TheLowDown

1 hour ago, PaulWarning said:

I bet he learnt it later, like a lot of things, if you can't see the point of it, it's difficult to stay focused

As of 2018, "the 76-year-old admitted he was embarrassed about the fact that he doesn’t understand music theory".

If he's a late developer, time is not on his side.

7 hours ago, mikel said:

Music lessons? Unless you were well off and wanted to play in an orchestra they were rarer than hens teeth. You cant judge the beginnings of rock music by todays technology or easily available instruction.

Paul McCartney did have music lessons and he tried to learn theory, but quickly gave it up because he found it too difficult and challenging.

8 hours ago, Crawford13 said:

all the beatles were very bitter against Paul post beatles due to the law suit so perhaps not the most impartial source when it comes to what actually happened

Paul wasn't mentioned in the clip.

7 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Don't feed the troll.

Not trolling at all. I shouldn't have to feel like I have to mindlessly agree with what's seen as popular opinion for fear of not falling in line, like the emperor's new clothes. I'm entitled to think for myself and have my own opinion. I hope that's allowed.

The 5 of them were a chance coming together of the right people with the right management at the right time. Without GM's motivation and creative direction and input, they would have been 4 ordinary lads winging it on instruments that they could barely play.

 Some of their interviews were quite illuminating, such as this one with Lennon

34 minutes ago, neilp said:

His song writing is mediocre at best

+1.

So is his bass playing. It's frequently the case that when a band has achieved the fame and fortune that the Beatles did, primarily driven by the musical expertise of screaming 12 year old girls, people in subsequent generations have been all too eager to see talent and brilliance and genius where there certainly wasn't any, as is always the case with any band so revered. In truth, there has never been any correlation between talent and the popularity achieved by any artist. People are forever reading deep meanings into their lyrics where there wasn't any too, but this is to be expected.

The Beatles, including McCartney, were 4 mop-top numpties would have been entirely lost without George Martin.

21 minutes ago, grandad said:

AND he used this little bass guitar, the one that everyone wants!

Allegedly the reason why he chose it is because he didn't have to make any alterations to it to make it suitable for a lefty.

I think Bassbuzz / Josh Fossgreen is a good channel because he explains things well. Unlike many others he explains ideas with visuals.

Mark from Talkingbass and Scott's channel are only given half marks because of that as it makes it very difficult to see what notes are actually being played. That and other reasons is why I don't subscribe to either anymore. It would help if Mark didn't stand so far away as if he wants us to paint a landscape portrait of him - get closer man! We want to see the fretboard so we can see what's being played. SBL is too clickbaity and he waffles and waffles and waffles and waffles and waffles, and it's like an hour into the video before there's any useful content.

Ryan Madora and Greg's bass shed are good too.

I like wide 3.75 inch leather/suede straps, so I bought 3 of them for £21 each. They're excellent for gripping even for 6 string and distribute the weight evenly. No complaints.

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

The bucket of spanners falling down the stairs that is modern slap

That's an aptly visual quote 👍.

The thing that gets me about modern slap is that I don't see how the players can possibly believe that their intention in those intense slap solos is more about making music than merely showing off.

I have no doubt that slap requires talent in the same way as doing a hand stand while shaking maracas in ones mouth, but whether the listener believes it's musical is another matter. At some point in its history, slap crossed over from musical art to performance art.

When i was young it was all rock rock rock and then new wave.  Now rock is probably the only genre that I rarely listen to.

On 22/03/2021 at 10:05, owen said:

What did I know? Not enough, clearly. I have even read Suggs's autobiogrpahy and it was all "yeah, the lads were learning how to play as we went, we made it all up etc etc". That is clealry a narrative and not the truth.

It probably was the truth rather than a narrative. Floyd were like that too and could hardly play. . A lot of bands were like that and most of the bands and acts that we grew up loving were just average noodlers wanting to hit the big time. Music was more of a vehicle than anything else.

13 minutes ago, Doddy said:

Because slap can't be melodic?

I fixed it for you.

What happens if you don't wear anything? Hypothetically of course, for science.

I wear boxers because they give me that nice relaxed and airy tone.

I don't like slap either, and I believe that you're far from alone in having that opinion.

I see slap as being the least musical technique and which serves the song the least well. I like melodic and tuneful solos when they serve the song, and in such a situation a non-slap melodic solo should always be chosen above slap.

7 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Oh ok, sorry. I have no real problem going between 4 and 5 strings, just the spacing.

As much as I only play 5 strings, and the 5 string fretless ibanezes are great, i never really found the B string on fretless all that useful. They don't seem to work well as flatwounds and they are a bit flappy on roundwounds!

Seems ok on my 6 string fretless, but a lot of people think the B string on a fretless is less useful than the high C.

Just now, Woodinblack said:

Remap the fretboard? hardly, the strings are just a bit further apart. It is an inconvenience yes, but no real difference apart from the muscle memory of location.

The OP is talking about going between 4 and 5 string due to adjusting to different spacing. I refer you to this: " I am now considering selling/swapping the 5 string for the SRH500 four string fretless with 19mm spacing.".

This is what I'm referring to, not to the difference in string spacing of basses of the same number of strings.

13 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Certainly makes you more versatile - does it make you better?

Better is quite a vague word open to interpretation.

It doesn't make you better in that you will automatically mentally absorb scales and modes like a boss and become magically adept at walking basslines by playing it, but it will mean that it helps force your mental processes stay alert as you have to remap the fretboard for your playing. Better than becoming a 5 string box squatter.

It's always good to stay fluid so that you can switch between different basses more easily. It makes you a better and more versatile bassist.

Is it neoprene? Not sure if you're asking about the type of foam or what.

Your dog has good taste 👍

It could be fret buzz on the next fret up. If you raise the saddle slightly then the buzz will 'travel' up the fretboard until saddles are high enough. May indicate frets that aren't as level as they could be but I'm not entirely sure.

2 hours ago, Stingray5 said:

Fair point, although I guess you could say the same about a Jazz bass. (e.g., Jaco style  )

I suppose so, yeah.

Without the pickguard, I would think it's only half a ray. I assume that's why people buy them - for their iconic nature.

1 hour ago, hooky_lowdown said:

None, even HB's own brand pickguards don't fit. There is a vid on YouTube of a guy with the same bass fitting a black HB pickguard, and encountering problems.

I don't suppose you have a link to it, do you?

36 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Ridiculous that people know who Bez is but not the drummer or bass player...

If he had a bass in the shape of a flower, things may have been different.

Bez was a curiosity as there weren't many bands with front stage maracas. Perhaps more people remember them for Bez than they do Shaun Ryder.

I used to be into the Mondays in my younger days along with much of the Madchester scene. I went to see(technically correct, if it wasn't for the size of the venue and were I was) them in the Midlands in the 90s. I used to have a pills thrills n bellyache poster on my wall. They were always a lot more funky than the other more rock based Madchester scene, and may have been the reason why they were among my faves.

On 26/09/2009 at 14:00, thumperbob 2002 said:

Did a gig with the Mondays at the Adelphi in Hull in the early 80s

Almost literally down the road from there in the Newland Av area, there lived(at least while they were drinking) that guy from the Beautiful South on Grafton St.

Use floating thumb. It means your technique stays consistent for when you change between basses of different strings.