JamesBass

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1481491812' post='3192721'] Couple of books here Bob. Both have Tab and if after the what ? 30-40 year you've been playing now, pub gigs get closed to non readers well the books also have the notation. [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-Bass-Classics-Leonard-Corp/dp/0793588375"]https://www.amazon.c...p/dp/0793588375[/url] [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-Signature-Licks-Guitar-Tab-Music/dp/0634015206"]https://www.amazon.c...c/dp/0634015206[/url] [/quote] He asked for accurate. Whilst tab may well give the correct notes, it won't communicate the rhythm, which, as a bass player in the motown genre, is essential for an accurate line.

I'm the bassist, sound and lighting technician, and musical director. It works because I've got the most free time to arrange and write charts as well as the best grasp on music theory. I also work freelance as a bass player and a sound and lighting tech so I've got the experience and the skills to back it all up.

Personally that looks fine. The grain just adds character! If it plays and sounds like mine, then it'll be a killer bass!

Get a metronome, make sure it's set to 4/4 and play on each click. These clicks represent the down beats or, the 1, 2, 3, 4 beats in the bar. A drummer playing a rock groove will typically play his hi-hat on each of the 1,2,3,4, the bass drum will play on the 1, 3, and the & of 3. His snare will be hit on 2 and 4. Have you ever heard of sub-division of the bar? If not then this is the way we divide up the beats in the bar to suit our grooves. Learning rhythms as a drummer would is vital to a guitarist and even more vital to a bass player. Knowing rhythmic vocabulary will enhance all aspects of your playing. Any questions, I'm more than happy to answer, drop me a PM and we can talk some more!

No. I sneak recognisable themes in to my lines to test if people are listening all the time! It's great fun!

For Jamerson you really need to read it through notation to get the best grasp of the feel. Tab can't give you that and it's so restrictive! The beauty of music, even when learning songs, is that you can improvise and create!

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1481209671' post='3190588'] There are still plenty of American Standards new in the shops, now that they've been discounted to a grand they're an absolute bargain - I don't think they can be beaten at that price. [/quote] You're not wrong, but I was hoping the new series would bring some new colours, I've got an Oly white and whilst I like 3TSB, I was after a classic Fender colour, such as; Burgundy mist, Aztec/shoreline gold, LPB, or Dakota Red/Fiesta Red! Yeah, I'm pretty choosy!

Now the full specs are out and the vids to give an idea of the tone, I must say I'm not taken at all. I want a new P currently, though I already have a MIM 2011 P I want a new one to give me a different sounding P, flats and rounds. And after a GREAT experience with the Elite series, Fender were a genuine consideration. Now, I'm not interested in them.

[quote name='mattbass6' timestamp='1481106572' post='3189687'] I would have sort so, too. I'm dreading seeing the price of the Elite version ha ha ha ha ha [/quote] Elites are between £1500 and £1900 currently!

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1481020455' post='3188963'] I picked up a fretless USA Std Jazz for 1250 post-brexit. There didn't seem to be many left in the UK and I assumed they were selling them out to clear the way for a new line. I was told by a sales guy in a major store that Fender built in a price hike on the assumption that the £ would take a hit and that they were expecting prices to remain stable post-brexit. What are the US prices on these? Are they a hike on the USA Std book prices? [/quote] No US hike, the price there remained stable till they discontinued the line.

[quote name='thegummy' timestamp='1480947315' post='3188276'] Is this range replacing the American Standard or in addition to? [/quote] Replacing/Revised Am Std with new bits/refinements.

I'm extremely underwhelmed to say the least. I own a 2016 Elite Jazz V and the changes on that from the previous deluxe range are amazing! They are a proper step forward for Fender, the QC is great, the tone is good, but not perfect, but the pre amp and pickups are more than good enough! I had hoped to see Fender bring a few more ideas from the elites across to the passive basses, the truss wheel would have been nice as would the compound radius and neck. The olive colour is nice, but I imagine like the AVRI line they'll stop the olive after a year and just bring out the boring old 3TSB and Oly White.

