Count Bassy

[quote name='BeLow' post='96138' date='Nov 29 2007, 02:02 PM']It is my opinion I do not need to tell anyone I am right and they are wrong because they can have their own opinion. ....... - but I should think twice about saying he is rubbish compared to anyone else.[/quote] To be fair, I don't think anyone here has actually done iether of these things. People have simply said what they prefer to listen to and or/play. This thread is is under 'General Bass discussion'. Its an exchange of views which, IMHO, does not have to 'go anywhere'. Clive

I've developed a wierd technique where I tend to use the thumb and first three fingers on the E,A,D & G strings respectively, and tend to rest each finger on its string when I'm not playing it. This has the advantage that when you've plucked a string you can drop the finger straight back onto it to kill it dead, allowing a very crisp, quite percussive sound. It also means that you can play, say, E string, G string, E string etc very quickly. When I need some very quick notes I'll drop two, or three fingers onto the same string, and have even used the little finger on occassion, although that is still relatively weak. I also will drop the little finger onto a string near the bridge while plucking it with another to get a very muted 'Plop' sort of sound. One downside is that your playing each string at a different position, so there may be more than normal tonal variation across the strings. I had no lessons when I started, and had previously played a squeeze box thing (Melodeon), so using all the fingers available just seemed natural. I'm not claimimg it as a good technique (I've not come across anyone else using it, so that must say something), but it works for me at the moment, and I thought it might add to the discussion. Clive

Console yourself with the thought that they are obviously a load tw*ts anyway, and you'll be better off without them. I'm also between bands and I know how frustrating it is. You practise away, but start to think what's the point? Clive

[quote name='lee4' post='95796' date='Nov 28 2007, 08:57 PM']I recently watched some Bass solo vid's on Youtube and I was suprised by how much they did NOT interest me.I feel like a traitor to bass players everywhere.I found I did'nt get off on extra fast shredding,or two hand taps.Slap by Wooten,sorry,not for me.I'm more impressed by a good groove or run in a song.I know that I will get some flak for this but I feel its time to come clean;to me bass is supportive.[/quote] I'm glad you said this. I've felt the same for a long time. You can't help but admire some of these people's skills, but some/most of it leaves me completely unmoved. Clive

The PW has a switch built into it so you can mute the instrument without unplugging it. The Neutrik silent jack has an automatic mute as you unplug it, but you still have to unplug it to kill the sound. i.e. they are not the same thing, so you can't really make a direct price comparison. Clive

I have a B65 Combo, and it's done everything I've wanted it to. Mainly used at home for practise, but have also had it on stage iether DI'ed or mic'ed up. I should point out though that I've not much experience of other maker's stuff. EDITED to add: Actually I do have a problem with it. If using compression, then the first time it kicks in there is a bit of a click. Mind you the only time I us compression is when I try to work out what possible use it is, so it's not a great problem to me. Apart from that - Fine. Clive

Never tried it, but I imagine anything by Leonard Cohen? Clive

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='91322' date='Nov 20 2007, 10:55 AM']It was an honest question and not necessarily something deserving your scorn, people. (Thanks to Stingrayfan!) I don't really dig "bassists' bassists" - I'd never heard of Jaco or Billy Sheehan or Wootten or Myung before I started reading forums. In future I shall make sure I know everything. Wasn't there a thread about basschat being 'friendly' somewhere? Doesn't include not laughing at someone asking a question?[/quote] Well, I had heard of Mark King before I started coming here, but none of the others you mention (and I've still not actually heard any Jaco, and have no idea who Myung is!), so don't feel bad about it in anyway. Clive

[quote name='BigRedX' post='91036' date='Nov 19 2007, 07:30 PM']I was being ironic... hence the ;-) Although TBH after going to all that trouble to add all the autotune gubbins to the guitar I don't think it's completely unreasonable to expect the intonation to be automated as well.[/quote] Apologies if I mis-interpretted your post! I tend to ignore the little symbols and go on the words, so that's my fault. I'm a bit of a luddite myself and would prefer to chat about these things over a pint in the pub, where the little nuances of meaning are more easily reckognised (Up to about 5 pints at least). I'm sure that technologically the intonation could be done as well, but financially would probably make it even less attractive. Just to make my position clear, I wouldn't be interested in it personally, and it may well be a short lived 'because we can' phenomenum (spelling?), but we must let the inovators try these things out. If we didn't, we wouldn't have bass guitars to chat about, or an internet on which to chat about them. Clive

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='91010' date='Nov 19 2007, 06:46 PM']You're *so* sensible ;-)[/quote] I know - it drives my wife crazy!! Clive

"What an idiot to put that thumrest on... shame really," Not really. If the original owner's technique required a thumb rest, then fitting one would seem totally sensible. Clive

I can't see why anyone should be against this sort of innovation. If you don't want it then don't buy it. As for intonation, I'm sure that most people tune up far more often than they adjust their intonation. To dismiss it as crap is just silly. Clive

