oldbass

Hope u dont mind me mentioning the drummer who at his audition for us....a progressive rock thingy many, many moons ago, played ........4 on the floor disco style to every tune. Nothing wrong at all with disco but.....

aagh! no thks.

This summer I did a mammoth outdoors ,rainy, cold, 60 tune dep to about 30 in field miles from nowhere.....at the end of the night I packed up and knew Id had enough.. At the around the same time I'd started tapping around the house with a pair of sticks...six months on and I'm about to buy my first kit....

Guess all musicians need a way to keep it fresh..for me it was to learn a new instrument.....its fab. I still do bass in a little functions band but I never pick it up at home anymore..just turn up and play which is ok..we do some nice tunes etc, but the drumming thing is where its at now.

23 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

It would be neglectful of me to not post this:

 

Best slap tone ever..rich and deep with cut....

Oh well in for a penny.......

I think the average punter who is not that into music nor a musician doesn't know what bass is let alone be concerned by it in anyway. We musicians really are a little bit up ourselves........aren't we?

Good ole Mars Cowling..finger style. Amazing player and wicked tone...P bass. 

12 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

of course one of the reasons Rap might be popular is precisely because it upsets so many middle aged fuddy duddy's, as did Elvis in the mid 50's

Sounds bout right with one big important difference. The old stuff wasn't foul, disrespectful or threatening. I've heard some rap lyrics that ought to get the perpetrators a lengthy spell inside they are so awful.

16 minutes ago, Stylon Pilson said:

If what you're saying is that rock'n'roll is inexorably linked with misogyny, then perhaps it's for the best that it's dead.

S.P.

Well it didn't take long did it..ha

Since time immemorial men and women have sung about each other for good or bad......its called life. So what ur saying is we can now only sing about inanimate objects/the environment?

It's exactly this disastrous PC view of the world which is killing everything that is normal human behavior....the good and the bad.

I think most here are shying away from the truth.

Political Correctness. It seems white males in particular are no longer allowed to be well....blokes if you like. R&R was a vehicle for said group to show off a bit and to talk about how they felt in a good way about women.

Not allowed to do that anymore..nope! 

Also. R&R is descended from the blues and year by year we are gradually moving further away from the blues.

I got to a point two years ago where even with ear plugs I knew I had to quit electric live bands......now play drums in a jazz "ensemble"....killed two birds etc for a quieter life sitting behind everyone at the back away from any noise, much happier.

Nothing a good laxative couldn't fix....

3 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Anyways, a lot of it is not about what the pubic appreciate, its about having a sound that makes you happy, and we do like to be happy, don't we? I mean, if the bass sounds nice in your ears, then it helps you play better. 

 

Ugh just downed a gallon of coffee...bad idea, anyway.😝

Cant say I really agree. I have always strived to produce a tone that the paying audience finds satisfying and guess it stands to reason that its usually a tone I find pleasing too.

1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

Pershonally, I think righting when pished is fine, it is more expresso of what you is thinking. 

I'd agree with what you said or wot you rote, in general. Or anywhere else.

Anyways, a lot of it is not about what the pubic appreciate, its about having a sound that makes you happy, and we do like to be happy, don't we? I mean, if the bass sounds nice in your ears, then it helps you play better. Or something.

I usually play Fender basses, but last weekend played two giggles using my Alembic and it sounded nicer to me ears, but also to the rest of the band, the soundman and a  surprising number of peeple in the ordinance, many of whom came to tell me how nice the bass sounded. Which was nice.

Hic.............eh?

On 11/09/2017 at 20:39, ambient said:

Sound/tone comes as much from your hands as much as the pickups and guts of the thing.



I have to agree with this.

At uni people played my instrument, I played theirs, I sounded like me, they sounded like them.

Disclaimer. I'm a bit drunk, sorry.

Running a specialist shop like BD is admirable, and no doubt they do good business. Fair enough, wish I had the confidence to make a visit etc etc. But.....and I know this is gonna tick off just about everyone on here. I've been to a number of big gigs/festivals recently with bassists playing all manner of different instruments.....and guess what..they all sounded the same...boom mush boom.

So I put out there a philosophical conundrum. Bass.   Do you really need to spend gazillions of quids to create bass tone that Jo public can appreciate?. My ill informed opinion, nope....

And with regard to the above gigs etc... all the P's sounded like all the others. It's made me really appreciate my crap but pleasant sounding Squier.

If enough of u have a go at me for writing in this inebriated manner I will pull this post asap.

54 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

 There's something  really cathartic about banging drums. 

I think that's it in a nutshell. Knocking out a solid groove is def very satisfying.

Interesting responses guys

I use a couple of home made practise pads which Ive mounted on a pair of snare stands with a BD rig thingy..but even clacking on them irritates next door if I get carried away so once a week I use a very nice air con drum studio couple of miles away. I cant give the bass stuff away yet...still got gigging promises to do which I'll probably enjoy but only with a watchful eye on the drummer....ha
But yeah the lugging gear thing is prob why I avoided it in the frst place, I mean it was the early 80's with double BD's and reams of Rotos clogging up the stage. Have to say though the current trend towards small kits does seem hugely appealing and almost manageable.

1 hour ago, gary mac said:

I like to play other instruments but always happy to pick up a bass, haven't yet found it boring.

 

Hope you get the love back😀 Enjoy the drumming as well though.

Well, I guess bass will always be there but the satisfaction of clanging out a ride driven jazz groove is hugely satisfying..guess a goodly long break from four strings might do me good.

Cello. Cant sit with it..cant bow it..and as for the fingers..forget it...and I'd wanted to play one for years..there just so kinda right on...

I've started playing drums, or should I say trying to re-learn what I did at school 40 odd  yrs ago!  anyway after three weeks of the most fun I've had in years, having to pick up the bass for some upcoming gigs feels like a real bind, it seems kinda dull and boring to be honest  Just wondering if anyone else has ever found themselves in a similiar position with another instrument only to find it hard to go back to bass?

This just sounds like summer, and....

summer of 76 on the beach somewhere...mmmm

Ha..wait till they want u to play Dance ur self Dizzy.....soaring octaves or what...

I do a few deps now and again as I'm not interested in being stuck with one band...Last month it was a loose 60's pop/Beatles tribute type thing then in a few weeks it'll be a one 45 min affair with another band doing S Dan, Floyd, early F Mac, Chris Rea etc...I like the variety, keeps me interested.  

Bought two VM P Squiers a while back..there good but one is very good indeed, a bit heavier but the gnarly tone from those SD pickups is there in dollops. I rolled the fingerboard edges and now I cannot put it down....amazing really after what I paid for them.

I'll put up with most things, but the spectre of having to deal with the guitarists Roland onboard key change gizmo nearly had me done.  He can flick a switch on his guitar and the key changes??      It happened the other night...he's suddenly in D, we're all in E...could have walked there and then. 

On 11/06/2018 at 13:09, Lozz196 said:

It always amazes me when people manage to get a bad sound from a Precision - with most amps set flat they work well in the mix, and if you then eq them they can do so much.

This. Trouble is in the bedroom they can sound dull if not played with a light touch, maybe this is why a lot of players don't like them. I played through an old Marshall 4x10 and 450 watt top on Saturday...the old el cheapo Squier had punch and clarity for days.....very satisfying, band loved it too.

Not necessarily to nice to use but I did have a couple of early 70's p basses which I got rid of after trying a Squier and realising hanging on to them  was not financially viable, and to be honest I did use to worry every time I gigged them.