wombatboter

For those who want to have a listen.. Here's a link to a free download of my 4th solo-cd. Recorded the basses at home (mostly Wal fretted and fretless, two songs feature the Fender Miller) and drums, percussion, horns and keyboards in a studio. [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16926252/GeertCD/Low%20Job.zip"]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16926252/GeertCD/Low%20Job.zip[/url] [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16926252/GeertCD/Low%20Job%20Flac.zip"]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16926252/GeertCD/L...0Job%20Flac.zip[/url]

I had a studio-session recently and I knew that the producer didn't like slap at all...He had told me lots of times that he just doesn't want it on the music he produces. I was playing on one of his tracks (a sort of gothic tune with big orchestrations) and there was a middlepart with not too much happening and I couldn't help it but while we were recording I started slapping on those middle eight. I just thought that it uplifted the song and that it added a dynamic.. When the track stopped I was pretty sure I would have to redo that part and use "normal" fingerstyle but he said "You know that I don't like slap but this was really cool, I'm gonna keep it". Sometimes it really suits the song and it's worth taking the risk (same thing with fretless).

I've been to a meeting of different bassplayers (only Precisions allowed) and actually no one was slapping...it got on my nerves too.. A lot of basses (or any instrument) can drive you mad regardless if one is slapping or not. I've been to a couple of meetings in Europe and it's the same thing everywhere...don't know what it is but quite a lot of bass-players just seem to really love the slap-style. I myself like it a lot (I'm not too bad at it) but I keep it mainly in my living-room and rarely use it during gigs. It shouldn't be pushed in an environment where it doesn't belong. I know the feeling of driving home after such slap-fests and hàting the instrument. Luckily that feeling goes away and I find myself doing it again (at home). I like it as much as fretless playing, tapping, chords, harmonics etc.. it broadens my mind and I try to make it groove (I try to stay away from the E-string trap but that's not easy). One of the "advantages" of playing slap is that you have a bit more grasp on the rythm and that you can play more by yourself thanks to the mutes, the pops etc.. That feature pops up when you gather bassplayers in a room.. The only thing which I find is confusing : if there are so many bassplayers occupied with learning and playing slap, why doesn't it pop up in the music I hear on the radio ? Weird that such a "popular" and "prominent" bass-style isn't able to get through again like it did in the eighties (which I loved). It seems to be reserved for slap-fests and bass-meetings but doesn't go any further than that.

Thanks (never amazed myself by my own manierisms though :-)) and glad to be of help.. Bottomline for me is that the big pick-up is more than enough for me and that I don't need the neck pick-up. There's plenty of punch in that one sound which does it for me.. It's a small lightweight bass and the longer I play it the more I like it... it's like I said in the clip : everything just goes faster and needs less effort and the sustain is great (need to work more on sustain :-)). Maybe a tiny higher action to make it less twangy and give it a bit more mids. Not sure though if the combination of this bass with my Genz Benz 9.0 shuttle and the Tecamp 4X10 works really well.. Something gives me the impression that the Tecamp sounds a bit too dirty for this sort of bass and I might be checking out the Ubercab Genz Benz which comes along with the excellent Genz Benz 9.0..

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1161635' date='Mar 14 2011, 01:18 PM']Very nice ! How's it compare to your Wal in terms of playability, tonally, craftsmanship etc. Sorry for the questions, but I've really got the hots for the Adamovic FBC after seeing two beauties for sale on BC (and I have a Wal as a reference point ) unfortunately typically I have no money available at the moment but maybe later in the year I'll see if I can source one, but must admit I'd love to try one first as they're not particularily cheap.[/quote] I must say that it sounds a bit more mellow than the Wal.. it doesn't have that dark mid-tone that a Wal bass or certain jazz-basses have. The craftmanship is superb with attention to any detail.. The Wal is heavier and a bit more demanding but on the other hand it delivers a sound which is unique.. That's a thing the Adamovic lacks a bit : very fast, very easy to play but it doesn't have the unique colour of a Wal bass.. I made this short clip with a couple of sounds for some Dutch bass-players (sorry, it's Dutch spoken but you can recognize some sounds) Thanks for the feedback so far

