MiltyG565

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1357376296' post='1921694'] I don't wish to sound patronising Milt but, those are the qualities of a decent set of flats! [/quote] Why can't a decent set of flats be easy to slide though? that's all i'm wondering. And being honest now, these really are a great set of strings, and i have decided to stick to D'Addario strings for the foreseeable future.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1357374801' post='1921681'] It all depends on what you've practiced. Classical music doesn't tend to swing, classical musicians (in general) don't learn to swing and don't practice (in general) improvisation. However, the only difference between improvising and composing is one is done live in front in an audience spontaneously (or is supposed to be). Quite a lot of blistering solos from rock musicians are very carefully rehearsed at home. [/quote] Yeah, i've seen the Chili Peppers a few times live now, and their "Jams" are clearly pre-arranged, as much as i love them, and hate to admit that. But flea does throw in a lot of spontaneous fills.

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1357373630' post='1921674'] Any of the groundwound or halfrounds I have tried I haven't liked at all !.. It's flats all the way or rounds if you have to.. These halfway strings have done nothing for me... It's great that we have so much choice but gets expensive if you experiment too much like I have done I'm truly settled in the flats camp now.. [/quote] Personal preference i suppose. I don't like the unsilkyness or unslideability of them.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Gvoa5hips"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Gvoa5hips[/url] I was up all night, editing and uploading this! But here's the essence of what i think of the strings. Some sound samples too. HURRAH!

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1357370490' post='1921658'] I've played with a fair few classily trained musicians who know all the theory and can site read at speed etc, but they are completely unable to solo or improvise. Some of us may be limited by lack of theory but some that know it are limited in other ways by it. [/quote] I've heard this before a few times. Classical musicians are trained to read and understand music to a high level, and play perfectly in unison with 20/30/40 sometimes more, other musicians. You can't have one violinist breaking out into a freestyle, off beat solo in the middle of a composition. I think being able to play an entire composition perfectly (remembering the emphasis on dynamics in classical music) while reading the sheet and watching the mental guy flail his arms about which somehow tells you when to play and when not to, is a far harder thing to perfect. Improvisation is an entirely subjective thing, so nearly anybody could improvise something and somebody would think it was good. Not the same for classical music.

[quote name='aende' timestamp='1357312937' post='1920811'] Wow! Thanks for all the fantastic greetings! Happy New Year all! Bassists are far more sociable than guitarists! I was a session guy on tour - I got picked up, so to speak, playing some jazz guitar at a shop in Denmark St in London. I was asked to audition with the session band, got the gig. The only reason I did it was for the dance routine girls.....standing in an Orchestra pit looking up at tight buns jiggling about, whilst trying to concentrate on failrly complex music makes you, or breaks you - I broke allot! The reason for the switch from guitar to bass was the admiration for bass players. There is nothing quite like hearing a great bassline - it makes or break a song. A solid rythm section in a band is really the measure of the band, the guitar player and vocalist can do whatever they want and will be considered 'eccentric' or 'avant-garde'. The bass player has to be more in tune with the beat, the feel and the groove - adding in fills while keeping a steady bottom end is really difficult. I kinda found that over my ~20+ years of playing guitar - I got pretty good (calm the ego boyo!). But I could get away with playing like my hand was broken when I felt like it. I started to never play the same solo twice on songs - I could Eddie Van Halen up a folk song on an acoustic guitar. Rather than playing a minor chord in a piece, I would play the 11th and funkify it.....basically, I was screwing around because I could. Equipment became more and more important; the 'right' guitar, the 'right' amp. I still believe that 80% of being a good musician is not about how well you play, but how good the sound you make it, i.e. it is pleasing to listen to. Anyway, I could never ever shift the admiration that I have for a good bassist - I even played allot of guitar gigs through a bass amp (Marshall Super Bass 100W Jubilee head 25/50!). I am trying like hell not to 'root note' anything to death, although sometimes it has to go with the song and the job is to provide the steady bottom end. But I like the fact that there is limited 'fill' time, you can add in some percussion on the bass (I would have been a drummer, but I cannot get all my limbs to move independantly - Watching a good drummer like Thomas Pridgen is just the best!). I heard an interview recently with 'Fieldy' from KoRn - He was saying that what I thought was double tap kick drum, was in fact him slapping up the bass - sweet! How cool is that, not just adding colour to the tune, but adding percussion and bottom end. Good bass players are like the Picasso's of the music world - sometimes it is funny looking, but when you really understand it, it hits you on all levels. Anyway, enough jabber from me. On the Cab front - I borrowed an Ampeg 2 x 10 Classic cab. Works and treat and is bloody light. I think I might get hold of some reclaimed wood and build my own 2 x 10 cab.....anyone know if I should build a fixed or floating baffle board? Cheers A [/quote] Wow... Don't know how to reply to that really... I have no idea about cabs. You should check out the amps and cabs section though. Nearly any regular in that forum could tell you. I want to learn drums, and my drummer mate wants to learn bass. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST LEARN TO BE GOOD AT ONE THING!? I joke, of course. My mate is a brilliant drummer, and he will be a great bassist too i'm sure. As will you. If you want to get off root notes and into slap, try "Get up and jump" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. I've just done a review of some strings, and i played it for a short while in that vid, if you want to check it out.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1357350369' post='1921606'] bravo. These fiends like nothing and appreciate even less. [/quote] I just don't understand why somebody wouldn't just like something because they like it? that's all i ever do. If it's something popular, that's alright. If it's something unpopular, that's alright too. I don't make room for other people in what i like. Either you like it, or you don't, but it won't change my mind if you do or don't like it, because i do. Feckin wabs.

