mcgraham

Second hand is great, provided you can be patient til what you want comes up. For example, I now have a full Berg IP rig for a little under half of what one would cost new. The IP112 on its own cost me less than it would to fund an average rig bought second hand with separate cab and power amp section. Particularly with instruments, it's a good way to let someone else take the hit for buying new. Also, on a forum like this you get to know who has similar tastes to you, who looks after their gear, who sells things on frequently, and who gives good deals. You can also hear rumours about people moving things on and ask them personally if they'd be willing to part with something. Also, second hand instruments have been vetted by someone already. Thus, the bad ones get weeded out, and the good ones survive (or don't get sold). Mark

[quote]If you like the sound of thinner strings but don't like the slackness then a longer scale can work wonders, plus it adds more sonic size to those thinner gauges.[/quote] I like the sound and feel of thicker strings but prefer a slightly looser feel Mark

No problem! I'm pleased to see someone who's willing to go back to basics to correct issues. Most musicians aren't so willing, so props for that. Re: 'bent fingers' search for Todd Johnson or Gary Willis on youtube. Find a video of either in which they explain how they position their right hands (Todd Johnson floating thumb vid is great for this). Basically it's 'relax your right arm totally and let it hang limp in front of the bass, whilst keeping the forearm and arm relaxed draw the upper arm up so that the hand comes to rest in front of the strings' Don't try to 'reach' for the strings, or position or tense your fingers to in preparation for plucking. Then note how your hand is formed and positioned. You should find the fingers are naturally curved (varies from person to person - as an example, the tip-most segment of my index and middle fingers are exactly perpendicular to the surface of the bass). I treat this finger position as the outermost extreme of motion my fingers should make when plucking. So they only ever pluck further inwards towards my palm/heel of my hand from this position, they never straighten more than this (at least for the purposes of practicing technique). Does that make sense? Re: 3 or 4 fingers - If you absolutely must learn a multi-finger technique I suggest the Matt Garrison style Thumb Index Middle Ring (TIMR) technique. This is useful for so many more things than playing just basslines, and you can get supreme amounts of speed using this. 2 fingers are plenty fast, believe me they can go faster than you could ever believe possible with the right amount of work. The work you'd put into 3 or 4 fingers would yield phenomenal results if poured into 2 finger technique. Mark

Well, we can't see or play your bass, so I'm afraid I can't say whether the action/setup is good or not. This is also a very personal thing. I suggest that you take your bass along to a technician/luthier and get it set up to your liking. This is always a good thing to do, and will certainly answer your question regarding whether the set up is responsible or not. With regards to playing technique, I suffered from the same problem when I started playing. I did it for a whole year without noticing too much so well done for spotting it! My problem was I was hitting the strings with too much force (either too fast or too hard). The solution is to lighten up your playing (provided the instrument is set up correctly for you). The methods for implementing this solution can vary. You could: 1) just play softer (good idea is to turn the volume up on your amp to cause you to have to play softer to maintain the previous volume level) 2) play nearer the bridge (this is so that the displacement of the string caused by your plucking is decreased, relative to plucking near the neck - this will change the tone dramatically, plucking softer is a more useful thing to learn) 3) get a finger ramp (highly recommended - check out Talkbass-->Technique forum-->Guide to ramps thread [near the top] for some great discussion and explanation on this device) 4) pluck the strings so they move parallel to the fingerboard (if you pluck them so that they move perpendicular then the max displacement of the strings is in the direction of the frets and they are more likely to hit them, whilst parallel movement is not) With regards to wrist angle in the last one, have a look at the floating thumb and don't straighten your fingers so much. If you try to keep them straight then you WILL get an awkward wrist angle. I'm sure there are other methods but these are options that helped me. Mark

The IP stack is something else isn't it? I just completed my IP stack thanks to 6stringbassist selling his Berg EX112ER. Means I got an IP rig for a little under half the price of a brand new IP stack. Bargainous! I do love beautifully crafted jazzes with just a hint of uniqueness, they're great! Mark

Thanks for the input! Anyone else got any experiences? I appreciate that not everyone has a piezo equipped bass but I was hoping for slightly more responses! Mark

For those who have magnetic pickups and piezos, what controls is your bass equipped with to mix the two options? Separate volumes? Anyone got a blend between the two? Simply an on/off switch for the piezos? Or maybe a switch that has options for magnetic pickups only, piezo only and both together? Also, what do people do with eqing the two signals? Is it standard to have a separate eq for each, or just for magnetic and not piezo? Mark

I just bought a Berg EX112ER extension cabinet to go with my Berg IP112ER. Fantastic price, great condition, and Kevin even drove it up to me! For just a small contribution towards fuel! Legend. Despite being hurried for time he also stayed to chat bass for a while, which is always appreciated Would highly recommend dealing with 6stringbassist. Top bloke! Thanks for the great cab bud. Mark

Marcus has a fantastic slap tone. It's not at all weak or thin. He [i]also [/i]has a fantastic fingerstyle tone which is something people often miss. When he sits back on a groove, it's a work of art (his version of Frankenstein is a great example of this). And he rarely overplays when doing fingerstyle, it's wonderful. He just plays what fits. He's a great musician, and a really humble guy by all accounts. Nevertheless, I'm not a huge fan of his soloing as I find it a little weak at times, particularly his on-the-spot improv. I only mean this in comparison to other guys that I'm a bigger fan of. Also, the production on some of his stuff leaves a bit to be desired. They can sometimes sound quite flat, the mix on a few songs is just [i]bizarre[/i], and even on some tracks I feel like his drummer is letting the groove down. Mark