Surely the thing is that you don't have to like someones bass playing (and certainly not everything about their bass playing) to respect them. Eg, I'm not a great fan of slapping, especially when it gets too fast - for me it just loses its musicality. Consequently I think I upset someone in another thread when I said that I prefer Flea's playing when he's not slapping. BUT that doesn't mean I don't respect him as a player (Jeez, If I was 1/10 as good I'd be happy) just that I'm not a great slapping fan! Also, everyone, however good, should be a valid target for polite criticism (I stress polite), and expression of preferences. I can see no problem with "I used to like Joe Bloggs, but not so much since he started doing XYZ" or "I used to like Joe Bloggs, but my tastes have changed." or "I still like Joe Bloggs, but I wished he'd do more ABC instead of XYZ". This is not the same as saying "I used to like XYZ, but now I think he's a w*nk*r". Eg. I am a great fan of the singer Roger Chapman, but I still can honestly say I prefer the stuff he was doing 5 years ago to what he's doing now, but I still respect him as much as ever. Just some rambling thoughts Clive.

I used to suffer blisters on my finger tips of both hands (particularly on the plucking hand), and the solution seems to be to make sure you get 10 - 20 minutes in everyday. If I didn't practise all week and then had a mamoth session at the week end, I'd get blisters. With 10 minutes a day I could still do the mammoth session without blisters. My lad has found the same is true for drumming. The other thing is, when practising, if your finger tips get sore and you feel a blister is on the way then stop! Carrying on until you've actually got a blister will put you back to square 1 and is totally conter pruductive. Not so easy of course if you're in the middle of a gig! It will take time for the calluses to build up, and don't be suprised (as I was) if the first few that build up decide to peel off one day. If you're a two finger player, try bringing the third/fourth fingers and the thumb into use as well. It will share the load a bit. I'm not a fan of turning the amp up as, IMHO, and for my style of playing, the affect is not the same as a heavily plucked string, but I guess that depends a lot on the individuals style. Clive

Call me old fashioned if you will, but to me he sounds so much better on the few occassions when he's not slapping. Clive

[quote name='3V17C' post='72655' date='Oct 11 2007, 10:23 AM']our drummer is starting to bother me! Basically we choose a song to learn and then it comes to rehearsal and we play through it for the first time and its pretty much bang on perfect. But then he'll say - 'nah, can't play that'! ......We're all like - 'but you just did - perfectly!' and he says 'yeah but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it live' and thats the end of it. That song is now out. He will not budge. Thing is, fair enough, some songs may have tricky bits in BUT THEN YOU PRACTICE IT surely?! but he won't - if he can't do it first time, then thats it - it simply can't be done. End of. He has an electronic kit at home, plenty of spare time on his hands and easy access to rehearsal place for setting his kit up and running thru stuff but insists that practicing it won't make any difference. It might be something as little as just one particular fill in the song that causes the whole song to be scrapped. Theres also one or two songs where he's made a very slight mistake live and which he now refuses to play in case he repeats the mistake!...again....practice, surely? and we all make mistakes from time to time. Any new songs we learn have to be rehearsed and rehearsed about a 100 times before he'll even think about playing them live despite the fact they may be fine after just a few rehearsals. Every other band member now has spoken to me individually and said that they feel he is holding us back and it is kinda true. Its got to the point now where when its time to chose songs to learn it is purely just down to him to pick based on whether or not he thinks he can play them ok. Which he can! i can't re-iterate how good a drummer he is. its a confidence thing is all, i'm sure. He doesn't really help set up/pack down after gigs apart from his own stuff,[/quote] Substitute 'drummer' with 'singer' and we have exactly the same problem, except that its pretty well brought our band to a halt. He is a good singer and excellent front man, but a complete pain in the arse to try and work with. He does a good gig, then announces he isn't going to do it again. Then when the next gig comes in he says he will. He says he doesn't like the material we do, but won't tell us what he wants to do, and then says 'I'll just do what you want to do'. Then we hear from his wife that we don't listen to what he's saying!!. Then it all starts again. It's just taken all the pleasure out of it, to the extent that I am currently looking around for something else to do. No real advice to offer I'm afraid, but take comfort if you can, that you're not the only band with this problem. Clive

Started on Melodeon (about 30 years ago), then Anglo concertina about 20 years ago (along side the melodeon). Then took up trumpet for few years (actually reading the dots). Then started taking bass seriously about 2 years ago. Currently playing mostly melodeon and bass. Having said that, my first instrument was the bass I built myself when I was 17, but it then spent most (but not all) of the next 30 years up the attic. Clive.

Jack sockets come in many forms, but one big variation is how the earth side of the contact is made. On cruder versions the earth contact relies on contact between the solid barrel of the between plug and the inside of the hollow body of the socket. There is no spring in the contact and it relies on the sideways force from the tip contact (which is sprung) to keep the earth in contact. Better sockets have a separate sprung contact to make the earth contact as well, and on the better ones of these they are gold plated contacts. Gold is a very good conductor and does not tarnish much, so the contact is generally reliable. We're not looking a lot of money here, you'll get a good quality socket for a couple of quid. The only down side of these sockets is that the spring is generally less strong, and the retention of the plug is not quite so firm. If that's a problem then Neutrik do a locking jack socket which still has the sprung earth contact, bit they need an XLR size hole rather than a standard Jack, so might not be suitable. The other problem with a locking jack is that should you trip over the cable you'll likelt pull the cables out of the plug rather than pull the plug out of the socket. These still come in at under a fiver, and are rated for 10000 mating cycles. Oh dear, I seem to have gone on a bit. Clive.

