Newfoundfreedom

Oh God! Help! I'm in my own personal music Hell! The reason they pull those faces is because it's self gratifying musical masturbation that should only ever be done in private. 😂

I suppose so, at the risk of being unpopular. Firstly, until a few months ago, when I discovered Scott Devine's instructional videos on YouTube, I'd never even heard of Jaco, so I had to look him up on YouTube to see what Scott's massive man crush was all about. I have to say I've never heard so much pretentious, noodling noise pollution in my life. I just don't get it, and I don't think I ever will. That's not to deny he's a good (some would say great) bass player. I suppose if it's your kind of thing then that's great. That's what I meant about living on a different planet. If that's your kind of thing I just can't relate to it at all. Someone vocally scatting the bass line certainly does nothing to improve it to my ear. I only managed to stand about 20 seconds of it. Rather than "captivating" as described in the original post, I found it unbearably irritating. I think I'd rather listen to roadworks. Again if that's your kind of thing then great, but again I may as well be on another planet.

Thanks. But fuzz or any kind of distortion on bass is really not my kind of thing. My personal preference is a good clean sound.

Punk changed music as we know it. It blew the kneecaps off the overly pretentious 20 minute solo prog rock crap that was becoming extremely popular, and brought music back down to earth for the everyman. It introduced (maybe reintroduced to a new generation) short, sharp and extremely powerful songs that people could get behind, and defined music for a whole generation and more. Admittedly there was a lot of crap in there too, but that could be said about any genre and is pretty much down to personal taste. I'd hate to think where music would be now if it wasn't for punk.

Totally agree. I have a line 6 M13 and one whole row is taken up by varying levels of reverb. Ranging from subtle which is always on to "fatten" the sound, to full on echo for a more Vintage 50's or upright bass kind of sound. I love it!

Man. I really am living on a totally different planet to some of you lot.

Then there's the crocs, sharks, snakes and killer spiders. Jeez! Who'd want to live there? 😋

Here's the thing. It's easy to dismiss the general population as Heathens because they don't like live music, or what you would see as great music. The problem is music, even moreso than most things is massively subjective. You could have the greatest Jazz band in the world (I couldn't even name you one) playing at my local and I'd leave before they finished the first song. To me it's just noise. Conversely if it was an Iron Maiden cover band I would be in my element, but the rest of the pub would probably leave. Then you have the regulars, for whom live music is just an inconvenience and interruption to their normal schedule. Nothing worse than going out for a chat and having your conversation drowned out by music, live or otherwise. This is one of the reasons I could never understand the appeal of nightclubs. Sure they could be "world class" musicians but if it's something you've never heard then for most of the general population outside of musos it would barely even register, or even worse just become background noise. Sad but unfortunately true.

I'd never even heard of him until about 6 months ago when our drop in harmonica player suggested one of his tracks. Joe Who'sawhatnow?

Do bass players use reverb? I've been looking at the pedal board thread and there's barely a reverb pedal in sight (unless hidden within a multi effects pedal). Also many guitar amps come with a built in reverb control, again not so with bass. Why not? Is it a bass sin to use it? I love a bit of reverb me.

Yes! Everyone knows that.

Steve Grindrod created Albion, they have been around for quite some time. The Wharfdale stuff is a partnership between Wharfdale (who provided the speakers) and Albion (for the cabs design and combo amps) to mass produce what was essentially a boutique amp / cab.

We're supposed to practice? No wonder I'm shyte.

Bloody Freemasons!

Take them all out for a beer individually for an "informal chat" as a kind of second interview. If there's nothing in it to separate their drumming then how you get along with them outside the band is the most important factor. In fact to me, that would be the primary factor and the drumming secondary.

I have one. They're not overly heavy or cumbersome, and the neck is nice and slim and fast playing. Sound wise the biggest problem is the active bass boost circuit which ranges from bland to boomy and makes it difficult to find a good true P or J tone. The good news is, if you find you don't like it there's a pretty simple mod on YouTube to bypass the circuit, which supposedly gives the bass a much more vintage and true P J sound. They look pretty nice too if you're into the Fender thing. Admittedly I'm not so it's never really been my cup of tea. I'm currently waiting for my new bass to arrive then I'll be moving the Jag on, although they're so cheap new it's probably not worth it so I'll probably keep it as back up bass.

I absolutely love my Gretsch Junior Jet II. I recently got back into playing bass after many years absence and initially thought it would be an easier choice. Although a few months in and I've found I've kind of automatically transitioned back to full scale. So sadly, as much as I love it I find I don't really use it much now. Although to be honest the thing sounds great and doesn't really have a disadvantage against full scale basses in that regard. I think they're a great choice for anyone transitioning from guitar, anyone just starting out, or someone with a short reach or any kind of problems playing full scale. Having said that, I don't really think there are any real disadvantages to playing one. So if someone is more comfortable playing a short scale I would say go for it.

Show off!

I've just watched the guitar episode and the bass episode. Very entertaining. Although having watched the bass episode I'm kind of worried. I quote "bass players are no longer just the fat bloke standing at the back" That's me buggered then! That's my whole act.

I'm not sure. In the description it was listed as "upgraded with SD's" so that would suggest a retro fit, but as I understand it some of the later ones actually came as stock with the SD's. Either way it's got them so happy days.

What channel were these on?

Guitars? Seems like a pretty obscure premise for a whole TV episode. I mean. How many people actually play one? I had to Google it to even find out what they were. Apparently they're kind of like a mini six sting bass with a built in octaver. That'll never catch on. (Damn! Just seen @Bilbo beat me to it. You snooze you lose)

Thanks @BigRedX Good to hear from someone who's actually owned one (albeit a different model) There's nothing there that sound too perturbing. As it's neither a five string or the flame inlay/bridge version then I have neither of those things to worry about. The pots, along with all the electrics have already been replaced with Seymour Duncans, and hopefully with it being around for a few years someone will have already dealt with any fret issues. If not then I'm not averse to having the frets redressed. If that's the biggest problem on a bass that looks this good then I still reckon I'm on to a winner. 😁

I'm hoping the Seymour Duncan electronics will give it some life.