Doddy

Jeff Berlin said on his Facebook page the other day, that he wasn't going to be doing the Brand X tour anymore. No disrespect to Percy, but I was going to go because Jeff was doing it.

When I'm improvising, the notes I use are heavily dictated by what the chords are. I think chord tones are the foundation for improvising but rather than playing to a shape I'd prefer to know where the notes are across the whole of the fingerboard, whether it's the actual notes or the intervals. Knowing that opens up the entire neck rather than being locked in to a scale position, especially if you play their inversions too. Obviously you can move away from playing just chord tones, but knowing what they are is an important part. You don't really want to be playing Mixolydian over a major 7 chord, or playing Lydian over a minor chord or whatever. You can, but you should know how to resolve the 'out' notes. Knowing how the chords work together (ii V I etc) can also help you play longer, smoother lines without playing each chord one by one. Learning modes can be useful, but I think that guitar and bass players often place too much importance on them without really understanding them well enough. Focus on the chord tones instead and it will give you a solid basis for improvised either a bassline or soloing.

I'm not a fan of learning by shapes or boxes either. I'd rather know what is actually happening with the scale degrees and the actual notes. I look at modes as variations of major and minor scales, like this.... Ionian (Major), Dorian (Minor natural 6), Phrygian (Minor b2), Lydian (Major #4), Mixolydian (Major b7), Aeolian (Minor), Locrian (Minor b2,b5). A lot of people look at them as the major scale starting on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th degree etc, but I find that thinking of them as variations of major and minor scales helps me more when I'm playing over changes. (Sorry for jumping in @greghagger)

He was in the band Dreams with Cobham at the time, so he it wasn't like he was a random booking. Will did the demos, Cobham didn't like his sound and so called Leland Sklar for the album session. If you're booking someone for a gig, especially at a high level, you want someone who has got it all together. They aren't going to have anyone on the session who sounds bad so that they can waste time and money fixing it. They want someone who can come in, nail the part, and sound great. There's a reason why all the top players have got great tone.

But this was before Will Lee became the session legend that he became, and he was part of the band Dreams. He was playing a modified P Bass, and apparently Cobham told him that he needed to get his sound together if he wanted to play sessions. He obviously listened. It's not about salvaging a take at that level though. If someone doesn't sound good, they'll get someone in who does. There are plenty of stories around of players being told that they didn't have their sound together, and/or being replaced in the studio.

I'm guessing it happens more than you'd think, or at least used to. If a player has a bad sound, there is only so much that an engineer or soundman can do. You can't just have a bad sound and expect someone else to make it better- it should be there from the start.

He's clearly done very well, quite deservedly-He's one of the best in the buisness. I'm just pointing out that tone does matter to people, especially those who are hiring you. Every great player has spent time on their sound at some point.

And yet you still felt the need to reply. If you think tone doesn't matter, that's cool, but it matters to a lot of people, not just bass players. When big name players talk about losing work because of their sound, I think it's worth listening to them.

I love that performance, and saw her on that tour. She's one of those artists who's always changing her vibe. That clip, and the whole self titled album, was a big change from her previous albums, and the one after (Masseduction) was as different again. The new album look like a change in direction again. That's what keeps her interesting, to me.

I completely disagree with this. I think your tone is a big part of who you are as a player, and it does matter to people who are hiring you for gigs and recording. Have you heard the story about Will Lee recording the demos for Billy Cobhams 'Spectrum', but being dropped from the master session because his tone sucked at the time?

She's been in a cool experimental phase for her last 3 or 4 albums. I loved Justin Meldal-Johnsen's tone on the Hofner. I've never really been a fan of the Hofner sound, but there has been a couple of moments lately that make me want one. This track being one of them. I'm a big fan of St Vincent anyway. She's the only modern mainstream artist that does anything for me.

I haven't used the synth9 but if you're after that Moog-ish, analogue synth kind of sound, I really like the EHX Bass Microsynth. No presets, no programming, just move the sliders. It's easy, and it sounds good.

All that goes without saying though. No one is booking someone who is late and can't handle the gig. But being able to replicate the sounds is the added extra that can take things up a notch.

Maybe not, but there are a lot of bandleaders who will book you again because you can replicate the sounds. I do agree that you should have your sounds and levels pretty much sorted before the gig, although you might still need a quick tweak before soundcheck.

What kind of playing are you planning on doing with the rig? If you're just playing at home, I'd suggest something like a Fender Rumble or an Ashdown Session, because the 2 rigs you mentioned are both pretty big. If you're set on wanting one of those two rigs, I'd edge towards the Hartke, purely because I'm not crazy about Mark Bass heads, but either will be good.