SumOne

I've just been mucking about on my Yamaha RBX 765A which has been sitting in a case as a backup Bass for a long time and after only playing 4 string for about 6 months I'd forgotten how it isn't just about efficiency or the lower notes - it can also be more interesting to play a 5 even if you don't need anything below a low E. 

Right now I'm playing 'Baggy Trousers' and forgot it can be a lot more efficient if using the B string just for the E#, but can also use other positions going up the B string for a different tone to mix it up as the song progresses, or can go back to the 4 string frets (useful for parts like the octave jumps at the end). It opens up a lot of fretboard options, different patterns, and different tones regardless of going below the low E or being efficient. 

I've also just realised that certain songs where I got used to thinking it didn't matter to go lower (like the low D in 'Proud Mary' played an octave up instead), actually I now think that single low note is worth having (and without having to drop tune and change the fretting positions/muscle memory).

I am fickle with these things, but I've put my 4 string Jazz up for sale and am getting another 5 (Cort Space), as it feels that while 4 strings will get the job done, 5 is more interesting to play. 

I do think if playing rock/metal with a plectrum then 4 might be better if you don't need the lower notes (which you do need for a lot of metal) as the muting is that bit easier, hence why a lot of guitarists that also play Bass tend to play 4 strings.

Friends/family/colleagues feign interest out of politeness. To pressure them and then get offended that they aren't being more supportive is a bit egotistical. Why should they care? 

If I wrote a Gothic Horror novel, I wouldn't expect my cousins/aunties/colleagues/long lost school friends to be the target audience and the ones that should support and be the deciding factor to make or break it. I'd send it to appropriate publishers, if they thought it was good enough to be profitable they'd promote it to the small % of the population that enjoy Gothic horror. I don't really see music as something all that different. I'd promote my Ambient Dub Techno album via appropriate social media pages for fans of that music, record labels, radio shows, DJs, clubs etc. they are the target audience who make or break it, I wouldn't pressure my Auntie Dorris to 'like' and listen and come to gigs. 

I've gone right off any serious promotion to friends/family on Facebook.

Friends I haven't seen for 10 years and my 80 year old auntie aren't gonna go 100 miles to a pub to watch me play ska covers! I feel that hassling them is just a few steps away from selling tupperware to friends and neighbours. 

Still though, I do a bit of 'playing at the Red Lion of Friday, head along if you're out and about'. There is a band Facebook and Instagram page that people can choose to follow (and mute) which does the more pushy advertising. 

48 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Haven’t heard that in a long while, I remember buying the album when it came out and was blown away, great selection 

Yeah, 'New chapter of dub' is a great album. 

Version excursion!

Original: Aswad, Love Fire

Aswad, Dub Fire

Dennis Brown, Promise Land 

Damian Marley & Nas, Land of Promise

3 hours ago, steviedee said:

Thanks for the info! As I say it’s kind of academic as I’ve just modified what play so there is no need to detune but it was just out of curiosity!

I've encountered this before from guitarists saying 'can you drop down a semitone' or 'you need to pay in drop D' (while I play a 5 string). I'm not convinced they know what they are talking about! Can play that low D on a 5 string,what do they care about how I fret it?! And is a low A# or lower really needed? I mean, almost all Reggae and Dub is with standard tuned 4 string down to low E and that sounds like plenty of low end - it's about the EQ and volume and giving Bass the space rather than playing inaudible rumble. And there are always alternative notes (like a third or fifth up). 

But anyway. Yeah, I've found multi fx best at detuning just by a set amount like a semitone if it really is needed (but I'm yet to find a situation where it really is needed). 

Fender Jazz USA 2009. £850

Sunburst + Tort + Rosewood. 

This is a really good condition 2009 USA Jazz Bass, it just has a couple of small cosmetic dents and scrapes that you wouldn't notice without close inspection. 

Lightweight: 3.9kg according to my scales, 3.8kg/8.7lbs according to Bass Direct. (https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/2009-fender-american-standard-jazz-bass-3-tone-sunburst-pre-owned/)

With a Fender Tweed gigbag.

TI Flats, and Schaller S Locks fitted.

Collection from Chichester, or I'm usually in London on Mondays, and Worthing Wednesday evenings. Sorry, no postage/courier. 

21 hours ago, KingPrawn said:

Nice. Whats the dimensions please

The hard case is 160x36x21cm

The pedalboard is 56x32x6cm

T-Rex ToneTrunk 56 Pedalboard and hard case. 

Velcro stuck to the pedalboard. Some superficial scrapes but otherwise all good. 

£40 + postage (I guess that'll be about £10).

