Doddy

I keep mine at pretty much the same height standing as when I'm sitting,give or take an inch or two. Some basses feel comfortable a little lower than others-it depends on the body shape and scale length. Personally,I'd be more concerned with the left hand positioning in the first pic

Something like the Fishman Fission Bass Powerchord? http://www.fishman.com/product/fission-bass-powerchord-fx-pedal

According to Bass Player magazine,Nate used an ABM 900 with 8x10 cab on the new Foo's album. He does use the BTA 400 live though,again with 8x10's.

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1348242558' post='1811353'] I can honestly say I have no idea what the big guy was talking about when he said this hearing it LOUD was better than hearing it soft ? ? Just seemed like chin stroking seminar nonsense to me. Where everybody nods their heads and pretends to understand while they have no idea whats going on. In these situations I always put my hand up and say "sorry but I don't understand" and find out most other people didn't either. So here goes [center][size=5]Sorry but I don't understand[/size][/center] [/quote] He's saying that you will play it how you hear it. If you hear it loud in your head then that is how it will be translated your instrument.

[quote name='Sté' timestamp='1348239340' post='1811293'] it'not a matter of good or bad technic, it's just improve the right hand technique and allow to play with a lighter touch and increase shades in the bass "voice" , and chords technics to play latin grooves.. at least to me. i play jazz and try to expand the chords technic in my playing. [/quote] The ramp by itself does not improve right hand technique and allow you to play with a lighter touch. Dynamic range and technique come from the players hands,not the ramp.

The BTA is a great amp,especially when paired with an 8x10 cab. It's got a really great tone and it's dead loud. It's only problem is that it is heavy-I wouldn't want to carry it to gigs.

The only pedals that I'm really interested in trying out right now are the Moog MF-101 Low pass filter, the Dod Meat Box and the Wampler Paisley Drive (possibly the Xotic BB Preamp). I just don't want to spend the money if I don't have to.

Fenders are well known to have a dead spot on the G string around the notes C-D (5th to 7th fret),so a dead C# isn't surprising. As others have said,you can put a clamp on the headstock (or something that looks a bit cooler like a Fat Finger) but you aren't actually eliminating the dead spot this way.By adding mass to the headstock,it will move the dead spot lower down the neck but it won't get rid of it,only shift it.

I've got one as standard on my Ibanez Gary Willis fretless,and to be honest,I find it to be nothing more than a glorified thumb rest.If you play over the pickups,like I do, I can understand how it can give you an even playing surface between them,but other than that I don't think they do much.I don't need one to help me play lightly.

Has anyone heard the new album yet?

Try using your thumb as a 'movable anchor'. Rest it on the pickup when you are playing on the E string and then drop it onto the E string when you move up to the A string and so on.It puts less stress on the hand as you don't need to stretch to reach the upper strings. You could try the floating thumb thing,but I prefer to have my thumb anchored. To get a warm sound,play through the string with the pad of your finger and come to rest on the string below,don't pull the string too hard or snap it. If you are having coordination problems,take some time to concentrate on just you picking hand just alternating fingers and crossing strings. Then bring in the fretting hand by playing something simple like a C major scale in quavers. Steadily play 2 beats (in quavers) on C,then 2 beats on D,then E and so on (eg. CCCC,DDDD |EEEE,FFFF| etc). Try it both ascending and decending. When you're comfortable,try moving to 1 beat each (CC,DD,EE,FF|GG,AA,BB,CC), it will get your fingers used to crossing the strings,initially.

Let's be honest about this-the reason people think that bass is easy is because in many popular music situations,it is. Take a listen at any number of bands over the years and you'll hear the bass player either slavishly doubling the guitar riff (with less prominence) or playing root notes in constant quavers-it's really simple to play. Of course there are genres and bands where the bass is more prominent,but most of these aren't particularly mainstream. Then there is the fact that you get many acoustic guitar players who strum chords and sing along....something that you never see with a bass,even though it is doable if you choose to. I don't think that the bass player should be the 'unsung hero'...they should be just as equal as the rest of the musicians,but there have been/are many bass players and bands who constantly back up the thought that it is an easy instrument. With regards to people going to the bar during the bass solo,I believe that it's because many players don't have the melodic or harmonic sensibilities of other soloists,like horn players,so it ends up being a poor collection of disjointed licks.

