Annoying Twit

Congratulations! Will we get to see it with pics and hear it with recordings?

One of my local shops has these in, and is selling them for a very reasonable price. I thought it was £273, which matches internet prices. But when I heck out youtube videos, I must admit that I'm not convinced. Some make it sound neither fish nor fowl, i.e. a bit twangy for a bass, and not good for chordal work. This is the best demo I found so far: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_l3Wb6dDSQ[/media] But even in that, the chords sound a bit out of tune to me, and the sound doesn't quite work for me. I particularly disliked the IMHO half-baked dirty sound used on the GAK demo of the VI, really off-putting. Are there any no-apologies demos of the VI around that really show what it can do?

[quote name='BigBassBob' timestamp='1386233326' post='2297403'] To reiterate what others have said: I'm a big fan of Ed's videos. Even if the piece of gear isn't to my taste he is always able to provide musical, honest demonstrations in realistic contexts that are always a joy to listen to. [/quote] And often I find his riffs are good examples for use in practicing picking things up by ear.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386177239' post='2296797'] If you're in the market for a Speccy, have you seen this one? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222040-westone-spectrum-gt-bass-w-hardcase-l160-posted/"]http://basschat.co.u...se-l160-posted/[/url] A fair bit higher up the food chain than the Ebay one. [/quote] It's not so much that I want a speccy, but that I'm interested in trying more basses and perhaps coming across 'the one'. I tried too very well setup (warning: In my inexpert opinion alter) basses that played extremely well yesterday. Neither was very expensive. The seller of the bass in my post is near me, is someone who has all the appearances of knowing his bass onions, and I know from previous communications that if I'm seriously interested in something, that it would be OK for me to go over and try it. But I don't want to just go over and try just anything in case I waste his time, and perhaps he's less interested in letting me try things in the future when I am more serious. I've got a stored search on ebay just for his listings, and I'm thinking of the long term The speccy above is probably nicer, but the Wirral is a bit far to go for me to try it. It's the concept of trying a bass and finding 'the one' that caused me to post here, not a particular desire for a speccy.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1386112226' post='2296097'] Yep TI's are quite rubbery (or floppy). But there's rubbery and there's rubbery. If you prefer extra compliance (rubberyness) then they may well be for you but if you've never tried them before then I doubt you'll have experienced much quite like them. I have TI's on 2 of my basses and they do sound great but for me their compliance makes them best for lazy, plodding bass lines. [/quote] I've been thinking about this post for a while, and while in some ways it seems that TI flats should be for me, I'm really not aiming for just lazy plodding bass lines. I wish there was a place I could go and try them out. The only way I get to try out quality strings is to try out expensive basses in shops, and find out what strings they come with stock. (Note mention of Fender strings earlier up). I've also seen comments elsewhere on this forum that the low B string for TI flats is just a bit too floppy, and I wouldn't enjoy that I think. That leaves my four string, which at the moment I've made the decision not to £&$% with. I need to go somewhere where I can try out some more quality strings. Slightly OT for this thread, but at the 'bass bashes', is there ample opportunity to (carefully and respectfully) try out other people's gear? I can imagine that many would be very hesitant to let people touch their pride and joys.

How nicely do the Westone Spectrums play? E.g. one like this. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Spectrum-bass-/321263006381?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4accc472ad Until yesterday I wasn't in the market for a four string fretted bass. However, having played some very nice basses yesterday, I'm thinking I still need to keep checking in case I find something irresistible. However, I'd need to travel some miles to try this out, which would also take up the seller's time. As this seller lists very many interesting basses, I would like to be in his good books.

When I got home, I adjusted my Shine a bit, trying to get close to the setup of the good RBX and the Korean Tobias. Can't do it just with truss rod and bridge, getting down that low gives me problems, while the RBX and Tobias felt great and could be easily played cleanly at that height. It could be my setup skills of course, but in another thread it was mentioned that I'd probably need to level and crown the frets to really get the action right. After sleeping on yesterday's experience, I've concluded that even with my self-imposed limits on what I spend, there's the opportunity to obtain a bass that has sufficiently close to no-compromise quality. (I don't know if I can get my Cimar set up to match them, the bridge looks an utter nightmare to adjust). But that to get that, I'm going to have to be playing lots of basses to find the one that both plays right, and sounds right. And that even if I know the model, it's going to be a matter of playing individual instruments. Hence, buying at a distance may not be a good idea. (What's that going to do to my ebay addiction - probably nothing, window shopping is not a problem).