33 minutes ago, ped said:

Is it me or is that contradictory? Also I think it’s talking more about using compression as an effect, as opposed to how most bassists use it, as an overall tone shaper keeping everything in check in perhaps a more subtle way. Both OD and Fuzz will flatten your signal, so it doesn’t matter if comp is before or after that, I think after is better because you can let the fuzz and OD respond to dynamics which the best ones do really well.  

Yeah, they do say 'apart from vintage fuzz and wah' and I guess it depends on how much overdrive before it steps into that territory, and they are talking about compression as an effect.

Personally, I don't use much compression at all unless I'm playing a clean sound, then it can be good subtlety, or as a noticeable squish effect. But if I use effects I'll put more like a Limiter with a high threshold at the end - just in case there's something like an overly 'peaky' envelope filter that needs taming. 

I think, @garry warrington, you might want a compressor with clean blend, or change the compression settings lower, or if you are using the Beta with a lot of overdrive perhaps you don't need a compressor at all (as it'll be compressing your signal anyway). The Beta does tend to be quite muddy sounding. 

4 hours ago, garry warrington said:

 

I always thought the comp was at the end of a signal chain

This from Origin Effects website:

"... where do you place the compressor in your signal chain? 

The Official Textbook of Pedal Placement™ states that, apart from vintage fuzz and wah, compression should always be first in the chain. For typical guitar use – that is to say, using your compressor as an obvious effect – we certainly agree. Compression reduces the dynamic range of your signal, squashing the peaks and preventing any notes from jumping uncomfortably out of the mix. For clean sounds, like those used by Funk or Country players, this is just what you want – a nice, even clean tone without slicing anyone’s heads off. 

If this is how you like to use your compressor, it will work best first in the chain. This is partly because the next pedal is likely to be an overdrive. Overdrive will also dramatically affect the dynamics of your signal, clipping the peaks and eliminating any difference between loud and quiet notes. As such, placing a compressor after your drive would not allow you to bring out all the snappy, funky bits of your playing – your overdrive has got rid of them all already!"

I'd put the compressor before overdrive. 

I think, in the example of a Dog knowing how to walk, the point is that a Dog doesn't formally study the theory of how it is creating movement and it can't explain about energy and muscle groups and the physics of gravity and movement. It has learned by doing. Sure, it is useful for some people to formally study these things in-depth and knowledge is always a good thing, but you don't usually need to study in that level of detail to achieve your objective.

It's semantics whether the Dog knows the theory of walking or not, but in science a Theory is quite a specific formal thing "supported by evidence: a principle formed as an attempt to explain things that have already been substantiated by data." You can apply Laws of Motion & Gravity and  conservation of Energy and the Theory of General Relativity and use data and evidence to explain how the Dog walks, but generally speaking - in scientific terms, you wouldn't say the Dog understands the theory of what it's doing - it doesn't comprehend how it works, just that it works.

In the same way, to play (or write) 'Creep' you don't need to know if chords are Secondary Dominant or Chromatic Mediant. In all likelihood, Radiohead didn't know in-depth theory of it, they listened to the Pixies and Bowie songs with the chord progressions and learned by doing, and they in turn had listened to the Elvis song that had used it, and that was influenced by the Ink Spots, who listened to the Shep Fields song - who probably heard it somewhere else. I wouldn't be suprised if none of them (and whoever originally did it) knew or spent time considering the theory of whether they are using a Secondary Dominant or Chromatic Mediant, they noodled about and made a chord a minor and thought it sounded good.

Personally though, I'd say some formal understanding of music theory goes a long way and is pretty much essential, it makes playing a lot easier if you know something about timings, notes, chords, triads etc, you could figure it all out by listening/doing but you'd save yourself a lot of time and effort to just do a bit of formal learning. But for me, when it comes to more advanced music theory, learning about things like the difference between Secondary Dominant and Chromatic Mediant, personally, I think my time is better spent playing with bands and listeing to music to learn by doing. I don't think that's snobbery, I think most of those artists that recorded songs with that chord progression would probably say the same thing.

46 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

That's exactly what theory is.

 

Just because it's not written down doesn't make it not tberoy. You know what it's going to sound like, and you know what notes to play to make it sound right.

I know this gets into silly semantic stuff, but for sake of Internet argument:

A Dog can walk, but it doesn't know what muscles, joints nerves etc are used or the physics of gravity, acceleration, momentum etc. Could we say the Dog knows the theory of walking because it knows how to do it?  I can play 'Creep' and understand it sounds right, but couldn't explain the theory like the video on the first page. Can I claim to understand the music theory though? 