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1480418339' post='3184154'] Yeah that's the thing, but it is priced with that in mind. It's a handwound Bareknuckle, with CTS solid shafts and an old cap [/quote] You're paying essentially for the fact the wood is old and that there's a perceived perception of the quality of old Fenders. There are MANY luthiers and pickup winders that make exceptionally good reproductions of vintage instruments, and at a better and more affordable price point. You are also less likely to be precious about replacing bits should you need to. I do get the allure of a vintage instrument, the best ever precision bass I've ever played was a 100% original 66 P Bass. The bridge foam was still in the bridge cover, the neck was sublime, the pick ups were clear, loud, and articulate, all in all it was amazing, that is till I found out the price. £6K. I have since spoken to many luthiers and other bass players and all agree you can get that vintage vibe and tone from a new build with modern ergonomics. The choice is ultimately yours though!

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1480417418' post='3184145'] Hello folks, I'd been looking at getting a high quality replica of a pre-CBS Precision, and the opportunity has come up to purchase a fine example of a '61. [b]It has been refinished (sympathetically and authentically and to an exceptional standard, but still a refin), and has had a refret and a new pickup and pots installed.[/b] Case, hardware, strap, covers all original. It will cost about double what the reproduction does... but it is an original 61 P. Thoughts? [/quote] That is quite a lot of work/changes for 'original' to still be used to describe the bass! Out of interest, what pickups and pots have been used? Is the original cap still in the loom or is there also a new loom? Personally I'd go for the reproduction, or hang on and find a better, and more complete pre-CBS P.

[quote name='bassist_lewis' timestamp='1479073957' post='3173770'] I went through the exact same thing last year so I have a good idea how you're feeling, though I didn't end up going away as I my career really took off last year. It's definitely a good time to do it, no responsibilities, no ties. It's a little easier to get on the cruise ships if you're in an established band but still work on your reading - quick tip, get a bass clef version of the real book and read through a few tunes one after another, gets you used to reading stuff you don't know rather than just learning the tune by heart. One of my friends has been doing the playing in bars abroad thing for about 2 years. The agency put you in a band, it's a steep learning curve but you don't have to be able to read. Couple of things to be aware of: you'll be with the same 5 or 6 people every day for 6 months, which can be pretty hellish if you don't get on; playing 6 days a week is a big stress on your body; going away like that makes it near impossible to establish a stable long term career. The up side: you meet a lot of great people playing all over the world; you can work on your chops; you get to see the world!!! You can party hard and you'll have a ton of stories when you come back. As for getting your career going at home, if you live in or near a big city then you'll have lots of opportunities. Check out jam nights, answer ads on gumtree. Try and make your own opportunities, play with everyone you can, practice practice practice! You get work based on contacts and reputation so turn up on time, have a good attitude, learn the material, play for the song, diversify - don't turn your nose up at any work or any one (you never know who'll give you your next big break) and don't rely on any one thing for your income. And learn to drive. [/quote] This. So much this. I found having the theory knowledge to back things up helped me too. If I got 'lost' on a tune and panicked a tad the theory knowledge I have allows me to settle back in to the track before finding my way back to exactly where I'm meant to be. Trust me getting momentarily lost/losing focus can and does happen, being able to hide that from the audience is helpful as hell and knowing the way music works and how intervals interact and how they are used in genres really has saved my bacon!

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1478979988' post='3173153'] I spent a summer working on a cruise ship about 6 years ago. In my experience I had to be an excellent sight reader. The singer just called out page numbers from two books of songs, you just turned to that song and played it. It was all standard notation, no chords. There was never any rehearsal, simply because there was nowhere on the ship to rehearse. There was a real mix of genres, one night was cocktail night, so that was jazz, the only exception to reading standard notation, that was just following lead sheets. I did an honours degree in music, graduating last summer. We were encouraged to adopt a portfolio approach to working. So as well as playing, I teach a lot, (I have a Rock school teaching qualification that I did as part of my final year). A friend of mine who's an amazing player, also writes in Bass guitar magazine. I write music and earn a little from that. I did some for an advert earlier this week. Being able to fluently and accurately play a whole mix of styles is important, i.e. being able to a jazz gig one night, improvising off lead sheets, then the following playing standard function tunes, some of the dep gigs that I've done again require turning up and sight-reading charts. I'm doing panto in January for a couple of weeks, again sight-reading. [/quote] +1. I've done a BA in music performance, and since then, I graduated last summer, I've worked on a number of projects, ranging from local originals band right up to cruise ship bands. I have made a success of it because I know my theory and I can read. I'm certainly not the best reader, but put a chart/score in front of me and I can play it. I learnt to read by transcribing lines I already knew, lines I newly learnt as I was reading, and then by going out and doing reading gigs, which was easily the most scary experience I've had thus far, those first initial read gigs were tough, but I survived and I learnt. Like Ambient, my career is a portfolio one. I teach privately, I teach through music school, and I teach/guest lecture and masterclass in colleges. I am a studio engineer, I'm theatre technician trained so can rig lighting and sound, and I'm desk trained on lighting and sound. I did a lighting and sound gig last night as it happens! Tonight is a rare night off in fact! Personally I don't suit 'normal' jobs, I'm too laid back and I question my bosses, and it seems people don't like that! However bad/stressful this line of work gets with not having gigs/income I'd never change it unless I had to.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1478278607' post='3168157'] Saw them in Cheltenham. We're very good. Had a drink with Cory Henry and Micheal at a bar in the town. Both fantastic musicians and down to earth guys. [/quote] I met them both as well as Magda and Bill after the Brighton gig last year, Banda Magda were incredible and then Snarky were just the greatest band I'd ever seen. Meeting those 4 was something I'll never forget, they were so humble and really genuine! Mike, Cory, and I got talking about all sorts of subjects, they are both very interesting and knowledgable guys, Mike especially gave me some great playing advice and a massive confidence boost just in time for my final year at Uni! I have tickets to the Poole gig and I cannot wait! That line about never meeting your heroes is total rubbish!

