Doddy

I'll always recommend the iGig cases over anything else, but they are a bit more than £50.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='784052' date='Mar 23 2010, 09:59 PM']So which song did he slap on that everybody knows? See above. Incidentally is that a pork pie hat in your avatar?[/quote] 'Never too Much','Walk the Dinosaur' to name just two. Yes that is a pork pie hat.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='784042' date='Mar 23 2010, 09:45 PM']Go on, amaze me. Or just leave it at the vague suggestion that he's had a pop career and hope I don't look it up.[/quote] Pop stuff that you may have heard of includes..... Luther Vandross, Scritti Politi,Was(not Was),Simple Minds,Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston,Joan Armatrading...... Just a few there-not including all the jazz work and countless jingles.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='784019' date='Mar 23 2010, 09:30 PM']And it can't be the definitive slap tone unless it's been used on records that people have heard.[/quote] You're really unfamiliar with his discography aren't you?

[quote name='cheddatom' post='783618' date='Mar 23 2010, 04:11 PM']I was taught using tab since I was 8 (on guitar). I don't know what you others have been reading but I had plenty of rythmic notation - little stroke lines at the bottom of the tab to denote the beats. I also got numbers to show which finger to use for which note.[/quote] Do the little stroke lines only show where the beats are or do they actually show the rhythms? If you were taught using tab,then the teacher is at fault and has done you a major disservice. If you had lessons with me you would learn the notes.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='783961' date='Mar 23 2010, 08:45 PM']Well far be it from me to explain to you why your opinion in this case is a load of knackers, then! [/quote] I think the same about your opinion in this case. Marcus' tone is the definitive slap tone- full range with a fat low end and crisp, clean highs. You won't get the classic Marcus tone on a stock '70's Jazz. His tone came together with the inclusion of a Bartolini preamp.Although his sound was almost there before,but not quite. The Seinfeld theme was played by Jonathon Wolfe on synth bass. Good choice of players there Pete.

I'm not 100% sure on this,but don't the strings have to be at a certain tension to give the desired pitch?? In which case,it's probably something else. Someone else probably knows more than me on the science side of things.

[quote name='Johnston' post='783347' date='Mar 23 2010, 12:54 PM']When I started I used the songbooks with the tab below the score. I could never pick up sight reading in school so it made sense to use the tabs but I could remember what the 'symbols' meant when it came to timing so ended up using both.[/quote] If you are looking at both the stave and the tab,you are essentially doubling your work load by reading two things at once unnecessarilly. Also,the rhythm is the hardest part to read,so if you can understand that by looking at the stave, I don't get why you need something to tell you what fret to play-you should be able to work out the notes pretty easily.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='783222' date='Mar 23 2010, 11:37 AM']I hate to say it and I'm not being deliberatley provocative But sometimes I think there's a it of snobbery comes into this argument as well.I mean if someone says play a C of someone says play the A string 3rd Fret your still being told what to play., I know the ryhthm thing is different ( which is tabs biggest drawback ) but once you have the notes you can fit then in by ear cant you ?[/quote] I think the 'snobbery' comes from the fact that,like I said earlier,in the gigging world, tab doesn't exist. I've always seen reading as a basic musical concept-the first time I picked up a bass I was shown notes both on the bass and the stave. Most people who now learn seem to try an avoid it,and I don't understand why. Laziness? If so then tab only encourages the player to be more lazy. As far as it's all telling you what to play,what if a non bass player is trying to tell you the chords? They will never tell you a fret number. Likewise if you tell a piano player to play a '3rd fret,A string', you will look like a prat. On the rhythmic side,unless you already know the song,it makes no sense. Is it 8th notes? Are they dotted? Triplets? You simply have no way of knowing.

[quote name='valere24' post='782454' date='Mar 22 2010, 11:55 AM']This tuning is used as far as I know by Dominique di Piazza, Matthew Garisson, Tony Grey and Janek Gwizdala. Strangely enough, these four players all use a four fingers right hand technique and play fodera basses.[/quote] There are a bunch of players who are using a 5 string with a high C. It's not a new idea either-the first 5 string Fender was tuned like this. Matthew Garrison and Janek Gwizdala also have an extender key on the E string to take it all the way down to a B. Incidentally... Janek only ever uses a four finger technique for wide arpeggios and 4 note chords.Most of the time he uses mostly thumb and 2 fingers and just 2 fingers when soloing.

I'm sticking with my original diagnosis....... You seem to be 'hitting' the strings(especially the lowest string) rather than 'plucking' them which is resulting in the string hitting the upper frets,giving almost a 'slapping' effect,which will be even more noticable when detuned as there is less tension on the strings. I'd spend a bit more time concentrating on your right hand technique. You don't need to pluck the strings very hard at all-let the amp do some of the work. Try this before you reach for the allen keys.

