peteb

I'm afraid that most of the music shops around Bradford have closed down in the past few years (like a lot of things), let alone anything to do with DB. As mentioned above, Salts Mill and the Early Music Centre (in the same complex) are worth a visit if you like that sort of thing and there is a great boozer called Fannys just up the hill from there if you fancy a cheeky pint afterwards...!

I can kinda understand why people think that a Fodera is overpriced and I wouldn't pay that much for a bass (especially when you consider that you can get a hand made Xotic for less than a third of the price). However the best bass that I have ever played was a Fodera...!

[color=#222222]I kinda like the occasional gig such as the one the OP describes – it can allow you to kid yourself that you’re playing a roadhouse somewhere in the heart of the Midwest and lends a romantic aspect to the whole affair![/color] [color=#222222][/color] [color=#222222]For those in the north of England keen to share in this experience, I have found that Maryport is the best place for witnessing this type of audience participation. Every time I have played in that fair town there has always been a fight between several young ladies, all glammed up for the night…[/color]

The only problem with OBBM is that he uses full size connectors for his patch leads, which can take up a lot of space on your pedalboard (assuming that you actually want the cables for a pedalboard).

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1382525571' post='2253124'] Hi Pete, It's a bit of a trek but if you could get over to Manchester, I would recommend Neil Fairclough. He's a dynamite player, a very well experienced teacher and an all round great guy/music enthusiast. He currently plays with Queen when they're doing stuff as well as a host of other pro jobs. He is extremely knowledgeable in all genres of music and can play in most styles really authentically. He's also a mate so I can put you in touch if this looks interesting to you. Cheers Jake [/quote] Cheers Jake Manchester is certainly doable for a one-off or occasional lesson. I'll check him out and drop you a PM later - sounds good... Many thanks, Pete

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1382178755' post='2248916'] I do plenty of one off lessons for people to see some major topic material, I generally make it at least 2 hrs with a possible tea break and I spend time reiterating central messages to maximise the uptake of material trying to ensure that retention is reasonable, I also offer a back up questions via email option because the reality is you will not remember everything that you are shown in an intense lesson. So definitely doable. Find someone thorough with a proven track record of clear communication of material, and who can give rapid and accurate analysis of your needs. [/quote] [quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1382178829' post='2248917'] where are you based btw, I may be able to recommend as I know players/teachers all over the place. [/quote] Hi Jake I don't suppose that you can recommend anyone in the West Yorkshire area? About three years ago I started playing the blues circuit after 30 years of playing predominantly rock music. I have done OK getting gigs, etc and have been lucky to play all over the country in that time, but I do find that I come across a few guys on the circuit that have that little bit extra in their locker. It’s not so much playing blues lines, which I’m quite comfortable doing, more being able to incorporate a bit more of a (finger) funk type feel when the mood takes them. Also, I find that for the first time in my life that I am occasionally asked to play short solos, with varying results! I don’t want to re-evaluate my playing or start a programme of studying with a teacher, more a lesson or two with someone to give me a few new ideas and open up a new direction rather than getting stuck playing the same stuff that I have been doing for years. Also, I would want it to be genre specific, i.e. stuff that I can use in a blues rock band. I am never going to need to play solos using chord tones over a II V I turnaround, so I would need someone who does understand the blues genre. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated…

[quote name='Nick Riffed' timestamp='1382295087' post='2250305'] I wouldn't have a clue. Have you tried dating women? [/quote] Why? Do you think that women are more likely to be able to help this chap find out when old Fender necks were made??

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382086369' post='2247616'] Re the vid in the OP: Is it me or does the guitarist's singing sound a bit like Roger Chapman? [/quote] I know where you are going but I wouldn't say so (but it's hardly a bad thing to be compared to Roger Chapman)!

Funnily enough, even tho I'm a fan of Mr Big, Winery Dogs, DLR, etc and of Billy himself I have never been too keen on his bass sound.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1382044878' post='2247310'] Nope. Not being ironic. Never heard of him. Come to think of it, I had vaguely heard of his signature bass, maybe. He's good though. Have Mr Big or any other bands he's been in ever bothered the charts? [/quote]An American number one and worldwide hit with an untypical acoustic ballad in the early 90s [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QD5n98R_nk[/media]

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1382044033' post='2247288'] I had never heard of him when I bought my first bass (BS signiture Yammy), I just liked the minty green colour and the black offset blocked fretboard. I'm a bit embarrassed by that now. [/quote] Hey, nothing wrong with that - it is just that he is so high profile compared to most bass players and has been for so long that I kinda assumed that everyone interested in playing bass would be aware of him!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382041852' post='2247246'] Well I suppose if I can't post this here, I can't post it anywhere... ...this is the number I learnt for a covers band I was in. [size=4]Really great fun to play. [/size] [/quote] Great stuff – must be an ace song to cover…!

I think that the OP may be the only bass player who has never heard of Billy Sheehan…! I love the Winery Dogs album – exceptional playing balanced by great songs. Kotzen is an amazingly talented singer / guitar player / songwriter…

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1381863943' post='2244765'] Blimey, It's handbags at dawn here, I only asked for a bit of help with an old Whitesnake song. I cannot seem to download any of the links, Adobe is not letting it through, thanks all the same. I'm going around the guitarist house tomorrow and we can work it out using the special software on his computer slowing the runs down note for note but keeping it in pitch. [/quote] The youtube clip that Conan posted above is pretty damn close to the Neil Murray line – if I was you I would just have a good look at that. In fact when I next have a bit of time to spare I may just do that myself! Note that the recent versions of Whitesnake play an arrangement live that is a mixture of the two recordings, with the bassist playing something closer to the tab that xzodar posted above, but in G and with the E string dropped down a step to D, so that you can get the 5th below the root…

Sounds cool. Poland is a great place to visit. BTW - what band are you playing with??

