urb

Very tatsy squire Good and soulful stuff

[quote name='BigAlonBass' post='1277181' date='Jun 21 2011, 03:30 PM']Everyone seems to want to 'pigeonhole' everyone else these days, so here's my two penn'orth. I don't get out too often, so when I go to see a Band or other Musical entertainment, I want to enjoy myself. The above picture gives me three separate reasons to walk out of the Gig before the Band even strikes a note. 1) He's [i]staring[/i] at the neck. This, to me, equates to self-indulgence, and to heck with the audience. 2) He's playing a single-cut Bass. Nobody has [i]ever[/i] played any music that appeals to me, whilst wielding an SC. 3) He's hitching a lift. As soon as I see the 'slapper's thumb' come out - I'm long gone. Naturally, this is only my opinion, but I find most SC players tend towards the 'highbrow' end of the Musical Spectrum, and that kind of stuff just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not alone in this though, having heard comments on the lines of "Single-Cut Bass? That f*cker's really up himself!" and on one occasion "He came to the audition, pulled a Single-Cut Bass out of it's case, and we told him to p*ss off before he even plugged in!". Pigeonholed maybe, but I can't see anyone in a Punk or Rock Band wanting to use an SC, so the 'divide' becomes really evident. Perhaps there's a hint of "I'm better than you, because I use one of these" in there somewhere? (Quick aside to cytania's comment -"Accept you're playing Bass" Most people who buy these seem not to want to accept this. They get them to 'widdle' on.) Once again-My opinion and conception of the usual owners of these clumsy-looking things. [/quote] Sigh... groan... not again... I'm off

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1276743' date='Jun 21 2011, 10:10 AM']I am a 'one bass' man, pretty much, but there are certainly some SCs out there that woudl turn my head if I had a spare few grand. Some Fodera's, some Sei's; not all of them. I think the AJ Presentation Fodera is a design highlight but there are some SCs that are plug ugly (the Beez Elite that someone here raved about looks awful to me) and some of the Shuker cutaways don't work for me either. But this is simple aesthetics. I also don't like most double cutaway shapes, most colours (the concept of the 'sunburst' is, for me, the design trainwreck of the century), most headstocks etc etc etc. SCs are, as has been said, an alternative choice. Noone I know could 'hear' a SC in a mix. Its just a look that some like and which others don't. Personally, I don't think I have ever played one but I would love to try out the AJ, even if I have no chance of ever owning one. I almost hope I don't like it so I won't have terminal GAS!![/quote] I agree Bilbo - I don't like them all at all and I'm not a fan of clever/different design for the sake of it - in fact I wasn't that keen on single cut designs until I actually saw a couple of completed Sei basses in Martin's workshop and was just blown away by them - but I'm certainly not a fan of every and any single cut design out there... I have a stuning fretless based on a Tobias classic body shape and I love that too

I love my Sei single cut - it's incredibly lightweight and balances perfectly - and in spite of people often having mixed feelings about it when looking at it on the web / in pics - when they actually see it in the flesh, play it and hear it they quickly change their mind - I've taken it to a couple of bashes and the reaction is always the same - unless they're a lying bunch of bastards! I'm sure they're not, being such lovely opinionated chaps... and I still love a vintage P or J bass - or come to that a modern take on a P or J - just because I own a single cut doesn't mean I love those exclusively - personally I think the Warwick ones look horrible but I know someone who own a six string fretless one and he loves it, stating it's the best bass he's ever played... I think it's all about good or bad design and beauty is often in the eye of the beholder - the water ca be further muddied by the assumed/associated value of a name - be it 'Fender' or 'Fodera' - many folk are happy to pay for that too... and we all know what kind of debate that sparks off too don't we! M

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='1276031' date='Jun 20 2011, 04:25 PM']Did our first gig as a Jazz Trio on Saturday at a very posh wedding in Northants, providing background music as the guests sipped their Canapes.....! Been a steep learning curve on the Stagg ( even though some of the tunes are not really jazz) but very enjoyable playing with a good jazz Guitarist. We did save "Isn't She Lovely" to the end as the Bride went past us into the Marquee ( we were playing in a "Tent" outside). Here's our set list, lots of songs chosen for their relevance... Tin Tin Deo Bewitched Someday My Prince will Come Here’s that Rainy Day My One and Only Love I’ve got you under my Skin Fly Me to the Moon Gentle Rain Girl from Ipanema Summertime (based on Four on Six) Love For Sale Blue Bossa Let There Be Love Days of Wine and Roses Yesterdays Autumn Leaves My Funny Valentine Blue Monk Isn’t She Lovely? Roxanne All Blues Song for my Father April in Paris Almost like being in Love Autumn in New York[/quote] Nice