A couple of years I saw a picture of this bass which was custom made for a Dutch bass-player by Adamovic, a luthier from Holland. I liked the looks from the very start and I was really excited when this bass went for sale a couple of weeks ago.. I didn't hesitate and bought it for a really good price (with all the extras they cost around 3100 euros) I've owned around 112 basses during the past 29 years but this really is something special.. It sounds great (like a blend of a MusicMan and a Fodera) and the playability is beyond belief, the neck is very fast and no effort is needed. A crisp slaptone, a warm fingerstyle-tone... they all sound just great. The most striking thing is the weight.. this was made for those kind of bass-players who have back-problems and this bass has an X-ergo carved back which blends with your body. It's véry light and when I pick up my Wal or Pedulla-basses these feel like I'm driving a big truck.. I'm still checking it out since I have it since a week but it keeps on amazing me... Body wood: One piece alder Pick-ups: Adamovic Twinnjazz /Jazz by Heaussel Top wood: Macassar ebony Electronics: Noll 2 band Shape: X-ergo back shaping Pu -modes Series/singlecoil/parallel Pick-ups covers: Ebony Neck Knobs Ebony Main neck wood: Hard maple Secondary wood: wenge Hardware Fingerboard: stabilize birdseye maple Bridge: Hipshot style A-style 3-way adjustable Scale length: 34" Tuners: Hipshot Ultralites Finish: Oil finish Nut: Ebony Jack: Barrel jack

That P-bass just sounds excellent... nice cat too. I never underestimate this sort of playing.. to keep this groove going isn't easy. Playing fast is sometimes a lot easier than keeping the tempo going at a slower tempo.. Nice fills too.

Great playing.. still have some problem with the fact that after all this time that he's playing these songs Barney still needs a chart to read.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1142834' date='Feb 26 2011, 10:25 PM'] Overjoyed. A million mistakes and half the tune but oh well. Jake[/quote] Enjoyed that.... nice to know that there are people out there searching and expanding their bass-limits.

I especially like "Save a prayer".. Such a stunning bass-line that drives the song. Friend of mine has worked with several superstars (she helps with costumes and catering) like McCartney, U2 and Springsteen and found them really polite and nice people. She was a huge DD fan during the eighties and had posters hanging on het wall. Through her work she got to meet them and said that her illusions were scattered : all of them were complete *ssholes and in awe of themselves. Still I have the same sentiment : I didn't use to like their music at the time but my opinions have changed..

A couple of years ago a rather well known band around here in Belgium was looking for a new drummer. Unfortunately their bass-player was on holiday but still they had to do auditions. They asked me to replace their bass-player for the auditions (bit weird actually since normally you have to lock in with the actual bass-player) and I learned their repertoire.. A couple of drummers showed up and the last one was a young woman.. We started playing a mid-tempo song and it wasn't too bad. Then we got into this really fast song and halfway through the song I noticed that she was slowing down.. I saw her face turning red and her hands started to lose grip on the sticks.. She barely made it to the end of the song and she was gasping for air at the last cymbal stroke.. I didn't make it easy on her..I said "Let's do that last song again, I have a feeling the groove wasn't quite right" :-) She couldn't keep it up and went down..she didn't get the job. Years later that same woman became the girlfriend of a lesbian singer I was in a band with. We had this really great drummer but he got sacked because the girlfriend convinced the singer that he wasn't any good.. Women...

It's sometimes hard to be rational about instruments...you're looking for new inspiration, for a different sound once and a while.. Hugh Grant dated Liz Hurley and still he got into a car with that hooker...

Last couple of years it got way out of hand... At a certain moment I had around 30 basses in my living-room..Fodera, Wal, Sadowsky, etc. I had lots of gigs and combined them with a daytime job so the money came easily and I bought what I had always wanted. The last months I've been selling a lot and now I have four basses left (an acoustic one is with a fellow bass-player). I loose intrest in a bass in a couple of weeks, sometimes even days...there have been times that within less than a week a bass got sold again (sometimes I made a profit but a lot of times I lost money on it). In the end it's rather sad since I sound more or less the same on àny bass but it seems like some sort of contageous disease to buy something new to keep myself occupied.. The internet has given me so much means to buy my favourite basses that it's frightening. I used to take my bike, drive to the station, got on a train, took a bus and arrived at a bass-shop where they had Fenders and an Ibanez and that was it.. Now you have access to thousands of basses and it drives me mad from time to time.. Sites like bass-chat spread the disease :-) There are times that I check the "for sale" section ten times a day to see the "new" things that have popped up. I used to stare at a 200 £ Ibanez Blazer bass in a bass-shop and thought of it as the ultimate tool but it was way out of my league financially.. Times have changed but it had a certain charm to long for something..

Thanks for that great clip... When I heard the intro of Mystery Achievment when it came out I knew that I had to buy a bass and learn to play it. Farndon really was great.. what a tone.

Unmatched : Karn's fretless tone on the entire Andy Rinehart CD... [url="http://www.andyrinehart.com/audiovid/BeingWrong.mp3"]http://www.andyrinehart.com/audiovid/BeingWrong.mp3[/url] [url="http://www.andyrinehart.com/audiovid/HouseofHome.mp3"]http://www.andyrinehart.com/audiovid/HouseofHome.mp3[/url]