xilddx

[quote name='toneknob' post='1241724' date='May 23 2011, 03:22 PM']I'm in the Lemmy edition of Bass Player. And the Gene Simmons issue from 1996 ish[/quote] Ooh, the Lemmy BP is on my coffee table, who are you in it?

GAS is like being a bit pissed in the pub at 11.00pm knowing there is a kebab shop round the corner. That's why I stay well away from the pub unless I specifically require a drink.

Reaper. £25 instead of £370 for Logic, and it seems to be as fully featured. Amazing!

[quote name='RhysP' post='1241667' date='May 23 2011, 02:41 PM']The one with Angus on the cover? I'm impressed![/quote] I cut out all the pictures from that and made a collage and stuck it on my bedroom wall! I can't believe that 30 years ago, Bilbo might have seen me having a w***

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1241626' date='May 23 2011, 02:13 PM']All completely true, sil. However, having spent several years trying (and mostly failing) to get anyone on here to think past mainstream pop and rock and to listen to something else only midly challenging, in my case Jazz, I am fairly confident when I say that 99% of the people on here would probably be better off not playing a B over a C7 chord. Those that are exploring non-Occidental musics and raga melodies on their Fender Jazz can go to the forums on www.theyremakingthisupastheygoalong.com [/quote] Brilliant post Bil Thing is, it's about what is relevant to the music you enjoy playing, and listening to. I love pop and rock, and some choral and orchestral music, and real flamenco, north Indian classical, Arabic pop and classical. And Zappa. I find almost all jazz I have heard insufferable. And although I am fairly confident that if you give me an 'out there' piece of music I would be able to compose an interesting and complimentary bassline, you are right in that I would be using my ears and experience and no theory as such. BUT, I think you final website reference misses the point in some ways. It is true that all one has to do for most western ears is play phrygian and people say it sounds Arabic or Indian. But learning Indian classical is many lifetimes's study. But Jazz, so many RULES! And yet the goal is to improvise, often over simple repetitive motifs. Jazz truly seems to be inward looking and self serving now, it has evolved in the same way football has, music for the people seems to have turned into music for the musicians. To me, the music comes first, then the theory. To do it the other way around is abstract in the extreme and I think that is why many people find it daunting and confusing, and unmusical. You must teach the musician to listen and develop taste and opinion and the theory is there to facilitate understanding, and an aid to exploring further musical possibilities. You can't write compelling music from a theoretical point of view, you must hear it in your head first, or be able to relate the theory to sounds, moods, whatever. Otherwise it's just maths and music is (or should be) a mode of human expression. That's my thinking anyway.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1241533' date='May 23 2011, 01:12 PM']If we are talking about chord tones-which I am-it is a 'wrong' note. I'm not talking about using it as a chromatic passing tone. In that case,the timbre and octave don't matter-it would be a 'wrong' note,and that is not subjective. My point is that playing 'the groove' and in time alone won't do you any good if you don't know what notes work.[/quote] I think ALL music is subjective. It's context that matters, and all the other things that BRX mentions with regard to what is technically correct or otherwise. Bending that 'wrong' note into the 'right' note is one of the most effective thing a musician can do. Also, I would assume that most people would know if it was wrong and not play it, after all, the fact that it is 'wrong' derives from the ears, not the theory and western ears are fairly capable of deciding consonance from dissonance. There are a whole lot of 'wrong notes' in western music that are 'right notes' in Arabic and Indian music, and indeed flamenco singers evoke the pain of the gypsies by singing a whole raft of 'wrong notes' over the accompaniment, listen and you will understand. Like how Indian raags clearly evoke moods and times of day through the raag's melody structures and use of quarter tones, something that is incredibly difficult for many westerners to accept are 'right' but which are evocative nonetheless.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1240955' date='May 22 2011, 10:24 PM']They do have a very open grain. Here's what I did with a '78 body recently. I made the conscious decision to not fill the grain and make a feature of it. [/quote] WOW!

