Lemuel Beam

[quote name='Beneath It All' post='439909' date='Mar 19 2009, 11:51 PM'] .....But to me, the D# is a non-essential tone linking D to E, as is the A# that occurs on the same chord[e7], and linking A to B....Played in isolation, they're way 'out', and they only work[for me] when ascending........[/quote] I see what you mean. Although he had formal music education, I bet Andy Fraser wasn't thinking about scales technically when he came up with those riffs, he just played what he thought sounded good - and it does!

[quote name='Beneath It All' post='438862' date='Mar 19 2009, 03:35 AM'].....................Is he not playing a straight A major scale, [Mixolydian & Lydian modes]??[/quote] Almost.. sounds to me like he's using E mixolydian with added major 7, like a dominant bebop scale, and D lydian..

I graduated from a homemade tea chest bass that I was using with a busking band. The tea chest was great (certainly a crowd puller) but absolutely knackering to play. I also tinkered with a drainpipe bass and a gutbucket, but one day in September 1996 I saw an ad in Leeds College of Music offering a 30 year old British made plywood upright for £400. I never looked back..

These people advertise in the PRS members' magazine and have done for ages.. probably worth a shout. www.dbmasters.co.uk www.xpressduplication.co.uk cheers LB

<quote> You don't need to press the strings down too hard. </quote> +1. Gary Willis has some great advice on developing a feel for the minimum pressure required to fret a note. It's much less than you might think, and it saves a lot of pain and effort if you can develop this skill.

Learning to read will undoubtedly improve your "playing by ear" skills.. if you can "see, hear, understand, play", then you can better "hear, understand, play"..

Keep a pitch pipe in the car. When you're bored, stick a music station on and determine the key of the tune that's currently playing with the pitch pipe. From that start point try and extrapolate the keys of the next, say, five tunes in your head.. give yourself a Crackerjack pencil if the pitch pipe agrees with you at the end

It all depends on what type of music I'm playing. I know what my basses are capable of.. I'll tinker on the fly if necessary - but I'm not too precious about it TBH. I trust the guy out front to make sure the bass sits in the mix. As long as I can hear myself and the drummer onstage I'm happy. There's the old adage that a decent player can get a good sound out of any old lump of plywood, too..

[quote]PS Most of the sheets I have seen seem to capo the guitards on the 2nd[/quote] Oops - you're right..

[quote name='stoo' post='414272' date='Feb 19 2009, 02:09 PM']That was my old one! Good to hear it's still getting some use. [/quote] Stoo, did you own it from new? It's nice to know an instrument's history in full, for the day (if ever) I move it on..

[quote name='The Burpster' post='416633' date='Feb 22 2009, 02:32 PM']P nuts (tee hee) are normally cut to accomodate .105-E strings. This could well be your prob.... Try putting a piece of paper on the nut slot under your E string to narrow the gap between string and nut on the nut sides. If this tightens up the sound you know where the problem lies. My P used to do this with the A string with chromes on......[/quote] <twopenn'orth>Surely this would only solve a problem with the open string? There could be a fault in the string itself - loose windings will rattle.. try another string! Otherwise, it sounds like bridge seating to me..</twopenn'orth>

[quote name='gcordez' post='410111' date='Feb 15 2009, 03:38 PM']Anybody string shopping? Pretty much brand new set of strings going for half price. These are great strings and highly regarded, just a shame my bass dosent get on with 'em. Heres the ebay link- [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150327039724"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150327039724[/url] Also considering selling my 3 month old Velvet Anima A,D,G strings. Lovely gut like strings, but it seems like my bass likes the Thomastiks. If your interested, make me an offer.[/quote] What about the E string? I have a set of velvets on my bass at the moment. I do like them but the E snapped pretty early on. I managed to knot it, and it's OK, but I reckon it will be the first to need replacing..

