risingson

[quote]I have developed a technique that requires the heaviest strings possible on a bass[/quote] I'd like to see this technique demonstrated as it sounds to me increasingly like you intend to play your bass with a mallet £500 can get you a lot, I'd look into buying a second hand Lakland Joe Osborn Jazz or one of the newer Fender Jazz's, I think from personal experience they offer you a wide range of tones and will cater for all styles. I also happen to like Yamaha gear, for the price the older BB series with the active electronics in them will give you a decent sound. Check in the for sale section of this site, there's always a bargain you can grab there.

I love guitar gear being a guitarist also, but I'm only really interested in Fenders, Ricks, Gibsons and that's about it. PRS I don't like at all, way too modern. Like someone said, the Warwick of guitars. Couple a good Strat with a Fender Twin or some Two Rock gear and I'd be set I reckon.

[quote name='garethfriend' post='939733' date='Aug 30 2010, 01:43 AM']So I guess the jokes on him really, all things considered night went pretty well and was easily the most fun I've had on stage.[/quote] Sounds like the joke is indeed quite literally on him, having left a band of clearly enthusiastic musicians who are willing to put aside the twattishness of a band member and get on with the gig regardless. Sounds like a great turnaround, good on you! I must say there's been a few gigs I've not looked forward to, this Friday night for instance we played a bar in a fairly choice area, known for being a bit rough. We weren't going on till 12 either which got to me a bit, but as it turned out the crowd were awesome and absolutely loved us, and I ended up having a cracking night. There's always light at the end of the tunnel eh.

[quote name='blamelouis' post='938727' date='Aug 28 2010, 12:50 PM']Is that "wheres the book " Townsend ?[/quote] Eek, that was some fairly unpleasant business wasn't it. Still, he manages to get along with it not getting brought up much.

[quote name='peteb' post='938099' date='Aug 27 2010, 02:08 PM']Re. the Sting / Jaco comparisons I'm sure that Sting would be the first to be embarrassed to be compared to Jaco as a bass player – different stratosphere mate! Jaco composed some nice pieces of music (Portrait of Tracy, etc) but there is no doubt that Sting is a far better pop/rock songwriter – the Police were one of THE great singles bands……[/quote] +1 [quote]To get to Sting's bass playing you have to get past his silly, high-pitched voice and cod - Jamaican accent ...and I'm not prepred to do that, I'm afraid.[/quote] Pete Townshend said a similar thing. I reckon he's got one of the best voices in popular music though.

I've used DR Hi-Beams on my Jazz although I prefer D'Addario XLs sonically, and I've also used La Bella flats on my P-Bass but it's currently strung with D'Addario Chome flats. Strings matter but not as much as other things I think, I know what I like and what I don't but I don't put as much emphasis on them as other things.

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='937385' date='Aug 26 2010, 06:16 PM']I love the way Chet Baker's trumpet playing and vocals are just so similar - phrasing and tone. His version of My Funny Valentine is sublime.[/quote] Yeh, the subtlety of his vocal is always echoed when he starts playing trumpet. I absolutely love how breezy and west coast it sounds. [quote]For pleasure: Midnight Juggernauts, Joanna Newsome, The Knife, Devo, Oh No Ono, Lights, Tunng, Johnny Foreigner, When A Train Hits A Truck.[/quote] Nice, seen the Midnight Juggernauts plenty before and The Knife are so so good.

No. I love Sadowskys, F-Basses, MTD's and such but realistically a lot of them trend as flavour of the week a lot of the time and I can't see them being a wise investment. A Fender is a good investment due to it's timeless design and the likelihood that a good Fender from the early 50's to the very late 70's will never stop going up in price. Most boutique basses depreciate massively in value very quickly, just like a new Aston Martin or the newer Ferrari's.

Currently listening to stuff from the Warp label, particularly the Boards of Canada. Django Reinhardt and Chet Baker still get a lot of playing, as have The Beatles of late. Don't really listen to much for bass players much anymore, like listening for the music first!

[quote name='silddx' post='936656' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:36 AM']Agreed, but we're not talking about Shergar here [/quote] Well quite, although I hear Sting likes to keep a pocketful of sugarcubes in the off chance he or Trudy get peckish

I love Phil Lynott's bass but I reckon it would just be easier getting a black P and whipping a mirror pickguard on it! Job done!

[quote name='silddx' post='936642' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:14 AM']I'm afraid that Jaco number you posted was pretty much proof to me that Jaco was nowhere near being a songwriter in the artistic sense of the word, and nowhere near Sting in terms of songwriting. For Jaco, it was all about the bass. Sorry mate, not disrespecting you or anything.[/quote] It's still horses for courses, I find it hard pitting two great musicians with differing levels of technical ability and completely different target demographics against each other. I prefer to listen to Sting but maybe someone else might prefer listening to the director's cut of 'Donna Lee' (should it exist... I reckon it does). It's all a bit irrelevant if you ask me, I'm sure if you asked Sting I reckon he'd say the same thing.

