Russ

I've been in the same room as a well-known British luthier while he worked on making a very convincing fake late-50s Strat that a music shop owner that he was in cahoots with was intending to sell as genuine. And no, I'm not naming names. Just saying, you don't just get counterfeiters in China.

Mark King - like many others, seeing him do "that" solo on The Tube when I was about 14 was a watershed moment. Cliff Burton - the melodic heart and soul of Metallica, and proof positive that the bass doesn't have to follow the guitar in metal. Tony Levin - the man who introduced me to groove, melody and taste. 'Nuff said. Doug Wimbish - the bassist who can literally do, and has done, everything. Awesome tone, groove and use of effects... inspiring. Eric Avery - The man who defined alternative rock bass, for me. Most of the time, in Jane's Addiction, the bass *was* the song. Honorable mentions to Jaco, John Paul Jones, Simon Gallup from The Cure, Les Claypool, Nick Beggs, Marcus Miller and Justin Chancellor from Tool.

Tabs are great for beginners, since it can get you up and running quickly and build your confidence. This is a good thing. A few thoughts though. Firstly, tabs show you the notes, but teach you nothing about proper technique. You should employ the services of a good tutor to show you the proper way to bring together your left and right hand techniques. Get an actual bass tutor - not a guitar tutor who does bass as a sideline. Guitar tutors often don't have as good a grasp of bass techniques and of the rhythmic aspects of bass playing. Secondly, as far as reading goes, you might not think you need it, but when I came to learn to read after 10 years of not doing so, it opened up my eyes a lot more to the rules of composition and harmony - having a full score in front of you, with every instrument written out, shows you a lot about how a piece of music actually works from a compositional perspective, and it makes you think of the music differently. You think of the whole piece of music as opposed to just your part in it. I'm still not great at it (those damn key signatures get me every time) but it's a very worthwhile thing to do if you're actually interested in the bigger picture musically. So, basically, get your technique together, learn the positions of notes on the neck, and, if nothing else, make sure you've got your major, minor and pentatonic scales down. Once you know where the notes are and how to move through major and minor scales, reading becomes a whole lot easier. You see that dot on the top line of the stave, you know that's an A, and you know that A is either at the 7th fret on the D string or the 12th fret on the A string. Another thing that makes it less intimidating is, for instance, if you pick up piano music to learn with, for the most part, the left-hand parts (ie, the bass parts) are often rather easy - lots of root/fifths. Reading rhythms is another matter though - that can be tricky and takes more work than just being able to read the notes. Over and above the whole tab/music argument, the thing that'll get you up and running and improving faster than anything else will be to play with other people. Join or form a band - even if it's not a great band, you'll improve so much more quickly than plodding away at home.

Back on topic, yes, I have downloaded music illegally. But, generally, if I've liked it, I've either gone and bought the CD or downloaded it from Amazon. As a musician, I have no desire to stiff other musicians. But it can't be denied that the music industry has changed significantly, and, in many ways, this change is a very good thing as it has put the power back with the artists instead of the record companies. An artist can now record an album on their laptop, upload it to iTunes or Amazon themselves, and, if they can promote well via the channels available to them, they can get in the charts without ever involving a record company. This means more profit to the artists directly, more artistic control and a much wider variety of music for listeners. Everybody wins except the old guard at the record companies . It's also true that, even back in the "old" days before downloading, most of the real money most artists make is from live performance and merchandising. If your music is being downloaded from The Pirate Bay, sure, that's a lost CD or download sale, but it's potentially another fan gained, another gig ticket or T-shirt sold, and that's where the real money is.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1039577' date='Nov 28 2010, 04:29 AM']He's hardly an endorsement whore. The gear he has endorsed he has stuck by for a long time, see below: Amps: In the 80's he used Hartke, and he continued that for a long time. Around the turn of the Millenium, he switched to Peavey. There was never a Peavey Stuart Hamm signature but he did promotional work and clinics for them. He then went back to Harkte, again using stock Hartke stuff. He's a good friend of Larry Hartke, and loves his amps. Basses: So in the 80's he's playing Kubicki basses and is a good friend of Phil Kubicki. When Fender buy Kubicki, they recognise Stu as Kubicki's highest profile player. After approximately 7/8 years playing Kubicki basses Fender offer to make Stu a signature bass since they've been in contact through the "Fender era" at Kubicki. Stu has a big hand in the design stage (I could bore you with stories about details as minute as why they chose Pau Ferro over ebony for the fretboard but I won't) and ends up having his name on the first signature bass that Fender made. Production continues for several years before Fender decides it would like to make a second Urge bass, this time more suited to the mainstream (hence the 34" scale). The second Urge bass is created, and goes on selling for a number of years. Fender then discontinue it. In 2001, Stu started using Washburn basses, namely an acoustic that appears on "Outbound". Having had nearly a decade of enjoyment from this bass, he gets a signature model made by Washburn. Having contacts in Washburn, he's played their electric basses for a while before getting a signature model. Strings: Stu has used GHS Boomers since the 80's, no signature string, just one brand he likes. etc etc So it's hardly fair to call Stu an endorsement whore. He puts his name to products he develops himself, and he gives them many years of use. He is not picking companies out of the ether. It'd be more fair to say that Mark King is an endorsement whore, but then the term "whore" cheapens it. Whats wrong with having companies wanting to put your name on their stuff? If we were good enough bassists that companies were begging us to give them signature models I'm sure we'd jump too![/quote] I just think he' s up there with the Wootens of this world in terms of the number of adverts he appears in. Granted, he's not as bad as the likes of Wooten, Mark King, etc, but he's up there as one of the big names who are associated with a portfolio of endorsed products. He's definitely been through several other amp endorsements over the years, including Fender's amp range and, briefly, Eden, and I do recall a short stint advertising another brand of strings. But I do know he's been pretty faithful with the basses, with Kubicki and Fender, and now Washburn. I just wonder why he went with Washburn - a player of his stature could have gone with any number of better manufacturers. I remember the BP article back in the early 90s about the Urge basses, and how in-depth the development process was in conjunction with the Fender Custom Shop. I just wonder how much of that care and attention he's managed to get from Washburn. Then again, I've wondered what the likes of Jeff Berlin and Brian Bromberg saw in Dean bassses. All I can imagine is that the instruments the endorsers get are pretty far removed from the ones that make it to the shops. PS. I had an endorsement deal with Warwick briefly back in 2003.