Ahem... this is a little bit good Julian Lage is incredible - he's playing [url="http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/608-new-gary-burton-quartet-feat-julian-lage-antonio-sanchez-jorge-roeder"]here[/url] in a couple of weeks

Here's something I wrote on Jaco a few years ago - I got direct quotes from Pat Metheny, Mike Brecker and John Scofield - who all worked with Jaco at different points in his career - feel free to quote bits of it in you essay (just reference me ) [url="http://www.munkio.com/words/jaco_feature.html"]http://www.munkio.com/words/jaco_feature.html[/url] I hope it's useful Cheers Mike

Some tips from a certain Mr Gary Willis on the subject: [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/intonation4.html"]http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/intonation4.html[/url] He advocates rolling your finger 'into' the note and then using vibrato to find the tuning, not to heavily but quite slowly - he also favours a lined neck as the increments to which you need to play notes across the neck changes depending where you are - i.e. low or high - hope that helps

Last bump

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1262273' date='Jun 9 2011, 08:22 AM']The AJ presentation model has always been on my list of 'lottery win' basses! Didn't Eubassix from Basschat used to have one?[/quote] I've played Dave Swift's recently acquired one - see pics link below - and it is very nice - but it's an absolute beast, I honestly don't know how AJ gets around the neck without major muscle strain - and since he's such a monster on the low B - no one plays a low B like AJ, he's the king of the low end, end of IMO - but the 36" scale is crazy huge, he must be wiped by the end of a gig... I'm more of a wussy Matt Garrison 33" scale man myself [url="http://www.daveswiftbass.com/pages/basses/Fodera-Anthony-Jackson.html"]http://www.daveswiftbass.com/pages/basses/...ny-Jackson.html[/url] M

Small bump for this gig - if any of you fancy coming down it'd be great to see you there - seriously cool club well worth a look And this is what we sound like when we get going... Cheers for your time Mike

Getting my brain into gear to play 'jazz' type stuff after a long day in the office can be hard for me - as it's more mentally fatiguing than physically tiring - I did find a cure though... a large cocktail actually chilled out my brain enough to let my fingers find the right notes Not something I'd recommend for every playing situation - just worked for me on Monday...

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='1260975' date='Jun 8 2011, 11:31 AM']Anyone heard the new Hiromi album with him on yet? Brendan[/quote] Yes the new Hiromi album is great - it's probably her best for ages in fact, AJ is killing on it, just grooving like a mutha and nailing all the unison lines in his own particularly cool way - his b-lines and backup playing is its usual impeccable/inspiring self - well worth getting hold of. FYI he's in London for three nights in July with Hiromi and Steve Smith at Ronnie Scott's - I've seen Hiromi live several times and she's always great value, and I've been lucky to hear AJ twice (once at the 55 Bar with Wayne Krantz and Keith Carlock, which was amazing) and once with Mike Stern at Ronnie's - based on those performances I think these trio gigs will be killing: [url="http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/602-hiromi-the-trio-project-featuring-steve-smith-and-anthony-jackson"]http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances...anthony-jackson[/url] Also another new AJ album that's well worth checking out is with him back with Steve Khan and Dennis Chambers on an album called 'Parting Shot' - it's very cool stuff - like a slightly more laid back version of the Eyewitness band - but full of great group improv and really musical grooves - more on that here: [url="http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product.php?productid=25109"]http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product...productid=25109[/url] I'll be at one of the Hiromi gigs - so maybe see some of you there Mike

Hello all Just a little mention of my next gig with my rather good jazz funk band - at the stonking live venue Hideaway in Streatham, South London - which for your info has just won 'Live Venue Of The Year' at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards... it's a very fine place to play - and has a well stocked bar a great food too All that aside this is a quality band with some great players in, least of all me, so lots to enjoy... [b][url="http://www.hideawaylive.co.uk/groove-digger-1206"]INFO HERE[/url] More info and some live videos can be [url="http://www.groovedigger.co.uk/gigs.html"]seen here[/url][/b] As ever it'd be great to see any London BCers there - if you can make it do come and say hello Cheers for your time Mike

