alexa3020

Beedster, I take your point about the feel. My thoughts are that I need to be able to move my fingers fast enough to play at that speed before concentrating on the feel. chris, I’ve done the 0.75 YouTube trick and it feels comfortable. Unfortunately there’s too much of a jump going to full speed which is why I am trying to build up to it. With a basic drum beat. Interesting that NWR struggled with it - makes me feel a bit better about my slow progress

With lockdown and generally having more time to practice, I have been trying to improve my speed and stamina (always a weak point for me), with the end goal of being able to play rhythm stick. my practice technique is running through c major 2nd finger position across all 4 strings, one note at a time &16th notes. I can do about a minute of this practice at 95bpm before I make an error. And I’m aiming to be able to do a minute before I up the tempo. in terms of rhythm stick I can play the verse comfortably at 85bpm for around a minute. So I have a way to go, seems the song is 105bpm. my question is am I doing the right things? And I wanted to get a feel from anyone that’s done something similar how long i can expect it to take to increase speed.

I’ve just received my BQ500 and just thought I’d leave a few comments. 1st off the active passive switch is the correct way on my unit. I guess this is now fixed in the later batches 2nd, some have been reporting a loose screw. No signs of that on my unit 3rd, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t have the same amount of volume as my Hartke ha5500. Although I haven’t played the tc in a band environment, comparing the 2 side by side the tc seems to be generating similar volume levels. overall, early signs are good. Although I wish I could of found one with a black fascia, they look pretty cool! If I have any issues I’ll post them

Thanks for the responses chaps - all useful information I have found the TC Electronic BQ500 pedal for less than £180, it seems a bit of a steel at that price. It has limited controls, but I guess I could get a preamp pedal if I cant get the tone I'm after. Although I really dont have that much variation in my tone.

I'm looking to get a lightweight amp. As much as I like my Hartke HA5500, it is pretty heavy! The Hartke TX 600 looks good on paper, but there seem to be a lot of people complaining its just not loud enough. I found this video on Youtube I think this chap is endorsed by Hartke so I'm not sure whether to believe him, so I have just come to this community for some advice. Essentially, he says the gain needs to be turned way up to get the volume. With the gain up it will most likely not peak and still play clean. So, are people using it wrong or is it just not loud enough? Any opinions will be most welcome. Thanks

Not an album, but this track live is smokin’

Live at the ghost room - possibly my favourite 7 minutes of anything on YouTube

Great band. Check out the album ‘last day of summer’ it’s their best imo. After Corsicana lemonade the drummer and guitarist left to work with soul artist Leon bridges, which would explain the drop in quality. They were both great musicians but the drummer was outstanding

Probably not cool, but I was listening to a random rock playlist on Spotify & Prophets of Rage came on and they were so much better than everything else. Those rage boys have still got it! the last band to really blow me away though is king gizzard...... although some of their stuff is a bit hit or miss.

Decent! Your singer reminds me of Morrissey - you are the quarry era

Yeah, I did notice the mm in the video. I thought it might have a bit more growl to it if it was a mm. great sound though!

Looking to do some recording soon. This is the bass sound I’m after obviusly it’s a p bass in the image on the vid. Do you think it’s a p bass on the recording? oh and slap bass and Radiohead - who knew! cheers

I'm sure most of you guys have heard about this movie - but if not : https://beneaththebassline.com/ I heard about this movie a little while ago, and have been wanting to see it since. Luckily for me they are showing this in Cambridge (near me!) in one of the (many) college auditoriums. It Includes Q&A after the film with director/producer Nick Wells (editor iBass Magazine) and Cambridge based bassist, Tiago Coimbra Only £5 a ticket. https://www.wegottickets.com/event/450526 Just thought I'd let you guys know - if you didn't already! Cheers

Digital music is so much easier! However, the thing I do like about physical is your more likely to listen to an album in its entirety. I do have Vinyl, but I don't buy into 'Vinyl sounds better' argument - especially for modern music, which is mostly recorded digitally

Twincam - I Couldn't agree more! The shop in question was PMT - perhaps a smaller independent store would take the time to do this.

Thanks for the advice twincam - I had no idea what ski jumping was (I do now after a little investigation). Antylocker - I'm waiting for that moment when I just know its the one I want. It was hard to tell in the shop I tried as the setup was not great - I don't know if its typical that display basses are not set up particularly well!

Antlockyer -Did you find there was any variation in quality in mia p basses?

Very sensible advice Marc. In many ways I do like the idea of buying used, just because you don’t lose any money on the bass if and when you come to sell. I do worry that there will be something wrong when buying used - even though my past experience has been generally positive. Ill keep an eye out for Sadowsky met..... Chris. I can’t say I’ve ever seen or heard of one before.

It would definitely be a 4 string I would want, which if buying new they would need to order in for me, which would then require a deposit, etc.

I am in the process of getting a new bass because... well, why not! (the kids don't need a holiday do they?) . At the moment based on what I've tried so far its most likely to be Fender P bass or a Musicman stingray - both retailing between £1300 - £1500. At this point the P bass is ahead. The shop only had a 5 string MIA in stock. I tried that & a MIM P Bass and the stingray. The fender MIA felt and sounded better than the MIM. The Stingray felt lovely and after a lot of mucking about with the EQ I found some tones that I really liked - I di find the sheer amount of options a bit much (dual humbuckers and 5 way switch). what may be clouding my judgement is that the setup of all the basses I tried were questionable - Far higher action than I would want. So the P bass is probably in the lead at the moment, my question is should I buy new or old? Has there been a drop in QC recently? are there some years of manufacture that should be avoided? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ha! Yeah, I was actually referring to the lp. I’ve heard a few tracks and the bass sound & style is pretty similar on the tracks I’ve heard. im surprised Alex Turner played the bass, although I think I read that it was originally gonna be a solo record. Makes sense as it’s so different to anything they’ve done before

So, I caught a bit of the mercury music prize last night. It’s the first time I’ve heard any of the Arctic monkeys latest stuff and I really quite like it - I do know it’s not to everyone’s taste though! Anyway, I really like the bass sound on the track they played and was wondering if anyone knew how to get that. To me it sounds like he might be playing with a mute and some sort of effect - almost like an Echo Any thoughts? thanks

I see someone mention jimi Hendrix bass players Noel redding and billy cox. my favourite bass playing on any Hendrix track is have you ever been to electric lady land. I love the playing on that track and I think that was Hendrix playing bass

I'd love to know the details if this actually happened

Anyone who has played live will have dealt with, at best nervous energy, or, at worst crippling nerves. Thankfully for me the nerves have never got the best of me where I can't play, and the majority of the time now I just have a nervous energy. Anyway, I thought it would be useful to go over the things I do to help deal with the nerves. 1. Be happy with your setup. I'm usually happy when I can play my own setup, but unfortunately as a bass player you are asked to play through house amps, or they take a d.i signal from the bass rather than your amp. During soundcheck make sure you are happy with the sound. 2. Warm up. There's nothing worse going on completely 'cold' - particularly if the first track is fast/complex. 3. Know the material. The better I know it the more at ease I am. 4. Make eye contact with audience. When the nerves have been at their worst I tend to look down at what I am playing and want the ground to swallow me up. Often it's worse in your head compared to the reality of what is happening. I find that if I look up and see the reaction of the audience, it makes me feel so much better. Anyway, I just thought I'd share this as it might help someone out. Alternatively feel free to share anything you guys do to deal with nerves. cheers Alex