FayeAutumn

My first concern would be why I was auditioning a bassist to start with, it being the only instrument I can play. ;o) However, trying to look at it from say my guitarists' angle as someone who has been in quite a few different types of band (including black/death metal), no I don't think she would care what the bass was (barring Daisy Rock and violin basses) so long as it sounded good and did the job. Heck, the band I'm in, whilst not being a black/death/thrash metal band is still pretty heavy and my playing a natural finish Cort Artisan hasn't drawn any complaints. I can however see some people complaining about what bass someone plays, even an absolute classic like a precision, because some people are just like that. And yes, it's probably more common for ESP's, Jackson's, BC Rich's, Ibanez's, and a few Warwick's to be used in those subgenres of metal. But if the band you're auditioning for are so anal as to put you down for playing a white Squier P-bass, then do you really want to get involved with them? And as someone else pointed out, Steve Harris has (excepting a brief flirtation with Lado) played Fender P's since the dawn of Iron Maiden, black ones, blue ones, and white ones. You however may wish to consider drop tuning for those particular subgenres though. I hope that made sense and sounded cohesive. It's gone 1am and I should be asleep.

I don't drink at all, but my guitarist loves her drink, but she never has more than one before a show and waits until after a show to get her drinking head on.

I read somewhere a quote which basically said that 'slapping is easy, but slapping well is hard'. I'm confused as to why you feel that you can't call yourself a bassist unless you have some knowledge of slap theory? It simply means you're not a funk or jazz bassist. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't learn it, by all means do so if that's what you want, just don't assume that it's necessary in order to call yourself a bassist. Goo luck with your learning.

[quote name='radansey' post='1242790' date='May 24 2011, 11:59 AM']I progressed through different basses until I settled on my Tanglewood Curbow and Ibanez SR through either a 50W or 150W Peavey combo (and latterly DI-ed through the sound-system).[/quote] Just to clarify, because I'm curious - do you mean a Tanglewood Canyon or a Cort Curbow?

[quote name='Johnston' post='1246686' date='May 27 2011, 09:34 AM']Why did you convince him to change the name to "Portico" It sounds like a company supplying porta loos [/quote] 'Portico' loosly translates as 'door' or 'portal'. 'Bless You' sounds more like an exclaimation after someone sneezes. Portico is a much better name for a band.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1231556' date='May 15 2011, 02:13 AM']That's me 6 months on the Thunderbird and just put a set on the Blazer. I just discovered tonight that I can slap on the Blazer and it sounds exactly like slapping on rounds. I tried it on the Thunderbird but I'm guessing that it may just not be a slap friendly bass. On the Blazer, however, it was awesome The Roto flats are brighter to me than other flats with the added advantage that they are smooth, especially when compared to the very rough roto rounds. They also don't seem to dull down or settle in like other flats. I remember my TI's sound changing over a period of time but the Rotos have remained consistent in tone from new to 6 months so far.[/quote] But presumably they're still warmer sounding than nickel rounds? I ask, because I've considered switching from the Roto Swing Nickels that I use at the moment to Roto flats, and I'm not super-keen on having huge churning rivers of brightness eminating from my fretboard. Not that the nickels are like that once they've worn in a bit, and I'm glad for that fact.

[quote name='Monckyman' post='1235323' date='May 18 2011, 10:19 AM']As has been said by a previous poster, for me, it was about the sound I grew up with, and the basses used on the music I heard. There were no Wals overwaters Status Yamaha Aria Gibson(I think) basses on all those massive motown tunes. Just Fender. Same again for Cochrane and Elvis If the doors had employed a bassist I bet he would have used a Jazz! Sid Vicious used a Fender P, very iconic. he would have looked a right pansy with a Warwick. Ditto The Clash. An exception is Joy Division who used a Shergold (I think) because Hooky couldn`t afford a bloody Fender! Lets hurry on past The Jam who were obviously bribed to use Ricketsbashers Admit it, Fender...they`re bloody good basses. [/quote] To be fair, it could be argued that Sid Vicious didn't really manage to play the Fender he had. And of course, if he'd had a Warwick he'd have had to of mugged a time-traveller for it.

Is it just me or is there a bit of a trend towards disliking Rotosound on this forum? Just curious, nothinng against personal choice or anything.