[quote name='deathpanda' post='936632' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:08 AM']I'm a fan of almost anything (with a shred of integrity, of course), and grew up listening to more Sting than Jaco. I have nothing but respect for the dude, but I was just trying to put across the point that I think Jaco was just as good a song writer. not better or worse, that's impossible to define, but I just don't agree with notion that Jaco was merely an "instrument operator". that's the only thing I took issue with...[/quote] Good man, I must have missed the 'instrument operator' part, thats a bit daft! Both extraordinary musicians as far as I'm concerned.

A big +1 for all the Justice and Simian bass lines, those guys have great sensibilities when it comes to bass.

[quote name='deathpanda' post='936178' date='Aug 25 2010, 05:32 PM']hate to always defend Jaco, but I'd love to see Sting write a song like this not meaning to sound disrespectful to Sting, I actually quite like most of his stuff, but Jaco was as good a songwriter as any.[/quote] Sting and Jaco Pastorius are completely different players and writers, alike in no way I can think of in particular apart from some of their vague jazz sensibilities. Sting is a massively talented writer, by the same logic you could probably argue that Jaco could have never written 'Seven Days'. If you're a jazz fan then you should listen closer to Stings solo stuff... Vinnie Colaiuta, Darryl Jones, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride... some of the best jazz musicians to ever live all under 3 or 4 albums.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='935844' date='Aug 25 2010, 12:24 PM']Subsequently reading through, I'm now wondering if my initial response would have quite as jaundiced and prejudicial if she'd been introduced as "Zak Starkey's daughter". I think Zak has a level of credibility as a musician that his father, correctly or otherwise, has never been accorded - probably largely due to that snotty remark of Lennon's.[/quote] Lennon slagged everyone off, regardless of whether he actually liked them professionally or not. Even though at one time or another he might have said that 'Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles', he also sung his praises from time to time. Undoubtedly contrary to popular speculation, Ringo Starr was a massively influential and very important drummer. I like Zak Starkey too although I can't say he's done anything that I've loved, whereas Ringo played on 'Day In the Life', 'She Said She Said', 'The End', 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and countless other tracks that without the drum parts, so many other tunes wouldn't even exist.

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='935810' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:44 AM']You take advantage of your associations...for sure.... Jakob Dylan didn't call himself Jakob Zimmermann,,,,,Charlie Sheen follwed his father's stage name, but Emilio Estevez kept his latino name. Some people have their parents talents but this is far from the rule..... the logic that familial relations leads to similar level of talent is pure bullcr*p. J S Bach fathered 20 kids.....we are clearly not celebrating their music. Melanie Slade is famous because of her association with a famous footballer, she was suddenly in the limelight on the back of someone else's achievements - it is not dis-similar to the WAG phenomenon.[/quote] Precisely, although poor J.S Bach's kids did have to compete with their father being the most important composer of all time! [quote]I think some of Dhani Harrison's music is the most interesting music being made by Beatles descendants, but not on topic for a bass forum. So, I won't inline this song.[/quote] Haven't heard this but will check it out. Heard some of Sean Lennon's music though and it's not bad.

[quote name='silddx' post='935797' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:36 AM']That's very interesting. He bounces on a trampoline in the Synchronicity Concert film, totally out of time with the music I might add. As for soloing bass tracks, it's a bit misleading. I recorded what I felt was a near perfect take to a song the other night, a song with a sequenced drum track, so metronome timing. I soloed it before emailing the bass track to the songwriter. It was all over the place timing wise, occasional ghost notes from strings ringing sympathetically, fret noise here and there. I was shocked at how dodgy it sounded and considered doining it again. But I played it mixed at about the right level with the song and it worked perfectly. The timing was just me laying back in the groove or pushing it in the parts that needed it. It wasn't a conscious decision as such, I played how the song made me feel. Weird though.[/quote] Soloing bass parts often reveals an uneven take, even if at the time it might have felt like a tight locking in with the drums, like you say it's all about where the bass part sits in relation to everything else. I think this is what so many people miss when they listen to bass guitar on record, it's the little mistakes that make music interesting, not perfection.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='935728' date='Aug 25 2010, 10:42 AM']She's also the bass player in her father Zak Starkey's band [url="http://www.myspace.com/heypenguins"]Penguins[/url]. That's very different music, and IMHO could do with a few more chops. Particularly the track "trouble", which I think would be better with a Bill MacCormick type on it. Some songs like "Jet Engine" maybe suit the "simple but effective" style, but more variety would, IMHO, help. She's still young, and there's opportunity to improve of course. I'm a Beatles fan, and as people can probably guess, probably wouldn't have found out about the bands without the connection. So there's a novelty in seeing a Beatles grandchild making music. Hopefully she'll develop into a very good musician like her father.[/quote] I'm a big Beatles fan as well although I must admit when it comes to the relatives and offspring of famous musicians I've rarely seen the same level of ability, apart from maybe Zak Starky. But fingers crossed, they might emerge soon, as far as I'm concerned they're making better music than what they're playing on Radio One right now!