Blandsville. I wouldn't look at it twice if it was hanging on the wall of a guitar shop. Stu's one hell of a player, but, let's face it, he's an endorsement whore. He's changed amp endorsements more regularly than some people change their pants. Certainly, in terms of profile, when you've had a Fender signature model, where else is there to go but down? But Washburn? Surely if he'd wanted a Fender-alike, he could have gone with Lakland or something?

I personally have no interest in playing in a cover band, but I guess it depends why you want to play music in the first place. Do you do it because you love performing, love your instrument or want to play cool songs and pull birds, or do you do it because you love the creative process? For me, it's definitely the latter. A cover band just wouldn't be satisfying on the level I need it to be for it to hold my interest. I've always been very involved in the songwriting with every original band I've been a part of - not just the basslines, but the chord progressions, vocal melodies and lyrics too. I wouldn't want to play music if this part of the equation wasn't there, and I'm with Bilbo on the point that I'd rather leave this world knowing I'd helped create something new than just got very good at performing someone else's creation. I see it as art vs. craft. You can be a great craftsman without being a great artist, and vice versa. I want to be both, just being one isn't enough. But that's by me, for me - as they say on the internet, YMMV. My 2p's worth.

Alas, Nightingale Guitars are no more. Nightingale basses were made by Neil McDonald, who used to be Bernie Goodfellow's business partner in the original Goodfellow Guitars venture. Neil struck out on his own and started Nightingale after Bernie sold the Goodfellow name to Lowden in Northern Ireland (a few years before he started GB). The Nightingales shared a lot of features with the Goodfellow/GB basses, including the custom Kent Armstrong pickups and Dick Straker's active circuit, as well as some similar styling cues, including an almost identical headstock for a while (I loved Nightingale's yin/yang owl logo). The Nightingales were awesome instruments. I owned a lovely bolt-on 4-string for a while and it's one of the basses I really regret selling. Back in the mid-90s, Neil McDonald moved his workshop from Croydon to Denmark St. He started to build a profile as a guitar tech, and after he made the perspex bass for Charlie Jones he got some extra visibility as a luthier, but by 2002 or so, he'd closed up shop. No idea what he's doing now, alas. I know Bernie G still services Nightingale basses, since they used more or less identical pickups and circuits to the early GBs (not to mention that the newer GB "bass processor" active circuit just drops straight in). The Gallery in Camden actually have a 4-string fretless Nightingale in stock, as it goes. It's the only one I've seen in a while.

The problem with most pointy-shaped "metal" instruments is that they might look great, but almost always play, balance and sound like s**t. As a new player, you want an instrument that plays easily and sounds good, as it'll inspire you to keep playing and get better. The only inexpensive metal-ish bass I've played anytime recently that's actually any good is the ESP LTD F-104, the basic model comes in at £269 on GAK. Check it out - [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-f-104/2034"]http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-f-104/2034[/url] . And, since you like Steve DiGiorgio in the Death video, these are the basses he's playing now (albeit fretless ESP Custom Shop versions).

Absolutely gutted. Lovely bloke, had lots of chats about websites, SEO and amp modelling! Maybe we should get a collection going for his family? What is it with 2010? People seem to be dropping left, right and centre (I lost my mum back in June). This year is cursed, I swear.

I don't own one, but I spent some time playing through one a couple of weeks back. Great head. Sounds, to my ears, very like an SVT-3, but with more power and bit less in the way of tone shaping (no graphic, only one valve in the preamp). It sounds like an Ampeg, basically, and that's a good thing. Looking forward to trying this head with the new Ampeg neodymium-loaded cabinets - that could be my next rig.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='891430' date='Jul 10 2010, 04:59 PM']Our old keyboard player did alright with the ladies despite being horrifically nerdy, having extreme panic attacks every time he smoked weed (but still insisting on smoking weed all the time) and being named Lambert.[/quote] Was he in last night's episode of The IT Crowd?