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1386163090' post='2296556'] Basics of slap and tapping. Both are universally applauded but fundamentally peripheral to the business of bass playing. Hence 'fluff'. My point is simply that most people would be better served working on stuff that is useful not whizzy Ref: triplets. The secret is not concentrate on the pulse, not the triplet. If you make sure you play the notes that are on the beat, the rest takes care of itself. [/quote] Thanks. I'm not planning to become a professional bassist, bit late for that I think that being able to play slap and particularly tap would significantly increase my personal enjoyment of bass playing. With triplets over simple time signatures, I seem to have an inbuilt avoidance mechanism. The other day I was trying it, and I found that I was playing triplet eighths at the end of the bar as sixteenth notes, and then pushing (and lengthening) the downbeat of the bar forward by one sixteenth. An interesting rhythm, but not what I was aiming for. Perhaps this was a case where using a metronome, rather than a drum pattern as a metronome, would help, giving less opportunity to play the 'wrong' thing that still fits in some way.

You appear to be coming into your stride in terms of buying stuff :)I If you search on "Old Bass Guitar" on ebay, and find the red (I think) one with that title, are you tempted?

Thanks for the comments. When trying all the Fenders and Squiers, I did notice that the more expensive the bass, the lower the action. It could be that they were setting them up within the limitations of their quality, and the better quality instruments allowed a better action. I was surprised that I preferred the good RBX374 to a USA Fender, in terms of feel, though. Perhaps I'm just not a Fender kinda guy. Given the price of the RBX (very good price in that shop), I checked them out on youtube, but I'm not sure the sound is for me.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1359160632' post='1951130'] To be fair though, if you were having an instrument made to your exacting specs you shouldn't really be considering the resale value. Why have it made if you're even considering selling it? Even a little bit? [/quote] Because at some point in the future something might come along that you would really really like to have? And in some situations that might mean moving on something that you have right now?

More weird than wonderful, I'm afraid. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-II-Laser-Heritage-1980s-Bass-guitar-Matsumoku-MIJ-/131063105855?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e83f8493f

I think my theory is OK, but what I'm not used to so much is applying theory in a convincing way in real time. E.g. knowing how chords are constructed and what arpeggios are, I was listening along to AllThumbs' video while working. What I really gained from that video was hearing him switch from playing the notes singly to show the notes of a chord to a plausible bass riff based on them. I think that physical dexterity is the biggest thing holding me back. But, on Monday that might be exposed as a misconception

One problem with finding strings that feel nice is that it's not often possible to try out the more specialist strings without purchasing. And going through a wide range of strings by purchasing could be expensive. A USA Fender I tried today might have: Fender® USA Super Bass 8250M, Nickel Plated Steel: .045, .065, .085, .110 Taper Wound Gauges (according to [url=http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=54246]here[/url]). What are the stock strings on a Squier Affinity p-bass? I tried to search, but just found huge numbers of pages recommending that people change them. I'm not sure what the source of it is, but there is a very definite difference in feel between Squier Affinity basses and Fender USA. Some of that is a better action possible with better construction/fretwork. But, surely once there are no sharp frets etc., the strings must be a major part of the 'feel'. I've googled, and there seems to be a lot of opinion that TI Jazz Flats are very good strings and feel very nice. E.g. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/197248-ti-jazz-flats/ But as with many questions of feel, clearly that's subjective. My 'experiment' bass is my sixer, but that would boost the cost of trying TI Jazz Flats even more. Ou7Shined, what do you mean by 'compliant'? I like strings that feel a bit stretchy or rubbery, and don't like strings that are too stiff, or feel a bit like 'bars' not strings. 'Compliant' might be a good thing for me, depening on what you mean.

