miles'tone

Thanks man. My son is also autistic which is how I ended up taking this path. I found myself needing a career change (self employed plumber, long hours, weekends..) as I hated my job and wanted to be more present at home. Now I actually feel useful and fulfilled at work, finish at 3.30pm and get the school holidays off with my family. Although I will never have that retirement nest egg to look forward to, it's worth it.

I'm a teaching assistant at an autism resource base within a mainstream primary school. The money is crap but I do actually enjoy going to work in the morning. It's the first job I've ever had where I don't have to pretend to be a something or other, I just show up as me and it's valid.

These days 9lbs and over is much too heavy. 8lbs is perfect for me if it balances nicely.

I saw the band James a few times years ago and their bass player played a Sterling. Simple basslines but you could actually hear every note as well as feel it.

Oh I could live with that 😍

Two tone but with cream bits instead of white. If you can't find cream the white still looks more interesting then the usual!

I just try and see the positive and embrace the times we live in. True we didn't have youtube when we were learning in '89 but we do now, great! I'm learning a lot from watching ' 'juliaplaysgroove' on yt and I'm probably nearly old enough to be her grandfather. I'm digging her energy and brilliance playing ace covers and it's inspiring me to practice more and more. On the other hand I pity the youth of today in that they will never know life without the Internet or smart phones, when human interaction was more social, natural and done in real time. Video added for extra grump factor..

I use 'Amazing Slow Downer' app on my phone. You can add a song and, as it says on the tin, slow it down while keeping it in the original key. You can then loop different parts of the song if you wish until you get it down. There is also an inbuilt graphic equaliser to fiddle with to get the bassline to pop out even more. Also you can whack the whole track up an octave which really makes the bassline jump out on hard to hear parts if you can stand the Alvin and the chipmunks effect! Really useful little app. https://www.ronimusic.com/asd_android.htm

It's a song writing technique as old as the hills - sing a sad song happy and a happy song sad.

HIP HOP Evolution on Netflix is an outstanding lesson on the story arc of the genre. I've been picking out tunes along the way to play along with. A great lesson in playing simply and getting right inside the groove. It's making me pay such close attention to note execution, note length and picking hand technique that I can almost hear the crowd booing if I'm even a touch out 😄. It's really satisfying to totally lock in with a solid cool groove for 7+ minutes and eventually not hear yourself because you're playing so tight. It's like meditating. Good for the soul!

Aja is one of those albums I have tried to like because my friend whose musical taste I respect has banged on about it for years. He's a remarkable drummer btw. It's just not my thing. That and Night fly.. To me they just sound corny and sterile.

My favourite in many ways..

I've got one of these and it's fab. The neck is lush and so easy to play. I have mine strung with D'addario tapes now. Ridiculous bass for the money. I've spent more on pickups in the past! https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_550fl_bk_progressive_series.htm

😂😂😂 I love it! In the same way that a trombone makes me laugh. To be fair there is a great sound lurking in there. Some parts sound like it's being bowed rather than pizz (and would sound less bovine in the right hands). His buddy not tuning his guitar certainly adds to 'the vibe'.

Forgive this observation of mine as I don't wish it to be taken the wrong way. I've noticed that on the BT Profile basses the pole pieces of the pickups are routed out of alignment. All the pictures of different basses online show the strings passing over just one of the pole pieces rather than between the two per string. I imagine that the thinner strings may function ok but I expect the larger E string may be moving out of the magnetic range of the one pole piece it has under it. I wanted a Profile Bass myself, REALLY wanted one, but I couldn't bring myself to spend £500 on a bass that I'd have to buy a custom pickguard for with correct pickup routing and have to move the pickups over myself, possibly removing some wood to do it. Strangely, the Power and Detroit Ps don't have this issue. Check it out, I'm very happy to be told I'm wrong! Again no offence intended. They are otherwise beautiful looking P basses in the best colour. ✌️ EDIT: I just checked again and it is just one side of the pickup that will be out of alignment. If the E and A are OK, the D and G will be out and vice versa..

Edit for one tune only:

G&L use Paulownia as an option on their USA custom basses under the name of Empress wood. A wee spot of superglue absorbed into the bridge screw holes would solve any lifting potential I would imagine. Alternatively the Harley Benton PJ-5s are supposed to be good for £110

Very informative vid. I used to get so hung up on being good at everything that I stopped enjoying what I was naturally good at which is simplicity and solid time and feel. Food for thought.

I was going to suggest these, especially the. 100 -. 40 set. Great great tone, very feely goody, last ages and not expensive.

I haven't gigged in about a year and I'm fine with that. I'm actually learning more by not gigging to be honest. Unless I somehow end up in a killer band, I'm OK with not gigging at all. Live jams are my thing if I do play with others. I'm not interested in playing covers at all so this is the main reason really.

I used to have a FCS relic P bass, now I have a 1985 MIJ. Both great basses made with quality materials. The relic job on the CS was a work of art but I prefer the MIJ which was a quarter of the price of the CS. 👍

As a funk lover I look forward to listening those later, cheers!

Cool thread! Some great records here. I love this one from the Ozrics, the dubbiest of all their dubby leanings..

I played one in Wunjos with a maple neck. It was amazing and easy to play. Didn't notice that it felt wider than my old Stingray. It did feel like 'home' though!