bassist_lewis

I've read a lot about these basses, all complimentary about their construction, sound, playability etc, but what are they actually like to play? I know its difficult to get across but I ask because the nearest stockist to me is bassdirect in warwick and I live in Edinburgh (!). in particular whats the scale length like? I find 35" uncomfortable so not sure if I caould cope with 37" on the low B. thanks in advance

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1317718704' post='1393551'] The music business is a very broad field - just because you're not a pretty boy (or girl) who is in the media 24 hours a day doesn't mean you can't make a living out of music, whether gigging, recording, producing, etc. This trend toward thinking that people are useless (at anything) just because they're over 40 is ludicrous and demonstrates a narrow worldview in my opinion! [/quote] maybe at 22 I'm too young for this thread but I've already given up on 'making it' with an originals band, I just do it because its with good friends and we have a laugh doing it. From what I read and hear about its the older musicians (say, 30+ ) that get most of the actual work with theatres and TV because they've amassed enough experience, contacts and skills to do the job properly.

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1317980088' post='1396829'] "Let's do 500 Miles for the encore, everyone loves it...." oh god!! [/quote] I've done that every saturday (and the odd friday) night for the last 5 months!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1317287042' post='1388950'] Excellent point, Pete. This stuff is not complicated and 'tricks' to memorise the whole thing are not that important. Just learn the damn thing [/quote] the trick is finding a method of learning that works for you

[quote name='J.R.Bass' timestamp='1317637263' post='1392478'] Ahh i find this method doesn't aid me in anyway. With a system like this there is little way to relate it to a scale quickly, whereas knowing that a Dorian scale has a a b3 & b7 it is instantly accessible. I hope that makes sense in a weird way [/quote] yeah that makes sense. But OTOH its good to have a few different angles to look at one thing from. I suppose the tones and semitones method is easier if your starting from the same note each time. in any case as long your learning it doesn't make a difference what route you take. kind of on the same subject, I've spent the last 4 years at university studying music, and though I think learning theory (note theory, Victor Wooten calls it) is very important for knowing the fretboard and getting shapes into your muscle memory, I'm finding as i play more and mature as a musician I don't really think about notes anymore, I just think sounds. Or sometimes I don't think at all, I just do it. Anyone else found this?

So I went into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow where I'd tried the Ibanez Bass Tubescreamer a couple of months ago, intending to double check I liked it and buy it. when I got in the shop I had a quick browse of the pedals and saw the BB Preamp, which, strangely enough, I'd been thinking about on the bus there. I heard it first in Janek Gwizdala's interview with Bryan Beller thought it sounded pretty good but hadn't given it much thought since, I'd read the review of the tubescreamer in BGM and they'd given it 5*s so was pretty set on that. But then i played through it. even my drummer friend said how much better it sounded and how quickly I got a good sound from it. [u]Overview[/u] Its a very small pedal, roughly 63x110mm, which is perfect for my diminuitive board. Very straight forward layout, gain and volume on the left and treble and bass on the right. there's a small red LED to show that the pedal is engaged, true bypass footswitch and a 9vdc input (centre negative). [u]Build[/u] feels pretty solid, not quite the weighty tank that is the bass Tubescreamer but I reckon I can stand on it for a few years and it won't break (I also trust the Xotic Effects brand to make something roadworthy). The knobs have enough resistance that you won't lose your setting if your foot brushes past it on the way to another pedal, unusually they're a kind of chicken-head shape, not quite T-Rex style but a very useful "beak" that shows how much of whatever you're dialling in. [u]Sounds[/u] Before I make any sweeping and potentially misleading statements I'll say that I was after a vintage sounding overdrive, kind of like the bass on 'Uptight' or 'Do I Do' (Stevie Wonder does the best bass everything!) but here goes: this is easily the best sounding distortion I've ever heard. Bar none. Ever. This pedal could function very well without the EQ as it seems to hold on to your tone very well and just drives it, which is what other distortion pedals should be doing but somehow never do. On the other hand I feel its better to have too much control rather than not enough, and have found myself adding a touch of bass boost. The gain knob is the real point of interest and where the most fun is had. It kicks in at around 8/9 o' clock (something lacking from the Tubescreamer which needed to be over halfway to get any drive), at this setting its a really subtle and creamy overdrive, adding a touch of grit around the edges of the note. turning up to 12 o'clock and it gets a bit more aggressive but still in the same region of creaminess, while from 2 o' clock onwards its getting to full on distortion, something like Hysteria (which isn't as massively overdriven as the kids on youtube think it is). The pedal is incredibly responsive, reating very organically to the dynamics of your playing. [u]Conclusion[/u] I think this pedal is brilliant. It gives me the exact sound I want with the option to expand and go further if I so wish, and is small enough to snuggle onto my tiny board with the Moogerfooger, which takes up about a third of it. If your after a fuzz then this is not the pedal for you, get the MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz or Blowtorch (i didn't know that amount of compression was legal!), or the Aguilar Agro. But if you want old-school, organic and reponsive overdrive, I couldn't recommend this pedal enough (anyone from xotic reading this? ).

