EliasMooseblaster

After years of learning to play jazz on the fly, I've found the best walking bass lines are the ones which manage to sound like an effortless stream of notes, instead of a series of chord changes...if you see what I mean! In other words, the bassist takes the shortest route to the next chord - often starting the bar on the 3rd or 5th of the new chord, so the chord change almost sounds incidental. On which note... [quote name='ML94' timestamp='1376993991' post='2181863'] What gets me is starting from a root and then trying to land on the nearest harmony note of the next chord eg 3rd, 5th. Ay excercises that would help me with this. I feel as I've hit a brick wall as my head dosent react as wick to the chord as quick as I want it. [/quote] I must admit I had an epiphany when I realised you didn't have to start each change on the root of the current chord! Afraid I don't know any exercises for this, but presumably you have your own bank of "standard" walking forms for the common chords? It helps to sit down and think through how you might walk over a few straightforward swing tunes from the Real Book, and start mashing up your standard figures to run into each other smoothly. Not wishing to sound blase, but with a bit of practice it begins to come naturally!

It's been a strange weekend for us. We were supposed to play a food festival on the Saturday, but by the time we were due to play the rain started to pick up and was being blown under the roof over the stage. Think our singer must have caught something in the cold and rain as she then had to pull out of last night's gig on account of the fact she couldn't speak! So with a very "show must go on" mentality we tried to cover for her. Not our best performance by a long shot, but it was a fun night in the end.

Try adding more Shirley.

Now beginning to wonder if I'm unusual as I could never get into AOTGL, but I loved Six and thought Little Kix was pretty good, if I remember rightly...

At the risk of sounding boring, I'm going to suggest a P-bass as well. Has to be fretted in my case though, and mine is strung with rounds. But yeah, I've used my P copy for every acoustic-type project I've worked with. I can see the benefit to flats if you're taking a definite 'rhythm section' role; in my case I was usually swapping solos with the acoustic guitarists so the extra brightness of rounds worked better!

[quote name='Delius' timestamp='1376350327' post='2172790'] Have been doing a lot of looking around, and the GK MB210-ii looks pretty good to me. In fact it looks too good to be true in terms of weight versus performance. Can such a lightweight amp really sound any good?? Is it a good bet? [/quote] Yeah, as Burrito has suggested, you might be surprised. I haven't played through much GK stuff, though I like what I have tried, and their reputation is very good! On the point of small bass amps, the last amp I tried destroyed all my preconceptions very quickly. It was a Mesa M3 Carbine combo with a huge wattage but just a single 12" speaker. I almost laughed when the guy in the shop showed me how small it was, but the sound was [i]enormous[/i]. If size is less of an issue, and you're just after something dependable, I've been quite loyal to Laney as my experience with them has been excellent. And you can get an awful lot of Laney for under £500.

I just feel a bit sorry for the guy who then posted "so are we done here?" At the bottom of page 36. That was optimistic...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1376138438' post='2170103'] Nice. I approve, good comms, well done. Have a great time... [/quote] Ta! We had a great night... [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1376145254' post='2170209'] But I've already booked him ... [/quote] ...though he does look a bit pissed off. Maybe he didn't have such a good night...and would like to recount why, through the medium of mime...

...is one of many things that won't be happening tonight. But if anyone is kicking their heels around Cambridge this evening, I'll be running a gig down at the Corner House (Newmarket Road). Featuring my own band (Cherry White), Subset, Beat Magnets, Cemetery Junction and Metropolis*. £6 on the door, kicking off at 8pm. Facebook event deelie is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/408170712632691/ *No mimes. Or erotica**. **Sorry.

Would it be out of keeping to post a video where I'm not playing bass? *insert cliche about change and variety here* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk4KGtppDvU

God damn it, this thread is making me want to buy one again now...

This is going to be my new definition of "success" - we will know we've "made it" when somebody-we-don't-know-from-Adam makes a bass dog out of a picture of us.

Hmm...eight bids and still with five days to run...yeah, it's probably going to end up going for double that, at least!

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1375790152' post='2165574'] No zoom required - it's an N6- - - - - so in my book it's a USA made in '96 & looks just how a American Standard, (with a 50th anniversary badge) should look. The thing is being advertised as something it ain't, I'm pretty damn certain of that [/quote] Ah, now you mention it, yes, on the second photo you can make out the label on the parts bag, which reads "AM STD BASS," so pretty sure you're correct! Question is whether a '57 Reissue would be worth more than an American Std...have to say £260 seems like a good price either way to me, but I'll defer to your greater knowledge!

I didn't think my current band was particularly bluesy, but then a lot of reviewers said they liked our "blues-rock sound," so I relented. Now we describe ourselves as "lively, melodic rock n' roll with a hint of the blues." Maybe it doesn't help our cause that the last word in that tagline is "blues!"

I guess the only rub is you can't zoom into the headstock photo to see whether it actually says "Made in US" or something else! Otherwise looks pretty convincing - and I guess the re-issues go for a lot less than the originals!

I'm intrigued by: [b]"please don't waste my time, I like strong personalities but not ....holes[/b]" I suspect he's censored himself because he was wary of writing "arseholes" in a public advert, but it looks to me like he's just shuddering at some memory of childhood claustrophobia - "not...holes. Anything but...holes."

That's rather good, that! Is this to be a forerunner to a full album, or is it early days yet?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1375466924' post='2161935'] Maybe because you probably look like you're giving a ghost a b***j**. [/quote] Precisely!

I get a combination of funny looks, raised eyebrows and parents covering their children's eyes when I play air clarinet...

Hi all, In celebration of our album having been released a month ago today, we decided to give away a new single for free. Please have a listen and help yourself to a copy at: http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/track/riding-bikes-single-version Any feedback is always welcome! If you like it, share it with a friend. If you hate it, inflict it on someone you don't like. Cheers, Elias

I've been playing an Epi EB-3 myself for a few years now - it's become my main bass with my current band. I'm about 6'2 myself, so I too look a bit silly with a 30" scale bass. If anything, this is kind of the opposite, as with a relatively small body and a 34" scale, the first fret seems a lot further away than it does on my other basses! Mine has the chicken-head selector, though only two pickups (neck and bridge position), and trapezoid inlays rather than dots. Still quite the beauty. And it's in cherry red, like all good SG derivatives should be. Kind of neck-heavy though, but I'm sure you've been warned about that before. I think - though I couldn't be sure - that they've changed the neck profile on the more recent ones. Played one in a guitar shop while trying an amp and the neck seemed noticeably thinner, though it might just have needed a decent setup.

[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1375012026' post='2155670'] ...a few things seems to going decimal, money, measurement and we only really have twelve notes at the moment a sort of imperial system if you want... and that is a fudge of sorts (equal temperment) I wonder what a 10 note system [i][b]would[/b][/i] sound like....I'll google that, someone must have done a video for that [/quote] I thought Holly already managed this in [i]Red Dwarf -[/i] a system of ten-note scales ([i]Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Wo To Do[/i]), with the unfortunate consequences of "pianos the width of zebra crossings, and women banned from playing the cello."

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1374578701' post='2150322'] Raygun relics are now offering a relicing service [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-RELIC-STRATOCASTER-STRAT-ROADWORN-HUMBUCKER-AND-FULLY-COPPER-SHEILDING-/400528581706?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5d415d244a"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item5d415d244a[/url] [/quote] Ha! "If you send me your favourite guitar, I can knock it around the garden with a cricket bat for half an hour, for as little as £50!"

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1374666470' post='2151482'] That's very true, but I tend to be sort of 'living the lyrics in my head' when I'm performing. [/quote] How literally? This could end very badly with a song like Longview...