thisnameistaken

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1363691549' post='2015822']As Wooten said in a master class, work on playing notes and make that one note sound nice.[/quote] Do as he says, not as he does.

Wood looks nice though doesn't it. Except that ugly driftwood you get on really expensive basses. So long as wood looks nice I think that's a good enough reason to make guitars out of it. I don't really buy into the idea that the wood is an important contributor to the sound of a solid body instrument though. Fair enough if other people do think it's important and are willing to spend extra to get a particular wood on their bass, but for me unless it's the fingerboard on a fretless so long as it looks good I don't really care.

I don't have a regular gig at the moment for many of the same reasons that others have mentioned. I only want to do original music and way too many people are way too flaky to form a band with. I do still play with a few singer/songwriters as a duo with me on upright and harmony vox and I really enjoy it, but it's a bit sporadic. I'd like to be doing a full time gig on bass guitar but frankly I'm not sure my wrist tendons could cope anyway - the last time I was playing BG regularly it took close to 12 months to recover.

The one thing that really doesn't look cool is a black bass with a white pickguard. Partly because starter pack basses all look like that, and partly because that bloke from Rush who looks like an IT technician has got one.

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1363566570' post='2014289'] Planet Waves cable ties are awesome. [/quote] Do you mean the little clip-on bungee ties they do? I've got a cable with one of those on and it's brilliant, can you just buy the ties and stick them on your own cables? Edit: Cool! http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001PGXKCS/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=11069352365&ref=asc_df_B001PGXKCS

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1363544067' post='2013907'] I just plonked it where Gedo had cleary indented the strings before removing the bridge for shipping, after that it was a matter of where the feet would sit flat and even [/quote] Mine had marks in the finish where the bridge had been before they packed the bass so I tried that at first, but then I measured the speaking length and it was a bit short of the advertised 105cm, so I tried moving the bridge further south to meet that specification and the bass sounded better.

They're not intended to sound like precision basses. Neither is the Jazz Bass - are you going to tell us that they're all useless too?

I had two black basses (one Yamaha, one Godin) but the thing that really bothers me about them is the way they show up fingerprints and other such grubbiness under stage lights. If you want a neutral colour I think white is a much better choice.

I played a 6 string for a couple of years but in the end I decided I didn't like the sound of the B or the C strings. When I got into it I liked the B but in the end it just seemed to sound really '90s! The C string I don't think I ever liked, it was just weedy-sounding. It was a good bass too, one of the first Corvette Prolines with a pair of Bartolinis in it. So yeah I bought a 4 and like others have said it just immediately felt more comfortable to play. But also I think the fact that there's less difference between the timbre of the strings is a really important factor.

My local independent guitar shop is very busy on Facebook and Twitter and it's working really well for them. Local musicians get to see more of the personalities of the people who work there - they can build a familiarity that you wouldn't get just from stopping in for sets of strings or whatever. That is a real incentive to buy from them rather than save a couple of quid online.

Do they all play the same old Hall & Oates tune each week or is there some other songs sometimes?

You can get a good laminate bass for £500 that will be easy to play and sound pretty good. The only problem is then you'll accidentally hear a tune with Ron Carter on it or Danny Thompson or somebody and wish your bass sounded like his, and then it gets messy. Even after I upgraded, I kept my £500 laminate bass. It's actually seeing more action than my 'main' bass at the moment.

If it was charts an iPad could be a good option, just because you can quickly change keys and stuff. If you're reading dots perhaps paper would be better because I don't think the screen is big enough, although a backlight would be better than a clip-on lamp I suppose so that swings it the other way a bit. The iReal b app for iPad is really cool and almost made me buy an iPad just for that.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1363303500' post='2011463'] Believe me. Nobody needs a Warwick. Great necks. Great, great necks even. Lacking something in the sound department.[/quote] Thread, it took a while, but your delivery of bollocks has finally arrived.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363296187' post='2011328'] I had a friend with a Jazz bass with that problem. He just needed a new saddle. [/quote] I've come across a few with the same problem, it seems some people fix it with glue in the screw thread or by wedging something under the saddle. I just took it off and put a proper bridge on. Honestly in nearly 70 years of making basses couldn't they come up with something better than that? It's not like their instruments are cheap.

I once put a Badass II on a Jazz but I wasn't chasing magic sustain or desiring adjustability or anything like that. The simple fact of the matter was that my E string saddle kept losing height while I played it, requiring constant adjustment, because the stock Fender bridge is a piece of garbage.

Sounds to me like just the front pup of the Jazz or both in series maybe.

IIRC the backspace key shortcut to history.go(-1) is a Windows thing (I haven't really used Windows in years) but it should only apply when a non-editable region of the page is in focus. In other words if you've got a flashing caret in an editable text area the backspace key should not send you back through your browser history.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1363270067' post='2010751'] most punters will barely acknowledge your existence never mind paying real attention to what you are playing. [/quote] This. The sort of audience you'll get for a cover band won't be music listeners or musicians, so they won't notice what the bass player is doing. But by all means busy up your parts if it keeps you entertained, just take care not to crowd the arrangement with over-playing.

I always ask for the chords but I'm always surprised how many guys don't know what they're playing...

Springs always get squeaky. It won't bother you when gigging but it will at low volumes or without an amp.

Yeah I am really pleased with mine too. I guess if you're happy to file the nut a bit then go ahead. Personally I'm not that handy so I wouldn't want to do it!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1362776533' post='2004788'] How likely am I to bugger the bass up if I file the nut a bit like I did to the Stagg to lower the strings nearer the neck for pressing down the first semitones? [/quote] Does it really need that? Mine didn't. Take a business card and slip it under a string up against the nut - is it snugly held in place between the string and the board or does it not make contact with both at the same time? If it's a snug fit the nut is probably about right.

I agree with everything Clarky said. The Ehrlund is what you get when you've decided that piezos aren't good enough. Regarding the Realist, it's one of the easier piezos to get an acceptable sound from but that's because its sound does not have enough detail - there is no treble frequencies in there. Avoid if you intend to slap and don't want to also need a specialist 'clicky' pickup. Also avoid if your favourite aspect of playing the DB is the sound one makes, because you don't get enough of it from a Realist.

There are videos of Joe Pass and NHOP on YouTube. Fairly tricky stuff though!