[quote name='iamapirate' post='782653' date='Mar 22 2010, 08:00 PM']well I usually need to know the song properly before I can read the tab,[/quote] Hence the problem with tablature. If you are looking at pretty much all the tabs in books or on the internet there is absolutely no rhythmic information,which renders it as being useless unless you know the song. I don't like tab...in the gigging world it basically doesn't exist. You will never see a chart written in,or with, tab.

If all else fails,just jump in and have a go at singing yourself. The first time I ever took lead vocals was on a gig when someone requested a song that we could play,but only I knew all the words to.So I just did it and it went fine.

Are you sure that none of you can sing,or are at least willing to give it a try? Alternatively,one of you should be able to take the melody-usually the guitar or keys.... maybe even you?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='782326' date='Mar 22 2010, 01:47 AM']"... yer bedda slur, da mustang da!" Worst-case scenario: Every weekend, for the rest of your miserable life.[/quote] Having said that,I'd rather do that -amongst other things,of course-than an office job.

[quote name='woolz' post='782136' date='Mar 21 2010, 09:33 PM']de tuned to c# on the bottom string yes. also i dont know how softly you guys are playing but to stop any clicking i need to play verry very softly.[/quote] I thought so. To me,then,it sounds like,because you have less tension on the string as you are playing it , it is getting a kind of 'slapping' sound by hitting the the upper frets. I can be quite aggressive with my right hand and can easily get that clicky sound if I want to,but generally I don't play that hard. Are you 'hitting' the strings with your right hand(that's usually the problem) or do you play 'through' the string?

It sounds to me like it's a problem with your right hand technique. To me it sounds like you are attacking the strings quite hard,that's all. Are you detuned as well?

It all depends on what you want out of life. Being a professional musician can be and often is hard work,especially if you want to work on a freelance basis. There will be times when you don't have a gig for a few weeks,in which case it's good to have some teaching to fall back on. Other times you will be dead busy,but may have to travel hundreds of miles over a couple of days. Some gigs will pay great,but you may need to take that £25 gig when times are slow. I know a load of people who went to Uni,who now have office jobs and are earning quite nicely and have a 'comfortable' routine of work,pub at weekend,holiday once a year. I may have a less consistent wage,but I've travelled all over the country as well as Europe and America,met some great people and basically had a lot of fun,all from playing music. Most of all,I'm happy and enjoying myself. I wouldn't want it any other way.

[quote name='silddx' post='781745' date='Mar 21 2010, 04:17 PM']Not only that, NO SPARE STRINGS !!?? WTF?[/quote] Totally. However,if you don't have spare strings on you,or you don't have enough time to change them for whatever reason,you should know the instrument well enough that you can shift your parts to another position on the 'board.

No excuse for that. Surely he could hear that he was out of tune? Even without re-tuning,he should have been able to hear that he was sharp and at least be able to transposed his parts accordingly.

I don't like the excessive tuning that seems to happen after every song-especially when it's accompanied by silence. One band I regularly work with,the singer/guitarist tunes after every couple of songs and doesn't speak to the crowd much,if at all-but it's his band,so I can't say anything. Whereas another band I work with,who I was with last night,never stops apart from the semi- rehearsed announcements,which there are maybe one or two of per set. You can guess which one keeps the dance floor full. It's not really a case of playing a 'holding pattern' or anything like that,because even then it is usually seen as a chance to give the guitarist a chance to tune.The problem is that a lot of bands play one song,stop,play another,stop etc. If the band has it's act together and is slick,there is generally no time to fanny about retuning that +/- 1 cent,because as soon as one song finishes,the next one starts. One rule-If you stay silent for longer than a couple of seconds,people will sit down.

[quote name='frank' post='780346' date='Mar 19 2010, 11:51 PM']Is piano the be all end all for ear training or is it possible on guitar as i have more experience on guitar than piano. But i suppose piano gives you one hand to chord with and the other to figure out whats going on.[/quote] With Piano it's all laid out in front of you and you can easily play a root note and move the harmony around.There are a lot more options for you to experiment and you can hear the difference more clearly than on a guitar. I'm not a piano play(far from it-I can't play one song on one!)but I understand the layout of the keyboard, and have enough knowledge to be able work out chord types and melodies(independent of each other).

For soloing over changes the ultimate goal is to play melodically through them. First of all you need to be aware of what the chords are. Play through whatever piece you want to solo over using just the arpeggios at first,so that you become familiar with the strong tones. When you are really comfortable,you can begin to invert the arpeggios so that you are starting on the 3rd, 5th and 7th. Straight away this will sound more melodic than always leading with the root. Later on you can do the whole 'play what you sing' thing,where you sing a melodic phrase and play it on the instrument-with practise you can do this simultaniously. Also,learn melodies to tunes. They give you a good starting point for your own ideas.

When you say solo bass,are you thinking about playing solo's over changes or do you want to be able play things like chord melodies and things-kind of like Michael Manring and those guys?