Silvia Bluejay

Bump! Hoping to be able to load in tonight without being rained on too badly.

Would be lovely to see you, Ad, and catch up a bit

Local gig for Happy Jack's groovy band - nice, friendly pub north of the A4. West London Basschatters - you know where to find us if you're at a loose end

The stage lighting for the Lawmen's gig at The Gunners pub on 13 November was pretty dire, resulting in some rather low quality pics, I'm afraid. [url="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.914139652012940.1073741835.572068826220026&type=1&l=0084965573"]https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.914139652012940.1073741835.572068826220026&type=1&l=0084965573[/url]

Tweeted

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1448360997' post='2914672'] The shortcomings of tab is that you have to already know the song before it makes any sense. You can read the dots and play any piece of music even if you've never heard before. That's why tab is a kids bike with stabilisers, while dots are a Trek Emonda. [/quote] And the above is absolutely true.

Incidentally, this is a good site for left-handed musicians who don't feel like photoshopping every single damn chord chart and similar to obtain a mirror image: [url="http://www.melbay.com/Products/CategoryCenter/L09/LeftHanded%20Instruction.aspx"]http://www.melbay.com/Products/CategoryCenter/L09/LeftHanded%20Instruction.aspx[/url]

What Chardbass says. In this particular instance you have those vertical lines attached to the zeros which are a bit confusing - most tabs don't have them, and only show the number. In your case, and mine, the numbers tell us what fret to press with our right hand.

And this is an image of 5-string tab:

Check this out. As a lefty, you won't find the fingerboard in the recording of any use, but the tablature is fine whichever hand you use for fretting, because you follow one note at the time. [url="http://www.studybass.com/lessons/reading-music/how-to-read-bass-tab/"]http://www.studybass.com/lessons/reading-music/how-to-read-bass-tab/[/url]

[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1448299917' post='2914276'] Can you get 5 string TAB? [/quote] Yes you can - even books that give the proper dots for every song they contain will also have tab below the notes, and if the bassline is played on a fiver, the tab will be 5-string too.

As well as having a tiny, neckdive-busting headstock, the Bass Collection is a very, very lightweight instrument. Much lighter than my Corvette 4, which is near-identical in size.

First time at the newly refurbished Grove in Walton on Thames. Huge fun and lots of dancing! https://flic.kr/s/aHskpMbzFd

Fender flats are just about the horridest flats I've ever tried - stiff as a steel rod. Only good for the bin. Before taking a file to the nut, try with the makes of flats recommended by the previous posters.

The Dogs are back in Walton tomorrow night. 8:30pm, free entry. Come say hi if you're in the area! (The Grove is a newly-refurbished pub at 68-70 Terrace Road.)

More fun at the Ash Tree in Ashford, Middx last Saturday

I'd try emailing the guys at Bass Gear - they sell Warwicks, they should know.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1447771818' post='2910187'] I suspect you have no input on photo or editorial matters at BGM other than your esteemed column(?), but the fact it is not on the cover but within, prevents it being censored by the likes of WH Smith, but does not alter it being a fairly offensive image, irrespective of the timing IMHO. As I have said already, as the actual interview itself was fairly non controversial (unless you are Bradley Wiggins), one wonders if TC sought a way to make it stand out a bit. I am not familiar with his body of work however, and it may be that Steinbergers and Stens are indeed central to his music...... [/quote] The putting together of the magazine is out of my hands. I'm not a fan of RATM or the other bands Tim is linked to. I scarcely even noticed that photo when I looked at the mag, not because it may or may not be shocking to someone, but because, personally, I grew up with Kerrang! Magazine covers depicting Alice Cooper dripping with (fake) blood, Blackie Lawless of WASP wielding a blood-covered chainsaw and laughing madly, Ozzy Osbourne biting bats... I listened to Slayer's lyrics to just about any of their songs, saw pics of Gwar's stage look, and I took very litte of that seriously. If I had to start being offended by heavy rock/metal etc., I would denounce in equally shocked terms the use of near-naked, writhing, submissive dumb blondes by Motley Crue and their ilk in their videos and photoshoots. But, when they were all the rage, I didn't take them seriously either.

Once again, the photo in question is [b]NOT[/b] on the cover of the magazine.

Yup, the bridge on an NXT can be raised or lowered through a couple of screws which are accessible from the back plate (without the need to detach the latter). I don't think the bridge is designed to allow the action to be as high as on some DBs I've seen, however - the NXT upright clearly prefers to think of itself as an oversized, highly stylish fretless electric.

Aren't cellos' open strings tuned differently from the double bass' fourths?

There are EUBs which intentionally resemble a much thinner, non-hollow double bass, complete with extending fingerboard, scroll, endpiece etc., and those are the ones I find easier to play with the double-bass plucking style. On those EUBs the bridge height is usually adjustable, so you can have high action for slapping and low action for easy fingering. KK Baby Basses have a special key-operated mechanism that allows instant switching between the two action settings, through a controlled movement of the neck. Other EUBs are intentionally modern in look and feel, and don't resemble a double bass at all - for instance the NS Design uprights. They usually have either dots on the side or marks on the fingerboard for correct intonation. Both kinds of EUBs should be plucked with the double-bass plucking style, for the sake of your arm and wrist. Both kinds can be bowed without problems too. (I have one upright of each type, and the NS is actually a 5-stringer.) Their sound, though, is usually much closer to that of a fretless electric than to that of a real DB. Nothing can sound like a real DB, except another real DB, but of course EUBs are much easier to carry, don't feed back, etc. etc.