1. I only use a canvas bag for mine. Hard cases are bloody massive and a real pain to fit in the car.I've had no problems with it....just be careful of smacking it into things. 2. I don't know if you know anything about Upright technique,but you don't need to pluck the string that hard. You can,but you are risking choking the sound.If you lighten up you'll get more tone. 3. I'd recommend learning how to use the bow,if only to a basic level. I'm not the greatest arco player-I can use it on a gig if necessary but mostly it has really helped my playing both with intonation and technique-I just haven't had enough chance to practise it for a while. 4. I like Rufus Reid's 'Evolving Bassist' book (the dvd is cool too).Ray Brown's book is good for running scales up and down the instrument. The Simandl book is good,and has been a 'standard' text for years.

It's alright for people to moan about bands playing the similar sets,but all too often you play something different and you get people shouting for Oasis or Skynard or whoever. If you are obviously a soul/disco/whatever band then people will specifically come to see you,but the general pub goers all too often request the same songs again and again. I've seen lots of pub bands that play more 'obscure' songs,and the audience often look bored and they rarely get rebooked.The biggest reaction of the night is invariably when they play 'All Right Now' or 'Sex on Fire'.

Jazz Bass. More specifically.....My Jazz Bass. Although I'd have no problem with a Precision either.

Nice...I might have to go to at least one of those gigs (probably Rock City) if I'm about. Great band

One of the reasons I've spent a lot of time working on my technique and studying music is because I want to be able to play ideas that I hear. The 'imagine first,learn later' approach is great if you have time to do that,like if you are writing or practising.But,there are times,like when I'm playing a gig,when I might get a certain idea that I want to play at that moment-especially when I'm soloing. There is no point having great ideas if you don't have the facility, both musically and technically, to pull it off. I think it's totally possible to expand your musical imagination too. The more you listen too,the more variation you will get. If you listen to only Metal,you will have more limited ideas than if you listen to,say,Metal and Hip Hop. You could learn something like a Miles Davis line,stick some distortion on it and make it a cool Rock riff.It's something that you probably wouldn't have thought of if you were limited in what you listen to,but by listening to something new you get new ideas and expand you musical imagination.

I've had one for years. I like them...I used to gig mine quite a bit when I played in a Rock and Roll band-it sounded really cool. I don't really play it much now because it doesn't fit with anything I'm doing. I didn't find the intonation too tricky,you just need to spend a bit of time with them to get used to their idiosyncrasies.

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348085175' post='1809166'] For me, this is a sign of going into a zen-like trance, just repeating them over and over and over and over I like it [/quote] For me,that's often a sign of running out of ideas and not thinking of new things to practice..so it's usually time to stop.

It's ok. The verse kind of reminds me of 'Deacon Blues',but I think that the chorus is a bit weak. I don't think it stacks up against anything on 'The Nightfly',but then again I don't think he's done much recently that does.

[quote name='Duarte' timestamp='1347965821' post='1807181'] Can't understand how anyone could dislike reggae, the most feel good music there is. [/quote] Easy....To me it's not 'the most feel good music there is'. I like some Reggae,but I feel much better listening to some Miles Davis or Phish or Ween or Dixie Chicks or Rodriguez or The Roots or whatever.Like I said earlier some I like some I don't-and that goes for any genre.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1347899204' post='1806370'] Thank you all for your ideas and experience. I'll have a squint at the gadgets you suggested. In the meantime does my idea of using the eq pedal and chucking it into the effects return on my amp not hold water ?? I have a gig on Friday and I'm not going to have time to do anything else before then. [/quote] I suppose you could do that,but personally I wouldn't.I'd try to get an A/B box and run through that. Something like this http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Belcat-ABS-520-Dual-Input-A-B-Box-True-Bypass/FY4 will do the job and is inexpensive.Plus,you should get it before before your gig.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1347908733' post='1806547'] The bassline on the Barney Miller theme was played by Chuck Berghofer, but is often miscredited to Chuck Rainey or Carol Kaye. [/quote] I've just checked some old copies of Bass Player...they credited the theme to Chuck Berghofer once,who then wrote in to say that it was actually Jim Hughart who played the theme to Barney Miller. Edit..Rainey and Kaye have been credited with playing on some of the music from the show,but not the theme.

I like some Funk and I like some Reggae. I also don't like some Funk and I don't like some Reggae. Pretty much the same as any music really-I either like it or I don't.

When I'm doubling I run my my Upright into some form of preamp or EQ (I actually like the Aphex Bass Exciter for this) and then both basses go into a Boss LS2 for easy switching and volume matching.I go out of that into an Ernie Ball Volume pedal for overall control,and then out to my amp (with a tuner in the Tuner output of the volume pedal). I generally leave the amp flat with maybe a hint of mid boost,so I control most things from either the onboard EQ of the Electric or from whatever preamp/EQ I'm using with the Upright. I use the same set up when I double on Electric and Synth bass too.