Funky Dunky

[quote name='Lynottfan' timestamp='1419775208' post='2642598'] A guy who I have really noticed of late is the bass player in Bruno Mars band, he is paying some great lines with a very tasty sound. [/quote] Crazy - I came on to basschat to add his name to this thread!! His name is Jamareo Artis, and I share a birthday with him! He's a marginally better bassist than I, though......

Black Stone Cherry The Bar-Kays

Funny you should say that about your Alembic, Simon - I think they're horrid-sounding. I love Mark King's playing but I really don't like his tone! I haven't looked into his sound at all (all I know is the Alembic basses) and it sounds like it's chorused - yuck!! One man's meat is another man's poison and all that - it's crazy how we as bassists never universally agree on good tone/bad tone. Fwiw, I like tone which is 'woody' 'buttery' ' thick' 'natural' and 'well-lubricated'. None of those words really relate to sound!!

Dee Murray's on 'Step Into Christmas' wins for me.

Exciting, empowering, rewarding, satisfying, inspiring and life-affirming. I'd had some grounding on guitar so my left hand had a slight head start and I knew some scales already, but I threw the plectrum away and decided to play fingerstyle and that was where the most work was needed. I found I was able to pick out familiar bass lines quickly and began jamming with Skunk Anansie records. Within a month or two I was working on some of the less challengng Chilis songs like Walkabout and Apache Rose Peacock. Bass grooves were so much more fun and satisfying to play than anything I'd ever done on guitar and my one regret is not starting sooner. I simply had to do this; I had to become good and I had dedicate every spare moment to development and discovery. I fell in love instantly, and two years later I'm even more deeply and madly in love with bass :-)

I would never write off a technique. There's always a way to make good music with it. Quite surprised with how many people are so dismissive of slap on here, but in fairness I'm new to the instrument, and maybe if I had heard 2,000 bad slap bassists I would grow weary of the technique too. For now, I love it, I'm exploring it and I'm enjoying it. As for tapping - it's hard to do right, but I see so much potential for big intervals, arpeggios and cool-sounding effects with tapping. I would hope it's not just being written off as 'flash for flash's sake', the way many in the guitar community view tapping. I don't view it as a way to play faster. It's so much more. I don't care if you whack the strings with a dead cat. If it's musical, tasteful, creative and from the heart, do you what you want. Push boundaries! For the little it's worth, I think fretless bass generally sounds like the mooing of cattle, but there are certainly some wonderful applications for it.

I have read a ton of reviews, the general consensus is that it sounds good, the preset rhythms are great, but it's flimsy - poorly made, by most accounts.

Santa's bringing me one. I'll let you know in a week :-)

[quote name='Raslee' timestamp='1418589776' post='2631538'] You get the black and i'll get the walnut and lets swap necks ...I'd quite like the walnut with a maple neck. [/quote] Jeez.....that's actually very tempting!!

It initially came on the market in Black, White and Walnut Satin I think, and they added honeyburst in late 2013. Trans Blue and Red were introduced as options for 2014. If only they did the 5 string in Blue, or would introduce a natural finish, or did black with a rosewood fretboard...... Thank you for posting those links to the wiring diagram and the preamp fix guys. Reckon I'd be a bit out of my depth, but cheers nonetheless.

I have never heard Alex James given one iota of praise. Had some cool lines ('Stereotypes' and 'Girls and Boys' spring to mind) and almost always had good tone.

There was a link to a preamp fix for the Sub Ray 4 on Talkbass, but the link is dead now. Anyone know where I can find it? Lotta talk of lowering the pup as far as it will go and that quiets the raging low E. Would try that first. I gotta tell ya, I really want this bass...

