Bilbo

Where in Ireland are you? My wife has family in Co. Limerick.

[quote name='fatback' post='873593' date='Jun 21 2010, 04:10 PM']Thanks Owen So much to consider. How on earth did peeps do this before the net and the likes of BC? Ask your tutor and hope for the best, i suppose.[/quote] We f***ed up, merrily. If you were lucky enough to live in a place where you had access to older and more experienced players who had made their mistakes and were willing to let you learn from them, you were lucky. My own development as a musician has been delayed time and time again by the fact that I couldn't find gear to try, couldn't find a teacher within 60 miles, couldn't get to venues because transport is not available (I spent the first 5 years as a jazz fan having to leave everything early to catch ther last bus/train home), couldn't buy any jazz records because no shops sold them near where I grew up - I was always scrabbling around for scraps..... where I grew up, Music was pretty much for the middle classes (I still think it fundamentally is). Now we have the internet, so much more is available to those who aren't in the centre of London, or able to attend colleges to study ELECTRIC BASS

[quote name='matski' post='873360' date='Jun 21 2010, 12:00 PM']????? Was this bandmate of yours deaf and blind...? [/quote] Saxophonist - dozed off (late night gig) and when he heard the boot opening and the sound of talking, he thought it was us checking something out. By the time he figured all was not well and started to get out of the car, they had lifted the GK MB150 and SWR 2x10 cab out and were running off towards a car with a driver in it. We made chase but lost them. Police called but they were as much use as a mule's d*** (just gave me a crime number - ignoring the fact that the thieves had been seen on CCTV at the service station we were parked). 15 years ago so old news.

Having seen someone else lose their gear, I just thought it may be useful to discuss how we manage load ins/outs to avoid thefts. Personally, I never leave an guitar unattended. Amps, yes, because, my reasoning is that, if someone tries to steal my amp (Eden Metro), they are unlikely to be able to get it out of my car and into another vehicle quickly or without being seen. They will also be unable to push it down the street without being seen or without making a LOT of noise. A bass guitar can be taken easily and quickly. If I get to the venue first, I wait until someone else arrives before I start unloading so one of you can watch the gear whilst the other loads in/out. A double bass is another thing that is hard (but not impossible) to get away with so I would leave that in the car before a bass guitar. But, in short, gear should never be left in a car for any length of time without someone watching it. Nothing is foolproof (my only loss was an amp/cab taken from a car with someone from the band SAT in it)... And always keep your eyes open for dubious characters watching you load in/out. And for credible people to watch your stuff for you (door security etc). If in doubt. Stay with the gear. 100%.

Ebony every time. 100%. Don't even think about it. Ebonised is not going to deliver.

Most desks let you turn the phantom power off....... at least that's what I thought.

Being a reader.......

Not learning per se but I am looking at the six Bach Cello Suites at the moment. Great reading practice and great for learning your way around the double bass without looking at your left hand fingering. Its also helping me nail my intonation. Also makes peractising more interesting that running straight scales and arpeggios.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q8Gvwc2GyQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q8Gvwc2GyQ[/url]

Note the relaxed groove. Most people who play this play it too fast and too aggressive and it loses so much as a result. Less is more.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='862151' date='Jun 9 2010, 02:52 PM']Do horn players search for a unique sound to avoid sounding like Charlie Parker? Even jazz guitarists tend to stick to a limited number of sounds... archtop, neck pup, flats, tone down, clean amp. They don't attract a great deal of criticism for going for the Wes Montgomery, etc. sound. Why should electric bassists be different?[/quote] If a horn player sounds derivative, of Parker, Coltrane, Brecker or anyone else for that metter, then they will be subjected to censure. The subtleties of jazz guitar sounds are also subject to scrutiny and anyone who 'sounds like' Wes would be criticised for it (although there is more tolerance for 'neo-classicism' in jazz nowadays, hard core critics and fans alike are looking for new and fresh perspectives not 'classic' sounds). There are always influential players, composers and arrangers etc but being a clone in any of these areas is as unwelcome as being a Jaco clone is in bass circles. In truth, there is a subtle difference between what is a 'generic' sound e.g. a double bass vs. an electric one and what is a personal sound e.g. Charlie Haden's sound, or Ron Carer's or Marc Johnson's or Dave Holland's etc. The question is, what elements of Jaco's 'thing' have found their way into generic electric bass playing and how much of that can a player incorporate into their own playing before they are criticised for being a clone. It has to be a personal thing but, for me, those who obsess over the details in one person's playing are fantasists who need to move on and realise their own potential as an individual musician. You know someone is in trouble when they start to [i]dress[/i] like their influences As Steve Swallow says: 'in order to become a real player, you need to eat your father' i.e. digest your influences and them spit them out and move on. I hear infuences in Marthe but he is no clone.

