Huge Hands

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='456600' date='Apr 7 2009, 05:26 PM']Everytime I see a 5 string player, his/her hand is in the same position as it would be for me playing a 4 and the B is mostly redundent.[/quote] I recently explained this (about myself) in another thread. I have trained myself to sit my hand like that so I can go back to my four string bass(es) without needing to relearn each time. I think that's why I've done it anyway! The low B certainly isn't redundant at all!

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='456463' date='Apr 7 2009, 02:47 PM']Just about too? I already have! I offered £1000, which, considering the number of "difficult members" is a fair price I think.[/quote] Aha, I understand your game now BBC.... Been purposely keeping the price down over the last few years, have we? You capitalist you.....

[quote name='Rich' post='456232' date='Apr 7 2009, 11:05 AM']I don't blame you. I had Mighty (haha) Mite pups on my old Tobias 6, they were more feeble than an asthmatic vole with a bad hangover.[/quote] I have to say I've always enjoyed the Mighty Mites on my Cort C5. Never had an issue with them, and the added active electronics give plenty of extra scope. Must admit I normally use it in active mode.

My advice would be to try it. Its the guts inside that determine whether it will work, not the casing. I got Wizard to make me a set of 5 string J-pups based on the dimensions of the originals in my P5. The initial set they made, although a match in casing size, did not pick up in a wide enough field to get all strings. For example, if I played a downstroke on the low B, i.e., pushing it into the field, the sound was good. If I plucked upwards (as normal for me), I lost the initial attack as the string was pulled out of the sensing area of the pickup. Thankfully I was able to get another set from Wizard that worked - if I understood him correctly, Andy fiddled with the "blade" dimensions within the pickup design. I think experiment will be your only way to see if your current pup is wide enough!

I remember that when I was first learning to play bass, I had a home-made useless thing so I went out to buy a "proper" bass. I told a bass player I knew I had seen a 5-string in the shop for ok money, he said "It's up to you, choose one way or the other, you won't be able to do both" (or words to that effect). I believed him, and played exclusively four strings for years. I then started working as a sound engineer and met loads of bass players who told me that actually, "it was a piece of p*ss to swap between the two", so I decided to go out and buy a 5. I was conscious of not forgetting how to play a four, which is why I've probably developed my RH technique of still resting my thumb on the E string (when not playing it), as I would if playing a four. This way my hand has learned it needs to shift upwards to play the B string. I presume someone will decimate me for that technique, but hey, it works for me. I'm not playing 32 notes at 1,000 BPM metal! What I'm trying to say is, I don't think it's as hard as it sounds. I stick only to my 5 strings when gigging because having the low notes and ability to keep to scale shapes when playing in keys such as Eb is preferable for me. I still have my old JV Jazz and my upright which are four stringers to keep me reminded of where it all started though!

I enjoyed it until the Italian Kenny G joined in...

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='451499' date='Apr 1 2009, 02:07 PM']I don't get the whole fixation on the beginners aspect of bass playing. The beginners market is small compared to the established players out there. Yes, it's important to keep things interesting for new players... but not to the point where you end up with, to the majority of the audience, a bit of a dull magazine.[/quote] I think you may be misunderstanding people, as I felt you did me yesterday. I don't believe Absolute Beginner is asking for it to purely be for beginners, but to cater for them as well. Yesterday, I was trying to example looking at reader's custom builts as an extra to the expensive stuff. The more niche the magazine, the more niche the market, whether its beginners or experienced. If I was s**t hot, I'd be happy to flick past the "How to play Michael Row the Boat Ashore" as long as I knew there'd be some stuff in there to interest me at my level. I'm not, and therefore I look forward to the tutorial.

I have a MAG300 combo and even with my high output Wizard pups I struggle to get the VU meter to move much unless I have the input gain set pretty high. If these are passive pups I'm surprised they'd be able to throw out any crazy high level signal. You haven't got an active preamp hidden under the scratchplate have you?

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='450735' date='Mar 31 2009, 06:17 PM']But you are looking at a very small niche market to whom that would appeal. Remember, BGM is a business... and BGMs plan is to maximise sales. If it became a DIY bass mag, I think it would lose a lot more readers than those who would be put off by exotic tree falling to make pickup covers.[/quote] What I meant was "as well as", not just home-made DIY stuff. Apologies, but to use the Top Gear analogy again, we all like to look at Ferrari's, but we also find racing across Africa in knackered old bangers funny as well. I'm surprised that those buying expensive custom jobbies is not just as much a niche market as DIY?

Rather than custom basses all the time, what if they reviewed reader's own Frankenbasses and how they did it? I find Neepheid's exploits with a biscuit tin more exciting to read than which exotic tree has been culled to make the pickup covers.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='450633' date='Mar 31 2009, 04:11 PM'][On the Line 6 Lowdown LD400 Pro combo] It sounds like Barry White eating wasps.[/quote] That's better! I understand that sound a lot more than the example silddx gave of "thorough"!

