TheLowDown

On 07/05/2021 at 19:03, Doddy said:

and I'm fully aware of every note on the instrument as well as what notes are in what scales and chords. 

That's not what I said.

On 08/05/2021 at 09:17, akabane said:

It's incredible how much ignorance can be spewed in a post and touted as facts

Sorry for my "ignorance". Please educate on where I'm wrong so I can learn from your greater knowledge?

On 05/05/2021 at 13:39, Doddy said:

No I don't. At least nothing that an hour or two in the practice room learning the notes won't sort out.

Going off your example, a 6 string doesn't give you a huge number of major 3rds over a 4 string. If you use C as your root, you're only getting 2 more places to play an E than on a 4 string (within the first 12 frets). What you are getting is the option to play over a full 2 octave range within a 4 fret area rather than a 9 fret shift, and a full 3 octaves within 12 frets.

 

Major 3rds was an example to make the point. You should be at least aware of where all the major/minor 3rds, natural/flat 5ths, and minor/major 7ths are depending on what chord type you're playing. Playing scales across the entire neck teaches you more than just note positions so you don't have to rely on beginner shapes. 

A 4 string means that there is less to consider which makes playing much nippier when you need it.  If you know the fretboard well enough, going up or down the neck where necessary shouldn't be a problem, and even encourages a certain creativity. 

If you think a 6er doesn't add complication to navigation then maybe there is still a lot of work to be done on fretboard awareness. But if you just play in the box all night every night, a 5 or 6 string will definitely suit you much better. 

On 03/05/2021 at 10:29, Doddy said:

I also don't think that it particularly complicates the navigation of the fingerboard. Once you've spent a bit of time learning the notes on the added strings there's not much extra thinking involved. In fact, there are times when it can be helpful because you can play over 2 octaves in position.

 

You don't think it complicates it at all going from a 4 string to a 6 string? Take any root note on the fretboard, compare the number of major 3rds between a 4 string and a 6 string.

If you just want to play within a box on the fretboard, then I would agree with you.

4 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

On the age point, I'm actually not aware of anyone who is 😉

More seriously though, getting a better load bearing strap (in my case Minotaur 11cm / 4.3")  has been a revelation and I'm really looking forward to gigging a couple of my heavier basses that I've previously hesitated to take out for 2 hour gigs.

Any 10 string bass that includes the elixir of youth, I'm taken. I will overlook the strings.

For my strap I use 4 inch ones as in the pic, and they're the best I could find for around the 20 quid mark. The 6 strings weigh around 8.8lb, but even with a 4 inch strap it's like a boat anchor after a while.

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

I can't believe you've not discovered how good the B string is a thumb rest? Mutes it beautifully 😂

Sadly, not on the recording.

I play them all at some point, but I believe in using the best tool for the job. This is why I have them all as you can see.

Others may not have that view. If I'm at a gig and I'm playing some songs that use a 4 string and some that use a 5 string, I will still take both. Arguably, most songs can be played on a 4 string, so I wouldn't be playing to the best of my ability if all of those songs were played on my 5 string, always having to mute the B string while complicating my playing unnecessarily.

For the weight issue, I'm not getting any younger, and every lb of weight every hour intensifies. This is why I choose to play the lightest bass I can. I don't want to lug around a 5 string when I don't have to, and definitely not a 6 string.

Binky makes the point about home projects, and I've stuffed that into "niche work and practice". I agree that the 6 string is ideal for such things and this is why I bought them to begin with. At home, the weight issue, neck dive and most of the other issues are negligible.

There's never going to be a bass which is all things to everyone. And that's why I choose to use the best tool for the job whatever.  I'm only going to use a bass if I absolutely have to. So the lighter, the more simple, the less strings, the less neck dive,...., the better for what I want to achieve.

Honeymoon period.

You have all these new strings to play with and it's like being one of those transformers with weapons oozing out of every pore.  You're now Galactus and you never need another bass because the 6 string does it all. And more.

But then reality kicks in as you become more acquainted with the saying "with great power comes great responsibility". The extra weight hour after hour, the constant muting of the C string and the permanently rumbling B string, the (at least slight) neck dive, the extra price of strings, the extra mental calculations required to effectively circumvent the fretboard when going from chord to chord, to name but a few, all begin to take their toll.

Regarding the point in italics, even though it's only 2 strings more than a 4 string, that hugely expands how many patterns you need to keep in your head when looking for the right note to play, and when performing you really want to keep things as simple as possible. No need to complicate things.

And that's when you realise that you should only use the right bass for the job. Don't use a 6 string when a 4 or 5 will do. Don't use a 5 string when a 4 will do. It turns out that even though the 6 string is a whole lot of fun, it often doesn't need to be used that much except for niche work and practice.

I have a 4, 5 and 6 string fretless(not 5 string though) and fretted, so i don't need any more bases. If I did buy another I would get a Harley Benton 4 string short scale   for around £100 and save the other £600.

You could buy one of those fan fret 4 strings and then just buy an extra B string.

I also believe that getting the best B string that is possible is not about the scale, but more about the setup.