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1381794587' post='2243981'] Some advice -- as long as you try to figure out basslines and make and read tabs, you'll struggle for the rest of your life. What you need to do is understand what chords you're playing over and the notes within those chords and how they correspond to each other. In other words -- basic theory. Learn the modes. Play them up and down and backwards and sideways. Play some jazz standards and walk over the changes. Once you get good at that, you can rip through a song like that Whitesnake tune without even thinking. He's just playing basic busy rock runs over the chords. If you know the chords, it's childsplay. If you try to memorize the runs, it's calculus. [/quote] Understanding modes is one thing - learning a songbook of jazz standards in order to play Whitesnake covers is possibly a tad excessive...!

[quote name='Stealth' timestamp='1381585974' post='2241010'] Looking for nice slightly gritty Rock bass tone are Mesa really that good to cost a wad ? [/quote] I've got the hybrid mpulse amp. It's brilliant for the tone you are looking for, way better than any Ampeg I have owned! Not cheap these days thru...

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1381694874' post='2242545'] It seems odd to me that we have a forum of mostly amateurs (when it comes to bass building) slagging off someone who has been doing it as a career for quite a few years. i.e. "I can't understand how tapping a piece of wood with a hammer can help predict its tone in a guitar, so therefore it must be wrong". Are these the same armchair experts that shout their valued advice to the professional players while watching Man. U. V. Chelsea on the telly? It may well be a load of old bollocks, but I personally would not venture to slag someone else off when I don't know any better myself. Also I agree that he gets a bit muddled in places, but so might I if my boss said "explain your job on video". I also agree that with an electric guitar tone can be manipulated in many ways, which can reduce the effect of woods, but as a general principal in life (IMHO) its best to get the fundamentals right and build on that. I.e. build on rock rather than sand. And on the technical side of hitting it with a hammer. This is a common and accepted technique when determining resonances in machine tool structures (though monitored by accelerometers rather than by ear). [/quote] Good post! I agree but take note of Dannybuoy’s comments above (post #39)…

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1381682621' post='2242246'] labelling people on here 'a bunch of weekend warriors' seems dumb and disrespectful to me! [/quote] Why?? I'm sure that term applies to the vast majority of people here (including me)...

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1381676535' post='2242130'] I am confident I speak for many of us in saying that if I was intimidated by people who could play better than me then I'd have to not be here at all. You are missing what really happened here which was that the OP held up a badly executed and somewhat unmusical performance as an example of greatness and, when some of us disagreed with his evaluation, things got sensitive. So, what you perhaps ought to have said is "It seems that some people are intimidated by anyone disagreeing with them". [/quote] Feel free to disagree all you like, however I think that it is a bit off for a bunch of weekend warriors posting on the internet about a pro that is good enough to get the Carl Palmer gig, saying that he is giving “a badly executed and somewhat unmusical performance”! that just seems dumb and disrespectful to me. [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1381671896' post='2242025'] As written before, initially it would be far from me to criticise that performance. I understand and appreciate the context as well as the attempt. I understand the technical requirements to the player. Had I been in the audience, I would have been smiling from ear to ear, and would applaud this with warmth ("warmth" should be in the dictionary, btw, just like "coldth" and "calmth"). However, the clip was used as an example of a type of greatness that would put VW in the shadow. Now, while I do not specifically appreciate VW, or know his work for that matter, the greatness claim was followed by a claim about this performance's musicality. [/quote] Absolutely! Although VW doesn’t do a great deal for me either, I can appreciate his considerable talent. Surely when someone plays critic for any artistic performance, they have to judge everything on its own merits. I thought that bass player on the Carl Palmer gig gave a pretty good live performance of a solo piece that got a good reaction from the crowd and like BassTractor, I am sure I would have been impressed had I been in the audience. That doesn’t make it the greatest piece of music I’ve ever heard or make him better than Victor…

I know the girl who sang on their cracking version of Back In Black (Lorna from Northsyde). Great band [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrQvT8ziGKo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrQvT8ziGKo[/url] Northsyde are also well worth checking out if you like funky blues tinged rock…

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1381513526' post='2240199'] Wow, you're really confused mate. I could care less about people agreeing with me. It's about knowledge and taste and understanding and appreciation. I guess you missed that point, but I guess you have to understand it in the first place. [/quote] Actually, I kinda agree with much of your original post. I’m not sure what people would expect from a solo piece from the bass player on a Carl Palmer gig, but I thought that it was OK. I don’t think that it stood up as a great piece of music in its own right, but it certainly wasn’t unmusical and I thought that the execution was fine for a live performance. Some might feel that his choice of notes was insufficiently romantic, but in the unlikely event that I had been in the audience I am sure that I would have been suitably impressed without feeling the need to own a recorded version anytime soon! On the other hand, Michael Anthony (a very capable bass player) plays a very simple part that fits Running With The Devil perfectly, so why would anyone want to change it? It seems that some people are intimidated by anyone better than them and some expect that every single piece of music meets some unobtainable ideal. And if these people claim that it doesn’t bother them, then why would they take the trouble to have an opinion??

The bass playing on the Muddy Water Blues album by Paul Rodgers is spot on, as you might expect from Pino Palladino... If you're interested in the more rock side of blues rock, try listening to the excellent Mars Cowling's playing with Pat Travers. The live album 'Go For What You Know' is a good place to start - that should keep you going for a while...!