cytania

Well this really explains why my 'Black & White World' post fell flat. Clearly bass players like it monochrome. Should I blame the Specials and Two Tone or the Blues Brothers... ;-) Really surprised red did so poorly as I'd love a red Rickenbacker (white binding, mmm). Surprisingly good showing for purple too which is very unpopular in regular electric guitars...

Think I just might have got 'All Shook Up' working both ways but it's still a balancing act. Hard to get the vocal and playing both punchy. Anyone do this regularly? Any particular songs/styles you find easy to sing whilst playing bass?

"I switched off when Robin Gibb tried to sing. My, that was sad" Stevie, you're either a great singer or have no idea how hard it is to hold a stage with one voice. Duos get a boost from the combination of voices, a solo singer can never get that. Also Robin was attempting falsetto, the clue is in the false, it's not a natural voicing, which bizarrely is why audiences find it so compelling. Sam Sparro also broke sweat doing the Bee Gees as a lone vocal and he's much younger. Tough songs...

Some signs that you've gamed the sound-chain too much; 1) Boominess, not good bass boom but a ringing bad sound. 2) Muddiness, losing note definition. You mentioned reggae, here part the vibe is big notes with spaces in between. If the notes are sludgey and mashing into each other you can't jam. 3) Undue fret noise, you want treble but are getting scritchy string sounds. Rule 1 is keep it simple. If the amp is hollow without much uumph then nothing you can do can add it. I found an awful Peavey Centurion (?) at a rehearsal room once, I could barely stop it clanking and it never sound better than my cheapo practise amp. If you've got an active bass then you've arleady got a preamp, adding a second is just asking for worse signal to noise. Experiment with amp, alot of 'gate' and 'sound shaping' etc buttons that can be ruinous, also check compression. Ideally leave compression off but always check if things sound better with it engaged even if it's set to zero! Sometimes tube preamps are used to subtley 'warm' the sound rather than tweak it's EQ. Phew...

Another good chops builder for a beginner (like me). Faster than 'You Won't See Me' but similar in that there's a repeated line played at various points on the neck. You can find accurate tabs on the net or buy the 'Play Bass With The Beatles' book that includes a soundalike track, the sans bass track is a real lesson (you know when you've fluffed!) plus you can play it to anyone who can't hear what a bass adds to a band. The repeated line starts on the A-string E note and sounds great there. On the bridges it transfers to A and B on the E-string where it's less twangy, care needed to syncopate these right. In the verse there's an A chord and fast bit all on the A string, you can ignore this when you start learning the song as the pattern in E is fine. The chorus is a root run, great fun. Begin the line fretting with your second finger then fall back to the first for the G#, then there's a see-saw boogie motion and a drop back through A to G#. When you first try it you'll want to throw your bass down in frustration but breath out and keep working, quite quickly you should find it has a natural rhythm. Then all you need to do is get up to Beatle speed ;-)

Hard to learn an instrument when you can't hear it's contribution to a recording you love. If you are a fan of soul, reggae and funk then this is less of a problem. I found it took 6 months before I got an ear for bass but even so there are reasons why some basslines are hard to work out. 1) On old acetate or early tape recordings the bass may be too weak or lost in tape degradation. 2) Some studios such as the 60s country stable in Bakersfield deliberately sacrificed bass to other instruments. 3) To accentuate bass country players used a pick in a deliberately clicky way, called playing 'tik tak'. Other times a guitar tuned an octave above (or an octave below standard guitar tuning) played alongside the bass, emphasising the percussive element. 4) In 40s jump blues type recordings the horn section in particular the bass sax may be making the groove. 5) On modern recordings the bass has been over-dubbed playing a break or solo, trying to fit this in with the strict groove line may not be humanly possible. Studio trickery... 6) The bassline is simple single root notes, often obscured if piano/orchestra/guitars are swelling above it on a ballad. 7) The bassline is slavishly following the guitars or playing more like a rhythm guitar (see Motorhead). Think that's it...

Just been watching some YouTube clips of Paul McCartney and very struck by his strange hybrid technique. He uses his thumb but also his fingers and works his hand like he's holding a pick (but he isn't). Amazed he played all those wonderful basslines like that. Can anyone tell me how he does it?

Thanks for that Rev, just the kind of clips I was watching. Sounds like the string click has no musical name, but it sure is an infectious part of the slap bass rhythmn.

Just been watching Lee Rocker's tutorial clips and I was stuck by that percussive ticking a rockabilly bass makes. What's doing it and is there a name for the sound?

