Alun

Looks ok here too. A little out of focus but perfectly readable

Hello from South Wales. Temporarily sunny, after lots of rain

I've not had any problems. Only thing you might find is that you need ti turn your bass down as high output basses tend to distort really quickly with an eBow. Unless that's what you want

I love the sound of the Ibanez PD7 but I'm not impressed by the build quality - my second one is going back on Monday due to a faulty footswitch. The first batch were known for it but this was a brand new one - still crap

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='504819' date='Jun 3 2009, 04:30 PM']Check out the name Montgomery-Swan in the front of the magazine... it will become more clear as to what's going on.[/quote] Exactly. And to me it is a real misuse of their position. Maybe it's just me

I quite enjoy the mag, despite the typos and sometimes slightly vague/inaccurate reviews ( I really wanted to know what the modelling on the Freebass wireless actually models! Amps? Basses? Other wirelesses?) The only thing that really irks me is the constant plugging of Swans In Flight, a band that appears to feature the publisher on guitar. To me, this is really inappropriate (and admittedly might not be the mag's fault) even if their CD does feature well known players. Other than backing TM Stevens at BassDay, I've not heard them but the blatant plugging has put me off them before I do. BGM are now even sending out emails to subscribers plugging their tour FFS - they don't do that for Janek, Stuart Clayton, or any of the other writers so it does seem wrong that they do it for them. <rant over> Cheers Alun

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='485898' date='May 12 2009, 01:31 PM']Hey guys, Ok I have had an offer for a kind of quasi endorsement thing with a guitar company. I can't really say who they are yet as nothings confirmed and I don't want to end up looking like a prune if it doesn't come off! My questions are as follows: 1. Do any of you have an endorsement deal? 2. If so what does it entail? 3. Do they look after you as regards to maintanence of your gear and expenses etc? 4. Do you have a contract? 5. Did it benefit you in any way? ie did you end up getting better known as a musician or get more work out of it? Sorry for the vagueness on this, any info or advice you can offer is as always much appreciated! Cheers Ad[/quote] Congratulations. Here's my view on it.... 1. Yes, one for strings, one for amps and potentially a second amp/pedal based one imminent. I was approached by a bass company but that seems to have fallen through. 2. Basically, reduced prices on the two current ones although I am apparently getting a free something from the new one 3.No 4. With the string company yes. I'm obliged to mention them whenever possible in articles, and mention them on all recordings. Otherwise no. 5. Not yet, although the owner of the "probably" one has been plugging me wherever he can which is rather lovely. I should stress that all of the companies involved are genuinely ones I would use anyway. Cheers Alun

My Cort Curbow ( factory fitted Bartolini Mk 1 humbucker and Fishman preamp) has developed a strange random fault. Every now and then it will develop a loud "sizzling" buzz which, if I turn the volume pot down and back up, disappears. Sometimes there is a small "pop" as I turn it down. I can't find any obvious loose connections so any thoughts? Dry solder? Dodgy pot? Cheers Alun

I believe Hagstrom are re-issuing their 8 string, as used by Hendrix amongst others

I have a couple of PDFs on walking bass at [url="http://www.bassbook.co.uk/free.htm"]http://www.bassbook.co.uk/free.htm[/url] which you might like, although it looks like you've already got most of the points pretty much covered Cheers Alun

Just added a couple of pre-existing ones from my channel Cheers Alun

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='483154' date='May 8 2009, 05:35 PM']For using with VSTi synths, there is a plugin that basically does what the G2M does (converts incoming audio to MIDI) but it's name escapes me. Whether it works any better or not, I do not know. Should be able to find it or something similar over at the KVR forums though![/quote] [url="http://www.widisoft.com/english/widi-audio-to-midi-vst.html"]http://www.widisoft.com/english/widi-audio-to-midi-vst.html[/url] I've tried the demo briefly and it works pretty well, although there was a fair amount of latency ( may be able to reduce it, haven't had a good play yet). Only downside with the demo is that it cuts out every 15 seconds ( for 15 seconds!) so it's not deliberately limited. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Linus27' post='486274' date='May 12 2009, 07:30 PM']How hard is it to get a proper job done on de-fretting an existing bass and then getting it lined? I have the ideal bass but I don't want to get it done if its a bit hit or miss or risky.[/quote] I had my Washburn MB6 defretted by Cranes in Cardiff and they did a great job. Only thing I would say is be specific about how clear you want the lines to be - I didn't and the lines on mine are barely visible which is good and bad Maybe have a chat with the Gallery in London? They seem to do a lot of conversions. Cheers Alun PS I may finally have time to start your transcription soon!! Apologies for the delay, things have been a bit loopy.

Another big Dunaway fan over here I need to revisit that stuff, such great songs, arrangements and playing. Cheers Alun

That's why six strings are fun

I like these a lot, thanks for posting them. Reminds me a lot of Trip Wamsley, which is a good thing Cheers Alun

Hi. Just had a listen and yes, that is the open strings ringing sympathetically by the sounds of it. Probably the easiest way will be to keep your right hand close to the bass and mute the lower stings with your palm/wrist. Although a little sympathetic ringing will get lost in the mix, you still don't really want Bs oe Es rumbling along if you're in Bb IMO, it's best to clean it up and not assume "no one will notice" Cheers Alun

[quote name='Cornfedapache' post='466098' date='Apr 18 2009, 01:19 PM']Just assumption as I can never, ever find them in the shops![/quote] The Guitar World Bass Guitar magazine went bust a while back, but BP lives on

This might sound obvious, but if they're vague about the keys try and learn the songs without any open strings if possible...it'll make changing keys easier. And good luck Cheers Alun

Very cool. thanks for the link

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='454946' date='Apr 5 2009, 09:51 PM']Is that like A#...... only jazzier??[/quote] Yes

+1 to what Urb said about seeing jazz live One thing to bear in mind is that "jazz" covers everything from "When The Saints Go Marching In" and Geln Miller to noisy avant garde stuff, just as "rock" can cover a multitude of styles. If you're coming from a rock background, maybe start with some guitar based stuff like Mike Stern or some of the Brecker Brothers stuff. That's how I started - by "easing myself in" on stuff where there was still some resemblance to music I understood For a good grounding in jazz standards, try some Oscar Peterson Trio recordings - "We Get Requests" or "Night Train" are both fantastic and feature the great Ray Brown on bass. I'd also recommend any of the Cds mentioned by Urb. For an idea of what's possible on the bass guitar in jazz, check out anything involving Laurence Cottle or Steve Swallow, amongst others. Tom Kennedy and Mike Pope also come highly recommended on bass guitar and upright. If you want to really get into the nuts and bolts of it all then I can't recommend "The Jazz Theory Book" by Marc Levine highly enough ( the only caveat being that it is all in standard notation and there is a lot in treble clef). Cheers Alun

I would say... Better proof reading as mentioned above ( it's embarrassing when the editor/interviewer seems to think "a tumbao" is a songtitle and adds capitals, especially in an interview with a Latin music player!) Improve the layout so the news/reviews are in one place, not hidden in side columns where they appear to be part of the main article they've been shoe-horned into. On the plus side, please keep the instructional columns and the wide variety of players covered as they are Cheers Alun

Then again of course, you don't have to buy it Yes, BGM does have some annoying typos but all in all, I don't think it's [i]that[/i] bad. I buy both BGM and Bass Player and enjoy both. Cheers Alun