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lozkerr

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Posts posted by lozkerr

    Is 4 strings really enough? (Oooo i went there)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Rich said:

     

    This, entirely and absolutely. For me, by far and away the most useful aspect of a 5 stringer. The main reason I still use a 5 with one of my bands is that some of the songs are an absolute arrse to play up and down the neck on a 4 and are far easier across a 5.

    Exactly the same here. The five-string is much easier than the four, as I find for most songs there's very little jumping about needed. That helps a lot, especially when I'm singing at the same time.

     

    There are a few songs - some Smiths songs, Bowie songs and Back On The Chain Gang spring to mind - where the four-string fingering is simpler because the basslines involve playing open strings and then immediately fretting them, but being able to whizz across the fretboard rather then jumping about to find notes makes life so much easier, even with songs that use all five strings.

     

    • Like 2

    Jumping back to a 4 to "learn".

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    @Acebassmusic nailed most of what I was going to say. Yes, scales, arpeggios, modes and theory can be seriously boring, but a grasp of them all is pretty much essential if you're going to progress. Switching to a four-string will pull you out of your comfort zone and make progressing that much harder. Don't beat yourself up.

     

    The only thing I would add is learn to read music. I don't mean having to become one of those nauseatingly talented people who can glance at a page covered with so many dots that it looks like a spilled ants' nest and instantly give a virtuoso performance. It takes years, sometimes decades, to be able to do that.

     

    What it does mean is seeing notes on a page and being able to translate them into your most comfortable fretboard position instead of blindly following fret numbers. Almost every tab on tinterwebz will be written for a four-string, with detuning instructions being added as needed. The only person I've come across who has done five-string tabs is Becky Baldwin, and even then she only does them for songs she plays. You don't need to detune or fit a Hipshot to a four-string bass - on your five, you have Eb/D# right there on the fourth fret of your B string and low D one fret below. Why make things complicated and mess up your fretboard patterns when you already have the notes to hand?

     

    A simple example is CCR's Up Around The Bend. The verse is a four-bar phrase, repeated once. The last two bars need a bit of jumping about to hit all the notes on a four-string, and the tab will show that, but on a five you just need to drop down to the B string to find all the notes you need without changing position. A four-string tab won't tell you that, but knowledge of the dots and where they are on the fretboard definitely will.

    • Like 1

    I played a 4 string today..

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

    I feel the same when I pick up a 4 string now. It just doesn't feel right. 

    Same here. If I try to play something on a four-string that I already know, I inevitably start one string higher than I should. I have to stop and think what to do, as I've become so used to the fiver.

     

    That's caused me a few problems lately. I help teach the bass class at Girls Rock School Edinburgh, and as that's aimed at complete beginners, they naturally use four-string basses. One of last term's songs was I Love Rock 'n' Roll, which I also play in my 80s covers band. I had to spend some time hammering the four-string fingering into my soft little head. It then took root, and when the song came up in rehearsal with the covers band, I managed to royally f**k it up. Had to spend several practice sessions undoing the damage.

     

    I genuinely admire those folks who can effortlessly switch between the two.

    • Like 1

    Template Agreement for buying, sharing and splitting cost of PA - has anyone got one I could use?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Angelus said:

    I own our current PA, desk, most of the back line, cables and lights. I also bought a crew cab, ULEZ compliant van for us. 

    Similar here. I own the PA and lights, although my elderly Peavey mixer is usually replaced by the Behringer XR-18 another band member has. I keep the Peavey in the van in case the Behringer decides to sulk, which it has done once or twice.

     

    For me, it's a no-brainer. If we're playing somewhere where PA and lights are provided, I just rock up in my own car with backline, unless that's provided as well, plus pedalboard and basses. If we need the PA and lights, everyone chips in for the van hire. It's worked well so far.

     

    And if it all goes tits-up, I will still have a complete PA and lighting rig to use with my next band.

    • Like 1

    Powering amps away from 240v mains supply. Anyone used a 12v invertor?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    2 hours ago, nikon F said:

    if you get an inverter make sure its a pure sine wave  .and a leisure battery not a normal car battery.

    +1 for both the above. A pure sine-wave inverter will cost a bit more, but you shouldn't get dirty mains voltage going into your amp.

     

    And definitely get a domestic battery. Back when I used to mess around ditch-crawling in narrowboats, I learned the difference between domestic and engine-start batteries very early on. A chandler or motorhome supplier should stock the right type.

    • Like 2

    Easy songs causing trouble. Is it just me?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    43 minutes ago, itu said:

    One of my favourite songs is "Everybody wants to rule the world". Just eighths, only eighths, and nothing but the eighths.

    We're having fun and games getting that one up to gigging standard. Most of it's a simple shuffle, but the keyboard solo is giving problems - bass and keys are drifting apart. But we'll get there.

    • Haha 1

    For bass players - who preffer to sing back vocals ?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I do some - the grunts on Back On The Chain Gang, the outro 'la la la la lalalala' on Don't You Forget About Me, the chorus of Teenage Kicks, 'hey man' on Suffragette City, 'too high, too far, too soon / you saw the whole of the moon' - but that's about it. It does beef up the sound for definite - more than I thought it would when I started.

     

    During lockdown, I took lessons on Skype on singing while playing bass and followed that up with vocal coaching when I realised my singing voice had gone to pot. 

     

    My main band has two great vocalists, so I'm keeping the BVs to a minimum, but I am toying with putting together a punk band doing 1970s covers where I sing and play bass. I've been told by more than one person that I have a death stare that would intimidate Lemmy... it would be fun to put that to good use!

    • Like 1
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