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1357318962' post='1921014'] I thought "hipsters" were those blokes with shoulder-bags and skinny jeans who mince around cities on single-speed racers with tan leather saddles and narrow handlebars. CB [/quote] Afraid not. They are, around here at least, People who feel they need to be different, so actively seek out underground music genres and artists, weird clothes shops and places to get massive glasses. As soon as any of the things they like become even slightly cool, they stop liking them, claiming that it is "Too mainstream". I think they have now ditched the term "Too mainstream" now too... for obvious reasons.

Editing the string review now. It may take some time though, especially since i am now going to get food.

Seriously loving these strings. I've just said that i think i will be playing D'Addario almost exclusively form now on. Great strings, with a great feel and sound.

[quote name='OldG' timestamp='1357284038' post='1920254'] For each take, just before you start playing -clap your hands in front of the camera. This will give you an accurate video/audio sync point that should speed things up... [/quote] Yeah, it's a good tip, but recording bass through the external sound card, this won't work, because it would just be visual, with no audio. I never need to do that anyway, doing a recording, it will be pretty clear when it is synced up and when it isn't. my other vids, the audio and video are recorded automatically through the same means (the in-built mic and camera in the MBP). These are already aligned, but after a few minutes recording in iMovie, they go out of sync, but i find it is better to save, and restart the recording at that point anyway. It just makes editing easier, and also, if the file got corrupted (unlikely) you wouldn't lose the entire film.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1357312199' post='1920790'] I learnt a few chords on guitar at the age of ten, but never pursued it because I just did not think that I would ever be good enough to become a musician. But around five or six years ago in my [b][i]mid-fifties[/i][/b], I was the physio of a football club, and the players had put together a make-shift band to play at the end of season presentation night, and they needed a bass player, so I volunteered thinking that they would not be that good, and I wont look too out of place just playing root notes with a few little fills here and there. At the first rehearsal, I was shocked to find that they were all decent musicians, with quite a bit of gigging experience behind them, but I couldn't wriggle out of it as they had no one else they could call on. So for the few weeks leading up to the big night, I set about finding tabs and YouTube video's of the SIX songs we were to play. The crowd seemed to like what we played, and I must have been ok'ish, or at least shown some potential, because they decided to form a proper band, and asked if I would be interested in being the bass player. I have now gigged regularly since then with various bands, but I don't know any theory, I don't know any scales or stuff like that, I don't know what they are talking about when they speak in musical terms etc... and I've never had a lesson in my life, but I can learn a song pretty quickly just by listening to it, and working it out myself, or sometimes if it's a difficult bass line, I might look for a tutorial video to help me. I know how to play the original bass line to around 200 songs, although I do like putting my own take on things, but I still don't believe I can class myself as a musician, because I know nothing about music, other that I can remember where my fingers go. [u][i]So, my question is this:[/i][/u] Can I call myself a [b][i]musician[/i][/b], or do I just have a good [b][i]memory[/i][/b]? [/quote] Call yourself what you like. I would call anybody who can play their instrument, and puts the effort into learning and progressing, and playing gigs or recording a musician. I call myself a musician all the time, even though a lot of people would reserve it for a professional musician (somebody who makes a living from music). But i think the only really criteria to call yourself a musician is to have that passion for music, and showing that through playing. Doesn't matter if you are good or not. You get good musicians and bad ones, but that doesn't matter, saying you are a musician says to me a lot more than saying you are in a band or a hobby bassists, or whatever terms people say.

[quote name='Roc' timestamp='1357259426' post='1920162'] Any footage? I'm seriously thinking of putting them on my jazz. [/quote] I could maybe record something tomorrow if i feel alright

[quote name='Jack Cahalane' timestamp='1357259126' post='1920156'] Yeah they die a lot quicker than rounds, but that could be the sulphuric acid that my hands seem to excrete [/quote] Hm, yes. My friend has that trouble too, his guitar strings turn to rust in a matter of weeks. Can't say i have ever had that problem though.

[quote name='Jack Cahalane' timestamp='1357258715' post='1920152'] And in a few weeks you'll have a nice set of flats [/quote] em, shall i? ...

