Bidd

As my knowledge of my bass is still at a premature age (i'm too busy doing a degree to learn) I am confused at a problem I have. I've recently noticed that when playing the 5th fret on my G string (insert innuendo here) I have very little sustain compared to the other frets on that string So a)Why is it doing this? b)How can i fix it? Answers would be very much appreciated Cheers

With the Blues band we used to be, with two guitars, keys and a bit of sax: Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe Eric Clapton - Old Love Rolling Stones - Miss You Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor BB King - The Thrill Is Gone & a couple of originals Now, with our restructured band just bass, drums, guitar, vox (as our guitarist stated, "we are now like a power trio, but with 4 of us") Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground Santana - Black Magic Woman Gary Moore (I think) - Oh, Pretty Woman David Bowie - Let's Dance James Brown - Play That Funky Music Plus others we have yet to decide, and a couple of the previous ones I did suggest Aeroplane by the Chilis, just so I can solo, but wouldn't go down brilliantly by an average audience I reckon

[quote]Couldn't Give a Funk[/quote] I might suggest that at next practise and see what they think [quote]The Sound Investment[/quote] I like that because I do Economics at Uni, so it mergers music with my degree. I'm very sad however

+1 on the Washburn T14, should be able to get one for about £130. However don't expect it to last for years because the wiring is quite dodgy and build quality is not brilliant, but it does the job for the value. I would really recommend a BB414 for the extra bit of money, or a squier VM jazz (never played one, but everyone here loves them)

Californication by the Chilis, or it may have been Seven Nation Army by White Stripes (Yes, I'm aware that it is NOT a bass guitar)

[quote]You could be 'What the Funk' *gets coat...[/quote] I actually like that name. We're pretty much a Uni band so we're not serious at the minute, and a comical name would go down better than a serious one

After a new lineup (different drummer (who is absolfrickinlutely amazing), one guitarist instead of two, and no keys/sax) my band (The Gravel Shifters) have decided to change band name, as our musical style has changed from Chicago/Texas style gritty blues to a more audience appealing "Funky-Blues-Rock-Latino" quartet. Problem is we can't think of a name, and I've wondered if any of you have been in the same situation By the way we're going to play songs like: David Bowie - Let's Dance Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground (I have a cool effect through my Boss GT-6B) Santana - Black Magic Woman (Funkier with a Latino style jam ending) James Brown - Play That Funky Music Gary Moore - Oh Pretty Woman (Funkier version)

Heres my band at Uni and the three songs we recorded [url="http://www.myspace.com/thegravelshifters"]http://www.myspace.com/thegravelshifters[/url] This session was about three weeks before I joined, and we wrote the songs two weeks before. Basically the guitarist played the songs at practice and told me to play over (however having no theory doesn't help, and with two guitarists I decided to keep the bass simple)

HOW CAN YOU ALL AFFORD ALL THESE THINGS!!! sorry random post but I have £200 a month budget at uni, so a deep impact would mean no spending ANY money for around a month P.S. I hate you all

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='68119' date='Oct 1 2007, 01:25 PM']I'm glad to here that: That it became a piece of piss. It's not the sort of thing I'd normally be interested in playing, but it seems I've got till the 8th December to learn it! My 11 year old is drumming for it in a concert put on by his drum teacher, and I've been volunteered to play bass for him. His teacher (who also teaches bass) says that its not so much difficult as relentless. From where I'm standing it sounds both difficult and relentless!! Having cracked it, do you have any hints for someone who's still at the stage of listening to it to get the feel of it into my head? Clive.[/quote] To be honest, I just gave up initially, and ended up learning other Muse songs that were easier to play and various other chart stuff at the time like Arctoc Monkeys, Bloc Party, Foo Fighters etc (not challenging I know, but my mates play guitar to those songs.) About 6 months later I revisited it and found that my finger strength and speed had gone up quite a bit, and after studying a good tab for a few minutes I cracked it. To get the feel of Hysteria I would recommend learning similar Muse stuff like Citizen Erased & New Born (Origin Of Symmetry album), and maybe the recent Starlight & Supermassive Black Hole

