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PatrickJ

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Posts posted by PatrickJ

    2019 Gear Abstinence Challenge (Updated with 'rules')

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by PJ-Bassist

    OK I'm taking this challenge seriously; 2019 will be the year of practice not gear.  To remove (GAS) temptation:

    I've unsubscribed from the BassDirect newsletter. 

    Removed the Bass gallery from my Instagram feed

    Forum notifications turned off for the Marketplace.

    That should help, and since I just put flatwound strings on all my basses failing a breakage I shouldn't need strings either. My fingers are crossed that father Christmas brings me the compressor I want and I'm glad Mesa have priced the new WD800 head at over the £1k mark otherwise I'd have been in trouble.

     

    Your best (and worst!) bass gear purchases of 2018?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by PJ-Bassist

    This year I sold off and replaced almost all of my gear.

    Best purchase has to be my Sandberg VT4, I love everything about that bass, it's light weight, supremely playable and sounds awesome.  Honourable mentions for the Markbass Little Mark Tube head, EB cobalt flat strings and the Way Huge Pork & Pickle OD/Fuzz pedal.

    Worst purchase was a Barefaced Super Compact 12" cabinet.  Super lightweight, ridiculously loud but I just could not get a sound out of it I liked. a personal preference thing, I shouldn't have bought it without playing through it first.

    Flat Chromes query

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by PJ-Bassist

    This is quite an interesting article on flatwounds strings.  At the bottom there is also a link to a review of the Ernie Ball Cobalt flats.

    https://www.bassplayer.com/gear/flat-world-a-roundup-of-flatwound-strings

    I'm running flats on both my PJ basses, Ernie Ball Cobalts on the Sandberg and La Bella 760FLs on the fender.

    The La Bella's give that old school sound, it's pretty cool.  I love the EB Cobalt Flats though, feel great under the fingers, almost round like sounding in their brightness and 0 fret noise.

    I did have some EB Cobalt flats on my 5 string Jabba but had some problems with them.  Think it was a bad set but will try some Chromes I think.

    I am a flat string convert for sure, don't think I will go back to roundwound anytime soon.

    Don't think you'll have any problems with your genre.  Steve Harris uses flats with Maiden and Ben Kenney with Incubus also primarily uses them.  You can most definitely rock with flats.

    • Thanks 1

    Vulfpeck. Running Away.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Finally had a chance to listen to the new album, Hill Climber, today on my drive to Oxford.  I think it's probably my favourite :).

    Really liking Joe's tone on it, much more than some of the previous records.  Does anyone know if he used his new MM signature for the recordings?

    • Like 1

    A Cry For Help - Improvising Bass Lines on the Fly

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted · Edited by PJ-Bassist

    I'm been thinking on this through the evening.  This is the approach I think I'll take...

    Get super confident with the following scales / arpeggios:

    • Ionian & Aeolian Modes – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions)
    • Major, Minor and Dom7 Chord Tones – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions)
    • Major, Minor Pentatonic Sclaes – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions)

    Get comfortable with common chord progressions

    • Analyse common chord progressions in music similar to that we play in Jam sessions
    • Source / create backing tracks with these chord progressions for Jam practice

    Transcribe and analyse existing music

    • Transcribe 1-4 bar bass lines i find interesting / inspirational (limited to 4/4 time for now)
    • Analyse transcriptions to understand their harmonic properties
    • Transcribe fills I hear and like, create a personal lick library to build ideas from

    Practice Jamming

    • Use aforementioned backing tracks and knowledge to jam with

     

    Would love to hear other ideas...

    • Like 1

    What a difference a good rig makes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 03/12/2018 at 10:52, shoulderpet said:

    Don't post that often but a rehearsal the other day inspired me to.  On forums people often talk about the differences that different basses provide, different strings etc, I think the most overlooked aspect is the rig being used, had a rehearsal the other day and we used one of the bigger rooms, I was pleased to see an 8x10" Marshall bass stack, I forget the actual bass head but it was something that looked like it had survived a few decades , anyhow plugging in the tone was incredible, big, rich and warm, lots of low end and deep,deep lows without being woofy like a lot of setups I have played through, anyhow point is amps/cabs/combos are often overlooked but have a huge impact on tone.

    I've totally had similar experiences re: Rehearsal gear recently.  For the past 18 months I've always brought my own gear to band rehearsals, a GK MB head and various 12" lightweight / portable cabinets (Hartke, Barefaced etc) but I've never really got a sound I was totally happy with.  

    Since selling my 12" cabs and getting a new Markbass head I've not taken my gear to rehearsals, I've used what's in the studio's for ease and I was surprised that I got tones I was way more pleased with. One studio was equipped with a HK 15" combo and the other a 4x10 Marshall combo.  Both beasts and not practical to move around but it's making me realise that 12's are just not the cabs for me and that I actually want a 1x15 and 2x10 rig to go with my new Markbass head.

    A Cry For Help - Improvising Bass Lines on the Fly

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    I had a simply awful rehearsal last night. 

    Singer we were due to audition for our casual covers band dropped out last minute. Band agreed to get together and just jam - unfortunately this is a particular weakness of mine. 

    Guitarists start busting out riffs and songs .. drummer gets into it and they are all going and sounding great. I'm left there thinking 'ummmm' ..  after watching the 1 x guitarists finger board for a bit I'm able to start figuring out the chord progression and playing along (until a transition to a new section at least).  Problem is my playing along is just sitting on the root note for said chord playing quarter notes, any variation I try and put in just sounds crap - be it me trying some syncopated rhythms or a fill.  I just lacked ideas / creativity and anything I tried just wasn't executed well.

     

    It's frustrating to me that when they do this there's no discussion on what chord progressions are but that's never going to happen with this lot as they don't need it, they seem to quickly figure out what is going on.I left feeling utterly depressed and a bit humiliated - I'm on the verge of just quitting and telling them to find a better bassist.

    That being said - being able to just jam, no preparation and sound good is my playing ambition - 2019 is the year I'm going to achieve this, I'm determined.

    My cry for help is how do I go about acheiving that.  I would love some advice from more seasoned / confident players on approach.

    Reggae music to be protected by UN

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

    This objective is facilitated through the ... ACIJ/JMB ... which since 2016 has been designated the Focal Point for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Jamaica ... The State Party also created a Technical Committee in 2016, within the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport to oversee further safeguarding measures in keeping with the 2003 Convention ... which complement on-going dialogue with stakeholders and music industry members who formally support and enhance State Party initiatives".

    I am but a simple man, I didn't understand a word of that or how it would serve to protect the integrity of a musical genre.

    • Like 2

    Hobbyist from Belfast

    in Introductions

    Posted · Edited by PJ-Bassist

    On 27/11/2018 at 13:55, damian.duffy said:

     

    I'm loving playing along to music in my man cave. Still old punk stuff - especially The Clash cos I thought Paul Simonon was so cool back in the day, with plenty of other tunes thrown in for fun.

    Welcome to Basschat!  Hope you're enjoying it thus far.  

    I saw you were a Clash fan, if you like punk 6 Music radio have been promoting the IDLES a lot over the last week.  For some reason they reminded me a lot of a modern day Clash (though upon re-listening to the Clash I'm not sure why).  I'm not a massive punk fan in general but there was something about them I really liked.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
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