Great song off Rubber Soul and good chops-builder for a bass beginner (like myself). Tab here is pretty good; [url="http://www.bassmasta.net/b/beatles,_the/162583.html"]http://www.bassmasta.net/b/beatles,_the/162583.html[/url] However the tip I'd like to give is don't play the final return note of each 'boogie line', it jars. I find either adding the passing note before it creates the right beat feel or just playing the root gently works fine. So each bar McCartney runs up and then draws his finger back through 3 strings.

Went to an open mic last night. First thing I realised was that being an old codger I had no idea if some of the bright new acoustic sets I saw were playing originals or not, maybe it was something from Newton Faulkner's albums but I wouldn't know ;-) More worrying was most of the audience were the performers and their supporters or people like me considering doing the open mic in future (need to practise heaps, I'm way too campfire folk). I think there's a similar situation to football. Everyone agrees there's more action, skill and goals in second division games but when it comes to Monday morning everyone at work is talking about the premiership. Me I like small venues but for many ordinary joes music has to be a big name big deal to get them out the house. Maybe crazy stadium ticket prices and less disposable income will change that...

There are alot of music sites and books that offer themselves as a 'system'. Somehow they want to suggest they have a uniquely insightful approach. Problem is often you need a range of approaches. So it's good to play exercises (heaps of bass books have these but don't want to pay royalties for actual songs) but sometimes you need to find a real song and master it (bass tab white pages is good for this, sure some of it won't be your style but I challenge anyone not to find one meaty song they've always wanted to play in it. Watch out for tutorials books that have no tab or push sheet music reading as a sacred grail. I found Ed Friedland's 'Bass Grooves' very useful last year because it teaches simple common grooves and emphasises timing and control over flash technique. Ed's 'Blues Bass' is good too because unlike most of his other books there are real blues songs tabbed out. Anyone else noticed the Yardbirds 'Jeff's Boogie' is just 'Hideaway' with attitude? Or was it 'Nazz are Blue'? Roger the Engineer anyway...

When I was looking through Music Inn one outsider that struck me was Adam Black's P-bass clone (just has 'Black' on the headstock). Pretty good neck for the sub-£200 price bracket. I think the thumb rest put me off but that's easy removed, didn't get to try it plugged in but worth a look.

First a test, see if you can say the following in a jolly 'tales from the road' voice; "So I was setting up and my Sadowsky was on it's stand on stage. The club was just filling up but blow me down while my back was turned to tape up some cables some tea-leaf had nicked it!" If you find these words causing you to choke try addding 'luckily I had that Musicguard insurance malarky, still I'll never find one quite as good'. Not helping? I think I may be establshing the need for a gigging instrument... The other real question is whether like me you are an amateur or a pro who needs to make money. The true pro needs to balance instrument cost against the money it will make. Tough balance between a reliable workhorse bass and one that screams 'steal me'. Not that thieves would know a Squier from a pre-CBS...

Some ideas for the original poster; 1) Sing the words, even if you've not been given a mike (you can see Glenn Matlock doing this in Pistols vids). It's all too easy to zone out and lose the song, singing along helps anchor you to the structure. 2) Print out the song words on one sheet of A4 that can be dropped near front monitors etc. Box in the choruses with a big magic marker, indicate bridges and breaks with brackets, finally put in beer-proof plastic wallet. Now you have a visual representation of the song you can see from several feet away. Quick look down and you can see 'weve done the guitar break so it's two more choruses'. 3) Write out the song long-hand or print the words then add your parts, use colours, use symbols. The act of making a personal copy helps the remembering process. See it again and a whole load more comes back to you. Clive, I've been practising blues lines and you can download several versions of the standards from iTunes and find a huge variety of keys, lines and feels used. In his blues book Ed Friedland talks about the lines the audience will expect and this is certainly worth being aware of.. but audiences may be alot more blues-savvy and demanding in Austin Texas. We may get an easier ride in blighty...

Got back from holiday, traumatic news - the band is defunct, so I revived my spirits by working on the Spear and playing some boogie lines. Nut sauce certainly sorted the jerky/vague tuning but had to do a bit of DIY to get the intonation just so, I suspect this is because there's a thick E string and action is not low, but that's the way I liked it. Bridge saddles are in neat individual tracks, wiped these with WD40 and worked them till a bit of brass shows. With string thru I found E needed to go back further, the scewbolts the saddles adjust on come in two of two sizes. I popped out the mini-hacksaw and removed a few mill from one of the long screwbolts so I could pull back to the right point. With lighter strings or a low action this might not be necessary. Tested the tuners by playing uptown/downtown lines in various key blues for hours and they were stable. Still don't like the ears being plastic so when I fancy a project I may order some all-metal pill-shape tuners. Neck stain has not yet come off on my hands, raw/hard maple finish makes a real difference to tone and playing. Spent alot of time caressing the natural open pore finish as there's a waxy scum to work off. Anyone know the correct polish/wax for this kind of bass? The Fender spray I have is very much for poly finishes. Oh and I've called her Betty, either after Ugly Betty or Betty Rubble from the Flintstones!