It would be difficult to say the best, but one of the best for me would be New Order's Blue Monday

Price is invariably equated with quality, and marketing people know this all too well. Unfortunately, a lot of consumers don't. This is why I do my research and buy a bass or other at a reasonable price to get the best quality at the lowest price. Nowadays you really can get an awesome quality bass at a low cost because of the level of technology available and manufacturing centres in the East. Therefore, all of my basses are each under £200. There is literally no reason why I need to spend above that that will offer anything more than the basses that I have already.

I don't really see the point of paying  £567 for a packet of biscuits when I can get good quality biscuits for significantly less, although some people buy into the idea that a £576 packet of biscuits with a prestigious brand name on the packet will give them the best quality biscuits that money can buy.

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

And when did the change to UPS from being good to not being good happen? I've always used them when sending instruments etc as they used to provide very good service.

I've never had any problems with them.

Some Glarry and Gear4music are around 7lb for a 4 string

If the bass player played Moonlight Sonata underneath all those screaming guitars, would it make any difference to the above songs?

Symphonie Pacifique by Greg Foat on Jazz FM.

I don't think humans will ever be the best judge. Too subjective. If someone tells me that I'm playing a maple neck, I may hear a maple neck even though it's rosewood. What people hear will always be coloured by what they want to hear and expect to hear.

Let a computer be the judge.

I don't go by shapes.

i don't know if I could call myself one of those "people who know what they're doing", but when I'm practising to jam tracks I just use some or all of the required notes, although I err on the side of simplicity. If I can make something sound good with just root and 5th, then I've done my job. No need to overpopulate basslines with notes. Less is more.

The jam tracks are exercises for me to test my skills at improvisation so that i can feel comfortable moving from chord to chord as well as testing myself finding the chord tones all over the neck wherever the root is. As mentioned, I don't go by shapes because I think they're very limiting, albeit convenient. I will never improve as a bass player by sticking with what is convenient.

For example, if I'm playing the Dm7 chord, this will use the intervals: root(D), minor 3rd(B),  5th(A), and minor 7th(C).  So when I'm jamming I'm not going to be sticking with the minor(eg Dorian, Phrygian, or Aeolian) shape, but instead I will be looking for those intervals all over the neck. I could play the minor 3rd one string up and 2 frets down, or I could play the minor 3rd 4 frets up on the same string, or the minor 3rd 1 string down and 4 frets down. It helps me to think on my feet so that I'm constantly trying to improvise.

Don't forget to look into the possibility of using inversions. You don't always have to start on the root note and it can make it more interesting by adding some ghost notes and other decorative elements.

If you're actually performing in a gig or a recording studio, then shapes for the notes nearby are a convenience because you don't want to be finding the notes all over the neck - that will just be wasted effort. Simplicity is best. But if you practise as above,  you won't need the shapes because you'll know where the notes are that you need when the time comes.

Knowing the modes is always useful for when playing chord progressions. For bassists you only really need to know the Ionian(or major), Dorian(minor),  and Mixolydian(dominant) modes because most of what we play will be chord tones. The major, minor, and dominant chords will make up 99% of what you'll ever need.

If you don't want to get bogged down in what type(major, minor, dominant, suspended etc) of chord you're playing then stick with root and 5th.

Hope that helps or gives some food for thought.

I only need 1 bass, but I can appreciate why many people like to collect basses for the sake of ownership.  If you have the money and having more than 1 bass gives you enjoyment in life, then why not.

Having said that I do have more than 1 bass, but they're different number of strings with some being fretted and others being fretless, so each one serves a different purpose. I wouldn't want to have two 4-string fretted because then by sales instinct would start to tingle.

18 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

January the 1st. I tried to book something via DPD on about the 8th of january and found they were no longer able to do deliveries from the EU to the UK.

 

 

I've never had it delivered by DPD, only UPS. Both from before Brexit and the one time I bought from them since Brexit. 

12 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

They weren't - they used to come by DPD who were great. They now can't come by DPD, they come by UPS, who aren't.

When did the change from DPD to UPS happen for you?

Well if the couriers were fine before Brexit then it's not the problem of the couriers, but adjusting to the new system.

I like a P bass type tone for myself in my own home, so this usually means 100% neck pickup and the less bridge pickup the better. I leave it at that and never fiddle with the controls.

Outside of home, my tone is whatever the sound man wants it to be.

Often it can be something as simple in the setup as a twisted string that causes it

I always enjoyed your videos and find them very instructive.

On 26/03/2021 at 20:39, Downunderwonder said:

A bit like a sparrow doesn't understand aerodynamics.

Not this again. I often forget that Paul McCartney was a musical genius who's music came to him via George Martin divine intervention.
It's like these people who avoid learning music theory because they believe that it would hold their creative juices back, when in reality it's because they're too thick and/or lazy.

On 27/03/2021 at 12:16, chris_b said:

You don't have 5 songs in the top 5 positions of the US top 10 unless you're the best there is.

Talent has never been determined by consensus in the same way that science isn't, especially when it was mostly screaming teenage girls who bought their records and attended their concerts. Elvis Priesley was "the king of rock n roll" who sold hundreds of millions, yet he hasn't got a songwriting credit to his name except when the contract forced it. Then we've got that mega talented Justin Beiber, songwriting geniuses Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue, and the list goes on and on of hugely talented artists who sold shed loads of records because they were that good.