lowdowner

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1344371073' post='1763672'] What are you on and can I have some? [/quote] actually - i'm on Whispering Angel just at the moment, and it's damn fine!

'underplaying' is fine - think of the space between beats as the time where the 'real' magic of the music is actually happening ... but inside your head/heart (and the heads/hearts of the listener). The silence between notes is where the music of the cosmos is given space to breath.

why do many of the Warwick Thumb bass suggestions (.. all hail the mighty thumb...) talk about 'early' thumbs... mine pair are 2011 models and they are stonkingly burpin'

not sure what the problem is - I see it as a badge of honour to be able to say 'whatever key you'd like is fine - it's just a different place on the neck' (unlike the guitar player who spends time muttering and moving the cappo around hither and tither trying to find a simpler set of chord shapes - or am I being mean?)

Some great stories... I take being called a bassist as a compliment - even if it wasn't intended that way!

That's interesting - so there's no intrinsic value in the age? Just street-cred and collectability?

Sometimes I wonder whether this site is sponsored by Fender given the amount of adoration heaped on the brand (maybe I'm just jealous!) Anyway, looking at second hand vs. new fender jazz models, I'm struck by how much money people seem to want to get for (or be happy to pay for!) older jazzes... for example, I've just seen one at my local dealer which is a 73 jazz with all original parts (sans new strings of course) for £2500. Why are older Fenders more expensive - and if it's because they are 'better' why doesn't Fender actually just build basses as well as they used to? <confused>

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1344199571' post='1761216'] The first time I felt like a proper Bassist was one weekend when I'd gone along to the local Youth Club, which was closed but had bands practising there, I'd gone along to smear my snotty nose against the window watching the bands play. One of the bands I had seen play a sold out club a few weeks before. This day they were Bassistless and I got talking to them and they asked me to go and get my gear, so I did and got myself a place in my first proper band! All of a sudden I was on the other side of the glass and it was ace. [/quote] Brilliant story - must have felt fantastic

that's worryingly weird! Cheese?

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1295049780' post='1090032'] I believe this aswell. If you can see the wood grain, so much the better, the purchase becomes even more justifiable because then you have a bass that is unique, and reminds you of home. [/quote] I have a split view about this - of course the sound is what counts, but the appearance of your bass can make you feel a specific way about it and because the way you feel affects the way you play (or, surely, otherwise you're not a musician just a technician?) to discount the way the look makes the player feel would not be sensible? I *love* the way my bass looks - as well as its sound - and this fact makes me feel differently when I make music with it. That's because I'm a (human) musician

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1344191051' post='1761001'] One of my FB friends commented on a photo (long since deleted) of me playing my 4-stringer, with the words "Wow, look at that bassist!!!!". That was around a year after I started, so I was still a beginner, but it felt nice [/quote] I bet - good for you!

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1344190869' post='1760991'] A long time ago but an equally rewarding experience. Full power to you David. [/quote] Hey, thanks to be fair to my brother, he's seen me experiment with other instruments before finally 'settling' on the bass - there's no mistaking the fact that i've found my own personal way of expressing myself

So, during a phone call, my brother (not a man to impress easily) finally called me 'a bassist'! It's taken years to get this familial confirmation of my dedication to the bass, and it took me by surprise... Mind you, he said that I would be even more of a bassist if I owned more than two basses - he works with a lot of musicians and he claims that there is no musician more prone to collecting lots of instruments than bass players (and he was grumbling that I didn't have a 'spare' one for him to borrow!). I feel like I've grown up all of a sudden Do you remember the first time someone referred to you as 'the bassist' or similar? david ('the bassist')

new trinity rock and pop grade 8 book (with playalong tracks) has YYZ (with playing notes) if I'm right... might help? http://trinityrock.trinitycollege.co.uk/instruments/bass/grade8

you could just be like me i.e. have really out of fashion gear (but really like it all the same!)

i think the streamliner 900 is a great amp - plenty of volume for all kinds of gigs, but in a small room it can sound really intimate. Oh, and if you yank up the gain, the valve distortion is a lot of fun Thoroughly recommended

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1343930655' post='1757549'] nice simple groove from Erykah Badu's bassist [/quote] that's what i love about funk grooves - they don't seem much but when you feel them, and the magic starts happening, they are absolutely unbeatable!

I got quotes for new 5 string B.O. and NT thumbs today - there's £1300 difference in price! Why so... is the NT really so much better??

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Grooves-Ed-Friedland/dp/0879307773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343929709&sr=8-1 and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anthony-Vitti-Funk-Bass-Fills/dp/0876391307/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343929743&sr=1-1 are my current groove bibles - some great 4 to 8 bar funk/soul grooves/fills with loads of ideas...

Talking to a bass playing friend, I found out that he had recently taken a few drum lessons (well, 4 to be precise) and explained that he thought it important to know how 'they work' so he could lock in better. So is this common? Do many bassists try out drumming? If you have, do you think it has been useful to your bass playing?

I have a B.O. 4 string and I've started a search for a 5 string (some jazz transcriptions I have go really low!) so it seemed the best place to look. But the NT 5 string seems really well thought of... + the NT looks fab and i've drunk the best part of a bottle of grog, so I'm looking at it through beer goggles!

Oh god... that's all I need - do you reckon it's 'better' than a 5 string NT thumb?

I'm having a serious attack of GAS Having had a real tempting moment of MM Stringray 5 string lust, I've returned to my original love of Warwick Thumb B.O. and am lusting over a 5 string Thumb B.O. (I'd really dig that low B!) Does anyone on here have one, or had one? Any comments or recommendations? http://www.warwick.de/modules/produkte/produkt.php?cl=EN&katID=24051&linkID=47659

Where's the jazz or funk or folk? Why is the word 'band' always synonymous with 'rock/metal'? I'm just an unhip old-time groover? actually, having just vented spleen, i like 'abandoned faith's number on there

OK, it's good to know about the 'thousands' of hours. I take a spare to gigs of course, but I've actually changed the battery mid set (!) because I hadn't realised how old the battery in there was. Stressful 30 seconds!