I listen to everything, I also often will do multiple listens, that way I can learn/pick out what the song comprises. I like to analyse things, maybe too much at times, but I find it makes me better as a player!

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1476561295' post='3155289'] I really would like to play a Pino custom shop though [/quote] Oh yes! I wanna know why it costs north of £3K! Plus Pino is a don of the bass world!

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1476521648' post='3154916'] Sounds like rather desperate marketing, the American Standard brand has been established a long time and people know what to expect from it. I'm also put off by people who put "professional" in their brand name - always makes me think it isn't; like Tywin Lannister put it "Any man who must say "I am the king", is no true king". [/quote] Fender change things fairly regular, just look at the deluxe series which is now the elite. As for its moniker, that's largely a marketing ploy, elite isn't the best name really, it implies that they are the best that fender make, or that the basses are only suited to the 'elite' after all it's just a name!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1476507623' post='3154846'] I still think at £1099 they are pushing it.... [/quote] I was hoping for something closer to £900, that would probably have made me head down to GAK to go try one, I think I'd rather wait and see what Fender are doing with the line now.

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1476431293' post='3154153'] Here's the dots. Disclaimer, I'm super rusty at transcription as I haven't done it since uni so please excuse my spider sh*t! Also, before anyone goes all theory police on me: Yes I know I could have written repeat bars etc and have probably messed up the rests and articulations, it was 2am, I was on-call with work and I'm a Luddite when it comes to Sibelius so deal with it (in the nicest possible way of course!) [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iaic1lu14k936r/Vulfpeck%20-%20Dean%20Town%20-%20Bass%20Guitar.pdf?dl=0"]https://www.dropbox....Guitar.pdf?dl=0[/url] [/quote] Cheers for doing that! I was literally going to sit down and transcribe it tomorrow on my day off!

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1476484251' post='3154789'] The problem is I think that the USA models while being good basses are not that far apart from even the cheaper Squire models never mind the mim models. Most people will buy a cheaper model if its nearly as good as the higher end one. To me it would make total sense if fender USA produced higher end models only. Leaving mexico to the mid/upper mid basses. And squire to the lower end of the market. I just don't think the current USA std is high end enough to distinguish itself over the mim models. Unless they launch a new upgraded std model of course. This will be a major issue for all manufactures as the very cheapest basses/guitars are now pretty viable instrumemts. In recent times it seems everyone has had a cheap bass that in some way rivals a much much more expensive instrument. [/quote] The 'Update' is a rumoured new US series called 'Professional' speculation I've heard/read is that not much is gonna change, but there are some features that will be changing, truss wheel, compound radiuses, bone nut. These sorts of changes bring the 'Professional' more in line with the Elite series released this year.

[quote name='NickD' timestamp='1476220183' post='3152522'] Thanks. I'll take a look at that one. Regarding scored music, I'm a recent reader, I can plod through relatively simple exercises but still easily get lost working through stuff in my head. [/quote] Perfect chance to take something along that you know already and can read and listen to at the same time, it's something I do fairly often as it just sharpens up your ability to read the notes!

Not so much a theory book per say, but ANY scored music will help. Also good is Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry.