diskwave

Yep, get rid of him and I'm not joking. Played in umpteen 'club' bands with PA support and a drummer who knows what hes doing will play quietly and let the desk do the heavy lifting. Nothing worse than un-mixed instruments backline volume destroying the vibe from the board.

Yep as above harmony. It teaches you play away from the root of a tune which in itself opens up an entire new way of looking at music. But its not just that. Jazz encompasses so many styles, sub genres etc.... But if all u want to do is for eg play punk, simple rock, or country then it doesnt really matter to much.

For what its worth I had an early Mex RW jazz bass. Im not a jazz bass fan but it was a stunning instrument. 8IIbs on the dot and felt kinda thin and super balanced. If you ever find one, at least take a look, great instrument.

For what its worth I played a 77 black maple all thru the 80's and it was a very poor instrument. Heavy and weedy sounding. Not all vintage that glistens is gold.

Bass plugged in and just meandering thru a YT play list.. mainly 70's pop..Philly Soul, James Taylor, Bee Gees, Carole King, EW&F, Stevie W. Its complete and utter relaxation playing with and enjoying all those old favs, time just disappears. Great writing, grt bass work on all of it.

Just been trawlin thru YT and 'Could You Be Loved' popped up. Yes I know its a bit commercial but what a fantastic bass groove that is. Plugged in and had a blast on the ye olde P bass.

S'funny I got into Philly Soul at a young age, Ronnie Baker, Scott Edwards et al but the one player that got me to focus decades ago was an older guy I eventually took over from in a local soul band. He had such a smooth technique, you cld barely see his fingers moving and Ive always tried to emulate him. No idea if hes still around. Super player.

Had no idea, .. care to suggest an eg?

The tune that can set you up for life. Learn to walk that tune in diff keys and different arrangements and you'll be able to play anything, anytime, anywhere.

Not so much persons etc but technique, and it's.... Jazz. Study Jazz, learn the board so you can walk all over it. I'd say in general the best bassists in our time have been good Jazzers. Sorry thats not quite what ur looking for but I think its important.

A walk the other day found us in a tiny, very old isolated church just under the South Downs. Mrs Disc is a beleiver Im not and she sings and I dont anymore. But we suddenly found ourselves in the gloom going thru the hymn book belting out some old primary school favs..... Most liberating indeed, felt really good.

Its a funny thght that in 100 years time there will be bands playing all this stuff and the original members will be long gone (obviously). I guess when Bach et al were at the top of there success they had their own orchestras who were associated with them. Time goes on but the music is remembered and played by those who love it.

In a bid to re-aquaint myself with the fretboard and to get my old fingers moving Ive discovered a ton of new Big Band arrangements on YT complete with charts. I'd forgotten just how ferocious some walking lines can get... phew. Good fun.

Its an interesting one. Ive often thought the identity of most bands is carried thru the lead singer/front man and the rest of the band might as well be a bunch of session guys. You could name almost any band and that thinking would work thru all genres. So as long as the vocal tone is authentic it pretty well doesnt much matter, who else is on stage.

Big band. Found a ton of new arrangements on YT of all the old favs, and stuff I wouldnt have expected to have received the BB treatment....Makes a nice technical change from all the old pop favs.

Yes the Express on the corner. Seems the staff play what they like cause when staff over 30 are on the till its all 70's pop chart (hooray!) But in the evenings theres more of the droney dross. Had no idea they could play what they like.

This. I love a lot of classical music but I dislike a lot of it too. There are some very famous pieces which I have little time for at all... why? Melody. If I cant hear a cracking melody in a tune then its just white noise to me. And to be fair, quite a lot of out internet brethren who demo are just showing how well they know the fretboard. Knowing the fretboard inside out does not maketh the tune... or words to that effect.

Here too. Im pretty sure in 45 years Ive never played it either. Maybe I did but I cant rmember how it goes yet I can play any number of soul, funk, and jazz numbers without a thght.

A trip to my local Co-op for all the cheap out of date stuff is planned like a military excercise because if I spend more than 5 mins in there I could possibly explode thanks to a brain numbing faux soft rap, droney noise being pumped outta the ceiling. What is that? is it the kids latest thing? Jeez, no wonder the old pop charts aint going away. 'Rap'.. has a lot to answer for imo.

Two sets of Chromes both 17 years old. Makes my P basses sound something like a J bridge PU but with more heft.

DP is an exemplary musician indeed. How he plays that fast walking line singing those Rabbit lyrics is a mystery. He's second only to Macca. Scrap that, hes equal to Macca playing and singing bass.

He has extraordinary dexterity, musicality and poise and does 'things' on the bass we havent seen before. But how about if he'd studied say the Cello?... Would the cello world be drooling and fawning over him.... I doubt it. In the world of classical music he would be just another schooled accomplished musician ready to join any top orchestra on the planet. Thing is where will this all end? We have all grown up understanding, lead, support and rythmn. Maybe Im too old and funky (in a good way..haha) but I simply cannot see how bass will ever be taken seriously as a lead instrument after all isnt it simply ..... to bassy?

The legendary Abe Laboriel was a classical guitarist too and has a similiar dexterity across the board and strums a lot too.....similiar technique.

Hes a talented guy but those vocal things he does Id imagine hes using a multi harmonic vocaliser. Keys in my last band used one...sounded amazing like a choir, clever tho.

Anyone care to get the thread back on track or is that it?