Alun

I do love these basses I still love watching people's faces when they get close enough to see the S word on the headstock

[quote name='garbev' post='89698' date='Nov 16 2007, 11:03 PM']Hi Alun, I'll be at the Abertillery gig, haven't met you so wear a badge or get a Bass related tatoo done.......maybe. Gary.[/quote] Will do Failing that I'll PM you beforehand and we'll have a pint

[quote name='guitarnbass' post='89655' date='Nov 16 2007, 09:27 PM']tell you what, don't take your girlfriend! LOL[/quote] Luckily, I bought my ticket before I met her so that awkward possibility has been averted

I know what you mean - I don't know how I'll cope with a whole night of it, but I get to see Holdsworth, Jimmy Johnson and Chad Wackerman - three of my favourite musicians for years, none of who I've ever seen live - in one go so it'll be worth it.

I know it's a cheapie, but I keep going back to my Ibanez Phathead - great range of tones from clean to death metal and it has EQ so you can retain low end. It works nicely for high register noodling too. Guitar pedal wise, the Boss DS1 still takes some beating but would need blending with a clean signal as it does steal your low end somewhat. Cheers, Alun PS The Ibanez works fine with actives too

[quote name='3V17C' post='85266' date='Nov 8 2007, 09:31 AM'][url="http://www.squierguitars.com/products/prod_images/guitars/0301010506_md.jpg"]Avril Lavigne Signature Telecaster[/url][/quote] Is it wrong that I actually quite like that?

[quote name='lee4' post='89585' date='Nov 16 2007, 07:32 PM']Bass Bible by Paul Westwood.Styles from around the world.[/quote] A great book but ( unless they've improved it with recent editions) make sure you can read notation as the tab comtains a lot of typos. Cheers, Alun

I don't think Floyd do bass bridges ( but may be wrong) but even if they do, I would imagine the routing is going to be pretty extensive - much more than the Kahler - due to the way Floyds work. John Patitucci had a great system on one of his Yamaha TRB6s - a fixed bridge for the BE and A and a whammy on the top three strings.Alas, I've never seen another one. Cheers, Alun

What a stunning bass, I can't believe I missed it on Sunday. You're a very lucky chap Cheers, Alun

Sounds very nice, certainly seems pretty tight and the pull offs are really clean. Cheers, Alun

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='89133' date='Nov 15 2007, 08:53 PM'] This nordy has a quilted redwood front, if my bass looks anything like this I'll be well chuffed.[/quote] Lovely. Is it me or is that uncannily similar to the Fodera Anthony Jackson uses?

[quote name='lwtait' post='89103' date='Nov 15 2007, 07:40 PM']whos nathan watts?![/quote] I'm guessing you're joking but if not - read the thread you just posted in

Depends how we define horizontal and vertical I guess I think of horizontal as parallel to the string which for me is the least likely to catch adjacent strings as I'm clumsy! Cheers, Alun

Yeah, it is possible. You will find some variation in the way they're notated as they're not "standard" in western music, but the way I was taught was to use a normal flat sign with a diagonal line through the stem for a quarter tone flat and a sharp sign with only one vertical line for a quarter tone sharp. Cheers, Alun

[quote name='4StringHell' post='89104' date='Nov 15 2007, 07:41 PM']Do you try to think the notes while you play them?[/quote] While you're learning the scales, it's good to know what the notes are as this will help with your fingerboard knowledge too. I don't tend to consciously think of them as such now. Cheers, Alun

I'm assuming you're talking about thumb direction? If so, then ultimately it comes down to what works for you. If you're into double thumbing, then horizontal works best as your thumb is parallel to the string,. Only thing I'd say with diagonal is that you need to be be careful that the tip of your thumb doesn't catch adjacent strings accidentally. Cheers, Alun

Yeah, from the description, that's sort of how I see it too. Will be interesting to see how the MIDI side works out as I've always been intrigued by that option, but never fancied the huge Roland/Yamaha carbuncle stuck to my bass. Cheers Alun

