risingson

I started as a fingerstyle player and shunned playing with a pick for years, up until I watched a video of Phil Lynott and got interested in the idea of the attack that a pick could offer on a bass. I scratched the surface a bit and discovered Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, Wilton Felder, Paul McCartney, Anthony Jackson and a whole new world got opened to me. I've practiced a lot with a pick the past few years and whilst I'm not as adept as with my fingers I can definitely get by with a pick now. It's a totally different discipline and I think the prejudices come from the association of pick bass players with guitar players and this endless envy that seems to go on between the two factions. There's also always the suggestion that it's cheating somehow, although by looking through this post it seems like a lot of people really struggle with pick playing always suggests to me it's tough to master properly - just like good finger style is. Back in the 60's and early 70's Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn did such a good job of studio work with Fender instruments and plectrums that between them they kept a hell of a lot of bass players out of work for quite a while...

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1376244005' post='2171244'] The drummer in my band is bloody marvellous and can hold his own against many, many of what we would deem 'top' players (I'm very lucky and I know it). I trust his opinion on other drummers (his top 2 are Jeff Porcaro and Vinnie Collaiuta) and he rates Jordan very highly, especially his work on the cocktail kit he uses with John Mayer on the live DVD; that's good enough for me. [/quote] Yeh absolutely. It's why I said I've 'known' drummers as opposed to 'know' drummers. Usually the people who made the comments were guys who were over players or didn't understand the role of their instrument as much as they liked to make out and made the usual sweeping statements. Generally speaking I won't keep in close professional contact with them. Music isn't a competition. I had a competitive element to me when I was younger trying to learn against other bass players throughout school and university perhaps but it was instinctive and an attempt by me to get work and get noticed. I never tried to outplay other people as it just wasn't my thing, often I probably couldn't either if they were hugely technical players. But the guys that do the best job of playing in bands (at least the kind of music that I like) are often the ones that downplay their own importance and work for the benefit of the music. Pino and Jordan definitely fall into this category, in fact they school people on it. Steve Jordan's kit sound is sublime. Where there are drummers like Colaiuta who have made names for themselves by being precision sharp and very clean, Jordan has made a conscious effort to bridge that gap between great R&B drumming and out and out rock, a minimal kit layout and a really edgy, hard style of playing that makes him kind of a breath of fresh air in the drumming world IMO, although I know he's capable of so much more. The same applies to Abe Laboriel Jr. too.

[quote name='BenTunnicliffe' timestamp='1376242244' post='2171219'] Thanks mate really appreciated, it goes a long way! I enjoy the challenge of trying to get sub sounds and lines to sit well in a mix, it's much harder than I thought before I ever tried it. Cheers! [/quote] I think it's as much of a challenge to think more utilitarian about how to approach a bass part with a song like that as well, which was was I was really impressed with. Nice work

[quote name='BenTunnicliffe' timestamp='1376160163' post='2170432'] [media]http://youtu.be/2nezoStxugk[/media] New video this week playing with the line from Dpat - Touch off the Blurry EP. Overwater at it again but through the Moog MF101 Low Pass filter to get that hefty sub thing going on. Feedback always appreciated! [/quote] Excellent tone and playing, love the tune as well.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1376239256' post='2171182'] No , you wouldn't . [/quote] I was going to say the same thing. What's funny is that I have known some drummers that would have said the same thing about Steve Jordan, the kind of stuff getting bandied around in this thread like 'overrated' and the suggestion that anyone could do what Jordan could do on kit. They couldn't. Both him and Pino are truly unique on their instruments, replaceable doesn't come into it.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1374664097' post='2151424'] I am not being critical of PP but I do wonder what he would sound like if someone put a third chord in there? (Meeeeoooow!) Seriously, tho', I have no problem with Pino (he's a Cardiff boy and I did most of my early playing around there) but I think he is possibly the most overrated player in the canon. He is good at what he does but most of it is journeyman playing. If half of us had Steve Jordan (and, indeed, Mayer) to bounce off and played that often as a trio, we would probably sound that good. [/quote] When I spoke to Simon Phillips about Pino he just gushed about him, at the time Anthony Jackson was stood next to both of us and when I asked Anthony about Pino, he just held his hands up, expressed his complete admiration for the guy. Everyone I've read about who's worked with him seem to suggest his playing is just pure gold dust. The man has spanned multiple genres and has redefined bass roles within numerous genres. He is consistently spoken about by his peers with the utmost respect. I get why you might have a bit of a thing against him being less than theoretically 'qualified', it seems to be a constant hang up of yours, but everything points to the contrary when you listen to his playing. Overrated is overrated. Pino isn't overrated.

