JapanAxe

Just read the ad and didn't see 'USA' or 'American' in there.

I have D'Addario Chromes on all my basses. I can't think of a reason to avoid the brand, they have been making instrument strings for a lot of years. However, some people will favour them, some won't.

Dep gig last night with a Slade/glam tribute band at a holiday park in Cornwall. 4 hour journey in band van, set up, wait for 'Tina Turner' to do her turn, soundcheck, wait nearly 7 hours to go on! Then pack down, home at 4am, and up again for work at 6.45am. I am Donald Ducked. The 1-hour-plus on stage was brilliant, arsing about in 70s glam dress-up - the place was packed and they loved us. I used the band's own rig - HiWatt solid state 300W head into 2 H&K cabs. On-stage sound was excellent. I played my Pawn Shop Mustang, the nearest thing I have to Jim Lea's short-scale HB-loaded Gibsons. Sounded great for that music, up against a Marshall 100W head through an 8x10 cab that once belonged to Andy Scott of the Sweet, but it wouldn't have suited much else: Here's the rig:

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1445104591' post='2888865'] Who reads the comments? You'd be better off reading the daily mail or the comments on the BBC News website. Either that or join a conversation with me in off topic. [/quote]

I'm not a jazzer but I do a fair bit of depping. If I don't know a song on the set list, and it's not readily buskable(TM), then I generally transcribe the part and learn it from that. On a gig-by-gig basis it makes no economic sense, but in the longer term I have built up an extensive repertoire (and a mahoosive pad of music). So basically I'm agreeing with Jazzjames. The bottom line, in terms of what I deliver, is that neither the band nor the audience should see the join. Ideally I want the band to think, 'I wish he was our regular bass player'.

Off to BC market place: (1) Squier CV Precision; (2) Used Class D combo.

[quote name='sellisnba' timestamp='1445077391' post='2888605'] I was watching a video recently on YouTube, the playing was superb and he was playing his own piece. One of the comments was "Where is the F&@£king tab, don't be so F£&@king lazy and selfish, we need tabs!!" Your not exactly going to get anywhere with that attitude. There really are some monumental bellends on YouTube. [/quote] Clearly the world owes that person a living, and all the tabs they desire.

The whole notation/tab thing has been done to death in other threads, but it's the attitude of wanting everything on a plate, this instant, that grates on me.

Picture the scene: You are combing YouTube for audio examples of a bit of kit in which you are interested. You find one with a great piece of playing, that shows off the kit to its best advantage. Impressed, you scroll down through the comments for anything that will help increase your knowledge of said kit, and there it is: [indent=1][b]Xxxxx[/b]: Tabs please![/indent] No no no! How stupid is that? Listen up Xxxxx (probably not your real name I know), why would this talented player take the time to transcribe into tablature the music he came up with to demo this kit? Oh I know, so that you can shortcut years of study and practice by putting your fingers where the tab says, and magically replicate that music, without troubling your lazy ass with anything that might involve effort. [/rant]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1445018456' post='2888268'] Great fun I should think [/quote] I'll tell you on Monday - or I would, except I will have been at work all day after trying to get some kip in the van on the return journey! [quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1445019125' post='2888279'] Learnt ghostbusters theme song today ready for our gigs over Halloween. Different!! [/quote] I'm playing it (from dots) with a big band on Halloween, along with [i]Witchcraft[/i], [i]I Wanna Be Evil[/i], [i]That Old Black Magic[/i]...

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1445004405' post='2888102'] Classical DB pedagogy has a big emphasis on shifting up and down the neck accurately - Simandl modern method book 1is probably worth a look, along with Hrabe 86 etudes, and there is a youtube channel where a very helpful japanese person has put the Simandl 30 etudes book in video format where you can read the score and play along with piano accompaniment. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2OnFTI3tCg[/media] [/quote] Thanks, that looks useful.

Having once looked at the La Bella range, you can eliminate a lot of them as being the wrong scale length. As WoT says, best to avoid through-body as sharp break angles are reputed to be unkind to flats - I think LaBella do a specific through-body set, but I could never find them in the UK.

A set of Slade and a set of other 70s/glam material for a tribute band gig on Sunday.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1444915647' post='2887288'] Every available bit of storage space in my house is occupied by a pair of Mrs C shoes... If I buy any more basses I'll have to build something in the garden to store the cases. [/quote] Mrs C must have huge feet!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1444990336' post='2887876'] Not yodel or my[s]hermes[/s] herpes [/quote] Fixed.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1444911332' post='2887226'] I had one for a while and thought it was an excellent bass. Good fit and finish, well ballanced, P bass like playability and a wide selection of tones available... nothing to dislike really [/quote] 100% agree with this. I did have to replace the pots on mine after a couple of years though.

That was really boring.

i thought I heard the onions in my kitchen singing a Bee Gees song, but it was just chives talking.

Lovely piece. Perfect chill-out before bedtime.

I just checked the 'Basses for Sale' thread. There are 43 basses on the first page, and 13 of them are Jazz basses or clones. To some this may indicates that Jazz basses are rubbish, the same argument having been recently used against Limelights. I don't hold with this. To me, it means there are not enough Precisions for sale for me to watch, lust after, and agonise over, without actually moving towards a purchase!

Well I've checked Fender's website, but no mention of a model called the 'Schmender'. Has it gone out of production? And is it any good for metal?

Thanks for all your contributions. I have a 5-string, but I really want to crack this problem on the 4-string. I have plenty of material to work on. I had a quick look at one of the trombone parts tonight, and much of it was written on ledger lines above the bass clef, so trombone books may be a good further source. Bilbo I think you have hit the nail on the head. I can do it on guitar with barre chords, so why not on bass? Actually I did much better tonight at rehearsal as I have been practising with the parts, and got into the 'zone' much more quickly. I print out my own parts from the band Dropbox folder, so I can scribble and highlight them with impunity. I have pencilled in chord names to help me recognise the arpeggios, and marked some fingering positions. Also tonight I found I shifted up to 5th and 6th positions fairly reliably - not there yet, but like you say if I close my eyes and practice, there's no reason why I shouldn't develop the requisite muscle memory. Cheers folks!

No but I have got the shop to take some relief out of the neck (I play with a very light touch) - if they couldn't do it, I would walk away.

I have been rehearsing with a local big band, and it has really shown up the weaknesses in my sight reading. I used to play with a dance band that had a huge pad of pop and strict tempo material, and I got way with because (1) the band leader was a guitarist with sloppy timing, and (2) the previous bassist couldn't sight read, and just worked from the chord symbols or even the note names scribbled above the notes! Here's where I'm at (full disclosure):[list] [*]I'm playing bass guitar (for the avoidance of doubt!) [*]My comfort zone is the first five frets, and I tend to gravitate to first position and using open strings when available; [*]I am not bad at playing 'in position' higher up the neck, using a 1-finger-per-fret approach. [/list] What really catches me out is where the bass line necessitates a shift of position, e.g. notes that can only be played near the nut, followed by notes that can only be played higher up the fret board. If I could look at my left hand it would be much less of a problem, but my eyes are glued to the page and I don't want to lose my place. All this becomes so much worse when it's a quickstep at 200bpm... What have you done about this, that has worked for you? Cheers all!

Did a deal with Freddie for my Sandberg. always nice to see such a straight-up chap.