Burns-bass

It’s a whole big bag of cliches, but my daughter (4) likes this song so I sometimes play along with it while she’s dancing. The bass player here is a monster and doing a great job. I certainly can’t play it cleanly and with the confidence he does. And he plays keyboard too!

Very cool! Will be downloading these and have shared.

May have been a dodgy set. I’ve complained about strings before and when I sent them back we’re replaced free of charge. They asked where I’d bought them and all that, assume to try and identify the batch.

What set up do you have? I use either a Yamaha Session Cake or a PJB headphone amp with a set of PJB headphones and there’s no hiss. The right headphones will help.

I liked it.

I'm sure I wouldn't have let it get that far. What I was most worried about was their power to seize money and claim it from your bank which I still find a little strange, particularly as they don't seem to investigate these claims, but merely side with the buyer in teh majority of cases. Had it been for a trivial amount or I was in the wong, I'd accept a few quid but not the £1,200 it could have cost. Anyway, all was well in the end as I'm sure it will be with this one .

Cheers Dan, the looper is (another) brilliant idea and on the list for when I have a few quid. I'm waiting to hear on some jobs, so hopefully today. I'd love to be able to practice with a bow, but much of my practice is done when the kids are in bed so it's unlikely. I'll get there.

I had a similar situation when I sent a pair of speakers to someone in Spain. The packaging was faultless and there's no question that they arrvied there as they left here. I received an email a month or so later dmeanding money back, and I ignored it. I had an indentical experience with a 70s strat that I sold to a chap in France. Same deal and I ignored him too. In fact, I went to the extremes of closing my Paypal account down to stop him claiming the money back (which he didn't attempt, thankfully).

Not really my thing, but it’s a good tip!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been including some ‘blind’ practice into my routine. My wife said I looked like the karate kid when I played with a mask on, so now I just play in the pitch black. I use a drone and work on intonation, tackling scales and so on. This is a brilliant tip that has helped me make some great process that someone here raised. I’d never considered it, but it makes perfect sense. Any other good DB practice tips you would care to share that I can use during lockdown?

Will do! I’m very much a beginner at recording so trial and error I guess.

Bought and paid for!

Yeah, it’s really nice. Like a lot of people on here I got it when they weren’t bonkers money. Saved up for years to get it. It’s a lovely bass but (if I’m honest) the Fender special run modern jazz I bought sounds better and is better built all round. I know it’s controversial, but the modern pickups are better, the neck is nicer, components are more reliable and the case is sturdier. This one just means more to me than the modern one does, if that makes sense. I used to gig it a lot but now it can spend months in its case as I don’t want my kids whacking it with their toys (happens).

1966 by all the features but the pots day 67, so let’s go with that.

Perfect, that looks like it should do the business.

Plays amazing, looks amazing, sounds amazing and took a few years to save up for. And the paintwork is utterly destroyed so, as my dad pointed out, is pretty much worthless and I should take it all off and start again.

(Firstly, move this if it’s interesting he wrong category - I couldn’t figure out what was right). I’ve been asked to record some backing basslines and share them as MP3s with some band mates. I’ve got some super gear but no idea what I need to do this. I’ve got a nice MacBook with GarageBand and an iPad Pro, so guessing either of these would be fine. I’ll be recording an electric upright bass through a Fishman preamp, or 60s jazz which has quite low output pickups. Budget wise I don’t want to spend huge amounts. It’s a bit of fun during lockdown. Links to things I can buy is best.

Dragging this back to the topic in hand, I’ve found that practicing in front of a mirror has done wonders for my left hand technique. It may sound weird but you can see the position of your elbow, your fingers and even the thumb too. (Think this was a Geoff tip, can’t remember) I’ve also found being conscious to get the right thumb position has improved my fingering too. I’m actually a fan of the Simandl book as I like the way the exercises build on one another, but I can see why they may be frustrating (and in some places not musical).

I only had a 60s jazz for about 10 years. Now I have added one more jazz to the pile and the I’ll thought out Shuker.

I built a Jaco replica bass from a 68 body and a 70s neck. Fitted it with Wizard pickups and vintage hardware and it was amazing. Sold it a decade ago and still miss it.