[quote name='the hand of john curley' timestamp='1386094604' post='2295696'] Looks like the bridge on the ibanez BTB range! May have a punt on this! [/quote] There are quite a lot of cheap individual bass saddles on ebay, and on Amazon too. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-BRIDGE-SADDLE-GOLD-INDIVIDUAL-STRING-NEW-/400232384137?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5d2fb58689 I considered putting some on my Shine, but eventually decided I couldn't be bothered. It would make it look nicer though.

I tried a whole lot of basses today. All were played unplugged so that I could concentrate on the feel. The overall result was that of all the basses I played, my favourite for feel (subjective opinion alert) was a Yamaha RBX374. But, the bass I played which I liked least was .... a second-hand Yamaha RBX374 in another shop. In-between these were a whole range of Squiers and Fenders from Affinity through to USA Standard. A Korean Tobias, which was a close second to the better of the two RBXs. Cort A4 and Action basses, and a Yamaha PJ RBX270. The Yamaha was odd, in that the neck felt 'cheaply' finished, but I liked it a lot. It was also a very light bass. But, to inexpert me, it felt really nice to play, better than even the USA Standard P-Bass. I was impressed with the Squier Affinity basses, which I have tried before, in that they seemed not much worse than the Classic Vibes, and not horrendous in comparison to the USA instruments. I tried those in a shop that sets up all their instruments however, and I have played Affinity basses elswhere which were much worse. But I tried several at that shop, and all seemed entirely usable instruments. To me at least. I'd read on here that the only difference between the RBX270s and the RBX370s is the active electronics. But the ones that I tried today were very different, with the better of the RBX374s being quite a bit better, and the worse one being just a bit worse. Which brings me to my point. My clear conclusion today is that it's the setup that is probably the prime factor in influencing whether or not I like to play a bass or not. So, if I'm buying in the future, how do I distinguish the quality of the bass from the quality of the setup? Or, if I was buying again, should I not worry about the details, and just go for the instrument that speaks to me, for whatever reason? It reminds me of when I filed the nut of my Shine bass. It transformed the feel of the instrument. But if I was buying again, how would I tell the difference between the instrument that's right for me but it needs a good setup, from one that simply isn't right for me.

So, which strings feel the nicest? Either by type (e.g. flatwound), brand, or even actual strings (e.g. RotoSound RS66ld). I'm not interested in sound or how long they last, just curious about actual feel while playing. I realise this will be highly subjective. But I'd be interested in hearing comments. Surely a lot of the 'feel' of a bass is down to the strings.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1386084530' post='2295499'] I've only used the guitar strings. The coloured ones look great but I couldn't stand the feel and I didn't think the sound was anything special. However I think the only way for you to find out if they suit is to try a set. [/quote] I was curious to find out what they feel like. Do other people find that they feel horrible?

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought that 'at the same time' meant he was sending both to one of you , and the other one would pick up. (I guessed that you were in geographically close locations). Sorry.

Are you going to meet up with Jon and have a jam session?

£50 starting bid. £10 postage. Someone could get a bargain here (provided it's not too awful). Nicer looking bridge than my £60 six string. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-String-Bass-Guitar-Scott-NB6-Six-Strings-New-and-Boxed-/171187835395?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27db971203"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27db971203[/url]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386025505' post='2294897'] Well - he dropped the price to £75 so I had no choice. Bought it. And so it begins again... J. [/quote] Happy NBD.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1386067248' post='2295143'] Overwater Tanglewood A good number are new, but ex-demo or with problems. I heard Overwater have spent a lot of time in China sorting quality issues. My guess is this is the poor quality ones being sold off to recover the costs. If this is the case, and [b]if I owned Overwater, I'd de-brand them[/b]. But I don't and I may be wrong. [/quote] I very much agree with that. Gear4Music may be less worried about debasing their own brand by selling faulty (even smashed) seconds. Aria and Peavey sell seconds on ebay, but many fewer of them. I can't imagine all these seconds (assuming that they are) being out there will help Overwater/Tanglewood. Though, perhaps it's a matter of having so many of them (whether seconds or just being sold cheaply) that they have to do something as they can't afford to just write them off. If it is just excess stock, then there's also the problem that other brands have had in that if enough are sold off cheaply, that creates an expectation among buyers as to how much they cost which makes new instruments in shops look 'too expensive'. But, I'm not a marketing guru, and I could be wrong. Replying to another post up further, I think the number of Tanglewaters on ebay is way out of proportion to the number 'out there' in general. Hence my question.

