WishICouldWalk

I just took the neck off and the neck pocket is stamped JB-72 R/EX, the neck is stamped JB-75-R. Don't know if that gives a clue as to the what the pickups might be. The neck is also stamped December 96. Never knew it was over 11 years old!

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]

Body is ash. Not sure about the pickups.

[quote name='Quatschmacher' post='122313' date='Jan 17 2008, 05:15 PM']Is this a basswood body and Japanese pickups or alder with USA pickups?[/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?

It comes on as you put your foot down. I'm pretty sure it totally bypasses the circuit until you put your foot down.

[quote name='theosd' post='120837' date='Jan 15 2008, 02:56 PM']Is the wah switch operated or does it come on as you press your foot down?[/quote]

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.

What I forgot to mention is the Warwick head weighs a ton and there are only so many journeys up 3 flights of stairs whilst carrying heavy gear that a back will take. Power amps can be easily half the weight. I appreciate I could get something like a Mark Bass head, but there's the expense and again, the duplication - paying for a preamp when I really like the EBS. Power amps are relatively cheap as well. I guess I could sell the EBS and get a lightweight head, but like I say, I really like the sound and I can get the sound I want without a lot of buggering about.

Cheers for that. I've tried playing through PA's and you're at the mercy of the PA's monitoring setup (often crap) and the neuroses of the sound man (often diverse). I'd really like to have a bit of control over my headroom. I'll check out what a BFM Omni is!

[quote name='clauster' post='120640' date='Jan 15 2008, 10:15 AM']It should work - one option I've was considering was once considering was the EBS into PA for gigs and into a BFM Omni 10.5 with a power amp built in for practice and rehearsals and any small gigs.[/quote]

Thanks for the response. In terms of the scales, I know enough to know how to play them - can you suggest the best way to contextualise them? I do attempt transcribing solos - would you say that the approach should be to look for scale fragments within the solos and try to work out what chords they're being played over and then to play different patterns of the scale over the chord that chord(s)? Unfortunately I don't find it too easy to identify the harmony. I did think that maybe what I should do is loop progressions like 2-5-1 or whatever and sing over them and transcribe my own melodies but what I'm realising is that at my level, it's really difficult to even sing the phrase in my mind.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='120616' date='Jan 15 2008, 09:32 AM']You need to work on a vocabulary of scales:

Major, minor, melodic minor, diminished, augmented and chromatic scales. You'll also need to look at all of the modes for each scale (your brother will help but come back to me via PM if he can't/won't). And, of course, there are the pentatonic scales (which are variations on the above) and the blues scale.

You should look at transcribing other people's solos (NOT bass solos because they are relatively clumpy compared to horns/guitars - watch for the responses to THAT comment!) or, if you can't transcribe, just learn them by rote at the speed at which they are played by the original soloist. Start with 'easier' solos; more melodic etc rather than Joe Lovano stuff which is all but impossible to execute on the bass. Trombone solos, Baristone Sax solos etc are a good place to start (Gerry Mulligan's 'Song For Strayhorn' was my first transcription).

Gradually, over a period of months and years, your ears will develop and you will 'hear' things more readily. There is no quick fix here. Anyone who tells you any different is lying.

Of course, you can practice simply playing along with the radio and try to catch licks and lines. The more you do it, the more you will improve. But I do advocate the more academic approach outlined above as it is a tried and tested route to learning.[/quote]

I currently have the following equipment. G & K MB150S Combo, a Warwick Profet IV Head and 2x10 cab, and and EBS Microbass preamp. When I practice, I run the Microbass straight into my pc sound card and monitor through hi fi speakers. The way I see it, there's too much duplication. The MB150S is not needed for practice and I have the head/cab for gigs (hence why the 150S is on the for sale forum). However, when I sell the MB150S, I'm left with 2 preamps - the Microbass and the one built into the Warwick head. My intention is the run the Microbass through a PA type power amp and drive the cabinet that way for gigs. This should give me all the options I need and I'll be able to sell the bass head. Has anyone tried this? That is: bass preamp/general purpose power amp/bass cabinet. If anyone could let me know before I buy a power amp that would be great.

Thanks for reading.

I'm looking for advice on improvising. My brother plays saxophone and if we're listening to a piece of music he can play a phrase immediately after hearing it (within reason) whereas I don't have a clue! I realise the physical limitations of the bass and saxophone are quite different and he's been playing 20 years whereas I've been playing 5 but how do you get to the point where you can play what you hear? Is it a question of patience and after working away long enough, it just starts to happen or are there specific exercises that people have found have made a real difference in ability to improvise? If someone has reached this sort of level on the bass, could you think back and see if you can remember practice approaches that have made a difference.

Thanks in advance.

Zoom Effects box. Bought but couldn't be arsed to work out how to use it. Manual downloadable in pdf format from Zoom's website. I just gave it a go to make sure it works and I think the circuitry must be pretty good because the sounds are really clean. Would make a great headphone amp (for when you're getting on people's nerves). £20 + postage.

[attachment=4902:Zoom_708.JPG]

I'm in Brighton. Local pickup would be ideal but I don't mind taking down the post office.

Thanks for looking.

I'm selling my Gallien and Krueger MB150S. Nice little combo. I've had it 5 years and it's led a pretty sheltered life. I gigged it about 5 times this year and due to it being painted aluminium, it's picked up a few scratches on the heat sink on the top but it is genuinely in good nick.

[attachment=4887:MB150E.JPG]

I'm looking for around £250.

I'm in Brighton and I don't really want to post it. People are welcome to come by and check it out. If it doesn't go within a month, I'll put it on Ebay.

Thanks for looking.

I have 2 basses for sale: a sunburst Japanese 75 RI Jazz and a Warwick Corvette Rockbass fretless. I'm the 2nd owner of the jazz and this has been my gigging bass for the last year. I really do love this bass and I'm really sorry to see it go but I've got an unfinished project that I'll never finish as long as it's around. As mentioned, it's been my gigging bass so it's got knocks but playability is not affected. I'm looking for £350.

[attachment=4870:PICT0883.JPG]

The Warwick is something I bought to gratify my fretless fantasy and I've hardly touched it. It's virtually unmarked. Paid £330 new about 2 years ago. Looking for £200. - Now £180

[attachment=4871:PICT0873.JPG]

Also got a Gallien and Kruger MB150S that's going in the Amps section.

I'm in Brighton and I'm not really into using a courier. Anyone is welcome to come and try out.

I'll give myself the bumps for a month and if no joy, it's all going on the bay.

Thanks for looking.

**Update**

I've had a fair few PM's and people have asked about the condition of the 75RI Jazz. I've got a picture of the most significant marking around the bottom of the body. There's a bit of low ceiling scuffing on the top of the headstock and a bit of making to the lacquer at the back of the neck, neither of which I could get to show up in a pic. To play, it's the nads!

[attachment=4898:Bottom_body.JPG]

PM'd