This might be an interesting read for some, here Hugh Padgham who was the Police's engineer' for their last few albums talks about Sting's bass ability. [quote]"Recording the bass could be frustrating, Padgham says, when Sting wanted to play while jumping on a mini trampoline. “It sounds mad — and I have trouble recalling whether it was during Ghost in the Machine or Synchronicity, because we recorded them 18 months apart at the same place 20 years ago — but what was really annoying was, even at the best of times, with all due respect to Sting, who is a fantastic bass player, he's quite sloppy. If you solo his bass track, there's all sorts of fret noise and bits of dodgy playing. When he was bouncing on the trampoline, it made it even worse. But, of course, if you said, ‘Could you not bounce quite so much, please,’ he'd bounce even more. Nowadays, I'd know to say, ‘Could you bounce more please,’ and he'd probably get off it! With respect to his sound, whether he was bouncing on the trampoline or not, he always used his old Fender jazz bass, and it was never put through an amplifier. I only ever DI'd it, and in those days, it always had a bit of Boss chorus pedal on it, which made the bass sound a little thicker. Then we would overdub a Dutch upright electric double-bass that was nicknamed Brian. It was, ‘Let's put Brian on the track.’ He wouldn't emulate the whole part, just perhaps the first note of the bar.”"[/quote] Full article to be found here: [url="http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_polices_every_breath/"]http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/...s_every_breath/[/url]

Absolutely love the guy, both the Police stuff and solo stuff also. My favourite Police tune:

[quote name='Joe Hubbard Bass' post='935515' date='Aug 24 2010, 11:23 PM']Some early influences that I had included the amazing Louis Johnson. This track from George Duke's Guardian of the Light is dope: Another player who influenced me to great degree was Byron Miller. I got to hang out with Byron for a week when I was going to Berklee when he was playing with George Duke at a small club called the Jazz Workshop. This was just before Reach For It came out: Pleasure was a hard grooving funk band with Nathaniel Phillips on bass. This track No Matter What just kills: Last but not least, I had to add Stanley Clarke playing a smokin' duet with Steve Gadd. Stanley was the guy who inspired me to become a professional musician: Hope you guys dig these tracks. Peace Joe[/quote] Nice selection of tracks Joe. I really love Braylon Lacy's live bass line on 'Back In the Day' with Erykah Badu. Listen to 1:53 onwards for some smokin' P-Bass flatwound grooves.

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='935043' date='Aug 24 2010, 05:32 PM']Not bass related,but still really awful I learned (over 30 years ago) that you can not make a Fender Thinline Telecaster into a double cutaway,because they are hollow.My dad was well and truly annoyed at the fact,that i had ruined my birthday present,a late 60's single coil model.[/quote] Oh my god, that's just about one of the worst guitar mutilation stories I've ever heard! I've been drunk enough at weddings to dance with the bride during the last few songs with our lead singer, although the groom thought it was hilarious. Don't drink at gigs anymore (or at all in fact), but back when I did I used to always get in the crowd and dance with everyone, as well as some other fairly terrible behaviour...

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='934964' date='Aug 24 2010, 04:26 PM']OK. I usually prefer to ask questions without further background so as to not influence any responses I get. But this question seems a little obscure. Tatia Starkey is Ringo Starr's granddaughter, and the bassist of the band "Belakiss". I was curious to see what people thought. Personally when I've listened to their songs, there's nothing special in the bass parts or playing, but it just seems to fit the songs. The following song is sort of Coldplay-ish, and having a virtuoso playing incredibly complicated parts wouldn't be suitable, IMHO. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHPItCXtCUA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHPItCXtCUA[/url] Starkey, with her extensive erotic dancing background [url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1qCv1fwoHmM/SKM57D98TjI/AAAAAAAAJnQ/mKxww7X4ePk/s400/Belakiss1+copy.jpg"](please only click this if you are over 18)[/url], appears to also add a visual component to the band, and moves in an interesting way when playing. Overall, I'd say that she adds a fair amount to the band, but it's not really in terms of very fancy playing. Hence I was curious to see what very bass orientated people would think. Is there a role for the "functional" bass player, or do many of the people here who could probably play rings around her think that a more expert player should be in the band? Or, perhaps I've, as I've done before, missed something in her playing which is really good? Sorry about the mis-fire in starting this thread the way I did. Hopefully it will improve from here, or I'll have to stop posting and grit my teeth (again!) while it falls down the order into obscurity.[/quote] Disregarding her bass playing, which I think doesn't add much to the tune itself whatsoever apart from what is required, the tune is catchy but sounds pretty dated as a sound and basically nothing special, or at least nothing that hasn't been done a million times before. That to me is more important than the bass part IMO... no one listens for the bass part apart from bass players anyway! Haha