I put them on the jazz. they sound good. mmmm

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1357257686' post='1920140'] I think ritters look rank Tbh I think the term classic only needs to be understood by bass players in this context, I'm sure there are classic golf bats etc but I have no idea of the names of any of them, Joe public know the fender brand and the stratocaster, the Gibson brand maybe but probably not the models? Anything someone like me as your average bass player would know straight away is classic imo which to be honest most of the Yamaha basses are out and maybe status from the more popular but less obvious brands, unless you have an interest in Yamaha basses its all letters and numbers I have a Yamaha fz600n [/quote] I agree. These things only matter to people like us. My guitar is also a Yamaha... it's all letters and numbers too. I used to have a motorbike that was a Yamaha, it was all letters and numbers too. Wow, one tiny slip in the Yamaha warehouse, and a place like Thomann could end up with 5000 motorbikes!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1357249309' post='1919970'] Classic is something either groundbreaking from the past or has gained a large following (or both). The Ford GT40 had a name behind it for all the Ford fans & was a groundbreaking car in it's day. The Fairlight CMI is a classic as it was the original DAW with remote keyboard. Fenders have a large following as they've been on the go for yonks & people know what it's gonna sound like before they buy it, so that makes them classics. The Ritter Cora is a far nicer looking bass than the Fender Jazz (IMO of course) & start at @ £4k & Jens refers to the sound as "that classic Jazz sound". So therefore the Cora, as nice as it is, is not a classic & probably never will be. I wouldn't have a classic bass as I don't like the "classic" shape. [/quote] I dunno, that just makes me think you are a hipster tbh. I don't mean that to be rude, but i have to say, thinking that any Ritter looks better than a Fender? well, i'm not exactly a Fender fan-boy, i'll play anything that looks, feels and sounds right, and the fender jazz just ticks all those boxes for me. I went and bought my very first bass myself. Hadn't a clue about basses, couldn't tell a fender from a... anything, i had no idea, didn't even know what a jazz or a P was, but i saw the Jazz bass (it was a copy, so i didn't know it was a Fender) and i liked it. It looked good (which was all i could comment on at the time). Have to say, i love the look of the jazz bass, and i think it's as close to perfect looking as a bass could get in my view. The thing about calling you a hipster was just because it's something a hipster would say- "I don't like Fender.... Too mainstream. I like Ritter, they're so underground they live in China."

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1357247713' post='1919941'] I think this is poor reasoning. Ford GT40......classic, but not many made. I understand what you mean, but just because it's rare, doesn't mean it's not a classic. [/quote] That's entirely different. The Ford GT40 is classic because of where it was born and the racing heritage of it. It looked as cool as a bag of ice, and went like the clappers. People looked at that car when it was a racing car and thought "Only if i had the opportunity to own that car", and then, THEY DID! and it made many appearances in TV, and the rich and famous owned them. They became a classic because of the hype they created, how they looked and sounded, not necessarily because of the drive of it. [quote name='police squad' timestamp='1357247713' post='1919941'] I love guitars and basses and could stare at them all day. Good thread BTW [/quote] Something we do agree on.

[quote name='Jack Cahalane' timestamp='1357245053' post='1919873'] Put the half rounds on the jazz bass, I've done it before and it sounded good [/quote] Ah, good man yerself! [quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1357245122' post='1919876'] Bargain The La Belle flats for my 5 string are setting me back £45 and I'm on a waiting list! I have the La Belle flats on my p bass and they are gorgeous strings to play. [/quote] Yes, but i have been put out of any form of earning money or even learning. I literally just spent all the money that people kindly gave me for christmas.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1357244913' post='1919868'] That's a tough one!! I have flats on my fretless P bass, and am trying an experiment of flats on my 5 string Jazz bass. Never tried half rounds, so a mystery to me. But I think you need to get these experiments out of your system. [/quote] oh, but they are £20 a set, and £18 a set for regular pro-steels! not sure i feel like experimenting with that kind of dosh!

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1357244482' post='1919850'] Put the half rounds on the jazz bass [/quote] oh, you! you're just telling me that because i told you to. Would they suit a jazz or ray better? i think jazz, but unsure...

I put on the album californication and played my way through most of it, with a couple of improvised soloy parts. I was pretty proud of myself. Also got a set of half round bass strings, and a set of round wounds. Somebody, please tell me if i should put the half rounds on the jazz bass? Tell me, should i put the half rounds on the jazz bass? Tell me, "Put the half rounds on the jazz bass"!

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1357243911' post='1919828'] Well after my earlier euphoria, I have now come back down to earth with a crashing bump No sooner than our lead guitarist gets back on his feet after cancer, but today our rhythm guitarist finds out he needs a quadruple heart bypass Gutted for him, as he's a lovely guy. Also gutted for the band (and me) as we had some great gigs lined up next month [/quote] Oh, your band seems to have the worst luck. But believe me, i have known a fair few people to have major heart surgery, and none have died. From my experience, it's quite survivable, and when he's back on his feet, it will be like nothing has happened. Still, i had typed "my heart goes out to him" here, but decided to delete it :/ but i do wish him the best! You can get a dep in if you really want to play those gigs!

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1357241959' post='1919783'] Basically, this! There will now likely ensue 3+ pages of folks bantering about minor details of the above statement which already gets close enough for me to agree with. [/quote] Yeah, glad i got in there before all the "hmms and haws" as my father would say. I think my grasp of the term classic is fairly accurate, and lukes list of classics confirms that really.