Something I posted earlier - hope you'll excuse the repost Cheers Mike

I've never felt like I had any real natural ability when it comes to playing bass, what I do have though is a natural empathy/affinity with music generally - and this for whatever reason carries over into the bass. I've always know people who have both natural musical ability and others, like me, who've had to slog away to get anything going playing wise. The perfect example of this are these two brothers I played with a lot - both are amazing guitarists - the one who is a stunning classical player turns out to have aspergers autism - mildly - which might explain why aged nine after hearing a Bach piece for guitar he figured it out after just a couple of listens, having never played guitar before. This ability developed to the point where he could remember whole pieces of really advanced classical pieces and play them shockingly quickly after hearing them just once. His approach to jazz was the same and he could play solos by ear that were far in advance of his actual theory knowledge - BUT he also practiced like a mutha for hours and hours a day. My experience of how many musicians learn is that all the good ones may have a natural aptitude but they enhance this with tons of steady practice - if I have any musical ability it's undoubtedly been enhanced greatly by shedding for years and years - experience counts too and gigging and playing in groups on pro gigs really helps raise your level. And for the record I've been playing for 25 years and even if I've played an average of an hour a day - that makes 9125 hours - I'm still a way off the golden number of 10,000... I'm taking the weekend off fromthe bass - got three gigs next week so that'll keep me going for now! M

Nice work as ever Scott - really enjoy your vids - though the downside I always feel like shedding straight after I watch them! Which right now isn't good as I'm knackered and it'll have to wait until tomorrow - anyway keep posting this stuff - I know it must be helping a lot of players out there - me included Cheers Mike

[quote name='risingson' post='1252772' date='Jun 1 2011, 03:24 PM']Cheers Steve! Another one, PYT - Michael Jackson. [/quote] Nice stuff Liam - I'm feeling the groove and er, feel, in both your vids - lovely stuff My latest upload can be [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=138313"]found here[/url] - hope you guys enjoy Cheers Mike

Thanks chaps - I'm pleased with sound of the new version - I ran the final audio mix through some matering software I have (Ozone 4) and it makes such a difference - and for your info this was the only take I did of this, so from that point of view I'm happy with this (mistakes and all). Thanks for the encouraging comments - I came up with chords and melody through my usual trial and error (plenty of errors!) method of getting a chord sequence I like and then finding melodic ideas that 'feel' right - often simple is best - I do want to add some more unison lines in here and build the piece up at the end. Most of the things I write develop over months - this was all the product of last Saturday afternoon... anyway hopefully this will be the first in a bunch of new music from me. Glad you enjoyed it Mike

Small bump for the new video version - let me know what y'all think Cheers Mike

Rockin' man - really like it - the bass is cool too M

+1 to those saying play lighter - lower your action (not too low mind) and turn the volume of the bass up - I use 4 fingers for playing fast 16ths (there's a fairly ancient vid on how to do that I made [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PigAe4VIMI"]here[/url] - I have to admit playing it with two fingers is a hell of a lot of effort and very hard to do accurately. The 4 fniger style is tough too but it's about economy of motion - either way let your technique develop over time - it takes a long time to build up the muscle memory and stamina to do this stuff effortlessly - and that's the goal, not to have to force it - and like other have said - make it musical! Good luck, practice regularly and be patient Mike

[quote name='carl0s' post='1250189' date='May 30 2011, 12:44 PM']Thanks guys. Some good options there. Urb, do you have the 250 ohm version or the 80 ohm ones? My AKGs are ~54 ohm and as far as volume goes, they're good. I'm not sure if a 250 ohm pair would be to quiet without some sort of additional amplifier. What do you reckon?[/quote] Now that you mention it the 250s are a little quiet compared to my old Sens (or my new in-ear ones) but I'm mainly using them at home with my Mackie sound card and I can crank the volume to just right level - I'm trying them now with my iPhone and even though the volume is full up the sound is excellent - supe clear with amazing definition - the 80ohms are sure to be louder but these are seriously great headphones... highly recommended once again

I just got some Beyerdynamic DT 770s and they are fantastic - superb definition across all frequencies and soooo comfy - they should last for years too - and are very affordable [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic-DT770-PRO-Headset-250/dp/B0006NL5SM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306743870&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic-DT770...3870&sr=8-1[/url] Highly recommended - Senheisser are great too (I've had a top of the range pair of HDs for over ten years) but I prefer the DTs