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1240852' date='May 22 2011, 09:23 PM']For the second question, I chose "I know some theory and I wish I knew a lot more", but it's a very subjective answer. Compared to many (probably most, to be honest) I know loads of theory, so they'd probably put me in the top bracket, but I'm [i]aware[/i] of the reams and reams of advanced stuff I've barely scraped the surface of, so I can't in all conscience put myself at the top.[/quote] Yep, it can only be subjective in that respect, it's about how you feel in this case, because that's what is important. Cheers.

I know it's contentious, I know we've had these discussions many times, but I don't think there's been a poll like this. I hope I've designed it well enough, any suggestions to improve it are welcome.

There are people who would love that body in its current incarnation. Sell it and get a body you want. Otherwise, you will be spending a LOT of time getting the body flat, ready for painting. It's time consuming, and IMO a waste of money and effort for a bog standard P Bass body, which I'm assuming it is.

[quote name='cycrowave' post='1239186' date='May 21 2011, 11:53 AM']coated strings are great if u just like to fingerbang, but if you use a pick much you wil scratch the coating off and that aint nice.[/quote] The new DR K3 coating is much more durable than the previous one. You are right in that the coating wears of after a while but it's not a big problem, only cosmetic really. I actually touch mine in with a Pentel permanent marker when the coating wears off a little

Which model is it? If it has the Steinberger system, then there is no nut on these, there's a zero fret. Look at the wrap on the E string, on many strings the wrap actually sits on the zero fret, One side of the wrap is often higher on one side of the string and fairly normal on the other, especially on the E. Try to get the more normal side sitting on the zero fret. What brand of string are you using? They are very light so the neck profile will be almost back-bowing if you haven't compensated by adjusting the truss rod and the strings will choke out as a result.

A friend of mine has John Entwhistle's old 72 Jazz, he's had it for over 20 years. It's a bit beat up, but the maple pearll B&B board and neck are in excellent condition. The neck socket is too big, it has non-original pups and an XLR for a jack. I played it yesterday in fact, it sounds big, the action is a bit high and although I didn't amplify it, he assures me it sounds massive.

[quote name='EddyGlee' post='1239302' date='May 21 2011, 01:39 PM']I respect your point of view completely silddx but your not wholeheartedly disagreeing with me here!! you've decided you don't like them, given your reasons and said you will not buy another one .. my point exactly! .. why buy something you don't like or doesn't sound right to you .. then try change it?, try been the operative word! I agree Fenders are diverse in sound .. which is no bad thing, find one you like. I understand there are lots of people out there blind with fashion who want a old Fender because it's cool, and it maybe more important that there friends say WOW you gotta 69 Fender!(which is fine by the way if thats what you want) but deep down they don't like what they sound like, so they try to change it! .. the truth is you cannot change what is sonically inherent in an instrument however hard you try! people just think you can! and continue to mod and eq .. etc, only to ever achieve a masking of what is fundamentally there and always will be. So my point is .. if your not happy with the sonic property of a Bass acoustically then preamps won't do it for you! ask any luthier worth his salt (Mike Tobias springs to mind) love em or hate em .. they've worked for me everytime for over 30 years, they've been perfect for me as standard. If they wasn't and I wanted the sound of a Warwick I would sell the Fender and get a Warwick for sure and save loads of money and maybe take the family to Disney World much love brother silddx x[/quote] All very fair points mate In fact, I really like a great Fender Jazz, but they don't sound right for me, and they have too few frets for some of what I do. I bought an immense Jap Fender Jazz recently because I needed to relieve an almighty itch. I sold it two months later to a guy who adores it and I have no itch left. I've done it. I got a cheap Hohner headless yesterday and it is a peach! 24 frets, D-Tuner, active, great action, great build, ergonomic, light as feather, totally stable tuning, highly portable, seldom seen in the wild .. Everything most Fenders aren't. It's not a very exciting bass, but the music I make on it is, and while I completely understand GAS and regularly suffer from it, I think the perceived need for a Fender, especially an old one, is irrational with most people.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1239294' date='May 21 2011, 01:32 PM']Isn't that basically what I said back on the first page? [/quote] It probably is, but I think sbs needed to hear someone playing it People learn in different ways. I'm a very visual learner for instance so theory on a page doesn't really help me a great deal. I usually need to see and hear.