I have read a few copies of BGM myself. I do think it's close, but no cigar. I agree with the OP and tBBC amongst the rest, it almost needs a Jeremy Clarkson "I don't give a s**t" style of reporting (not that I'd want it to be a Bass clone of Top Gear). The few star player reviews left me feeling like I had just read the transcript of their preamble before the interview started and wanting more. A lot more. I'm not trying to say I could do any better, but would love to see it improved. Would also be good to find it in more places that WHSmith as well.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='443622' date='Mar 24 2009, 12:10 PM']Try Delano's mate.[/quote] Thanks OHM. I have just checked them out on Google, but can't find any UK stockists for an idea of price. Where are you getting them from? Any other ideas appreciated.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='443643' date='Mar 24 2009, 12:23 PM']Teach them the lyrics, get them to sing along in their head. The results are almost magical.[/quote] In my experience, this is a bad strategy, as they then feel capable of being a Don Henley clone, p*** the singer off til he/she quits, and then the timing gets a lot [b][i]worse[/i][/b]........

[quote name='AM1' post='443692' date='Mar 24 2009, 12:50 PM']Pah, bunch of girls. A REAL man would play til they bled. /Sexist off [/quote] I did, that's what got me into trouble in the first place! I'd try a feeble attempt at flexing my biceps in a sexist way to prove my manliness, but I think the creaking and groaning would put everyone off.

I thought it might be worth referring you to [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19929&hl=superglue"]this thread[/url] I posted a while ago. The superglue tip certainly got me through a gig!

Dear all, long story, but here goes: I recently bought a second hand Squier Precision V with the intention of stripping and modding it, painting it etc. However, after a bit of messing about with Andy at Wizard, and a set of flatwounds, I found it to be an excellent bass (for my budget). I became too scared to do any more to it in case I messed it up. With this in mind, I decided to buy another one to mod, the theory being that if I messed it up, I still had the first one to go back to. Now that I am a bit more blaze with this one, I have decided to try and fit a proper 5-string P pickup and full length J to it and rout the body to fit (the Squier originally had 2x 4-string neck J casings). However, after saving up a bit, I spoke to Andy at Wizard who says he can't help as he can't get proper 5 string casings. Therefore I'm now on the lookout for someone else that makes "off the shelf" 5 string Pups. I am after a nice deep mellow tone with a decent output, similar to the Wizards. Active would be considered, as I was thinking of adding a battery box in case I want to fit a preamp in the future. Any ideas?

I find, and this is from experience being a former drummer, that being able to hear the rest of the band is everything. Our drummer can be amazing in rehearsal, but on a gig night can (very occasionally) be shocking. I have realised this coincides with nights where we can't hear too well on stage. His usual problems are the speed up/slow down things or he gets excited in a fill and comes in half a bar out. It's scary when that happens, but some good reggae grooves sometimes come out of it My theory is that there are drummers that are leaders (as most would expect), but quite a few who are followers (as I believe I was when I first started as a drummer). I believe this comes from years of playing along to recorded music - you are constantly trying to keep up rather than drive the band. If something goes wrong, this kind of drummer is not listening to their own "internal clock", so things go wrong. I believe our drummer is like this as I have to count in a lot of songs and drive stops/starts etc. I also found that my timing got much better once I'd sorted out my seating position at the kit. The more comfortable I was, the better I played. All obvious stuff when read on paper, but it took me years to twig some of it myself! P.S. I'm not really complaining about our drummer, he's a top bloke and I'm used to working with him now!

Regardless of the fact that she is a very attractive lady, and the fact that after listening to a few of her You Tube clips the musicianess gets a little self-indulgent for my liking in places, I really like this - my kind of music. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm off to find ways to enjoy it without alerting the "sexist-ometers" (or the local police). Ta muchly.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='440020' date='Mar 20 2009, 09:20 AM']One thing I have noticed with Jamerson, he is always looking at his fingers at what he is playing. All the pictures show this and the live clip of him playing with Marvin.[/quote] I have seen that live clip and thought he was looking at music on a music stand roughly at waist height, next to Marvin's piano.

I have an Ashdown MAG 210T combo and a 115T bin. My normal sound is quite low end only (tone mainly rolled off on the bass itself, amp EQ is set fairly flat). I find that with both cabs added together, I start to notice the sound loses definition and at higher volumes it starts to feel like there is a big "hole" in the sound. I am ashamed to say, as a supposed audiophile, this is the best way I can describe it, having never measured anything. I have always put this down to cone filtering/phasing as Bill/Alex regularly describe a lot more clearly than I can. I have not tried 2x 15 cabs, but I would imagine this would be the better sound. However, as 90% of my gigs are small clubs and bars, the 2x10 combo is usually more than enough. I love it, so rarely use the 115 bin. It may also be worth adding that I only really tend to use both cabs in larger venues, which coincidentally tend to be acoustic nightmares, so this could be adding to what I'm hearing. Maybe I've just never done a proper A/B in the same room.