What do you mean by my list looking like 'fluff'? I don't quite understand what you mean there. One concern that I do have is that it would be 'start from scratch'. I heard a comment from Andrew Levy of The Brand New Heavies. He described someone standing in front of him in a concert staring at him, then the next day there was a potentially linked forum post where someone said that 'Andrew Levy's technique is AWFUL'. One parameter I have to work within is that I've had a life of failing to learn to play real musical instruments. Certain things that are the 'right way' to do things aren't going to work with me as they'd just lead to the same old pattern of not practicing for a day, then it becomes two, then it becomes three, and then so on, until I'm an ex-bassist. (A big gap in my postings here reflects one instance of that). Fundamentally, my choice, being I am who I am, MIGHT be to progress towards being an Andrew Levy who does things wrong, but has learnt to do what he does fluently enough that he functions very well as a bass player, or to repeat the same pattern. I've had bass lessons. When I was 14-15. In hindsight, knowing what I know now, those weren't very good lessons. I had two teachers. One had me sight-reading from music, but nothing else. The other had low expectations, and was shocked one day when at a group lesson I played a major scale fill to that song that goes 'green green, it's green they say on the far side of the hill'. When I said 'that's what they do on the record' (one of my mother's records), he replied 'but I didn't expect to hear it here'. I'm booked in with someone (he may read this) who appears to be a very well known and reputable teacher, so I'll see how it goes. One of my bad learning habits is having loads of books, and sampling them, rather than working through methodically. I'm fine at working methodically in other areas, doesn't seem to work with musical instruments. I don't know how a lesson or lessons now as an adult would work so I'd like to try. Personally I think I've had much of the value of the lesson already, as knowing that it is coming up, I've been practicing every day. Perhaps I've been internalising some bad technique, but this is what I need to be doing.

I've got a lesson next Monday. I don't think that with my non-bass responsibilities that I'm going to be able to do weekly lessons etc., but I want to give one a try. It's only one hour (need to get back home on time). I'm to think of what to suggest should I be asked "so, what would you like to go over?" The three things I think I'd get the most value from would be: 1] Basics of slap. Particularly for the pops, I don't think I'm physically doing the right thing, and when I try I either seem to get far too mellow a pop, or a way over the top string bounce off the frets. I've seen people doing all sorts of intermediate sounds, but I don't seem to have the physical control to do so. Yet? If I could make good progress towards a simple slap riff that sounds right, both the slap and the pop, that would be a win. 2] Basic tapping. I'd like to be able to tap, and have tried, but don't quite seem to 'get' the physical process of it quite right. Again, if I could progress to a very simple two handed tapping riff within an hour, that would be a win. But, is expecting to get to two hands within an hour unrealistic? 3] Triplets played against simple time signatures. Not quite getting this at the moment though I think it's simple a matter of actually getting around to playing the correct exercises along with examples on training CDs. Perhaps of these three this is the one that I should be able to progress on myself, if I stopped living up to my user name and just do the obvious things to solve the problem. But if I got to the point where I could incorporate triplets in riffs and soling, that would be a win. I *think* I'm hammering on chromatic triplets (?) OK, but think I could do with properly examining whether what I'm playing otherwise as triplets are actually good triplets. Or, should I: 4] Shut up, and simply place myself at the mercy of the teacher and see what happens. I wouldn't want to do more than one of these, as it's only an hour. And knowing myself even if the teacher agreed to split the lesson, I probably won't take enough of anything in/wouldn't remember enough, and it wouldn't work. The problem is: if I'm asked, which of the above options? I'm utterly stumped myself, so the obvious answer of 'whichever you think will benefit your playing the most' won't help. So, any comments/advice would be appreciated. All of the above are skills that I am set on acquiring/refining at some point. Note: The teacher I'm booked with is on this forum, but appears to be a very busy person so quite possibly won't see this.