Thunderthumbs

[quote name='51m0n' post='485165' date='May 11 2009, 04:30 PM']Fair play mate, I wouldnt suggest its for everyone at all. I doubt anything out there ticks everyones boxes... Self indulgent it may be, but that is the nature of solo playing that pushes boundaries, if not its very definition! Otherwise we'd all be doing it and it wouldn't be pushing boundaries.... But its definitely very musical, and definitely pushing boundaries of what the instrument can be considered capable of, which is so often the argument supporting the VW stuff. And extremely valid for all of that. Personally I'd rather hear that and its ilk than another doublethumpathonic masterpiece. Not knocking Vic, but I think that whole side of his playing has been artificially blown out of all proportion. IMO his groove playing is fabulous, and in fact what he's best at. I love the Bela Fleck and the Flecktones stuff.... Interesting point to note, how many people have you heard or seen imitating VW's double thumping thing in shops, on youtube etc etc? How many have you seen even getting close to Michael Manring's stuff??? Which is better, I dont know, which is beyond your reach (and nearly everyone elses), well if you answer to the above question is the same as mine, then MM's music is significantly harder to emulate. Doesn't mean its in anyway better or worse in my opinion, but I do think its interesting. If everyone were ripping MM's stuff, would we all be whinging about the number of kids out there worrying about changing their tuning all the time rather than learning how to play the instrument as it was traditionally intended.....[/quote] Yeah, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Like I said, I've a couple of Manring CDs myself, and to be honest I can handle so much of Victor's double thumbing until the notes get lost and then all you can hear is the clickety clack of strings against wood, then it sort of loses its point for me. But I still think there's room for a bit of anything......anything that opens up one's mind to the possibilities of what can be done. And to me, Victor is one of the guys that's managed to do that, as has Michael. It's also one of the reasons I was blown away by Richard Bona last year. His playing was just immense, and hardly any slap whatsoever.

[quote name='51m0n' post='484848' date='May 11 2009, 09:49 AM']And IMO this is the finest solo bass piece I've ever seen (although its not in any way conventioanl bass playing) I defy anyone to say that isn't staggeringly musical, and taking bass beyond the role of support in a completely convincing fashion. And no widdly slappity tappity stuff anywhere, its mainly great big long whole notes over a drone....[/quote] You see, that's it in a nutshell, that doesn't do much for me at all, and I have a couple of Manring CDs. It's all about opinions. It doesn't necessarily mean anyone's right or wrong. I suppose we're all right. This is as much to me "self indulgent nonsense" as some would put it, as Victor's "slappity tappity" is to others.

Effects....oooh......

I had an SB-R80 whose previous owner was Tony Butler of Big Country that looked like this. Loved it, both the look and sound.

On the subject of Victor's playing though, I've just been watching his "Groove Workshop" DVD and can honestly say I found it really interesting, very informative, and a good tool for me to learn stuff from. I've not listened to lots of his stuff in the past, but what I have been listening to recently, I've enjoyed. Sure, he does lots of tricks, but what top notch bass player doesn't? He does stuff others don't, but as with everything, it doesn't appeal to everybody. But for some reason, musicians in general only tend to earn some kind of kudos with other (and in many cases, [b]much[/b] less talented) musicians if they [i]can[/i] try to please everybody. There's music I don't particularly care for, but I can still sure as hell give credit to the guys doing it as they're probably making a much better job of than I ever could. I just get a bit fed up hearing a constant slating of "he's only doing widdly-widdly/slappy tappy/doubly thumply" etc. He's doing what people expect of him, what's got him where he is, why people keep going to see him. How many times do we hear of people walking out of concerts because they didn't do what people were expecting to hear? Victor, to me, is doing one hell of a job of what [i]can[/i] be done. If that in any way whatsoever means that I go on to do something I never thought I could, then I'll be very happy.

[quote name='rslaing' post='484336' date='May 10 2009, 03:13 PM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm8HUqRSfHY"]Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Joe Pass[/url][/quote] Bloody hell

[quote name='bumfrog' post='480732' date='May 6 2009, 10:34 AM']Guess I'm just not that superficial to let a thing like a headstock logo (or car badge) get in the way of what are great things at great prices.[/quote] As a mate of mine in the car industry who was giving Skodas credit....he described them as "Audi A6 in M&S clothes". It's equally the same with basses. I've heard some expensive ones that just don't do it for me, and some cheap ones that really do. Like you said, each to their own.

Although in Manchester, I'm closer to being born in 1824 Good luck finding someone.

