funkypenguin

3 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

So heavy, the sheer gravity of the rig prevented you from taking a photo?!

Come on man, you knows the rules - pics or it didn’t happen!

Technical issues 😛 photo now posted

5 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

You like Warwick then I presume?

In much the same way as you like EBS I imagine  

Just finished putting my new rig together. 

Warwick Hellborg preamp

Warwick Hellborg Mono 500w power amp

Warwick Hellborg Hi Cab (2x12)

Warwick Hellborg Lo Cab (1x15)

joined by my 97 streamer LX

Complete U-turn for me as far as rig philosophy is concerned in that its heavy as hell, but it sounds incredible 

You have a PM!

The course library at SBL is a unique resource in bass education and has given me insight and instruction that wouldn't have been available to me short of trying to take lessons with some of the players in question. A lot of Scotts free lessons are also a fantastic resource, especially if you go back through his channel to the tutorials he released prior to the YouTube algorithm changing (some of them continue to shape my practice and playing to this day). considering everything I've gained from SBL (the podcast among them!) im prepared to put up with being hit with marketing most times I go on YouTube  

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Even the video explaining why he waffles is half an hour of waffle. 😂

 

Thanks for posting. I'd not seen that before, and fair play to Scott for taking the time to respond. 

Scott was far more accommodating and diplomatic than I would have been, given the utterly crass behaviour of some in that particular thread 

Floor Jansen, Anette Olzon, Simone Simons, Orianthi Panagaris, Anika Nilles, Me'shell N'degeocello

On 10/07/2020 at 12:47, Bafflegab said:

Hey all

Firstly - this isn't a sale post!  If and when I do decide to sell, I'll pay the fee and list it properly 😃 

Basically, long story short, I've got this bass that I've had for a long time, it was custom built to my spec, and it's a really great bass to be honest, it does everything it needs to do.

Only one problem - I don't love it.  I don't feel like I've ever really connected with it, even though it's a really good instrument.  It barely gets played 😪 

I keep thinking about selling it (I could use the money, it's not like direly in need or anything like that, but I could use it elsewhere) but I get as far as taking photos and then change my mind.

How can I get over this and sell it to someone who will use it?

If you haven't bonded with it by now, then you never will. Take a deep breath, take the photos. put it up for sale and use the proceeds to fund something else, otherwise it will continue gathering dust.

6 hours ago, visog said:

So we're ~60 years into the electric bass as a four-string and as of the '80s we acquired five and six strings. Subsequently we got sevens and further extended range basses. Do we have a commensurate jump in musical quality or bass playing as a result?

I'm struggling to manifest many examples: Anthony Jackson and John Patitucci spring to mind. Gary Willis and Hadrien Feraud rock a five but their output is hardly mainstream.

My prog' heroes are four-stringers by and large with Squire dipping into fives and sixes for his less inspirational 90s and 00s output.

Just sayin'. Views and counter-examples welcome but I'm calling it: more strings does not make better music! (Sorry if I'm late to this party.)

The number of strings has no impact on increasing the players ability, in fact 5 and 6 strings are harder to play for various reasons, muting and string crossing being two. ive seen wonderful players on 4 strings and awful players on 5/6 strings. Its what the player does with the instrument that counts...

Following on from that, musical quality is entirely subjective. Most of my heroes on the bass (Anthony Jackson, Tony Grey, Damian Erskine, John Patitucci, John Myung, Rich Brown etc. etc.) all play 6 string so I would say that the 6 string bass has gotten us a long way....if you don't dig any of their music you may have a different opinion!

Ive been using the same bass for almost 10 years now and only changed amps because my old one was beyond repair. The only reason I would change is if I suddenly ran into enough money to afford the spec of the Fodera I would go for, but since that's unlikely im GAS free!

5 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I may be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, Jens doesn't have a price list posted on his site. I've had a couple of exchanges with him and Christophe and it seems you can pretty much order any of the Ritter bass models with whatever spec you care to dream up. Some of the Royal Family basses have gemstones and/or precious metals set into them, so you could easily spend above anything that has been mentioned here already.

I also had a conversation with Mica at Alembic a couple of years ago around ordering a Spyder bass. The quote was over $20k; $4k of that was for the silver spider web inlays. I managed to pick one up second hand a couple of months ago for considerably less. Given that it has hardly been out of it's case, I'm glad I held off.

Regarding Fodera. Some people like them, some people don't, but for me the Monarch is almost my perfect bass. I've had a few and they have all been outstanding.

If I came into enough money tomorrow I'd be calling Fodera and ordering a monarch 6. For me its a beautifully elegant and compact design, especially with 33" scale and 16.5mm spacing

Fodera Anthony Jackson Presentation II is north of £30,000 last time I checked, that would be the most expensive ive yet come across  

Thats a gorgeous bass but I cant understand Warwick offering 20mm spacing as standard on a 6er. GLWTS!!

12 hours ago, Bilbo said:

I enjoyed that a lot. (Kept listening beyond the first video)

thanks Bilbo! glad you enjoyed it!