Bass BB preamp. got one today. perfect. It can subtle, creamy overdrice up to full on fuzz. or, for something a bit trebly-er try the Aguilar Agro, very bright, very fuzzy. Only has one real tone tho. Both have a small footprint

cheers Crazykiwi! I'll study your post thoroughly. I'm not a huge drug/alcohol abuser so might get some time to practice. I have a friend out there already so she's giving me a bit of advice. what about contracts? sign them here or out there? [quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1317459965' post='1390867'] DON'T DRIVE!!!! Just.....don't....drive. G. [/quote] I... CAN'T... DRIVE..., I... DON'T... HAVE... A... LICENSE... I... KEEP... MEANING... TO... TAKE... LESSONS... BUT... INSTEAD... I... BUY... STUFF... !!!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1237285394' post='436976'] I own several 5 strings in 34, 35 and 36" scale and to me the 35" ones sound the least convincing. Admittedly the longer and shorter basses were far more expensive, but it confirms for me that the overall quality of the bass is more important than simply the speaking length of the strings. [/quote] I emailed alan at ACGuitars about a short scale 6 and he said that the scale isn't as important as how the instrument is built and what its built from. In my experience I find 35" too big for my hands, i know little guys that use it all the time but its just not for me. i also find that the B is tinnier and clunkier (not always, my ibanez BTB6 had an amazing low

I've been having this internal battle since I started doing covers gigs every week. I did a few over summer last year with a lakland 55-02 and found lots of use for the low B because of singers changing keys or to play somethign in a more comfortable position (500 miles for example, playing right at the nut for 6 or 7 minutes can be a strain). however i sold the lakland (and every other bass i had including an ibanez 6 string) and got a clover 4 string, i think I wanted to simplify or had a "back to basics" urge, all the usual arguments for having just a single 4 but after a couple of months of gigs this year I started thinking about getting another 5 or even a 6. I'm thinking of reading gigs as well, I haven't got any yet but I'd like to be ready when the opportunity arises. Don't really know what to do!

I've been asked to do 3 months playing a hotel in dubai. Its not absolutely final yet but its looking good, just had to send off some rough recordings tonight and should know for sure one way or the other tomorrow (or later today, being that its after midnight) does anyone have any advice or things to remember or things to look out for (regarding the contract, I'm aware that holding hands is too hot and heavy for the emirates, and that you need a non-muslim drinking license)? thanks in advance

sometimes i find it easier to think in tones and semitones: ionian - T T S T T T S dorian - T S T T T S T phrygian - S T T T S T T lydian - T T T S T T S mixolydian - T T S T T S T aeolian - T S T T S T T locrian - S T T S T T T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTx8EgKUSDY THIS is slap

professionally experienced bass guitar tutor with a Bachelor of Arts in popular music. I can teach a range of different styles, from pop/rock to funk, jazz and blues. Lessons can focus on theory and applying it musically, reading notation, improving time feel or improvisation (jazz or otherwise). I can travel to anywhere within 15 miles of Edinburgh City Centre Cheers!

what about putting it into sibelius? then playing along

I just wish I could us effects more often!

this may or may not be useful but I find it really cool that you can go through the modes from most major (lydian) to most minor (locrian) in one key by moving either up in 5ths or down in 4ths. for example play a G lydian, D ionian, A mixolydian, E dorian, B aeolian, F# phrygian, C# locrian, all of which come from the key of D major. Even cooler than that (if you're as geeky as me) is that from the locrian you only need to flatten the root to make it a lydian, starting the whole sequence again. this gets you used to playing in one key all over the neck. and you can expand it by starting from different modes ...too much at once?... And once you've flattened the root of your locrian to become C lydian, you'll be in G major. TA DA!!! you've modulated down a 5th! (or up a 4th)

in the solo for '(used to be a) cha cha' he does it for a bar and a half. there's also an article in BGM by Janek Gwizdala a few months ago about rhythmic groupings. In my personal experience accenting in groups of 3 is relatively easy, 5s is much weirder, tried it with pentatonics a few times but still needs LOTS of work

I'm talking mainly about covers and general pop music (where the money is). I've been playign covers for the last 18 months and recently have started working on a monster set list with a new band. Determined to make use of my pricey pedal board I looked through it for songs that would need some kind of effect, I think i found 3 or maybe 4 from a list of over 120. I can't get enough of my moogerfooger filter, or mixing it with my Aguilar octamizer and I'm gassing after the new ibanez tubescreamer and the EBS dphaser. but are they really necessary? (aside from satisfying my need to make the bass sound like a synth)

Its like rain dripping on a tin roof. At least he's having fun

Hello DB-ers I've been playing DB for about 9 months and i'm looking for some slightly easier strings to play, any suggestions? (my upright is electric so they have to be metal) L

this is me and the jamiroquai band I was in jamming in ireland last year. thom (guitar) was going nuts with the shreddies [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93HEEDlZxBo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93HEEDlZxBo[/url] L

not quite the right section but its vaguley applicable. currently I have a nice Roland fp4 digital piano, it has some good sounds, weighted keys and its just nice to play and occasionally record with. BUT I haven't played piano seriously in 4 or 5 years, all i've used it for since is recording bits for uni work, the metronome and the odd plinkety-plonk. Seeing as I've graduated, there are smaller and more portable metronomes out there and I don't do gigs on keys i'm thinking about selling it. This would take me a few steps closer to my purchase of a 6 string and free up some space (I'm aiming to move to London and I hear space is mighty expensive down there!). HOWEVER I know how important it is to expand your musical experience with other instruments, so would I be giving up a valuable musical resource? any thoughts basschatters?

If you want the best of both, why not use a decent pedal? I may be completely wrong and I haven't fully tested this theory but I think that using a decent solid state amp for clean sounds then using a pedal for vintage sounds would be the ideal: valve amps are typically heavy as f**k, S.S. amps are usually quite light, as are pedals. something like the EBS valvedrive, EHX hot tubes or even the Ibanez TS9B. anyone tried this?