This looks like it's going to be rather luuuuuuurvely

Hello. There are no real absolutes in music - what works for one person may not work for another but these are my opinions based on what's worked for me.... 1. To me, knowing the fretboard inside out is more important than any number of scales. You could know every mode of every scale in terms of fingering and tab but if you don't know where "C" is when someone says "play a C", it's not going to help you. So, with that in mind, learn the board. There are two ways to do it - up each string or position by position - but unfortunately there aren't any shortcuts. The good news is that that the 12th fret is the same note as the open string, but up an octave and then the 13th fret is the same name note as the 1st, the 14th is the same as the 2nd and so on. You can either learn one string at a time, eg work your way up the E, then the A, etc or take all the notes in a certain position and learn them across the neck eg take the area between the 5th and 8th frets and learn all the notes in there. By doing it in positions, it becomes easier to recognise intervals, eg you can see that there is an A at the 5th fret of the E string and another at the 7th fret of the D - voila, an octave. Once you've learned the board, you're so much freer to explore. Which takes me on to learning scales - try and learn to play each scale starting with any finger, not just one pattern. This way, it frees you up to play ideas without having to make sudden position changes to get your hand into a familiar shape. You often see bassists jumping positions simply because they don't know that they could play it just as easily where they are. For instance, let's look at a C major scale starting on the 8th fret of the E string with your middle finger - 8th on the E, 10th on the E string ( little finger), then 7th ( first finger), 8th ( middle) and 10th ( little finger ) on the A string and 7th ( first ), 9th ( middle) and 10th ( little finger) on the D string. A lot of players leave it at that, which is fine, but I really recommend also learning it starting on the first and fourth fingers ( you can start it on the 3rd finger as well but it's basically the same as the 4th finger) ... Starting on your first finger - 8th, 10th, 12th on the E string, 8th, 10th, 12th on the A string, 9th and 10th on the D string Starting on your 4th finger - 8th on the E string, 5th, 7th, 8th on the A string, 5th,7th and 9th on the D string and 5th on the G string Alternative 4th finger version - 8th on the E string, 5th, 7th and 8th on the A string, 5th and 7th on the D string, 4th and 5th on the G string I know it's a lot of info, and might seem a bit mind boggling at first so take each one slowly ( there's no deadline to know this stuff by) and you'll find it really helps. 2. Hand position - as Mike said above, keeping your thumb at the back of the neck does make the movements smoother and easier on your hands generally, but the height of your bass might affect this. Ultimately you want to keep your wrists pertty straight, so if your bass is really low having your thumb at the back of the neck might cause problems ( the ultimate answer is to raise your bass, but not everyone is comfortable with that). Don't worry about the "stretch" of one finger per fret too much. With your thumb at the back of the neck, you are able to pivot and "reach" that way rather than stretvhing your digits. A lot of players use a three fret stretch - first finger, middle and little finger - especially on the lower frets. A 3/4 neck will make stretches easier but you may find the tone of shorter scale basses may not appeal to you. Stu Hamm, Matthew Garrison, Janek Gwizdala - all have played incredible things on short scale instruments and no one would accuse them of cheating Ultimately though, if you've already got a nice bass it would be a shame to change it. 3. Tuning - ultimately it'll be down to what you're comfortable with. Personally I have enough difficulty keeping up with standard tuning! Whatever you choose, make sure you know where the notes are as ultimately it's the music that comes out that counts regardless of whether you're in standard tuning or something else. Also, and I am being a bit presumptious here so forgive me if I'm wrong , don't just tune to suit the TAB - learning the notes of the neck will really free you up. You might be surprised how much you already know from playing, it's just that right now you may not know the terminology. Hope that helps. If there any questions, please let me know and I'll try to help Cheers, Alun

Skelf - sorry, I complete forgot you posted here and actually chatted to you but didn't introduce myself Sorry! A belated hello! I was the bald bloke that tried AD's six earlier in the day and was asking you about the filters on it ( probably one of hundreds that day!). I would loved to have tried it in more depth but had to give up on trying to hear it over Bernie's stand Those EQs are superb. Alpha Dave - what is the tuning on that bass? I know it was E to E but there seemed to be a fourth between the 3rd and 2nd. Unfortunately, the backgound noise was too great for me to make any kind of more meaningful judgement! And as for Hadrien's vid I hope he left some notes in it for you! Cheers, Alun

I'll be seeing him on the 4th in Abertillery - can't wait !

Thanks Mikey, I look forward to trawling through these - I love NHOP's playing. Cheers, Alun

I love the Armen 6 string - the cutaway is alrmingly similar to the Zon Hyperbass isn't it?

That is a lovely looking bass, looking forward to hearing it Had a nose around Jim Fleeting's website and he looks like a very talented fellow. Cheers, Alun

[quote name='matt_citizenbass' post='88311' date='Nov 14 2007, 11:05 AM']it doesn't really matter that much live but when i was recording my parts for my band the other week. we noticed when we were playing to a click that the delay ever so slightly speeds up or slows down at the end, this turned out to be extremely frustrating and in the end we just took the best takes and did what we could with them. i want to upgrade to a DL4 for better looping capabilities, but does this have the same problem? i would get the DD20 instead but it hasn't got a tap tempo thing, i dont know how i could live without that! thanks, Matt[/quote] To be honest, it's probably down to the tempo it's set at being a fraction off the click. Won't be noticeable for ages but over time it'll drift slightly. May be down to something as tiny as the time difference between your foot pressing the pedal and the switch activating, Cheers, Alun