arabassist

It's a Lowdown LD15 - never heard of it, so possibly not that great but good enough for me to get back into playing more often

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1342810110' post='1741443'] It would help so much if you mentioned the model of your amp and the one you tried out in the shop. [/quote] Sadly I had forgotten the name. I was just impressed with its sound to size ratio. [quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1342813501' post='1741514'] I use a Markbass 801 as a practice amp and it's more powerful (ie. loud and full whilst remaining clean) than some of the [multiple times larger] brutes I used to play through. Like you, I'd been wondering "How do they do that?" But I gave up and just enjoy it. CB [/quote] Yeah I'll probably end up buying it anyway.

Haven't played bass in a long time due to work and haven't bought an amp in years. I popped into a music store today to test out some basses and I was plugged into a 15W (I'm not sure the gentleman said 15 or 50 to be honest) that was far more powerful and better sounding than my dull and wooden-sound Ashdown amp. It also came with some pre-set effects like chorus and distortion and what not - although I do have a multi-effects pedal which I play on with earphones anyway. I'm curious as to how such a smaller amp can give out such better sound and volume. Maybe I chose a crap practice amp those few years back - though I heard ashdowns are quite good? Nonetheless this new amp was about £100 and I might buy it. I wonder if anyone recommend an alternative before I buy it, in-case there's some good standard little amp that most people buy/trade on here? I must admit I haven't paid much attention to amps, largely because I don't gig and I play rarely anyway. Thanks.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1324083252' post='1470801'] Harmonics are always clearer on fresh strings - play them right and you can get a harmonic just about anywhere on the neck. Within a few days of playing they'll only respond to the 5th, 7th and 12th with any clarity. [/quote] True that. Two days ago I could hear a clear one on the 4th fret. Now i get a muddy noise. Now I am sad.

Don't know if this classes as bass since I don't see it much on here, I'll have to check with the masses. Nonetheless it sounds heavy and bass-toney-esque-ish-ness enough, so share some good warr guitar moments. this is my favourite (and probably only one I can think off) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxEbFxwed3M&"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxEbFxwed3M&[/url] Skip to ~2 min if you don't like long silences

Tim Commerford got me into bass. Flea pushed me forward into playing the bass. Justin Chancellor helped me appreciate the kind of music bass can be part of.

I've always used light or medium-light because i've been under the impression that light = easier to play. but not necessarily because i have an apt for plucking hard which isn't too great for light strings (lots of twanging and gradient of volume across the different strings)

I've never realised this before as I seldom change strings, but I put on some new strings (not sure what they were, just standard quality with standard gauge) and the harmonics just sounded clear and gorgeous. This was acoustic as well so it wasn't a pickup problem. I've always had problems playing harmonics before and didn't think it was a string problem - before I had to really pick hard to get any sound out. Does it differ between string types or is it something about fresh strings?

I've been trying to recreate his sound with my bass and effects pedal but I can't seem to blend clean and overdrive - may need more gear for that

I've been playing for several years now and I've been stagnant for about 3 years. I don't remember the last time I learnt something new and changed my playing style or knowledge about music. I believe it's because I never jam with other people and I've never been a band, I only play along to my favourite songs or just jam to random chord progressions. Music is too much of a personal thing for me.There's no driving force for me to play lots and improve as much as possible, and yet I still call myself a bassist and can't stop talking about it. I think if I had more gear with me - like a real amp that actually works (my current one only seems to play one range of tone) and I finally susses out how to use my effects pedal properly I'd be more motivated to get better at that instrument.

[quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1322928795' post='1457430'] Yep that sounds a pretty good summing up of the book to me Pete. I always like the idea of listening to very avant garde, technically brilliant, out there music as practised by both of these two but when I listen to solo Fripp projects and Bill Bruford's later output I find myself asking what it is that people actually find to like in such "challenging" music. [/quote] [quote name='peteb' timestamp='1322928117' post='1457416'] I have unfortunately! Fripp is painted as rather a malevolent, unpleasant sort of a fellow and Bruford comes across as possibly the dullest man alive! [/quote] I agree with both of these. Maybe Mr. Bruford agrees too [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-f0P7-fxUQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-f0P7-fxUQ[/url]

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1322818813' post='1456107'] How significant is the extra tension on the neck? I'm frightened of truss rods...what could go wrong? I like the idea of 50-110; I hate the sound of a weedy G string. If I'm allowed to say that here. [/quote] No I don't blame you - my G string sounds like a nylon thread being plucked on an acoustic guitar eurghhh *shudders*

[quote name='Paul_C' timestamp='1322779610' post='1455936'] personal preference for me - I used 30-90s for EADG but wanted the low B without the weight and hassle of a five string. [/quote] Bloody hell mate, do you pick very lightly?

Thanks guys for the info. Paul_C do you tune it down for personal preference or do is it hard to do EADG on thick strings? Skidder, those are really cheap so I might get them, even though I was intending on getting coated strings again - my fingers really destroy strings, even 'durable' ones like ernie ball

Hello all, I haven't been playing the bass in a long while, I started to play again and I've realised how light my strings feel. They're coated Warwick EMP strings, not sure on the gauge but I think they are 40-100, but nonetheless they feel light to me and the sound of the D and G strings just feel a bit empty compared to E and A. When i pick up a stock Squier jazz the strings feel a bit thicker and the sound is more full. I'm thinking of moving up to thicker strings for a bit more fat sound, but I'm not sure by how much. Would 45-105 make a big difference or should I go for 50-110. I've been using the same strings for a long time so I don't have a point of reference to compare to easily. Anybody got any clue or had experiences with changing gauges much? Or is it one of those things people overlook? Thanks.

Sam Rivers, Justin Chancellor, Jason Newsted

I wanted a clip of him playing (im sure the one i heard wasnt live) the whole thing, the videos here (such as the first one) are only small bits of it. Thanks though

Hi I can't seem to find Stuart Hamm's version of Beethovens Moonlight Sonata on youtube - can anyone please link me? I heard it briefly today on a mates mp3 player and thought it was amazing.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='782904' date='Mar 22 2010, 10:59 PM']You may have 32 bit drivers and be running W7 in 64 bit. That may be enough to cause the lag you're seeing. I'd check for updated drivers.[/quote] aaah, i'm using W7 32...my last OS was vista 64 That does sound great, Ian, but judging by the price of such hardware I might as well leave that idea alone

[quote name='jmesa' post='782881' date='Mar 22 2010, 10:43 PM']Driver / Latency issues? Windows is terrible? Could be either![/quote] I'm using the same drivers as before and windows 7 is great (in relative terms)

[quote name='Protium' post='782870' date='Mar 22 2010, 10:35 PM']Computers are a pain in the arse and rarely do what you want/expect them to do.[/quote] Very true, but there's always a logical explanation!

Hello, When my amp is unavailable I plug my bass straight into the line-in jack for my laptop and have had great results of hearing it through my speakers and sub. The tone is a bit ugly but that is expected. Recently I formatted my hard drive and installed windows 7, for some reason, the way the pc plays back the line-in sound is much different - instead of setting the speakers to simply output what you input, i now have to set the 'rec. playback device'. now, when i play the bass the sound comes out of the speakers delayed, making it impossible to play in rhythm. The tone has become even uglier - however, very strangely, the slap and pop tone is far better than anything I've achieved before (including with my amp!) Has anyone got the faintest idea as to why this has happened? Thank you

[quote name='Randy_Marsh' post='691189' date='Dec 22 2009, 01:31 AM']tasty line there. and a massive +1 to it making you want to jam! picked up my bass straight away[/quote] hell yeah not to mention great solo from morello

Never heard this one before. not many of the audioslave basslines stand out when compared to the RATM ones. this ones just different - very upbeat and makes me wanna jam maybe its just the flashy video i dunno thoughts?

justin chancellor.