Been there and done that a thousand times (fortunately not involving third parties in the 'reveal'). Its an occupational hazard of dark room and working with something you can't actually look at as it is around the back. THere is also the one where you are starting a set and you hit the first note and nothing. You haven't plugged your bass in.

I have nothing to contribute to the advice as I have only played two types of string: one I can identify, the other I can't. I guess the difficulty is that, at these prices, few of us can afford to experiment in any meaningful way (I woudl not consider playing a set on one brand three years ago to be a useful perspective to take). Drawing on the experience of others only has limited value as many have only played a small percentage of the available brands/string guages so comparisons are problematic. Personally, I like the Evah's but, having never tried anything else other than the ones the bass came with, I have nothing to relate them to. Spiros are THE brand for jazzers but the opinions on their arco sound seem divided. Everything else appears to be a lottery as few have tried them!! As someone suggested above, I intend to focus on the playing and let everything else come to me over time.

[quote name='grumble' post='860340' date='Jun 7 2010, 08:55 PM']now working my way through Fever and realising what a fscking great song it is ![/quote] Don't be fooled. Its crap. Captain Smith and Pochahontas? What the hell is THAT all about

[quote name='alibabu' post='859730' date='Jun 7 2010, 12:15 PM']I think the music on the 'Faces and places' album ranges from the absolutely brilliant to the somewhat boring, but I don't think Linley plays on the album, the bass duties are shared between Richard Bona and Etienne Mbappe. You can hear Linley Marthe on the 'Vienna Nights' album with Zawinul.[/quote] Sorry, that is the other one I had which I bought specifically to hear Marthe. Got them mixed up. Academic now because I sold both of them...

Boa vinda, irmão

I used Parcel Monkey to send a bass from Felixstowe to Cardiff. It got there in one piece and cost about £12. I can't say any more than that, really. They also took an amp to France for me without any difficulty but that cost £44..

Go see Jakesbass in Aldershot - just down the A3/A31 over the Hog's Back and you are there. He'll sort you out anyway you want to do it.

Since picking up the DB, I have found myself watching old videos and focussing on the r/h plucking techniques. There are a lot of players that only really use one finger on their r/h (Mingus, for instance) but many that use 2 (Dave Holland, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro) but some of the one finger players are playing quite rapid passages with ease. In my own experience (such as it is) I am finding that it becomes easier with practice. I started with a very 'electric bass' like technique but, as I have practiced more systematically, I have been able to focus on a more conventional r/h technique with increasing success (still not ripping it up but there is time yet). I do think that, maybe, one of the issues here is in recognising the need for patience and to allow your skills to develop. I also find that I use about three or four r/h techniques (some good, some bad) when I am gigging, if only to compensate for a lack of stamina. But it is getting better slowly.

[quote name='Rich' post='859123' date='Jun 6 2010, 06:28 PM'] How so? I hear no Jaco in Cottle's playing.[/quote] I agree with Faithless. I have seen Cottle several times (and have a couple of cds somewhere) and have found his playing to be derivative. Not just Jaco but lots of Jeff Berlin and several others also. Great player but not a unique voice. A journeyman craftsman but not a great artist. As for LM, I bought Faces and Places to hear him and, whilst there are always 'wow' moments in relation to Zawinul's grooves, ultimately, the music is frantic to the point of unsettling and I find it represents musical excess of the worst possible kind. Clever, spectacular but ultimately emotionally sterile.

I don't practice the electric bass at all at the moment but feel completely natural playing it. I don't find I am inadvertently transferring fingering spacing from the DB to the Wal. What I have noticed is that I am more focussed on my intonation on electric than I was before and I was pretty much nailing it then so that's a good thing.

Did a lot of DB practice yesterday and then a gig on electric bass. Feeling a bit sore today, handswise, like when you have been shifting bricks all day!!

I am listening as we speak to Edgar Meyer's Unaccompanied Cello Suites performed on the Double Bass and am loving it. Has anyone any recommendations for other arco recordings by top drawer players. Classical preferrably, solo would be good. Not a lot of great arco jazz out there (Stewart and Chambers excepted).

Just been through a major transaction with Nicolas and he has shown himself to be a man of honour. You can deal with him in confidence.