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='1238869' date='May 21 2011, 12:24 AM']April 1st? Just like my favourite w*** is wearing a pair of boxing gloves .. right .. [/quote] A Pair? Do you have to ask your next door neighbour to help you take them off when you've finished?

[quote name='son of frog' post='1238906' date='May 21 2011, 01:52 AM'] hmm all these sets are expensive... like £30 and up, i'm sure they're good, but i'm literally playing all week long... so chances are i'll kill them, i'm still yet to get some fast fret, but next time i'm in the music store i will. I need to hurry up and get a string endorsement.[/quote] I use these guys, half the price of buying them here, about £18 including delivery from the States. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DR-Black-Beauty-BKB-45-Bass-Strings-45-105-/290564136077?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item43a6f8dc8d#ht_720wt_1141"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DR-Black-Beauty-BKB-...d#ht_720wt_1141[/url] Fast Fret is unlikely to help you as your problem sounds more serious. Although it might help Fudge with the friction from his boxing gloves

Right, firstly, there should be no need at all to replace strings before every gig, virtually no-one does that as far as I know. Do you sweat? Acid sweat can kill strings very quickly. I would suggest DR Strings Black Beauties, but get them from the USA on ebay, they work out a lot cheaper. DR coated strings have a very durable coating system which should cure your problem. They are black, they sound fantastic too. They also do DR Neons which are in a variety of colours and are flourescent and glow under black light. [url="http://www.drstrings.com/catalog/extra-life-bass-strings-black-beauties"]http://www.drstrings.com/catalog/extra-lif...-black-beauties[/url] I use black silk gloves to play. From Jasmine Silk on Amazon. They are durable and are absolutely no hinderance to my playing, even fast passages. In fact I get a smoother, more even tone. Etienne Mbappe uses them as his acid sweat kills the strings in three songs. I use them because I can pretend I'm Audrey Hepburn on stage

You don't want a Fender.

Now, I hope this geezer knows what he's taking about or I may look like a right twat

[quote name='EddyGlee' post='1238429' date='May 20 2011, 05:14 PM']suppose you gotta ask yourself why you'd love a vintage fender then? .. why not get one that has a pre-amp as standard if thats what you want! I arn't a collector, and it's not a value thing with me as I agree an Instrument should be played .. I just think they sound perfect as standard and thats why I'd play one .. if i wanted to change the sound then I'd want something else wouldn't I ?[/quote] I'm sorry mate, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Anyone who says Fenders sound great just as they probably have been bloody lucky. Fenders are more diverse in their characters than dogs. Some, including recent ones can be downright sh*te. Some of the rubbish I've played in Vintage and Rare beggars belief. The beauty of a Fender is that when you get a good one they can be so lovely and organic. I'll never buy one again.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1238007' date='May 20 2011, 11:47 AM']Presumably you have to unsolder the original electrics? That counts as a mod to some collectors.[/quote] It may do, but they don't seem to notice the G string nearly falling off the fingerboard on almost all the three bolts I've seen. Anyway, the guy loves his bass and wants to play it, not sell it. A little unsoldering and re-soldering when it comes to sell won't bother most people. Only a picky git would really care and would you want to sell your bass to a picky git? I wouldn't. Next thing you know they're calling you about a tiny scratch you failed to mention in your ebay listing. There is no point owning a bass you're not happy with. My thinking is that maybe the pickups need a rewind. That's a BIG 'mod'.

[quote name='Steve Dixon' post='1238435' date='May 20 2011, 05:20 PM']this may or may not be of interest, but Frank Zappa often soloed over a static Dorian harmonic vamp... if you listen to the solos from City of Tiny Lites, or The Torture Never Stops, they use G dorian and A dorian respectively... well, there's loads of them.. dorian and mixolydian were his fave modal aromas for soloing... certainly later on in the 1980's so if you're interested in how you'd approach a static modal vamp in a jazz-rock kinda vein, you could do worse than listen to Scott Thunes' work on the Frank Zappa 'Guitar' album.. it's full of Dorian noodlings[/quote] You sir, are a scholar for mentioning my hero, Scott