I've got an MM32 (bought off Jobiebass via basschat a few months ago). I replaced the original nut which was very poor, and after a decent set up it plays really well. I agree with others that slapping is tricky due to string spacing but the tonal variety available is suprisingly wide, considering the pickups are clearly budget jobs.. I may upgrade in future. I use it with a 9 piece hard latin/funk outfit and it covers the territory well.. LB

[quote name='Jase' post='413845' date='Feb 19 2009, 01:56 AM']This is a bit cool too! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJaU3EOhxU&feature=related"]Buildup[/url][/quote] I quit after about a minute. Sort of sh*t you do when you're stoned..

[quote name='MananaMan' post='412981' date='Feb 18 2009, 01:00 PM']Hmmm.... great stuff! I'm getting Thin Lizzy to Queen via Led Zep... Weird but cool mix of styles![/quote] Nice one Bilbo.. One band I remember from this period that TV raved about was Diamondhead - wonder what happened to them?

[quote name='Monz' post='412254' date='Feb 17 2009, 05:29 PM']Just had this one dropped on me How many bloody chord changes? Does anyone have a transcribed or tabbed version of this to speed the learning curve up please Apparently this is the version we are doing [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wftbahypdAA"]Youtube link[/url] Thanks in advance[/quote] Hey monz Do you need the actual bassline or can you infer it from the chords? If the latter,there's plenty of guitar tabs (capo 3 so transposing skills needed!) LB

Bluesmen: Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Robben Ford Jazzmen: Pat Metheney, Jim Hall Rockers: Steve Vai, Vernon Reid

I also use one of those damp pipe thingies but I have a digital weather station (for a pretty accurate humidity reading) that lives on top of the piano (which is next to where my UB lives). My piano likes 46 - 52% humidity for tuning stability/ no loose hammers etc, and my bass is fine with that too. I'd recommend keeping a bass near something you can water, like a big cheese plant or something.. (gags at your discretion..)

[quote name='slapathy' post='127900' date='Jan 25 2008, 05:42 PM']I agree, there MUST be someone in W Yorks/Bratford/Leeds/Wakey/Cleckhudderfax/Pontefract/Cas area who can help me with my embarrasing problem??? I bought a semi acoustic bass which has an action like the Humber Bridge, needs fixin before it goes back on evilbay. I had heard there was a bass luthier in Dean Clough, Halifax, anyone know any more?[/quote] There was a great guitar/bass tech / luthier at Leeds College Of Music (at least when I was there in the late '80s / early '90s) called Ted Lee - I think he lived in Bradford/Ilkley? ..But surely the guys at The Music Room in Cleckheaton will know somebody?

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='231773' date='Jul 3 2008, 07:57 AM']I always found NHOP to be one of those people that played clever for the sake of it and not because it was musically valid - bit like John 'I'm gonna stick this 32-note fill in now whether you like it or not' McLaughlin. I also found Pederson's tone to be a bit thin/whiny But, when he keeps a lid on it, its cool. Just not one of my faves.[/quote] Have you heard NHOP on Dizzy's "The Giant" from '73? One OTT solo but the rest of his playing is wonderful, wonderful..

[b]Music Man SUB[/b]: Lovely fast neck feel and punchy sound, but the combination of textured finish and diamondplate scratchplate is U.G.L.Y. I have a SUB - but I *love* that industrial scratchplate.In an A/B sound/playability comparison with a mate's '79 Stingray it was (ahem) neck and neck...

Mine was a Hondo 2 Rickenfaker that I saved up for over a year with paper round / milk delivery money. I'd learnt to play tuba in the school band and found the bottom end appealing and easy to understand. Then in '78 I heard Geddy Lee, on "A Farewell To Kings", which opened my eyes.. The bass itself was horrible, but I didn't know any better at 17. My older cousin helped me out with set up, new strings (new strings? you mean you actually change them?!) and some basic technique. I cut my teeth with Rush / Yes / heavy metal clone bands (all crap) before upgrading to an Aria Pro 2, a big 'ol Peavey stack and hitting the proper gig circuit with a decent blues band..