Donstrumental "Riddim up my Reggae Bass lovers"

https://www.youtube.com/@donstrumental8905

I'd say sitting is fine for music where people sit to listen to it (jazz, folk, classical, theatre work). If you are trying to get people to get up and dance though (which I guess is a big part of a pop/funk covers band) then having a band with people sitting down doesn't really help encourage people to get up, so isn't ideal - hence not seeing many funk bands with bass players sitting down. Perhaps sit (on a high stool) for the slower songs and stand up once you're trying to get the crowd to dance?

I'd recommend going for something like an Ibanez EHB. The 4 string ones can be less than 3kg, and perhaps a shorter scale - or travel Bass: the Traveler ULB Ultra-Light is about 1.5kg. But as others have said, posture/position/stretching etc. are things I've found really help too, perhaps more than the weight of a Bass.

In a way, I quite like this trend for flagship shops as basically a place to visit/advertise and not to actually buy stuff (although perhaps this Gibson one is trying to sell cheaper tat too).

That's the impression I get from things like the Yamaha  London store - it seems it can't possibly be immediately profitiable as a shop for the location and size and selling at RRP, but the point is more about the bigger picture of advertising the brand, they aren't trying to compete with online costs - they're giving you the idea to buy their brand though. I don't know about the Gibson place, but the Yamaha shop is good to just go and try out stuff and give you GAS, but not to actually buy from there e.g. Yamaha CK 61 is £1,680 from the Yamaha shop where you can try it out in-person, £769 online from Scan - where you'll think 'that's a great deal, I've saved £900').

I think there's a lot of over-thinking going on here! 

People generally don't mind hearing impressive singers, or flashy guitar solos and piano parts. Some people (most people it seems) just prefer basslines that are a solid and perhaps catchy backbone to the music, the popularity of simple basslines in pop, rock, funk, reggae, country, hip hop etc. it isn't because people are idiots who don't like good musicians or clever people - it's that the majority of people just don't enjoy the sound of complex/busy basslines, they aren't good to dance to or relaxing to hear, that stuff is better suited to instruments like guitars.

Anyone new to the Core, a couple of simple (but perhaps not obvious) things:

- In/out settings: Set your input level correctly. You might also want to check your 'output' and 'sub out' settings. 

- Tuner: when on it, click < or > to get to the screen to set it to Bass. 

- On effects chain 'MST' click > to select 'BS mode' to 'on'. 

- Make a blank template as a starting point for your presets. 

I'm back in the Core club, hopefully third time lucky!

I've kept selling them when I've gone into a band where I don't need fx, thinking individual pedals will be simpler and cheaper, then bought again when I'm in bands that need more fx. It's a costly business model, perhaps this time I'll learn my lesson and just keep it regardless. 

I played it with a band that doesn't need many fx last night (just compressor, drive, eq, hpf) and without telling people I'd changed anything the Drummer was very complimentary of the sound "what have you changed? It's the best I've heard you sound". So, an endorsement of the Core for bread and butter sounds, and in a smaller package than even having just those few individual pedals. 

A couple of criticisms though:

• I clicked the tuner off once (2x footswitch press) and must have then accidentally pressed one footswitch - changing the Preset to something I didn't want without my realising until the wrong sound was coming out.
• Not being able to delete fx from the chain: it's not a big deal to just put all the un-used ones at the end of the chain and turned off, but there's potential for confusion and accidentally turning the wrong thing on, if they could just be deleted it'd make things simpler and more foolproof. 
• Boss should have copied the Helix footswitch ideas: dull/bright lights and soft-touch.
• ...and I don't know why no-one other than Source Audio (and perhaps FI, and to a lesser extent Zoom) can really nail digital envelope filters and synth sounds.

^^

Yeah, this isn't really a Fuzz pedal (although can go quite high gain),  I've used it more as EQ and a low gain/preamp too add 'oompf' (technical term!). 

2 band EQ, drive, clean blend, volume boost, with balanced line out (e.g. to mixer) and output (e.g. to Amp), in a tough/reliable Boss compact enclosure that can run from battery. 

Or, as Boss say "The BOSS BB-1X Bass Driver is a premium stompbox (hence the £159 RRP vs things like the ODB-3 being about half that) designed to make your bass sound bold and punchy. More than just a standard compact bass pedal, the BB-1X is like a preamp, a crucial component in creating quality sound. It captures the essence and subtle nuances of your bass, amp, and playing and emphasizes all their best characteristics."

Did a line of ants, threw a tv out of the window then drove my roller into a swimming pool.

(Actually, I just had a pint and a chat with bandmates as we packed up our stuff). 

The thing that comes to mind for me 

Boss LMB-3 Limiter/Compressor 

Excellent condition and perfect working order, boxed. 

£60 + £5 postage via recorded delivery. 

Boss LS-2 Line Selector 

Excellent condition and perfect working order, boxed. 

£60  £55 +  £5 postage via recorded delivery.