Doddy

When I was booking gigs for my old band,me and the singer/guitarist basically spent a week phoning people up. We knew a lot of places between us,and we found more by asking people that we knew where they play. We filled the diary for most of the year in that short time. It was nearly all done on the phone...it's hard to go talk to someone face to face when you are booking gigs the other end of the country. The couple of local gigs we did,we called them first then popped in. The band was only a couple of weeks old so we had no website,no CD,nothing,but out reputation from past bands on the same circuit helped.

I like mixing it up with some envelope filter or octaver...sometimes both. For some really crazy stuff,I like to add a ring modulator-it's mental.

I got my Mexican Jazz Deluxe V ('03) for £350 a couple of years ago,if that makes any difference.

I didn't realise that Steve Pearce was doing The Voice now. Fantastic player on both Electric and Upright. He let me sit in the Pit with him at the Royal Variety Show a couple of years ago.

What will make the most difference? Lessons. You can buy and swap gear all day,but actually spending time studying and playing will make a much bigger difference. I'm really bad for buying gear-I've got loads-butI also spend time practicing and studying and take lessons when I can,and that makes much more difference than buying new stuff.

In the key of D major,the ii chord (diatonically) would usually be an E min and the V chord will be an A maj. If we think of the key of A major for a second,the V chord would be an E maj. So in the case of this tune,the E maj is called the 'V of V' because it is the fifth chord based off the fifth chord of the key (If you get what I mean). This is also what makes it Lydian-In D major,we have an F# and C#. The E major chord contains a G# (E,G#, which is the #4 of D major,and as we know the Lydian mode is a major scale with a #4. In diatonic harmony,the major chords will be the I,IV,V but in a Lydian progression they will be I,II,V. I'm pretty sure that The Beatles didn't know any of this though and just played what they liked the sound of.

I can't hear a difference between fingerboard woods (or body wood,for that matter). I've got basses with rosewood,maple (with and without lacquer),wenge and 'ebanol',and as far as I'm concerned the sound is more about the pickups/electronics and (more importantly) my hands,than the wood. Visually I've always liked maple with block inlays but out of my instruments,my favourites have rosewood or wenge 'boards with no front makings. The best looking one,my Roscoe LG3500, has a spalted Bolivian rosewood board with a single 12th fret inlay. It looks awesome.

Some of them are cool. I've tried a bunch out,but not bought them,and some of them are really nice. The only reason I've not bought a couple is that I don't need anything that they do right now.

http://www.joyoaudio.com/en/product/fl_26.html The Harley Benton pedals are Joyo rebranded for Thomann. They are basically clones of pedals like Tubescreamer,OCD,Phase 90,Sweet Honey and others.

The Harley Benton pedals are just differently branded Joyo pedals (as are Rocktronics). Again,some of the pedals are really good. For example-The Ultimate Drive is an OCD clone and is a great little pedal-especially for £30! Freekish Blues and Toxic pedals used to rehouse and rebrand the it (allegedly) and charge nearly $200 for it. Their pedals are worth checking out.

I very rarely adjust the action. I might as for it to be changed slightly when I get them set up,but usually I keep it where it is. Some of my basses are set up pretty high,others are really low,most are medium-medium/low.I don't know the specifics,I just ask for them to be low/medium/high or inbetween.

[quote name='Leen2112' timestamp='1354489550' post='1886685'] Yeah, I just read the wrong bit. I was going to ask what bass that was too.....cheers! [/quote] If you want it more specific-it's a Fodera Monarch in tenor tuning, A-D-G-Bb He dropped the high C string a semitone for that tune,according to his transcription book.

It's 100% not from '79. Fodera didn't start making basses until '83,and Wooten is older than 15 there. More Love was on his first solo album 'A Show of Hands' and on the Flecktones 'Live Art', both released in '96. I'm guessing that this was from around that period,which was when he did his first bass and drums tour.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1354486947' post='1886644'] I don't think it's out yet, but the Zoom MS50B looks great and you can have 6 effects at once! [/quote] Unless it's out in the next couple of weeks it's not really an option-althogh it does look very cool. I've got to be honest,I've had a look at the Zoom B3 but I've never really been into Zoom's effects,but I've had success with Line 6 before (I've used the Bass Pod many times)

To be honest,I would have been gone long ago if it's been 3 years before your first gig. That would have been enough alone. But not getting on with one member as well? I'd have been gone after 2 or 3 weeks, unless we were regularly out gigging.

I've already got a load of pedals, but I've been working away a lot lately and it's a pain in the arse to fly with my board and taking 4 or 5 individual pedals take up too much room in my suitcase,so I've been looking at getting a Line 6 M5 that would cover the effects that I need (and more) in a handy package. I know it's only one effect at a time,but I'm not fussed about that-it's all I really need,and the price is right. What's everyones opinions on the pedal? Is it any good and worth getting?

It's no secret that I think Jaco is just amazing and is still relevant today. I'm hopefully going to visit his memorial early next year,while I'm in Fort Lauderdale. Happy Birthday Jaco

I've used nothing but Spectraflex for the last 7 or 8 years. I can't recommend them highly enough.

[quote name='jackers' timestamp='1354414652' post='1885782'] I believe you have missed the point of doddy's statement. It looks to me like he is suggesting that possible winners are chosen well in advance, irrespective of their musical talent (or lack thereof), and so it isn't really a singing or music contest, but a way to get people to buy albums at x-mas. Please correct me if I'm wrong Doddy [/quote] No need to correct you. That's basically what I'm saying.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1354407828' post='1885742'] is that really worth mentioning Doddy? [/quote] Yes,because I'm basically saying that the performance on the night isn't a major factor. Decisions have been made long ago.

I think it's worth mentioning that I know people who have actually been invited to go on both X Factor and Britain's Got Talent and are pretty much guaranteed to do pretty well on them.

Great track.Great album.Great playing. I also really like Sanborn's album 'Inside'. It's a lot smoother than 'Straight to the Heart',but it's really good. Marcus is all over it,and not just on bass. Marcus does a lot of fingerstyle playing-obviously he's know for his thumping,but there is a lot of fingerstyle playing in his discography.

If you are only playing for fun at home then you don't need to buy an expensive,high powered amp. You can get good small practice amps by Ashdown,Peavey and Roland around £100-150 that will do the job. My amp route went from a small 40 Watt combo,to a Trace Elliot Commando combo (first gigging amp),and then I started down the head/cab route with a Peavey NitroBass head and 4x10 cab,before going Hartke Genz Benz/Bergantino and now a small but powerful Ashdown rig. I've always had a small combo for home use though.

I've done a ton of gigs without an amp.I just use either my Line 6 Pod or my Sadowsky Preamp straight into the desk. The only thing you have to be careful of is monitors. Whenever I've gone amp-less (and the rest of the band) we've all been using in-ear monitors,so it's been great.

The age thing isn't an issue-it doesn't matter how old you are. The not driving is likely to be the bigger problem. It's no fun having to rely on lifts from others,and it's difficult to carry all your gear on public transport. But,if you can find others who would be willing to help you out then that's great.