I think alot value/interest is built around the big names (Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker) in a general guitar market and this doesn't tally with the rep as undertsood by those who know bass guitars. I have a Fender strap on my Ibanez and because it has SDGR on the headstock this gets guitarists asking me what Fender it is, interest evaporates as soon as I say Ibanez, yet I know that to my ears and fingers it's a good bass. A few months ago I was in Cardiff Guitars where a 60s/70s Gibson double cut bass had just come in. It was nice and worn in but had a wobbley/cracked neck socket which the shop owner was going to reset... nothing special then. Another customer comes in and is immediately interested, because it has Gibson on the headstock. I was iffy about the short scale, short horns and neck join but you can bet it's gone for a good price...

Just heard from the lead guitar/vocals, family commitments have nixed him being in the band. Difficulty is things very much revolve around him, not just as frontman but also drummer 2nd guitar are his workmates. Beyond my own annoyance I'm struck by how weird a thing a band is. Played a song last night at a folk session, just me and a regular acoustic guitar. When I was just learning stuff for my own sake my song folders filled up with my favourites. Now they have alot of bass stuff, some of which I worked out for band members who never even made the first rehearsal (still 'You Won't See Me' is a great Beatles for bass). No idea if any of it will be relevant to the next band... Ah well, I'm probably just blowing off steam here...

Tried one of these a year or so ago. They have a good feel, good neck, unfussy finish, all very Gibson so far. Put plug in and you discover two things. First a biting pickup that could drill teeth (may be the thing to cut through a murky mix, maybe) and second tuners that lose it within the space of one song. MelodyMaker's were made in the 60s, early 70s and acquired a cult status, however the new crop are a very different beast. If the one-trick you want is whiney garage punk voicings check them out.

First impressions so far Likes Neck, smooth, straight, no dead spots. Body, feels just right and solid. Look, ooogga boogga. EQ Pots, not marked but click into middle spot. Active, just set it so it's equal footing with passive but it' still more responsive, play harder and it kicks out. Jack socket, in the body but angled upwards, not easily jerked out, the right angle for looping through strap. Killswitch, a fun effect for ending full-on rock songs with. Dislikes Tuner feel. Nut, think it's settling in now. Jack socket, needs a stiff push in, maybe this will lighten up. Killswitch, can leave you mommentarily baffled if it gets flicked in the bag.

Music Inn on Alfreton Rd, Nottingham it was £399 today although with the financial markets I can't say if it'll stay that way, one reason why I picked it up right away. Carole there is really helpful, it's a real service orientated store. I'll let you know how those tuners hold up under band rehearsal next week. Hopefully a bigger, fuller pick below.

Well I part exchanged an electric I haven't played since going basswards and got a nice deal. Spent the afternoon tweaking the intonation. Tuners are a bit plastic spongey but working the nut slots and adding graphite has helped. Neck is actually a dark stain on maple but still as good as I thought. If I don't screw up again there should be a suitably caveman posed picture.

I only picked it up because it was sooo ugly. Spear S-2 in natural, looks like someone described a Curbow to a caveman who the hacked this bass out of a whole log. Yet it's really comfy, balanced and sits on the knee right. The neck is even better than the Levinson Blade I like. Electronics are complex, gonna need to bone up on the double active/passive knobs and switches. It takes two batteries on the back. But when you plug in you can go from a low growl to a huge bouncey plunk... Any thoughts on double active basses? It's still ugly but I can't help smiling when I play it...

BTB470, SR300, ICB2000EX and GSR200 all com in PW models, PW=piano white in Ibanese. Hmm, only 4...

Overall the guitar market is overheated. There are alot of brands with very similar offerings often owned by either the Fender or Gibson cartels. Logic dictates that some brands will be rested, many were only recently revived for retro appeal. Setting yourself up as a luthier seems to be almost a middle-class pose in the UK and there are some very marginal back of garage operations (often in solid body electric guitars). I just hope that any contraction will preserve the real craftsmen with a different take on building. However the cynic in me expects buyers to gravitate to the safety of Js and Ps. Am looking for bass2 myself at present, just haven't found that perfect combo of looks and sounds...