some plug and play electronics upgrades from alembic so that it operates like my series bass. What was I thinking.?

Confession is good for the soul...... alledgedly🧐🎶

Mine is, when the strings on any of my basses get old enough to start exhibiting a P- bass type tone. They get a new set fitted. 
Nothing against that tone but it’s not for me ………yet. 

I left the house band at a weekly pub open mic night after almost 2 years after the volume started creeping up and up especially when another guitarist was sitting in. I mentioned it to them many times about the volume and refused to turn my volume up. Eventually I left when nothing was changing. Not too many weeks after that they lost that gig as also the regulars had been complaining about the volume.  Another band took over the spot and they were even louder.

On 11/08/2025 at 19:50, wintoid said:

I've been playing bass on and off for 45 years, yikes.  Before bass, I had been mostly playing violin, and I guess what was my pizzicato technique on the violin got transplanted into my bass playing.  I play free strokes, basically.

 

Recently, I've been trying to practice rest strokes, with a view to potentially trying to adopt them more or even completely.  When I play with rest strokes, my right hand fingers are almost completely straight.  There's something incredibly satisfying about the motion of plucking this way, I love it, but I've got a lot to learn.

 

One of the hardest things seems to be crossing 2 strings to play octaves.  I wondered from more seasoned rest-strokers (ooer) whether you switch to free strokes for octaves?  I feel like I need to curl my fingers and change my hand position to miss the string in between the octaves.  Or is there a trick to make this easier?

I’d suggest checking out jimmy Johnson’s bass playing on youtube he plays with a really narrow string spacing and straight fingers. You may pick up some tips there. I will search some videos and post here if i find some

close ups. 

I’ve turned 65 this year and been playing in bands on and off since the mid 70’s mainly as a guitarist but eventually my bass calling pulled me into the deep side and now 99% of my gigs are on bass. Although i get paid for gigs I never do it just for the money and over the years i’ve done many gigs where i was not into the music, or it was a non paying gig, or helping out a friend, but enjoyed the opportunity to play something different. I still have that burning desire to become a better player, especially when it comes to jazz, so as long as that desire continues so will I. It also helps that i’ve managed to acquire both the dream bass and dream guitar i wanted since the beginning of my gigging life to gig with. Shallow maybe but it does increase my level of enjoyment. 👍🏾😁🥳