Nickthebass

Smells like F# to me.

Classic Dodge - lovely a human. 👍

@stewblack In fact the idea is simpler than it may appear and is one that is easy to steal. It’s a repeated call and response. If you at look at the shape of that part (literally the shapes on the page) you can see that it’s actually three repeats of the same shape. One bar up and one bar down. Look again and you’ll see that bar 1 or each 2 bar phrase is the same idea each time. The rhythm is the same each time and the notes are all from an (ascending) F7 scale using 1,3,4,5,6 b7 (F A Bb C D Eb). Yes there are some E naturals as well but first I think is probably a mistake and the second is a passing note. In fact bars 3 and 5 are identical - he may even have been going for that phrase in bar 1 and missed! So what you have is a riff going up followed by an answering phrase (using the same notes) going down. Thought of like that - this is something much easier to steal. Yes - Jamerson was a great player (IMO the greatest) but just like anyone else he used techniques and patterns to focus his creativity.

His approach is heavily rooted in jazz walking bass. It’s just played with different rhythms and in a pop context. It’s that jazz language in pop music that was such a revolution - and marks Motown out as different to the contemporaries at Stax and Muscle Shoals which were a bit straighter R&B.

As a Jamerson specific point - one detail to keep an eye out for is open strings. He was an upright player by background and (I gather) you tend to play more open strings on upright to facilitate position shifts - in particular at the bottom of the neck. That open A on the score is an example. There is also one in the intro to Bernadette. There is an open D as a passing tone when descending from an Eb chord to a Db. Also if it helps to get the sound of chromatic approach notes into your lines when you’re playing in flat keys (as a lot of Motown tunes are). For example moving from Eb to Ab - if you use an open A before landing on the Ab it’ll sound like you’re a jazzer implying a classic chord substitution. TLDR: If the score gives you an A, D or G there is every chance that it wants an open string - especially if you’re in a flat key.

Personally - the biggest thing for me with strings is playability which is a pretty personal thing so you may go through a bit of trial and error. What is your first instrument? What did you like or dislike about the old strings? Why do you say you want heavier strings? Do you like the feel of the higher tension? If you go for roundwound strings they may sound brighter than you want initially. Something with a nickel wrap rather than stainless steel with have a bit less “ping”. I don’t think you’ll need to be limited to double ball end strings - you may be able to use a regular string and clip and clamp one end just behind the nut. If you go down this route then you’ll have a lot more options. If you want “warm” (which says “old soul / Motown to me”) you could try some flatwounds. I’m a big fan of Thomastik-Infeld jazz flats and a pro player mate of mine swears by D’Addario Chromes. Neither are super high tension though (a common feature of flats) though the TIs are a bit of an acquired taste (realt quite low tension).

I got a Mono double gig bag from Bass Direct many moons ago. Big thumbs up from me. Two basses + 900w head + 2 cabs now do able on my own in one trip. Got to love modern gear. 💃💃🥳

That’s what we’re trying to do at the end of the day.

Bob - I’d start with a blank slate - turn all the pots all the way up (both pickups on full and tone all the way open). Then set the amp to something like “flat”. All the EQ knobs in the middle and the deep switch off. Turn the gain up about halfway and then crank the master until it’s loud enough. If you can turn up the gain more without it sounding distorted then go for it, just back off the master a bit if it gets too loud. That should give you some sort of reference point for further knob twiddling. If the notes are ringing out too much for you then - yes you’re going to have to get practicing your damping. This will take a bit of practice. Most players use some combination of left and right hand damping. I’d try practicing without the amp sometimes as well. A good skill to learn is how to control tone with just you hands. Lots of left hand damping can give you a much thuddier tone with little top end. Move your plucking hand up towards the neck - the sound will get rounder. Do the reverse (towards the bridge) and hear it get more nasal. I’m a fan of copping some upright technique. Tilt your wrist towards the head / neck and imagine you’re playing an upright - almost like you’re trying to get your fingers parallel to the strings. Feel like you’re almost rolling your finger over the string and using the side from the middle knuckle to the tip - instead of just the tip or pad at the end. I do this pretty much all the time - it feels like the notes have more body and weight.

I'm looking to put together a headphone based practice set up - I'm thinking of something like this https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Soundcraft-Notepad-5-Analog-USB-Mixer/1XK3, into the a mac and then some headphones. I am guessing that I'll need some software on the mac as well ... any thoughts? I'd like to be able to play stuff from my phone and / or play along with stuff off the computer. Who out there has a set up along these lines? Any tricks, recommendations, bits of kit to avoid and things I haven't thought of? Any other radical ideas that would fit the spec in another way? @ mods ... if this needs to move to "Misc" or another part of the forums then feel free to shift it!

Cheers and ta for the warm welcome

Thanks all... @thebigyin Tommy Cogbill .... definitely could be described as "naughty donkey". Don't know masses about him other than "Preacher Man" to be honest.

Hey folks - my name's Nick and I live in Edinburgh. I've been playing since I was in my mid teens (going to be 40 this year) and moved to Edinburgh a few years back. I'm originally from London but was in Aberdeen for a few years too. Due to the arrival of kids etc. I've struggled to find time to play over the past 3-4 years. Part of trying to get this part of my life restarted includes coming back to forums like this so I thought I'd do a quick intro. As a player I tend to aim into the Jamerson/Babbit/Jerry Jermott/Willie Weeks type space. I got really lucky when I was young as I had a couple of year learning with Paul Westwood who taught me basic harmony and how to walk through jazz standards before showing me how all that stuff culminated in James Jamerson. Since then I've done a load of different things (blues, big band and small band jazz, functions, originals, drum'n'bass / breaks, country / singer songwriter stuff). Gear wise I'm pretty much a J-bass guy - my main squeeze being a through neck 5 string which wears some old flats (it looks fancy but it's basically just a jazz bass with a narrower string spacing) running through a Genz Benz Streamliner and some Barefaced cabs. If anyone knows any good jams or teachers in or around Edinburgh then let me know.