Anyone got one of these? I'm looking for a cheap and easy way to make bass videos to upload to YouTube - the least time-consuming method possible for under £100. At present all I have is my SGS3 which shoots alright-ish video but doesn't pick up great sound, and I could get a software involved but editing is not my strong suit and a bit too fiddly for me. I read the excellent tutorial stickied in this forum, but I don't have iMovie and I'm looking for a simpler method if possible. These wee Zoom cameras are inexpensive and seem straightforward enough even for me to use. Just wondered if they're any good. I will read a bunch of reviews online of course, but looking for a bassist's POV if possible. thanks :-)

[quote name='benthos' timestamp='1418144314' post='2627331'] Absolutely brilliant album :-) [/quote] Yes, yes it is!! Been trying to find out what gear Jeremy Toback used on that album and have come up with absolutely no information whatsoever. Superb tone.

Brad - Shame

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1418057657' post='2626393'] aaahhh....Eddie Hazel.....he should be ranked with Jimi Hendrix in my book! check this bit of Eddie out... [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcwEEu9yF7w"]https://www.youtube....h?v=CcwEEu9yF7w[/url] [/quote] Criminally underrated guitarist. Maggot Brain is excellent.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1417964408' post='2625485'] There is so much variety on those P-Funk albums. Great tunes on Parlet and Brides Of Funkenstein to heavier funk on Parliament and those horns on the Fred Wesley LPs to the political lyrics and madness of the Funkadelic ones. I can't see how any funk fan could resist the guitars of Garry Shider, Michael Hampton & Eddie Hazel or the Hammond of Bernie Worrell, the great Junie Morrison (playing everything) and the beautiful vocals of Jessica Cleaves. There's something for every fan o funk somewhere in the P-Funk catalogue but if you don't get it then you don't get it. I expect that most peoples impression on P-Funk is the few hits that they've heard but there is a lot more to it than that. [/quote] In fairness, I haven't heard the entire catalog, only tunes here and there and I simply didn't hear anything that made me want to investigate. It's funk, of course, but I wasn't hearing enough of a song or a hook in what I heard to turn me on to it. Recommend some and I'll check it out.

FWIW, I'm a big funk lover but P-Funk does nothing for me. It feels particularly aimless.

Can't believe I didn't mention Chris Wolstenholme from Muse. Whether clean or fuzzed-up, his bass always sounds huge. Duck Dunn Robert DeLeo -maybe a stretch to say it floored me, but it always stuck out - nothing extra special, but always nice. Ed Friedland - ok, it's his job to make basses sound killer - but he always makes basses sound killer! All in the fingers etc - Ed has fantastic technique.

Well I've watched up to George Clinton so far and I'm enjoying it immensely. In truth though - they could be talking about belly button fluff, and I'd still be loving it with that soundtrack. Good to see Larry Graham featuring so heavily.

[quote name='Diablo' timestamp='1417821599' post='2624428'] It was kind of entertaining, especially the narrator waxing lyrical about Jefferson Aeroplane. That was the point where I realised both the narrator and the script writer both learned about funk from the internet about 2 weeks before the show was filmed. [/quote] Oh no, don't tell me it's like that? I really hope this is not just another inaccurate documentary by people who don't truly know or understand the subject, but I will watch it anyway because you don't get a lot of funk on the tellybox these days.

I recorded this last night and I can't wait to see it. Like any other genre, there's good, bad and ugly funk. I love it and will have my bass in hand as I'm watching it. If the Meters aren't featured, someone should really be fired.

Colin - I was all set to get the honeyburst, but then I saw the blue and fell in love. The honeyburst looks cracking in both the 4 and the 5 though. Pete - I will have a gander on the bay d'E. A quick google search saw plenty mention of the John East, and another one which appears to be the handiwork of a guy named Tommo Richards. I take it these add a bit more authenticity to the sound, but are there other benefits? Anyone know if the latest Subs still suffer from the preamp clipping mentioned on the early models?

Where can one acquire this mod Pete?

Yes. Yes it does. And it tells me it's nearer pic 2 (the one I like) than pic one. Thanks Al :-)