[quote name='molan' post='479788' date='May 5 2009, 12:10 PM']Bought an EBS pedal from Lee - super easy to deal with and a really nice chap Pedal looks like new [/quote] Multicomp? (Used to be mine). So it's now previously had 2 careful owners

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='479913' date='May 5 2009, 02:05 PM']Actually, the only thing that annoys me more than mucking around setting up is mucking around taking it down. The, "oh we'll just go for a smoke", "we'll just go and talk to our mates" etc. effect. No you won't. Take it down, put it in the van, I'll go home and you can do whatever you like [/quote] Amen brother

We're a five piece functions band.......bass (two cabs + amp), guitar (generally a 4 x 12 cab + amp, but sometimes an AC30 too), keys (2 of), drums (4 piece + kit), vocals/acoustic guitar, PA (4 x bass bins, 2 x tops), lights. I take 2 bass guitars, guitarist uses 3, vocalist has acoustic, three of us singing, everything goes through the desk for the majority of gigs. The only time we'd expect to take longer than an hour is an upstairs venue. Anything other than that is excessive IMO. We find half the trouble is handling things more than once. For example, if someone carries by bass cabs in, I'd expect them to be put where I'm going to set up, as I would with anyone else's equipment. Putting stuff all over a dance floor is just time wasting unless it's stuff such as the lighting cables, etc. It also helps that everyone gets in and gets their job done, then helps out in other areas that take longer. I generally set my gear up, then do monitors. The drummer does his kit then lighting. The guitarist helps lift the PA tops (as they're weighty) and then sets his own gear up. It's all about teamwork. I know it sounds regimented, but it works. If the guys asked me to turn up 4 hours early, I think I'd be looking for another band.

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='478594' date='May 3 2009, 09:52 PM']A good mate of mine had Frank Dunnery perform in his front room a couple of summers ago - what a player!! Massive bloke now - very interesting night - lots of stories about when he was young etc.[/quote] Yeah, a mate of mine went to one of those too at his mate's house. I saw Frank at The Band On The Wall in Manchester a few years ago, and sat on the dance floor pretty much right underneath him with my legs under the stage!!

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='476195' date='Apr 30 2009, 05:14 PM']He was supposed to have been playing with Ray Davies/Kinks, but I think that stalled as well.[/quote] I do remember seeing him playing with Ray Davies on the Electric Proms shows last year. So don't know whether it's gone down the pan after that.

Interesting pedal (Turbo Tuner ST-200)

They look the same as the EBS ones used for connecting their pedals. Give Bernie a call at GB Guitars.

PMd

Practice will definitely help your range. I'm not saying you'll reach notes that you physically can't at the moment, but if you're only singing around the house, you certainly won't be reaching your absolute top note. Also, breath from deep down, using your diaphragm not from the top of your chest, as that will restrict you. And there's nothing wrong with dropping keys slightly as long as it doesn't alter the dynamics of the song itself. How do you think the likes of Sting/Bono/Bowie etc. still manage to do it?

[quote name='BassBunny' post='473335' date='Apr 27 2009, 01:10 PM']Hi Al, Been going trough a similar problem. Nick gave me a couple of Guitar/Drum tracks and the chord Structures to put my own Bass line to. Realised I was really stuck for ideas. Did the first one but was really stuck coming up with something different for the second. Realised that by doing some Chord Work, the door has started to open. Incidently, where abouts in Manchester is it? Might come down and see if thunderthumbs fancies it.[/quote] Hi Stuart, The Thirsty Scholar is under the railway arches opposite the the old Refuge Building on Oxford Road. If you remember A1 Music (or Sound Control as it became - don't know if it still is) and the entrance used to be on the corner, then they moved it round the corner to New Wakefield Street. If you came out of there, you'd literally fall into the Thirsty Scholar. Sounds like a night out As for Al's initial thoughts, I was in much the same predicament myself a couple of months ago when I went to a jam night with our drummer who's one hell of a jazz drummer. He can jam with anyone no problem, but when I was offered the opportunity I turned it down as I knew I was out of my depth. But rather than get me down, it's spurred me on tremendously and I'm spending all the time I can now learning to read, etc. etc. etc.

Nice one. Cheers Si.

[quote name='Mike' post='471253' date='Apr 24 2009, 06:55 AM']NYC pros charge $100 an hour....so £50 seems a pretty decent deal for me. For a world class player![/quote] I'd consider it fairly cheap in all honesty, bearing in mind that local teachers would probably charge upwards of £20. Would you rather have a driving lesson from the local teacher or an hour with Schumacher/Hakkinen/Mansell/Prost, etc for twice the price??

U2 - Angel of Harlem. We hardly ever play it now, but when we do I really enjoy it.