The only things I would add to this thread are to recommend avoiding any bass that has excessive neck dive as having to fight the instrument to play it isn't any fun (well for me it wasn't) and anything that's so heavy as to cause you back problems. Of course, these are both subjective but worth taking into account.

I would recommend the book '100 Tips For Bass Guitar You Should Have Been Told' by Stuart Clayton (ISBN: 9781844920044) which my (at the time) partner bought for me and I've found really helpful.

[quote name='merello' post='1231122' date='May 14 2011, 05:22 PM'][/quote] That looks awesome.

[quote name='icastle' post='1230333' date='May 13 2011, 07:40 PM']You don't have a lot of choices when it comes to Bronzewound bass strings, certainly unlikely to find .035 or .040s. Most people I know who own an acoustic bass guitar tend to just stick on stainless steel or nickelwound strings for convenience.[/quote] I wondered about that myself. I've got an acoustic bass but don't like the feel of the bronze strings (which seem to go bad very easily) and I've been thinking about re-stringing it with the same strings as my electric at some point. But wasn't sure if it was considered 'not the done thing' or not.

Red without a doubt.

I like to be animated on stage, and I do 'practice' that side of things at home and during rehearsals - partly because I get into playing and can't help it, but also because it's useful to know what you can do without messing up what you're playing. I figure that's worth knowing before trying to pull it off first time in front of an audience and finding out that no, you can't make that jump and play at the same time. What I don't do is choreograph moves. I don't think 'Okay, soduring the breakdown to 'Urban Guerilla' ' I'm going to do this or that move'. I do what feels good at the time.

Very tempted to try flats myself now. I've been using Rotosound SwingBass nickel roundwound's and have generally gotten on with them - certainly nicer (for me) than the steels, I still get a bit more buzz than I'd like. I like a nice warm sound without too much zing and clank, and I never play slap (actually can't and not interested in learning) so there'd be no loss there. If I do make the switch it'll be to the Roto Jazz 77's, probably with the same 45-65-85-105 gauge I use now. The price is a bit off-putting but I figure if they're going to last a fair bit longer then it's only a short-term increase in cost.

No, I do quite the opposite in fact in order to avoid that plectrum style attack. Not that there's anything wrong with it - it's just not my sound. It makes sense however that should you want the extra attack and don't get on with plectrums (never did myself) that you'd grow your nails a bit longer. As AttitudeCastle mentioned, it's best to make sure ones' nails are in good condition and healthy though, you wouldn't want to break a nail and make your attack uneven sounding.

Greetings from another dweller of this fine city.

I've noticed some folks with a liking of the BB414/5, but I'd be interested to hear what people think of their active sisters, the BB614/5? Mainly out of curiosity really.

Greetings. I initially read that as you'd been playing 6-string bass for 16 years, which I find a lot more unsavoury than playing guitar (a C string indeed!), but then I realised what you meant And we all need guitarists afterall - rather fond of mine, saves me having to work out what to do with all those high notes. But alas I digress... enjoy the forums

Welcome aboard In Sheffield myself.

Well, I can't say I've tried that many different manufacturers, but I am fond of both Trace and Laney. And if I had to buy a new amp, cab, or combo it'd most likely be another Laney. But of course it's all very much a personal thing.

I'm curious to know what the nut width (and neck dimensions in general) are for the bolt-on series, assuming that there's a standard set of dimensions for a specific series. Anyone know?

Hey Muttley, The BB's aren't really heavy at all, my first bass was a BB614. And they're pretty well balanced too. However, they don't as far as I'm aware have a fretless version. I can recommend the Cort Artisan B4FL and Cort Curbow 4FL. Both models are (obviously) fretless, and also unlined. They're light-weight too, and the Curbow has a really small body for a bass (but still sounds great). [url="http://www.cortguitars.com/basses"]http://www.cortguitars.com/basses[/url] At the very least, worth checking out.

As has already been mentioned, it's not traditionally considered 'the proper way' to play, but if it works for you and it's not causing you any difficulties then don't worry. For what it's worth, I use a floating thumb style of playing that I've used since before knowing I should be anchoring my thumb, and it doesn't cause me trouble so I've no intention of 'correcting' it - though I'm glad to be able to say 'well, Geddy Lee does something similar'.

Me, last weekend just sitting around at home. [attachment=76287:medfaye.jpg] I rarely play my acoustic to be honest, much prefer an electric.