[quote name='Bidd' post='67019' date='Sep 28 2007, 05:09 PM']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.[/quote] 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.

Thanks for your comments chaps. Chris, If anything, on mine at the moment I would say that the P pickup is the redundant one, as I can get a very good approximation to it by having the two js together and a little teaking of the Volume and the tone. I'll try out some of your ideas and report back. Shark, as it stands at the moment, if you were thinking of buying a US one, I would say stick with the Mexican. The US one is undoubtedly better finished, and has string through the body etc, and is generally better quality, but in terms of fundamental playability is not much different to the Mex, and as I said in launching this thread, the extra pickup does not seem to add that much. I can't make a complete direct comparison between the two as the Mex has heavier strings on at the moment, but I guess that, given I paid twice as much for the US one as for the Mex, I'm a bit dissapointed not to see more difference. The only problem I have with the Mex is that its prone to neck dive which the US one isn't (lighter machines and the weight of the extra pick up etc. I guess), and the big elephant ear tuners get knocked out of tune very easily. I guess one solution might be to speak to Wizard pickups to see if he could supply an alternative P pick up to bring out the difference a bit more. Just a thought/another question: If you put a P pickup in the P pick up position, but on a Jazz Bass, does it sound like a P Bass, or a Jazz, bass, or what? Also, would the pickup hieght affect the difference in the sounds? Clive

I recently bought myself a US built Fender "Stu Hamm"Urge 1, from about 1990, the one with the 32" scale, and a JPJ pickup configuration. I love the instrument in many ways but, having played it for a few weeks I find that there is, to my ear, very little difference between the sound of the P pickup on its own and the sound of the two Js together. There is a difference but, it seems to me, no more than can be acheived by use of the tone controls. I was expecting more of a difference; So: Does a Jazz on both pickups sound like a precision anyway?, or is it it because I have this combination of pickups on the same guitar that makes the difference less obvious?. I am only playing it through a Marshall B65 combo. Is it possible that this amp doesn't bring out the difference? Does the Preamp on the urge 1 mask the differences? Are the pickups on and urge 1 just crap? Would changing some or all the pickups from the originals give me a wider range of tones? Would changing the strings bring out the differences? (still using the ones it came with - round wound, medium gauge, probably stainless, but no idea as to make) Should I have stuck with the Mexican Urge 1 I already had and saved my money? Is it just me? Thoughts and comments please! Thanks Clive.

Martin Turner's bass solo and subsequent line in Wishbone Ash's Phoenix does it for me. Still trying to learn it. Clive.

[quote name='thumbo' post='64969' date='Sep 24 2007, 07:22 PM']I don't think people were being judgmental, I think the general consensus on this forum is that it looks a bit sh*t. This is a forum, where people discuss things.[/quote] Well, I got the impression that people were being very judgmental, which is why I contributed. If you look at the first 1/3 of this thread it is not people saying that it looks a bit sh*te, it is people calling the perputrators all sorts of rude names. Strangely if you look at the latter half of the thread the overall tone seems to be defending the right of people to do this if they so desire. It seems that the accusers are very quick off the mark, whereas the defenders take a little longer to voice their opinions. Clive.

Anybody mentioned Bill Wyman yet? Not flash, not a tapper or a slapper, but rock solid without making a fuss about it. And despite his fame he quite happily, in the Rythm Kings at least, lets others take the limelight. And Andy Fraser, of course, but is he really underrated? Most people seem to hold him in high regard. Clive

[quote name='mancunianfox' post='64739' date='Sep 24 2007, 01:32 PM']I was working off that assumption as well. I am still suprised that the shop would be that eager to devalue one of their instruments, customers wishes or not.[/quote] But by then it wasn't the shop's instrument, it was the customer's, even if that customer was a shop employee. [quote name='MB1' post='64795' date='Sep 24 2007, 03:28 PM'][quote name='Clive Thorne' post='64676' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:02 PM'] Have they affected the playability of the instrument? NO. Have they wrecked a rare vintage instrument ? NO Have they given the customer what he wanted ? YES. ..... My own view is that either method is artificial, so why bother at all? Clive[/quote] MB1. Well Clive!..."Good Luck" selling your old bass!.... [/quote] As I thought I'd implied, in the last sentence - its not something I'd do myself, I'm just defending others rights to do it if they want to. [quote name='ARGH' post='64909' date='Sep 24 2007, 05:58 PM']Why does this whole thread make me think,the phrase "Who cares, some of you need to get out more"? Its just an instrument....an object. There are bigger things occurring in the world.[/quote] I agree with that. The reason I commented was not because of what was being done to the bass, but because of the way the people were being slagged off for doing what they wanted to do, which after all did no harm to anyone. Clive.