mcgraham

With regard to composition, it's definitely one of the best albums composed by a bassist out there, at least in jazz. Laurence Cottle's albums are also amazing. I would've said that the songs on his albums were composed by a horn player rather than a bassist. Maybe he is a horn player... or maybe he didn't actually write them but rearranged them. I'm not sure, but I do love his stuff. Mark

I will pick it up at some point. Although I've not been listening to much jazz from that scene as of late. I really liked Mystery to Me, although :S ... I found that after the initial enjoyment factor, the songs started to blend together. In a nutshell, I just feel like there's not enough lasting distinctiveness about each/any of the songs, i.e. a composition that will endure or keep me humming it for years to come. I'm not sure whether anyone else has felt something similar. Mark

Ah. That is unfortunate. Sorry about that. Mark

I have to be honest, Tim Miller doesn't do it for me. I like/love his tone, I like how he makes the guitar sound almost keyboard like in parts, and his slower phrases are very gentle and convey a nice mood and atmosphere. Beyond that, his playing doesn't really interest me and doesn't jump out as massively creative. Oddly enough, I had a similar feeling about Gwilym Simcock when he played with Janek in Epsom. I found his playing to be highly educational; you could really hear progression and movement in his soloes, each having good general shape, but they just didn't interest me. Mark

From what I've gathered from his TB forum he's not too pleased with how 55 Bar have handled the selling of his CD. I recall him mentioning he may be looking into a better option for folks buying. I more or less wait for stuff to go onto itunes before I buy nowadays, for the convenience of not having CDs. Mark

On a more positive note I'm a fan of Janek's stuff. I need to get round to ordering his new album at some point. I recall hearing some samples of it and really digging the recording... and the sound of the recording. Two condensers mounted on the ceiling of the bar I believe. I may need to explore that as a recording option. He's one of the more 'lyrical' bassists out there. For example, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG7VfRS-Row"]this video[/url] I think is melodic and tasteful. He has good technical facility (as you'd expect!) but he doesn't overdo it (IMO). Went to see him and his band in Epsom of Easter of last year. Was a lot of fun, and very inspiring; just great musicians doing what they do and loving it I was so impressed with Elliot Mason (the horn playing multi-instrumentalist). The stuff I'd heard previously really didn't do him justice, or perhaps he'd evolved more since the recordings I'd heard. Mark

It is indeed quite spectacular! Mine isn't quite as densely figured as yours, but it's a lot brighter in appearance. Like a lighter rusty-red. I have a few pictures of it but in alternate mock up form. I'll stick them up soon. Mark

[quote]The preamp actually sounds the same as the one in my Sei, it's very versatile.[/quote] Awesome When did you get yours? Mark

[quote]That sounds great! Have you thought about chambering the body, seems to bring out more of the resonance with a thru-neck bass. Any side markers? So what's going on with the preamp?[/quote] Thanks for the replies guys, I was beginning to think no-one cared I did consider having chambers, but I'm after a particular sound, clean, clear, crisp. So I don't want to depart from the wood recipe we've come up with. The preamp is a custom job that John East does for W&T (at least it's custom and W&T have it!) which is 3 band (bass, mid, treble), parametric mid sweep control, the treble is a push/pull for a bright switch, and the bass also has a cut only passive tone, which is push/pull to get into active/passive. The frequencies may also be spec'd as W&T desire too, but I am not sure that is correct. The blend is also a custom taper so that in the middle both pickups are on full. Yes, there will be side markers [quote]the flamed mahogany is a good score, well done sir! What about the neck? I hope you've asked for it to be as stiff as they can make it. I tried a couple of W&T basses at Bass Direct which varied significantly in terms of sustain and attack. But there's no accounting for taste I guess.[/quote] I have no worries about the neck being stiff. When I tried a particular Chronos (one of their recent offerings) I found the relief to yield an action just a fraction too high for me (only just). When I went to adjust the truss rod, it turned out that the truss rod wasn't even exerting force on the neck, it was in 'neutral'. The neck's really are super stable. Whilst some of their earlier offerings may look and possibly play below your expectations, I have no worries about neck stability or sustain. Plus, they do use some very unique wood combinations, so the sustain difference you experienced may well be due to the wood combinations they use, and the various complex resonances that occur. Mark

