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XB26354

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Posts posted by XB26354

  1. [quote name='bassbloke' post='1132677' date='Feb 18 2011, 08:02 PM']You've moved just up the road from me. Are you still doing lessons?[/quote]

    I used to but the job is now very busy, I'm studying for my MCSA and the amount of travelling I do means a shiny new motorbike, hence the sale :)
    I really shouldn't be selling this as it is as close to perfection as I can get, but needs must. I could possibly post but would need a bit of time to get a box and packing etc. Build quality and tone are up there with the best US Fenders. This one reminds me of the Marcus Miller 5 I had last year.

  2. We don't usually use different ascending and descending versions of the melodic minor, normally when improvising you use the ascending form in both directions (although there's bno reason not to use it if you like the sound, but jazzers tend to think of the descending form as an aeolian mode). The Lydian dominant is just a mode of the melodic minor, and improvising a fourth above the root of a minor chord/key sounds cool (G in D minor is thought of as being one if the extended intervals, the 11th). It can also imply a sus sound, as in Gmin7/D. You could use any of the melodic minor modes, or D blues scale, or in fact any D minor variant. You do have to pay attention to how you handle the transition to and from the Eb7 chord though. G Lydian Dominant shares G, A (#11), C# (Db, the b7) and F with Eb7(#11) and E gives it an Eb7#9 flavour.

  3. SOLD

    Hi,
    I'm sure you all know this bass by know, it's been on here a few times. You may not know the name but they are very highly regarded in the US and as an ex Ken Smith, MTD and Sadowsky owner it's up there with the best. It's basically a superb bolt-on neck 6-string bass. Punchy yet warm, with all the range of tones you'd expect from the wood combo and the electronics. 1 small (1mm) ding on the front of the body, otherwise mint. Top horn extends past 12th fret so balance is excellent. Probably the most comfortable bass (on a strap and actually playing) I've had.

    Spec is 2-pce ash body with deep quilted maple top on ocean blue, 1pce maple neck with pao ferro board.

    Bartolini quad-coil humbuckers with coiltaps, 3-band 18v circuit with pull-mid Q-shift
    Hipshot bridge and tuners
    56mm nut, 19mm spacing at the bridge, 35" scale, weighs dead on 4.5Kgs/9.9lbs.
    Feel is a reasonably wide neck but very shallow in depth. Fully setup and fretstoned. Comes with LaBella SuperSteps, will throw in another set plus DR Hibeams 30-125.
    Gig back, box and packing already so can post.

    No trades as it's going towards my new bike fund!

    Photos are from a previous seller, condition is identical.

    I'm near Kingston in Surrey or can post out (although given the proximity to Christmas it may be better to wait until new year or collect).
    I'm in no hurry to sell but nevertheless am taking a considerable hit at a firm [b]£700[/b].

  4. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1033070' date='Nov 22 2010, 07:12 PM']I wouldn't stress about learning the so-called "floating thumb" picking technique. Hardly anybody uses it because it's an over-engineered solution to a non-problem.[/quote]

    It might be on a 4-string (although I know mcgraham uses it on a 4) but not if you've got more than that. I didn't even know it was called that and naturally developed it when I started playing 6-strings about 15 years ago. Doesn't mean it's not worth a go. I've got a guitar book by Ivor Mairants (who in addition to being a very fine classical guitarist was a pioneer of the "floating wrist" guitar technique, i.e., not rest ring or ring/little fingers on the top of the guitar). He was good friends with both Wes Montgomery and George Benson, both of whom, despite their very different styles, envied the fluidity and smoothness of Ivor's picking technique. The thumb anchor is comfortable and relatively easy on a 4 but I found certain things tricky to play. As soon as I got rid of the anchor (and got over the slightly unpleasant feeling of not knowing where I was) things became much smoother and easier. I also tend to play a little but lighter, which, depending on what your want to achieve, works nicely to fatten up the tone.
    Anyway, back on topic. Muting comes in various guises. By far the most annoying problem is a ringing low string. Low strings create a nasty rumble which you WILL hear in the studio (and the audience will hear onstage) and WILL muddy up your sound - fine if you want it, but what if you want to get rid of it? Again, as mcgraham suggested (I think), play the E, thumb on the pickup. Play the A, thumb on the E string. Play the D or G strings, thumb on the A string, with the fleshy part toward the hand lightly touching the E.

    As a final bit of advice, whatever you choose, make sure you are relaxed. Any tension will limit your technique and make your sound twitchy and uneven - something I learned from a drum teaching video, of all things!

  5. Lots of transcriptions and reading practice! I've used Lucas Pickford's site for quite a long time - Lucas's transcriptions are good but some of the ones done by other people have some odd errors. I'm just finishing up transcribing the songs from the Nightfly and have come up with some quite different lines. One other thing that would be nice is, where possible, to put the chords in. I did a Yellowjackets track a while ago and learned more from transcribing the chords than I did from the bass line and solo.

  6. [quote name='silddx' post='1026640' date='Nov 17 2010, 09:20 AM']Good work.

    However, you have not justified your remark with any explanation, rebuttal or theory of your own, so I will pay it no mind.[/quote]

    I was going to. In fact I wrote a long rebuttal based on a number of reasons, then realised it was in fact a waste of time because you can't change someone else's opinion. Even if they're wrong.

  7. [quote name='silddx' post='1025606' date='Nov 16 2010, 10:41 AM']It's the same as what happened to the incredible guitarists of the eighties and nineties. They put mostly bland albums together as a way of guitar demonstration. And because there were so many guitarists in the world trying to be the same, the albums sold a bit. But where are they now? A few of them are session players, one or two are in decent bands making a living, some sell gear at trade shows and doe clinics and small club gigs for their long-standing fans. Survival of the fittest. The fittest appeal to a broader audience, possibly because they lead a different sort of life, possible more troubled as people, perhaps with slightly anti-social mores, or strange predilictions, or were just more connected with their world. But those things come through the music, and connect with people better.

    Anyway, i have rambled long enough, and some of the above is probably [b]bollacks[/b].[/quote]

    You said it! :)

  8. I disagree. It's your opinion but I cannot hear this showing off of chops, I can hear decent composition, melodies that are not instantly forgettable and musicians listening hard to each other. No wonder he cleared off to the US...

  9. I took Grade 8 years ago and got 97%. IIRC it included a couple of performances, some reading, theory knowledge etc.
    I still have the (very detailed) mark sheet. I didn't think much of it at the time (and it certainly doesn't mean I'm a great player), but I remember nailing it having been in the studio reading and recording all day prior to the exam. I think any exercise like this is worth it if you go into it positively as an experience. I actually got some gig contacts through the examiner...
    Back in my day there was no tab after Grade 5 :)

  10. Play slowly at first and make sure that you separate the dead notes from the plucked notes very clearly, as it's one of the best ways to get control (kind of like a drummer going from snare rim clicks to regular snare hits). If you don't use two or more fingers to dampen the string you'll get harmonics anyway. Listen to and watch Francis Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power - he tends to fret notes with the index and middle fingers and apply semi-damping with the third and litte fingers. Hard but very funky! For The Love Of Money by the O'Jays has one of most wicked plucked/damped parts. It's played with a pick - try playing fingerstyle. Most of the damped notes are on the G, 5th and 7th frets so you have to use whole hand dampening or it becomes a mess.

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