Alun

Saw them in cardiff last night and they were mind blowingly good. Jimmy Johnson's tone, direct into the PA, is unbelievably perfect.

Here's my attempt.. -Last year I worked with guitarist Paul Bollenback -He works with Randy Brecker -Randy Brecker played on Mingus' last album Cheers Alun

I really like his playing and that video, even if he is a little the worse for wear

Hi Mark. Sorry, time got away today but will try on the weekend hopefully. Will try it with my VMJ and active Cort - hopefully give similar response to your basses. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Phaedrus' post='684229' date='Dec 14 2009, 05:38 PM']Now we're talking! Can't say how much I'd apreciate your comments after you've tried it. Personally, I've only had hiss when the Brite control is up high with high Harmonics & Mix when the Harmonics is ON, but the distorted sound is already noisy then, so hiss don't bother me. My main curiosity is how the following scenarios will affect the overall level, specifically can tweaking the level outputs maintain consistent overall level? 1. Both VXL Harmonics OFF 2. VXL 1 (mild grit) ON, VXL 2 (heavy dirt) OFF 3. VXL 1 (mild grit) OFF, VXL 2 (heavy dirt) ON 4. Both VXL Harmonics ON I wonder how different running 2 VXLs would be to running one VXL and a different OD/fuzz pedal? Both will have their own level control, so am I unnecessarily concerned? Look forward to your findings, Alun . . . Mark[/quote] OK, I'll see what I can do - might not be till Thursday though. What bass are you using? Cheers Alun

[url="http://www.learnthelowend.com"]Learn The Low End[/url] is also worth a look. Music Dojo, as mentioned above, have a geat reputation ( I think they do a free "basic" course to see if you like it too). Cheers Alun

Sounds Ok to me ( in fact I'll try it if I get chance as I do have two VXLs - long story!), only concern I might have is adding noise as they can be a little hissy at times. I'm sure with some tinkering, it should be fine Cheers Alun

Vmaxblues - thank you Jake_tenfloors - I'll have to have a look at that tomorrow Cheers Alun

[quote name='Eight' post='680724' date='Dec 10 2009, 10:07 PM']Can you put a demo mp3 back up? I'm inclined to buy, just need that little extra persuading. [/quote] Hi. alas I don't have any at the moment but if I get chance I'll do one on the weekend . There is another Christmas tune not in the book on [url="http://alunvaughan.bandcamp.com"]Bandcamp[/url] though if you fancy a festive listen Cheers Alun

Festive bump Just cheekily mentioning that this is stil available for a bargain £3 from [url="http://www.bassbook.co.uk/shop.htm"]http://www.bassbook.co.uk/shop.htm[/url] and also from [url="http://www.learnthelowend.com"]Learn The Low End[/url] ( which is a fab site if you've not been there - loads of good stuff!). If you get it from Learn The Low End, it's immediately available, if you buy from Bassbook I'll email it to you as soon as I get to my laptop (usually within 24 hours at the absolute most). Cheers Alun

I've played there with Panic Room twice and we're doing OK but not "big" by any means Worth a try - worst they can say is no! Cheers Alun

Hi all. As Christmas is very nearly here, I thought I'd share a solo version of O Holy Night (played on my 4 string Squier VMJ). You can stream/download it at [url="http://alunvaughan.bandcamp.com"]http://alunvaughan.bandcamp.com [/url] Merry Christmas all! Cheers Alun

As daft as this sounds, wash your hands and run them under a hand dryer for a couple of minutes. Simple as it sounds, I find it a good "last resort" if I can't warm up. Cheers Alun

The Peel in Kingston is great but not sure if they do covers or just touring stuff. Worth a go though

Glad it was of use

[quote name='OldGit' post='671750' date='Dec 2 2009, 12:15 AM']Alun had some blockheads stuff a year or so back .. Try him?[/quote] Did I? Not me guv Great tune though. I used to know it, will have to have a listen. Cheers Alun

There is a new Zoom one, the Q3, which is meant to be designed with recording music in mind. Not tried one yet but the spec looks promising... [url="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2020"]http://www.samsontech.com/products/product...cfm?prodID=2020[/url] Cheers Alun

Not tried it, but have seen Tony Levin use one ( as per the pic on that site) with Peter Gabriel and is looked unusual but overly muppety Cheers Alun

That's really cool Alas, phoning seems to work better than emailing - emailed at the start of the week, and still no reply although my copy did turn up yesterday. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Marvin' post='671466' date='Dec 1 2009, 07:37 PM']I'm in a no man's land with regard to technique at the moment. When I was younger, late teens, I used to play with a pick. No I've picked (not an intentional pun) up the bass after a +15 yr gap I can't for the life of me play with a pick - generally I have problems muting and hence create an awful noise. However, I really struggle getting used to using my fingers - only 2 at most index and middle. I have difficulty getting a good disciplined technique crossing strings. For example on the Brand New Heavies track Spend Some Time, in the chorus there is a run that goes across all 4 strings. Played cleanly it sounds brilliant but simple. I just get my fingers knotted up. I'm putting in down to beginners problems and will come with practice. Fingers crossed - perhaps not that's my problem.[/quote] String crossing is one of the trickiest things to do on bass IMO. I would suggest the folowing exercise: 1, play 2 notes one each string ( doesn't matter what notes really, this is aimed purely at the picking side of things), making sure you strictly alternate. First do it with index then middle, and then reverse it so you'e playing middle then index. Slowly go from the E string to a, then, D then G, and back down again. Don't worry about speed, just aim for accuracy and keep the fingers alternating. Once that starts to feel comfortable... 2, same as above but with 3 notes per string but still alternating so the E string will be index, middle, index , the A string will be middle, index, middle, etc. Again, reverse it as well so you start with the "other" finger The reason I suggest making sure you can start with either finger is that most players will feel more comfortable starting with one or the other ( I certainly do) and may stumble if they have to start a pattern with the other one ( again, it definitely happens to me which is why I started doing this exercise) Finally, try one note per string. I say to do this last as I find it the trickiest of the lot. Hope that helps! Cheers Alun PS You can also do all the above skipping strings once you're happy with the string crossing

[quote name='silddx' post='669930' date='Nov 30 2009, 12:47 PM']That's a bit like saying we should all shag a chimp isn't it?[/quote] Absolutely Oh hang on, are you saying that you don't think that's the right thing to do? Uh right....yeah....me neither....

+1 to the general consensus - as long it sounds good, allows you to do everything you need to, and doesn't harm you then it sounds fine by me. I use various techniques but also play with just one finger a LOT - especially for walking lines. I personally find the tone a lot more consistent with one finger. Cheers Alun

Thanks Si and Drewie for a great afternoon Lovely bunch of people, great venue and a fab array of goodies to drool over. My faves were probably Bev's G&L fretless - possibly the nicest sounding fretless I've played, TheRev's lovely Eminence EUB and Drewie's Berg cabs which sounded really lovely. In fact I don't think there were many (if any!) instruments I didn't like The Victor Meldrew "I don't believe it" moments: The gravity defying Barefaced cab and the action on Vegas Hooker's P Bass ( I have never come across a P with such a low action). Looking forward to the next one Cheers Alun

I've never really given it much thought, but the female sound engineer at Esquires in Bedford is brilliant - great sound and nothing was a problem

Another VMJ user here Gigged and recorded mine quite a bit with no concerns ( all original components). Really like the sound of it.