I've been dropping in on this thread periodically, and it sounds like a pain in the ass. I am more inclined to sway in the direction of those who say 'they're more trouble than they're worth, leave them', but I do understand the other viewpoint of 'you've put in a lot of effort and got this far, stick it out'. In short, I think you've got to look at what you want in a band, and what you're looking to get from it. If all you want is an outlet for live playing of music you like, and you're not too fussed about artistic input, then I'd stick it out. If you're looking for a band that would be [i]your[/i] band, i.e. one that you are an integral part of and not just 'the bass player who does what he's told', and you're bothered about having a level of control over your sound and artistic input, then I'd leave it. However nicely bands put it, if they're telling you to adhere to their opinions/preferences, they're telling you to adhere to their opinions/preferences. If there's little room to manuevre around that, or they are less than welcoming of different input, then you are likely to have an uphill struggle on your hands to bring them round to even just appreciating your point of view. Oh, and if the drummer is annoying, I'd run a mile. I cannot [i]stand [/i]working with drummers who can't solidly stick with the rest of the band. But that's just my opinion. I figure that if you want to genuinely call yourself a <<insert instrument player title here>> you work at your instrument and work towards getting it right. No excuses. Mark

That is HOT! Mark

Thanks for your input Jake. I always enjoy reading your position on these things. I have to agree that contemporary 'musicians' are too accommodating of poor technique and poor playing. We are too ready to gloss over the bad in favour of the good, which, whilst positive and uplifting, isn't always spurring on and encouraging musical growth. More than this, a large number of contemporary musicians are too proud to take the criticism or constructive comments. The number of 'musicians' I've talked shop with that I can see clearly have a technique or playing issue, and as soon as I tentatively bring it up they concoct some story about why the way they do it is the way to go. I have no problem with 'live and let live' and to 'agree to disagree' if I can see that someone's argument is logical, well thought through and is capable of yielding good and efficient results. But this is rarely the case. In music and in other areas of life too. IMO, we need to be more willing to dish out constructive criticism and directive encouraging comments, and equally as willing to absorb and reflect on such input, to the point of seeking suggestions and comments and analysing/critiquing your own playing. As far as teaching the teaching issue is concerned, if you suspect/can see something is wrong with what the guitar teacher is teaching the kids, nip it in the bud now. Bear in mind it's not just his job, it's the kids educational development and possibly even their health that is on the line. It's irresponsible to ignore a fault if you see it, or at least question an issue if you think there could be one. Mark

Doctorofthebass uses very light gauge strings (30-90) on his Status. Still sounds huge, but crazy playability too. Heavier gauge does give you better tone there's no doubt, but I find the difference is more noticeable on guitar, particularly acoustic. However, saying that, once you're amplified I find you can compensate for this 'lack of tone' by adjusting your touch and eq. FWIW, I prefer (30)-40-60-80-100 on my basses. I also like 10s on my acoustic and electric guitars. I may be a wuss but I still sound great Mark

Gotta agree, tone is quite poor. I spotted his videos a few years ago, and turned them off very quickly because of how manky/clanky it sounded. Although, lets be fair and acknowledge that some of us are judging his tone based on YouTube videos (except people like Mike who have witnessed his playing first hand). I think guys like this are great. They show you what is possible and help to remove preconceptions about what can or cannot be done on an instrument. Whether or not you like what he's producing musically, the technique is still sound. I think that at times it could be cleaner, and certainly more tasteful, but as an exercise it demonstrates his prowess and his stamina. More power to him I say! Mark

+1 for Pandora PX4D. I had a mixer in first year of uni, then got a Pandora at the beginning of 2nd year (4 years ago). Still going strong. The only thing that grates on me is the built in noise gate. Even with the noise reduction option rolled down to 0 there are still some artefacts from (what I can only assume) is the Analog to digital converter. But for uni, it's great! Highly recommended! I used to take my bass to uni every day and find a place to practice between lectures. Mark

Mmm, that looks fantastic! Bet it sounds great too. Looks like a great complement of traditional components with modern design. Probably weighs a freaking ton too! Mark

Youth group was lacking musicians and I wanted to help out. I thought 'guitar or drums'. Someone said 'what about bass?'... what's a bass? was my response. 'It plays all the low notes'.... 'ok, what else can it do?'. They played me 'Higher Ground' (the RHCP version). That settled it. I simply had to be able to make that sound. The rest is history. A year or so later I started dabbling on guitar as there was always one or two lying around at church. Once I got to uni I was putting in at least one or two a day on bass or guitar. Once I really got my ear and technique together, both instruments were unlocked together due to the similarity in their format/configuration. Guitar was something that got my attention after hearing Satriani. But I've always found that the guitar style and the guitar sounds that I love is trapped inside certain genres. The majority of genres do not demand lead lines or complex rhythm work on electric or acoustic. So I end up very bored. On guitar, I don't have the same level of control over the music, or the same ability to manipulate feel/groove etc, that I do on bass. Bass, even at its most simple, is just so satisfying all the time to me. Not saying that I would want to play single whole notes on the root my entire playing life, but if it's simple and gets the groove then it's really happening. Basically, I love playing music, and I would love to spend loads of time on a number of instruments. But I can't, so I prioritise my time for my bass and spend the maximum amount of time I can on the instrument I love most, but also make time for the others I like too. Mark

-1 to routing for new pickups. When doing something that is irreversible to a bass you really [i]really[/i] need to KNOW that it's what you want, and, from the number of basses you have bought and sold in the last few months alone, it doesn't look like you really know what you want in terms of a bass (I apologise for the severe bluntness of this statement). If you KNOW that a musicman sound is what you want, then switch to a musicman, end of. You can then re-evaluate your sound and evolve it onwards from there. Mark