WishICouldWalk

Yeah, sorry the Fender copies. I guess it's just an aesthetic - but if you're gonna copy something.... Another gripe is those nuts - like a white piece of lego at the top of the fretboard. [quote name='Bassassin' post='123310' date='Jan 19 2008, 11:40 AM']I'd think they probably are - having seen a lot of basses & guitars from Fujigen, they don't tend to use ply too often. The "finished in mahogany" is probably just a peculiarity of the Japlish translation! Are we talking about the Fender copies here? Another peculiarity of the Jap factories' construction methods, most of the Fujigen/Matsumoku/Rokkoman Fender clones had this until quite late in the 70s. Tends to go hand-in-hand with 3-piece quarter-sawn maple necks on many of them. Personally I quite like them, one of the inexplicable little quirks that makes these instruments a bit more individual, like the round-end Jazz pups that turn up on a lot of them. J.[/quote]

Very interested! [quote name='WishICouldWalk' post='123246' date='Jan 19 2008, 07:24 AM']Is this the book you mention? [i]Hanon for the Developing Pianist [/i][/quote]

Is it me or should the person who decided to put those truss rod covers on the headstock be turned into sushi?

Is this the book you mention? [i]Hanon for the Developing Pianist [/i] [quote name='mcgraham' post='122631' date='Jan 18 2008, 08:23 AM']Personally, I found Hanon (piano pedagogogological exercises (spelling anyone?) as advocated by a certain Mr Janek Gwizdala) to be immensely helpful. Just a couple of exercises are enough from the point of view of string skipping, arpeggios, multiple notes per string to one etc. As was said previously, doing stuff that isn't written/'meant' for bass is great, it'll force your chops to higher level. Plus, it'll expand your ear. What I do now is identify things that I can't do to the same standard as other things. For instance, doing 7th arpeggios + string skipping, I created an exercise where I play the 1,3,7, then descend to the 5 in the key of C (say) then do the same for the G (one string below), shift up to the D, then A etc etc so effectively cycling through in 5ths although that wasn't the point. I should point out I'm playing the appropriate 7th arpeggio for each one. Another one I've identified is triplets. I have several techniques I use for triplets T 1 2, 1 2 3, T 2 3 (finger number) that I can do triplets exceedingly fast at (16ths at bout 180?). But 2 fingers isn't quite the same speed (16ths at bout 150?) so I'll be putting together an exercise for that other than scales once I've got through some other more important ones. So, Hanon, for basics. Run a couple of exercises starting at about 16ths at 60 bpm, and slowly work your way up to 16ths at 200bpm or whatever goal you like. NOTE: Pay ATTENTION to what your fingers are doing, don't just blindly try and get through the exercises. We're trying to make our technique coherent and consistent. Decide what is most comfortable, in terms of tension, raking vs strict alternation (I opted for raking), angle of fingers relative to top of the bass, hand angled forward or backward, more curved, less curved? These things change as you improve as well, what works at lower speeds often doesn't work at higher speeds. Constantly reassess where you're at and what you're doing as you improve. If you have any specific technique questions please feel free to message me or ask. I'm not claiming to be the authority on technique, but I don't mind sharing what I've learned from various experiments. Mark[/quote]

I've got a Profet IV and a Pro 211 cab. It's loud and clear but on it's own it doesn't have huge character. When I run my EBS Microbass into it, it sounds pretty sweet. Good value I'd say.

Richard Bona takes it to a whole 'nother level - singing totally different lines to what he's playing - incredible bloke. [quote name='Mike' post='122683' date='Jan 18 2008, 09:55 AM']Exactly what Richard Bona encourages![/quote]

Can you give a couple of examples of exercises you use to keep your chops in order? [quote name='mcgraham' post='122366' date='Jan 17 2008, 06:39 PM']So hard to even attempt to sum up what helps with improvisation, at least in my experience. 1) Practice phrases - (I used the term phrases as opposed to scales because they are also just collections of notes at the end of the day) as was previously said, don't lose sight of the true purpose which is to learn the distinctness of each scale, particularly how one note sounds in relation to another i.e. the distinctive sound of each interval in different contexts. And that extends to phrases too. 2) Apply those scales - do something musical with them, noodle, if you've 'got inside' the sound of a scale or set of intervals (which is really all a scale is) you may even recognise a song that has that sound that you could play along to, transcribe, reharmonise, do a solo too. Pull the tools out of your tool belt. Lesser discussed point... 3) Practice technique - if you don't have the chops to pull off a lick, there's very little chance you'll even be able to find the right notes let alone play them. 1/4 notes, 8ths, 16ths, triplets, arpeggios, 1,2,3,4+ notes per string, skipping string, effective muting, dynamics etc etc. I have certain exercises I use (and add to) such that my chops don't limit what I hear either in my head or from my ears. Practice them daily to maintain your technique. And at the end of the day, set goals, and manageable ones at that. (IMO) Mark[/quote]

It's the same bass, I posted both ads!