12 hours ago, lownote12 said:

Love the mandoliny stuff. Real eye opener how nice Bach sounds on ‘modern’ instruments. Surprised more musicians don’t do this. Goes to show how deep the lacuna is between the classical community  and most of us is. It also raises the question of what musical excellence is. I’m a competent blues bassist. But listening to this am I a musician at all? 

Its an interesting topic for debate for sure. I had around 15 years of classical training, alongside my delving into the world of popular music and jazz fusion, and I feel I have an awful lot left to learn in both worlds. The skillsets for both are incredibly diverse and disparate, but both are 100% valid and just because you haven't delved deeply into the classical mindset doesn't make you any less of a musician  

19 hours ago, Papabull said:

Hi Ben, Thanks for posting this. It's simply beautiful, so musical. Your phrasing is wonderful. Importantly for me it shows how JS Bach's music transcends so many barriers. Have you come across the amazing American musician Chris Thile?  He's a mandolinist with roots in authentic American Folk/country music. In case you haven't here are two links to playing Bach. In one instance a Brandenburg Concerto using Double bass, Mandolin, Guitar and Banjo etc imo it works beautifully also a solo piece for violin played on mandolin. It only goes to show that great music can be performed on instruments that weren't originally meant for as long as it's the hands of a great and sensitive musician. That's certainly what you are. Great playing and fab video. Here are the links to C Thile.

 

 

 

thanks so much for the very kind words, they are very very much appreciated!! I haven't seen either of these videos but I will be checking them out this evening, but I do find that Bach does translate very nicely onto other instrumentation, which I suppose is part of what defines a masterwork  

22 hours ago, lownote12 said:

I have tried to copy your achievement. In four days I have stumbled slowly through eight bars. I think I won’t get much further.  Greatest respect to you.

thanks very much! I should say it took me a long time to prepare this!!

Just uploaded my performance of Bach's first Cello Suite In G major. Link is for the prelude but the 6 movement playlist should open via the link  

Ok folks, the editing is finally finished! Here is my complete video series of Bach's first Cello Suite in G Major! If you enjoy my performance please like and share the videos! the Prelude is the video linked but the complete playlist of 6 movements should open in YouTube  

Enjoy!

1 hour ago, Papabull said:

Hi Ben, It wouldn't surprise me that you've learnt this from memory. Thanks for the download. It's taken me an age to learn the Bouree No1.

Looking forward to seeing the YT video.

Very nbest wishes

Paul h

It got to the point where it was memorised yeah, I stopped needing the score around 3 weeks before I recorded. As with everything else, its just repetition that gets it to that point  

Ben

1 hour ago, lownote12 said:

Did you play the regular score for this, as found by googling, or did you modify it in some way?

I used the score on IMSLP. I've attached it below. The only change as far as the notes are concerned is that I read it up an octave from written. I had to make some changes to articulation due to the fact that im not bowing the piece but other than that its as true to the music as I know how to play it.

Ben

IMSLP70851-PMLP04291-Bach_-_Cello_Suite_No1_in_G_(Becker_Peters)-2.pdf

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Loved it! Do you have your six string bass tuned in trad. B, E, A, D, G, C?

Thanks so much! yes, my bass is tuned B-C  

Best,

Ben

3 hours ago, Papabull said:

That's great Ben. Can you send me the You Tube link? What was the bass you played it on?

very best wishes

Paul h

Hey Paul,

Its a 97 streamer LX6 custom shop retrofitted with an East U-Retro deluxe preamp in place of the old MEC 2 band unit. The wood combination (wenge/maple) is naturally quite bright and the U-Retro does an amazing job of sweetening the high end as I found the old MEC unit far too harsh in the top end. strings are DR Hi-Beams (.125-.030) and my bass is tuned standard, B-C  

I'll post a link of the video series as soon as we're finished editing it!

Best,

Ben

1 hour ago, Papabull said:

HI Ben, me again. Are you playing this an octave higher than written so that it sounds at the correct pitch?

Either way, your performance is stunning. We had this performed at our wedding by  our friend Hugh McDowell the 'cellist with  ELO . Your performance is just as beautiful.

Hey, yes its being played an octave higher than written  I'll be releasing the whole suite as a video series on YT sometime later in the week so you'll be able to see that it fits very nicely around the 12th fret position on the 6 string bass.

I'm glad you enjoyed my performance so much, its very kind of you to say it stacks up to a Cello performance of the suite! One of the main goals for me was to make it musical, to go back to the source material and pull the music out of the music if that makes any sense? Thanks for taking the time to listen to the suite!

Ben

On 31/05/2020 at 14:33, FDC484950 said:

Very, very good. They’re fairly tricky just to get the notes under your hands, but much harder to get the articulation and particularly the flow and dynamics. I’d be hard-pressed to often any constructive criticism; the only real way to improve would be to play it on a ‘cello!
Well done 

Thanks so much, im glad you enjoyed it!!