Cheers for sharing, I'll be the first to say that his style of bass playing doesn't interest me at all but he's clearly good musician. I always find that the bass guitar's voicing doesn't lend itself well to that style of playing, but I appreciate I could be in a minority on this one.

Looks great, and I'm not usually into the anodised look at all. I think the white pickup covers and vol/tone knobs go nicely.

^^ Those Will Lee Sadowskys are the best ones I've tried. The mid 'bump' available at the flick of a switch really is a nice addition to a preamp that really could benefit from a little more in the way of mids. Pricey though.

Cool, that bridge part is monstrous bass playing isn't it!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1375805125' post='2165939'] That story is most likely completely wrong. Trevor Horn and his production team had been using the Fairlight since 1981. It's all over the first ABC album and Art Of Noise Recordings and so could hardly have been considered "new" when he was making the first Frankie recordings in mid 1983. [/quote] I guessed it was probably a bit of a myth, but it was certainly what I'd heard. I also like that particular version of the story.

the oft repeated story is that Norman Watt Roy was invited by Trevor Horn to try out his new Fairlight CMI. Horn sampled NWR, they had a lot of fun and then the next time NWR heard what Horn had done with the bass he'd sampled it had turned up on Two Tribes, without his permission. It was meant to have been NWR's Alembic unless I'm mistaken.

Check out the man's back catalogue. Serious stuff http://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-duke-mn0000536122/credits

Sad to hear this, I loved his stuff as a sideman.

It was a toss up between the '62 and the '77 for me. I liked the MM tone too, but then I just like the MM tone anyway, great instruments. I'd actually argue to my ears that the Fodera might have sounded the worst!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1375627989' post='2163595'] [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=13013013224032"]http://www.guitargui...=13013013224032[/url] ??? [/quote] The mind boggles.

I'd ignore the detractors here and decide for yourself, as they could very easily a lot of tones that you'd hear on classic hip hop, R&B and soul records. They definitely are very interesting. Some people just like to keep their ears closed to new ideas from time to time.

I've played a few and absolutely loved them. They sound amazing,

Third World Man. Carlton's guitar solo. Just amazing.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1375294717' post='2159458'] Once read somewhere that some session bassist use fingers when recording and picks when playing live, don't know if it's true but it does kinda make sense [/quote] As far as I'm aware you couldn't even walk into a recording studio in L.A in the 60's unless you had a Fender instrument and you were a pick bass player. That was the sound of the time thanks to Joe Osborn and Carol Kaye.

Hope you manage a speedy recovery Gus! Sitting down isn't very rock and roll but you could possibly compensate a little by engaging your nastiest distortion and leaving it on at all times, regardless of what tune you happen to be playing.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1375196168' post='2157982'] Great bass-line bad song is an oxymoron to me. I find myself often being in a minority of one when I say that Jamerson never works for me because the songs are mostly s*** (there are a few exceptions but very much the minority). To my mind, a great line is a great line precisely because of where it is not in spite of it. [/quote] Strongly agreed, followed by very strongly disagreed!

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1375190236' post='2157873'] On a pedantic note , I also thought that David Hungate ( great player) played the bassline on "You're The One That I Want " , but after mentioning it on the forum I was duly informed by several members that it was in fact Max Bennett . If you have evidence to the contrary then please let it be known , because that would mean that I might have been right after all . It sounds a lot more like David Hungate than Max Bennett to me . [/quote] The personnel listings on the Grease soundtrack are sketchy at best, to the best of my knowledge I've not seen individual track by track credits so you could well be right. I'd have it down as David Hungate as well.