If by next week you can play like Gary Willis, let me know and I'll buy a copy [quote name='setekh' post='115541' date='Jan 7 2008, 03:45 PM']now I only have to study it it's not that thick too...and the letters are big..so I should do all right first impression - seems like good old theory in a box any tips on how to tackle it?[/quote]

I don't see how it could be done because it's a sealed box with just a wire running out of it. You'd have to pull off all the resin type stuff and then tinker around with what would be a pretty small circuit. [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='121259' date='Jan 16 2008, 02:12 AM']Hi Folks Just wondering if anyone has one of the EBS pre-amps that Bernie Goodfellow supplies and fits in basses and if so, do you know if the pots can be trimmed in any way to adjust which frequencies are increased/decreased? Hope that makes sense...... Cheers Nik[/quote]

It's not the tune charted out but I think the chords and riff are correct. [url="http://www.911tabs.com/link/?3780881"]http://www.911tabs.com/link/?3780881[/url] [quote name='walbassist' post='120638' date='Jan 15 2008, 10:12 AM']Hi all Anyone have a chart for "Streetlife" by The Crusaders they can send to me. Regular 7" single version please, rather than the 11 minute magnum opus! Thanks Gareth[/quote]

I think Nitti is a switched on guy. I don't like the sweep arpeggio stuff but when he funks out, and solos fingerstyle, he's a monster. The Yin Yang clip on youtube is great. [quote name='Sibob' post='120807' date='Jan 15 2008, 02:09 PM']Which refers back to my point (Adam Nitti's point!?) of being able to sing the various different scales as well as play them, makes you more aware of the subtle changes in sound between closely related scales such as Lydian and Mixolydian modes. Oh yeah, learn your modes if you haven't done so already, it opens up a lot of ideas and possibilities Si[/quote]

I tend to think of the shapes. I think shapes are good for licks, but I agree, they are restrictive. My reasoning is this - I've been toying with the idea of hiring an upright because I love swing jazz and I love the sound of the upright bass. In anticipation of this, I've been learning a lot of lines using open strings and practicing playing over changes. I believe that because I've been forced to throw out the shapes it's making my playing a bit more intuitive - this is still the case moving back up the neck. Try it for a couple of weeks, see whether you agree? It only works for me when I play walking lines though, it doesn't seem to help for soloing. [quote name='Legion' post='120734' date='Jan 15 2008, 12:34 PM']I'm far from qualified to comment on anything except my own limited experiences but I would like to ask; how did you learn the scales that you do know? I found that there were 2 ways for me to approach scales. One was on a sort of visual level as a "pattern" which is very fast and easy, but hugely restrictive as once I start to move higher up or throw open strings in I get totally lost. The other is to approach them from a musical theory angle, where I essentially reconstruct a scale by playing the notes anywhere I want rather than in the exact "shape" that I was used to. It seems better to understand that scales are essentially about the relationship bewteen the notes, rather than the notes themselves. Creating a map of patterns is a hard habit to break - but I think its worth spending time practicing ( and revisiting ) your foundations. I'm still working on this of course hope that helps with a different perspective Jas[/quote]

The end of all-in-one bass heads perhaps?

That sounds the ticket. Do you know anyone with an Acoustic Image Focus 2 for sale for about £200? [quote name='wateroftyne' post='120742' date='Jan 15 2008, 12:48 PM']I used to use an EBS MicroBass II > FX return of an Acoustic Image Focus 2, which was basically used as a teeny-tiny 600w power amp. It sounded great...[/quote]

I agree with Muppet. I was doing a lot of truss rod adjustment this year because I was playing in one band where I had to detune a whole tone and then tune back for another band. What I do is using my right elbow, I make the string contact the (in this case 20th) top fret with the E string and then hold it down at the 1st fret with my left hand. I aim for around 0.75mm of relief at the 12th fret (remember to tune your strings to pitch when you check the relief). Then you adjust the saddles to the right height for each string. As muppet says, if you can't get rid of the buzzing with the action as you want it, the frets will need to be levelled. I've never had any issues with truss-rod adjustment but I'd recommend loosening your strings off a bit (assuming you don't need to remove the neck to get to the truss-rod adjuster) before tightening it. It might also be a good idea to actually loosen to truss rod a bit before tightening it again so that if it's a bit sticky, you un-stick it in a less stressing fashion. And of course, ADJUST A LITTLE AT A TIME! a quater of a turn can make a big difference. I'll say get into the habit of doing this yourself because changes in atmospheric temperature can make things move a bit - if you take your bass to a shop, you'll be paying £30 odd for someone to do what you can do yourself in about 15mins. Best of luck.

Thanks for your ideas. Another thing while we're on this subject, if I take a simple melody that is based on a major scale (e.g. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - no, I'm not taking the piss!), I can more or less play it straight off. I really struggle when we're going outside of an octave range. Can anyone suggest practice approaches for hitting the right notes over relatively large intervals? Cheers.