[quote name='urb' post='825834' date='May 2 2010, 06:51 PM']The first two things I learnt slap-wise was a half arsed attempt at some Mark King stuff from the Physical Presence live album but also I remembered this cool clip from an early Luc Besson film called Subway which had a bit of slap played by the films soundtrack guy Eric something, he's in the band in the film and it was one of the first bits of slap I learnt.[/quote] Eric Serra (or RXRA). He's soundtracked quite a few of Besson's films, including The Fifth Element - some lovely, tasty slap stuff in that. He seems to go for a very Tony Levin-esque tone - Stingray with lots of compression. Great player and composer.

I think it's because once you've bought the parts and shipped them over from the likes of Warmoth, Allparts, etc, the cost benefits of a parts bass are somewhat eroded. When you've got Jon Shuker, who'll make you a fully custom Jazz for £900, and ordering the Warmoth parts might come to £600 without the cost of assembly or finish, you can see the problem. There is definitely a gap in the market for someone to do this sort of thing though. If someone bought bodies, necks, etc from Warmoth in bulk, there'd be cost savings to be had.

Garrison, Gwizdala, etc do know jazz. But they studied it as a subset of music, which also includes pop, rock, R&B, etc. In order to be a professional musician, you have to take the well-paying gigs. Thanks to their thorough knowledge of music (over and above jazz) they have their pick of gigs. They get paid well to go on stage, play, have fun, and increase their exposure, so they'll probably get more interest in their solo work when they get back off tour and return to their original projects. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Take That - their bassist, Lee Pomeroy, is an old friend of mine, and, seriously, I've never met another bass player who can compare to him, and I've met lots of bass players. He's shockingly good - he can play any style, can do all the flashy, fast stuff (watching a lefty who plays upside down do superfast machine-gun slapping is incredibly impressive), and has perfect pitch. The guy could play in any band he wanted, in any style, but he's taken the fun, well paying gig. I'm not really a TT fan, but good luck to him - he's also got the bass gig with Rick Wakeman and It Bites for when he's not off playing with TT.

The Cash Converters in Croydon had a Wal Pro II in there back in around 1998... for £250. Even though this was back before Wals became gold dust (ie, when Pete Stevens was still making them, and before Justin Chancellor really popularised them), that's still insanely cheap.

I posted a thread on TB when I first heard about this bass... not impressed. The Chrome-Tone Streamers always looked quite tacky, and this looks like they've put one of those finishes on a Streamer Standard (less body contouring, one-piece bridge, etc). It's a m*nger. What's more, it'll sound just like every other EMG-equipped bass he's ever played. He should have stuck to the Zons.

[quote name='NJE' post='761550' date='Mar 2 2010, 09:46 AM']There are a couple of used Sei Jazzes at the Gallery now and they are very well priced. I am seriously tempted by two of them. I have had quite a few basses over the years but ever since I picked up Bassist magazine 10 years ago when I started playing and saw a Sei Jazz in an advert I knew that was the bass for me. I need to do something about getting one soon.[/quote] There's an amazing 5-string Sei Jazz there in Candy Apple Red, with an ebony fingerboard and blocks, with Basslines pickups. Give that one a go, you'll be blown away. HUGE sound.

I ordered my next Sei a couple of weekends ago. It's going to be a 5-string Jazz, with a lightweight ash body, maple neck with ebony 24-fret fingerboard and block inlays, a very pretty spalted maple top, black hardware, Nordstrand MM3.1 pickups and a John East circuit (with the EQ curves set up to match a Music Man). It is going to cost a pretty penny, but Martin's lead time is currently about 12-14 months, so that's plenty of time to save up. He's also got my singlecut 5 in there at the moment for a tune-up and active circuit replacement. Seriously, you can't go wrong with a Sei.

I had a play through one of these a couple of weeks back in Guitar Center in the US - not bad, although kinda gimmicky. It's the practice amp for someone who bought the big Acoustic with the 8x10" (which is actually rather good, and very cheap in the US). No idea if they'll be selling them outsite the US though. The power supplies are 110V only right now. I also played through the baby Ampeg rig - twice the price, but I'd say probably useful for more than practice.

I don't have any "solo bass"-type vids, so instead, here's my old band's two music videos - hope you like them! We're probably getting back together later this year for a few 10th Anniversary gigs.

[quote name='elom' post='716247' date='Jan 18 2010, 12:42 AM'][/quote] Ohhh god!

I was checking out the Ampeg site today, as it goes, and came across this new combo: [url="http://www.ampeg.com/products/bassamp/ba600/210.html"]http://www.ampeg.com/products/bassamp/ba600/210.html[/url] Looks rather nice, class D power amp with 600W, neodymium speakers, valve preamp, lightweight... but no external speaker out? What's the point of having 600W if you can only shove it through 2 10s? Ampeg missed a trick here - pairing this with one of the new neo 4x10"s could have been a great little rig. Also, where's Ampeg's long-overdue entry into the small/light head market? I'd love an SVT head that was the same size and weight as a LMII!