I remember when I started about 3 years ago that Hysteria was the Holy Grail and I couldn't play it for ages, then suddenly it became a piece of piss. There are some that I'll probably never master because I have a shoddy technique (no lessons, so I have loads of bad habits, wrong fingers etc) Rush - YYZ Dream Theater - YTSE Jam (solo is too damn fast, and I struggle with other bits) Metallica - Pulling Teeth (can play Master of Puppets, well very nearly) Primus - Everything! RHCP - Coffee shop (can play a slightly simplified version, with less ghost/dead notes, but can't nail the final solo)

Muse - Citizen Erased, especially when the singer cannot sing in falsetto, or has a 7 string guitar. It was a decent cover until the vocals kicked in (anyone that knows this song will understand) especially the line 'For one moment, I'd wish you'll hold your stage, with no feelings at all' That was a car crash performance Also any Arctic Monkeys song. If you can't cover them well, then you should give up now

I feel compelled to comment as in Uni, me and my mates got together to play My Generation (as well as Citizen Erased, Song 2 and Smoke On The Water) at the end of year music open Mic type thing (me on bass). Now this was only the 2nd time I've ever gigged with not even a proper band and I decided that for the benefit of the audience (and to save embarrassment) I would either learn the solo properly (or as best as I could) or concede that I can't play it and let someone else who can. My point is, that to a certain extent you can't just stand on a stage and play anything if it sounds, quite frankly, awful. If someone said to me "learn YYZ for a gig next week" I would say "no, I'm not good enough, find someone who can. If I play it will be a car crash performance." I don't want to pick on this person, but as an audience member there is only so much I can appreciate the fact that "at least he tried" point of view. It seems either he just couldn't be arsed, or he's out of depth, which you've got to admit to yourself or you'll never really progress as a player.

For me (to play) Muse - The Groove & Hysteria Talk Talk - It's my Life Nirvana - Lounge Act Rage Against The Machine - Take The Power Back

So there I am playing my Washburn T14 bass (passive) when suddenly the sound cuts out. This is the stupid part. I adjusted the middle knob (I have three) which I'm pretty sure affects the tone, so am I right in thinking this is a bridge selector, as I have a P pup and a split pup. Basically I concluded (dubiously) that one the pups decided to die on me, as all three knobs now seem to be volume and I can only get one tone. To clarify the sound still works but I no longer have sound when I used to have the three knobs in a given position that I used to play with So I decide to take some things off my bass (for the first time), and went to inspect the pups. So i unscrew them, but as the quality of the screw is pathetic (and I possibly use the wrong size), I stripped them (i.e. f***ed the heads up) so I can't get them off, and a couple are half up, and will not screw up/down. The wires in the back looked alright. First of all, does anyone know what the problem could be because I'm probably most definitely wrong. Second of all does anyone have good advice at removing stripped screws? My final objective would be to basically gut out the guitar and replace with new pups & bridge This is the first time I've done this, I have no friends or family that know anything about basses so I'm basically learning from doing and by internet (albeit not very successfully) Cheers

I tried to play a 5 string once whilst drunk. That extra string confused too much, so I will pass on a 5 string, but thanks for the info

Right, so I think I've decided on the guitar that I want, a Yamaha BB614 (or BB414). I was going to buy A fender Jazz, but I thought the extra £300ish could go to a BOSS GT-6B and beer money. Anyway I want to buy a Yammy but I'm a student so I want to pay as little as possible, but still want to buy new. So how do I go about this then. Do I just buy one from say GAK.co.uk or similar websites to get one cheap, yet may face a several week wait and then disappointment, or do I ring around all the guitar shops in my local area and try to haggle the best deal, and play them off each other? Since I have little experience, what percentage off the list price is a good deal (10%?, 20%?, more!?) Are big shops (Dawsons, Sound Control) more likely to offer lower prices than smaller independent shops? If you don't mind, could you experienced lot share me your tales of purchasing and your advice, because it would be much appreciated