musicbassman

Well, respects to Scott (who does get a bit of stick from some people) for admitting he can't quite get this technique right, and asking for other peoples suggestions. I can't offer any suggestions, but it certainly is a bit Victor Wooten-ish.................

My 1982 Squier '57 style Precision (yes, one of the very first, with the large Fender logo) is 43mm, so very slightly less than the expected 1 3/4" ..........and it's very nice to play, thankyou!

This is an ad showing on Join my Band at the moment (Hampshire) I feel sorry for the guy if this really is the case. But I'm glad to see he still shows the usual bass players natural sense of stoicism and humour.

Yup, Sibob beat me to it - they'll certainly be very loud, but they'll put an extra load on the neck so I guess you're very likely to need to adjust the truss rod to compensate. But I disagree with Sibob about 'not much tension difference' - you might find you need a new set of fingers as well.......................

I know this is a metaphorical ad, but fat chance of any opportunities like this coming up around here (South Coast UK) It's apparently a gig desert in this location, so even if a band wanted to play more than 5-6 gigs a year they may struggle to manage this.

Dear Blue, you're obviously a lovely guy, but.......................

Can someone explain the difference (if any) between flatwounds and tapewounds? I've always used roundwounds so this is a bit of a mystery to me.

That looks an interesting buy. Care to give some more details? - about the bass and also the auction site?

I think Hyperactive is more about the exact muting and note length than the exact sound. And as for Two Tribes, here's Trevor Horn doing a pretty fair job.................

Oh, that is so delicious! Never heard that track before. Yum yum.

This. So, for a covers band, always try and join an already well established band with solid gig and personnel history If a recent 'audition' for a start up covers band I went to is anything to go by, I'm going to be looking for decent gig for a good while yet.................. So, I turn up on time at the audition, having learnt (or refreshed my memory) of numbers the band say they want to run through for my audition. - Drummer listens to song for first time ever, and starts trying to work out drum parts. - Keyboard player announces he might already be leaving the band because of work pressures (!) - Lengthy argument between drummer and guitarist about someone else's wife, and what she did or didn't do. - Huge sulks from keyboard player when I merely suggest that one of the chords he's playing might not be correct? And these are guys in their 50's, who apparently have been gigging for years in various bands...................a complete waste of time, they're never going to be gigging.

That's a labour of love - well done! Are you planning on labelling them all, or is it a chance for bass players to see how many of these they can name?

In my first band (1968) I was playing 'rhythm guitar' on a Watkins Rapier 33 and the bass player bought a brand new Domino bass. I think it was £75, and was an absolute bottom of the range beginners bass.. A take home wage for a manual worker would have been about £15 per week then, so equal to five weeks wages. Obviously by current standards this instrument was almost unplayable, and now you can buy a perfectly playable instrument for less than one weeks take home pay. Yes, there might be some slightly dodgy labour practices (viewed from our Western sensibilities), but I would guess it's more down to modern machinery and economies of scale than anything else. Too cheap? Well that's the laws of supply and demand. But if beginners can start on good playable instruments then surely that's no bad thing.

Take great care here. I would think it really is worth using headphones, otherwise it could become an ever escalating war of words/volumes with your neighbour, until you reach the point where your 'right' to make a noise becomes more important to you than the actual practising. Also, if you are an owner occupier you are legally obliged to declare any disputes with neighbours when you come to sell up and move on - and a poor history here can create major problems for you, regardless of whether the disputes were your 'fault' or not....................

A little bit of New Year magic..............

Ha ha, just so painful to watch on many levels - the guitar 'solo' is pure shred. -- and watch this on YouTube and read the comments from the usual collection of useful idiots saying stuff like "What's wrong with this anyway? - I think it's just fine" and "Much, much better than the original"............

OK, so I'm just working through The Whispers 'And the Beat Goes On'. There's quite a few interpretations/demonstrations of the bass line on YouTube, and most players play the main riff using an open D, like Huw Foster does here. I personally find it more difficult to get accurate damping with the open D, so I'd choose to play this starting on the B on the E string, so it's all fretted. Have a listen, and maybe try this. How would you choose to play this ?

Yes, absolutely agree with this. For great demonstrations of pulling the beat (slightly behind) listen to any top notch bass player in a Country music band. It's a subtle art.

As some of you may know - I'm 65 and recently started playing again after a 15 year complete break. So I'd stopped when I was 50 after gigging regularly for over 30 years. Now I find times have changed from just 15 years ago - especially gear, but I also think the general standard of bass playing has improved considerably. The internet has been a big factor in this. I'm amazed at how quickly I've reconnected with playing - already back up to a fairly decent level, and pleased to find I haven't lost my ear. But as for finding a working band? - or even a decent rehearsal band? - drawn a complete blank so far, but I'll keep looking.

Best bass players in the world right now? Really? I don't think so. Maybe should be titled "Bass players who were the most influential in their day"

This is possibly one of the most intelligent, polite, helpful and well meaning forums I've ever come across, and Bass Tractors post just proves this. Long may it remain this way! By the way, best wishes to all for 2018, wherever you are and whatever you're planning/hoping to do.

Sorry to add fuel to the fire here, but on the (Dutch TV) clip above, it actually sounds like the opening bass line is B : Db : E to my ear. i.e. 5 : 6 : 1 * runs and hides *