musicbassman

Just back from a couple of days in London which included seeing the totally wonderful Natalie Williams and Soul Family at Ronnie Scotts. Musicianship at it's very best all round, and Rob Mullarkey is really just about the finest bass player you could ever hear - an absolute master craftsman at work. Strongly recommend you try to get to see them sometime if you can - a real night to remember - the atmosphere in the club was amazing and the band were on absolutely top form.

It’s great to see so many bass players on here having enough common sense and humility to realise that (from a punters perspective) exactly what equipment they are using is generally of no importance or interest. However, I think almost all bass players would also agree that when you manage to get ‘that’ perfect sound (whatever that is in your opinion) – then your playing immediately jumps up several notches, and the pleasure of experiencing all that wonderful bassy goodness at the ends of your fingers makes it all so worthwhile.

Well, this is all very well, but where's the rest of his kit ?

Maude, I put a set of these Olympias on my PJ about 8 months ago. They felt slightly odd to begin with - somehow slightly 'sticky' - as is there was excess friction between your fingertips and the steel. This has pretty well gone now. They hold their tune perfectly week in week out ( I play and gig quite a lot) and it's quite difficult to find fault. Mind you, these were my first flats after having used rounds since forever, so I can't really say how they compare against other flats.

Yes, I got both the Ricks, but in the wrong order 🙄

Played a dep gig in Bournemouth last night - drove straight down there after the SE Bass bash. Traditional social club - an absolute timewarp - I would guess it had hardly changed since the 1960's. How do these places still exist ??? Artificial flowers carefully arranged along the front of the stage and the obligatory picture of Her Majesty above the Bingo machine. The raffle had various dodgy 'prizes' including a packet of Jacobs Cream Crackers, a Poundland selection of liquer chocolates and a Fray Bentos tinned steak pie.....no, honestly, I'm not making this up. A friendly band and appreciative audience made it a pleasant evening though, and I drove home rather pleased that somehow these little clubs manage to keep going.

Updated Raffle List... 1. EHX Mini QTron - Walman 2. Set of strings - Silverfoxnik 3. Couple of Bass tuition books - Silverfoxnik 4. Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler with power supply but no box - Frank Blank 5. Behringer BD121 Amp Modeller (boxed) - TheGreek 6. A big bundle of roots, blues, Americana ex-review CDs - TrevorR 7. Alesis SR18 drum machine, no box or power supply - Frank Blank 8. Boss BF3 Flanger, boxed, no power supply - Frank Blank 9. Korg Pandora PX4D, boxed, with instructions - OutSpoon 10. 3D guitar puzzle. - TheGreek 11. A couple of sets of 5 String Dean Markley Helix strings, never opened - NickD 12. Hard Rock Cafe suede clutch bag - TheGreek. 13. A combo/cab steel backline stand - bassace 14. Standing in the Shadows of Mowtown book and CDs - ezbass 15. Korg Pitchblack Pro tuner, no box, with power supply, Velcro on underside - Frank Blank. 16. Set of gold Schaller M4 style tuners - Cetera 17. A truck load of really good bass books - TheGreek (donated by Badass) 18. Neon blue lit, Union Flag coloured wall clock - RodFunnell 19. LD Systems 2U Rack Bag, - Stylon Pilson

Yes, this is to add to the raffle list. 🙂

Yup, MonoNeon is definitely from another dimension. Anybody come across this ? Maison Guidry and MonoNeon cover 'Innovation' by Anthony Burns. Not normally my main go-to listen genre, but this is so full of spirit and energy that it makes Dream Theater sound like they need CPR.

I don't remember Atom Heart Mother having a bass solo in it ...

What is it with schoolboys and their right hand technique, eh?

Bass players exam Able to play a well known but technically demanding bass line correctly Displays accuracy of playing, timing and good technique Understands techniques required to achieve a range of sounds and tones from their instrument Able to read music, and/or able to quickly learn a piece of music by ear and hear intervals correctly Able to work with fairly hopeless drummers and still make it sound good Turns up on time, always Pulls good bass faces Makes a decent cup of tea

I think this just fits the look perfectly:

In my darker moments I sometimes wonder if maybe 'rock' music (in all it's manifestations and as we currently understand it) is actually starting its final lap, and in another couple of decades giving 'advice to young bass players' will be as relevant as teaching the correct protocol for lighting gas lamps... 🙄

That's deliciously bonkers. - and a great no nonsense engineering solution for neck dive...

Janelle Monae - Tightrope. .....Oooooh...that bassline!

Oh dear..... WRT filters? LP filters? BP? YMMV? 4-pole LP design? This is high level tech-talk to me. I'm a simple soul - I just use a Spectracomp and my PJ and that's it. I'm not a luddite or a fully paid up member of the "it's all in the fingers" camp, but maybe someone can explain.

No expert here, but I would have thought some sort of shaper is what you need to help create that sort of sound, rather than distortion ?? Oh, and assuming you're playing finger style, a super clipped bass technique, using left hand or right hand/or a combination of these. (Not to be confused with muting or damping, of course) I'm sure some BC'er much more knowledgeable than me on here can assist further.

Hi mum……………..yes, everything’s fine…………….well, we’re three months into the tour now, and we’re playing the little town of Bullethole, Texas tonight……………..yes, I’m just fine, and I know I’m not allowed to leave the tour bus and the guitarist is right when he says he’s the King of The Lizard people, praise His name, …………………no, no, I’m not being brainwashed…..must go, we have two hours of prayers to do before we go on stage…………………

Well. I've played in covers bands for what seems like forever, and I wouldn't expect people to go nuts for covers - you're there to provide entertainment that's hopefully a couple of steps up from a mobile disco at a function - a band playing live can be a lot more interesting than watching a DJ's lighting rig. Having said that, I still maintain that many covers bands are pretty hopeless at getting it right. - which brings us on to this, which I agree with absolutely. For playing covers on bass, I think it's more important to get the dynamics and feel right to reflect the original rather than worrying about the exact notation. Nobody notices the notes, but they'll just think 'This doesn't sound right' if the feel of the original is lost.

I expect this might sound familiar – Early 1970’s - aged 20 – my band were big fish in a small regional town – and I’d convinced myself I was really rather brilliant at playing bass. Armed with enormous ill-found egos and equally enormous amounts of naivety the band moved to London to – err “make it” Of course, the band folded within a few months - and I had grudgingly started to realise that there were many players who were way better than me around, even on the bottom rung of the pub rock circuit. Many, many years later, I now at last think I’m a pretty decent bass player – but it’s all a bit late now – I saw a video someone had taken of a band I was depping with recently and realise that the really old guy playing the bass was actually……me. If only I could gift the knowledge I have now back to myself in my 20’s……

Bass playing - it's so hard getting it exactly right.................

"My first impulse was to dig deeper into the rhythm to find the sweet spot for the groove. It is a continuously moving object, and you ride it much like you would ride a horse—guiding it, knowing full well that it has a life of its own" A wise man has spoken. What a perfect analogy.

Last Friday it was.... .........ahaha ! ....look at those two girls in fancy dress over there! Bit over the top! 😀 ......blimey, that doesn't leave much if anything to the imagination........😯 .......they must surely be going to a Vicars and Tarts fancy dress party later!.......... .......errrr, oh, no, seems like they're just local girls on a night out in Portsmouth.........

.............I didn't know some cats had model numbers.