Hi all Well, today is a good day! (Not least because it's a Friday) I have been in discussions with Wood&Tronics for the last 4 months or so preparing a set of specifications for a custom order (check out [url="http://www.wtbasses.net"]the Wood&Tronics website[/url] or [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk"]BassDirect[/url] if you're not familiar with their work). The reason today is a good day is because today is when the head luthier gets the completed spec list. Seeing as today it officially 'kicks off', I thought I'd share the specs with the rest of BC. With this bass we've gone with distinctive woods of great tone and beauty, but also an understated elegance, e.g. not crazy laminate numbers or super intricate tops. Here are the specs... Due: September 2008 34" scale Chronos model (single cut) 5 string, strung B-G Neck through construction (no heelblock) Maple-Ash-Maple neck (3 piece) Walnut body Ebony fingerboard Flamed mahogany top (yes that's right!) Nordstrand Dual Coil pickups W&T East Custom preamp (3 band w/ parametric mids + loads more, just ask!) Black hardware Ebony finger ramp Ultra-fine satin finish w/ gloss on the wood top 26 banjo frets No markers, only 12th fret inlay (TBA) Matching flamed mahogany truss rod access cover Blackwood neckthrough overlay + blackwood headstock veneer Re: the top wood, I've only seen one other example of figured mahogany and that was on Anthony Jackson's Fodera. Needless to say I'm thrilled to have this. The gloss finish on the top will make the figuring appear incredibly deep and rich, and will really jump out at you. Now, the blackwood neckthrough overlay was Enrico's ('front man' at W&T) suggestion. Essentially, rather than a full facing or showing the neck woods in the neck through portion of the body, we're placing a blackwood stripe (looks like ebony) over that portion, as well as veneering the headstock with the same wood. This is to work with the virtually unmarked fingerboard as as to yield a 'black stripe' effect from the tip of the headstock all the way to the heel of the bass, disrupted subtly by the matching truss rod cover and the exposed pole pieces of the Nordstrand pickups. Yes, I am excited Mark

Personally, I think theory is great. I also think experimentation/improvisation is great. I think application of theory in pursuit of experimentation/improvisation is fantastic. I think a few of us have really had enough trying to explain why theory is useful and serves an important role in understanding music, I know I have. There are [i]several[/i] threads that go through this debate and set out the pros and cons of each side of this argument, (see the infamous Janek Gwizdala thread), but it seems there will never be an end to the number of people who refuse to acknowledge that they [i]may[/i] be missing something. Mark

[quote]Want the Schroeder sound? Not cutting through? Walk over to your amp and turn the mids up[/quote] For once, I agree. Rather than lug my rig to practices I've been using a simple graphic eq (GEB-7) to eq the somewhat poor amp at the rehearsal studio. Eq'd it to get exactly waht I wanted (or as near as possible with said amp), and got a darn good approximation of the Schroeder sound. [quote]But seriously, I often wonder at the EQ settings that some people use.[/quote] Tell me about it! I was playing at a wedding ceremony on the weekend (guitar), and the bass player had a ridiculously oversized Hartke rig. His eq was set to a smiley face and the tone clearly rolled off on his bass (unlined fretless). It was quite an unpleasant listening experience, both tone wise and playing wise. Particularly when sitting next to the amp. Re: the main question, I've tried both Berg's and Schroeders, and have played through Epifani and Markbass once or twice. The 'best' sound comes from the Bergs, they are essentially PA cabs set up and tuned for bass; they have a more refined sound than Schroeders (to my ears). However Schroeders cut through a mix exceedingly well due to the strong mid voicing, and they don't obscure the other instruments due to the low end drop off. I'd say Berg's sit in a mix better than they cut (though as we've said you can easily eq to sort that out as they are more or less pretty flat across a wide frequency range), whilst Schroeders cut through better than they sit (but quite coloured). If that makes sense.* In short, Schroeders are very coloured in their sound, Berg's are not (by comparison). If you like the Schroeder sound, then there's not much need to change (like me). If you want as much potential tone in your rig as possible, you're better off with something more transparent like the Berg's. Mark * - Please note that this is just my opinion as to what happens and why. Feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong.

Fair enough! I actually find it's now easier to use all combinations of fingers after getting this technique down. It's really important to ingrain one set sequence and not err from that in practicing. Ironically enough the BEST way (I've found) to nail this technique is to run scales. Why? You're using 4 fingers but with 3 notes per string. This way you go through the sequence on each string starting on a different finger. It's great! Mark

Strict alternation is necessary to glean full benefit from this technique. Re-starting the sequence everytime you change strings can be useful, but I'd advise getting the technique right first. Jam, TIMRMI is very inefficient as you're using your middle and index fingers twice as much as the outer two. A key advantage of TIMR or TRMI, is that the work is split evenly between each finger. This isn't the case with TIMRMI. Mark

Great video Mike! Slow & clear, but above all helpful and insightful. velvetkevorkian, Janek Gwizdala does the 4 finger with TRMI so there's no reason you can't do it that way, but most have found that TIMR works best. Mark

I'm interested Mark

Well, some of you may be pleased to hear I've managed to get what I was after with the TF last night. I was doing some experimenting with the 'Timbre' control in the lesser used range on the right hand side (it appears to be a complex pass filter, but I may be wrong). It significantly cleaned up the sound at about 1/2 o'clock. This also allows me to dial in extra low to supplement what was lacking before. I think I may have found the balance between the Clarus and the TF warmth that I was looking for. Of course, only a live performance in a full mix will tell the truth! Mark

I'm sure we've all seen some techniques that are a bit unusual or a bit different, either used by others or developed by ourselves. I'd love to hear about some new ones that I could perhaps take a shot at learning, as I find it really enjoyable getting new techniques under my belt. I've got a couple that perhaps you may not have seen/heard so I'll list them here. 1) Right hand muting with little finger - by straightening out the little finger slightly (not too much tension), and lowering it down onto the strings about an inch or two from the bridge, I've found I can get a great muted sound whilst still retaining standard technique. Effectively using your pinky as a fleshy mute rather than a foam one. 2) Right 'thumb' tapping - for those who've ever listened to Joe Satriani, he has a particular tapping technique he uses (see Satch Boogie, Surfing with the Alien etc). He brings his pick up to the fretboard and uses it like a pneumatic/piano hammer on the strings, yielding very rapid tapping/pulloffs. What I do is pretend that I'm clutching a pick, bring my hand up so that the plane of my palm is parallel to the plane of the fingerboard and use the side of my thumb as the side of a 'faux' pick. You mimic tapping your knuckles on the table, that's the shortest way to explain it. For an edgier sound try protruding your index finger beyond the edge of your thumb and using the nail surface, not the tip but the main surface of your nail. Not super useful in a band context, but fun! I've got others but they are mainly subtle variations on already known techniques Anyone care to share theirs? Mark

Just to clarify, is it a buzzing you're hearing regardless of whether you're playing/not playing, or is it a distortion on the notes themselves? Either way, try it through another means of amplification, preferably headphones, as you'll be able to identify this problem more clearly, i.e. is it the amp, is it on all notes at all volumes, or just high volumes etc. Mark

Gotcha. Excuse my ineptitude. This is new ground for me. Mark

[quote]Not sure what you are getting at here as you seem to think gain and volume are different things. Have a read of the article on the wiki concerning this very subject.[/quote] I have read the wiki, it didn't really answer my question. Please correct me if I get the terminology wrong, but I was getting at whether maxing your gain knob (rather than volume) to get you a given sound pressure level would yield a different tone to getting the same sound pressure level but maxing out the volume knob (rather than gain). [quote]If the preamp doesn't have much headroom or is designed to add compression/overdrive then preamp gain can sound quite different to power amp gain. I wouldn't be surprised if the Thunderfunk is obviously like this.[/quote] If this is the case, would I be right in saying that by increasing output SPL (correct me if I've got the term wrong) using the gain control rather than volume control, I will be getting a 'less coloured' resultant output? Mark

As I was after a bit more low end extension anyway, so it's just a matter of tightening it up til I'm happy with it. I was under the impression that there was some kind of a difference running an amplifier in this way. I could of course be wrong, and I wouldn’t be the first (or last!) musician to imagine that they’re hearing something that isn’t [i]actually[/i] there, but I felt it helped improve the clarity of the sound, i.e. tighter bottom, cleaner/clearer top. Mark