risingson

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1374931356' post='2154895'] Ahh, but will you search? [/quote] I've played most basses, Sadowsky, F-Bass, MTD, G&L, Pensa, Elrick, Gibson, Yamaha, Sandberg, Overwater, Sei, countless others. None of them (well, few of them) come close to the sound in my head that I love to hear on record or in a live environment. 'The sound in my head' being the operative part of all of that, we're all different aren't we?

Nice. I think it would surprise most people out there who care about what it says on a bass headstock just how many records will have been made successfully with very cheap instruments. I too have a Japanese Squier in regular rotation amongst my '71 Jazz and my '78 P and it is excellent, luckily I've never had to work with anyone quite as ignorant to choose which instrument I've ended up using based on the name or price of the instrument though. On the contrary, it's usually the one a lot of people swing towards tonally.

Got a gig during the day in Liverpool and the temptation to get over afterwards is huge! Hmmm.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1374796623' post='2153479'] Flats have become the new chic among bassplayers but no one else seems to be on board. [/quote] I don't think that's at all true. What I would say is that string choice is very dependant on what a record, a band or a live performance requires, so it's nice to have everything or at least a decent cross-section of instruments strung differently. Having said that there have been enough bass players that have made a living from only using one instrument.

I like the idea of PJ's, in reality the ones I've tried have never really lived up to any of my expectations apart from one or two, the most notable being a Sadowsky NYC PJ5 I tried that was murderously good. To put it in context I've also tried a Metro JP5 that I didn't like though so swings and roundabouts. It's the reason I own both a Jazz bass and a P-Bass, neither can do what the other can do well. The best slap tone from a PJ IMO comes from the P solo'ed anyway, so I'd just go with a P-Bass a la Nate Watts, Freddie Washington, Leon Sylvers from Shalamar.

The idea with using your amp's power in the way you're describing is that you're opening the door to being able to play much more dynamically, i.e. you've got the choice to play up or down. Loads of musicians, especially in bands go at playing their instruments as hard as possible without any consideration about dynamics at all, at least with a good amp you have the choice of digging in a bit or playing with a softer touch. There really isn't much point going too soft or too hard either. Find a compromise as to where you set the level on your amp and if there is a concern about being able to play along to more up tempo tunes then that will come with practice and a metronome. Keep the metronome at a comfortable pace, increase speed accordingly until it becomes difficult, drop the tempo back down and repeat until phrases become easier and more fluid.

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1374516987' post='2149630'] I nearly missed the edit there! I haven't tried one, unfortunately, so I can't vouch for the low end- I'd be interested to hear how you get on with it though! I'm certainly very pleased with the couple I do have. [/quote] It's not such a problem if it is a bit lossy to be honest. I just wanted to make our guitar player jealous and see if I could out-fuzz him! I'll let you know how I get on.

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1374515981' post='2149614'] I had a ehx bass big muff pi and that was pretty good. Not sure if that's your thing but I thought it sounded fat and fuzzy Next would be boss fz5 with clean blend [/quote] I've had the Bass Big Muff before, nice but not vintage-sounding to my ears. I've just taken a punt on a North Effects Mk II, thank you to Jus Lukin for the recommendation!

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1374487381' post='2149157'] Oh, and how could I forget! One of my favourite pedal makers has a Tonebender on the go! I only have a couple of his pedals (a 'Rams Head' Muff and a Super Fuzz), but I really dig the plain vibe of his boxes... [url="http://north-effects.co.uk/mk-ii"]http://north-effects.co.uk/mk-ii[/url] [/quote] That sounds and looks excellent. Have you tried one out before? Any low end loss at all? EDIT - never mind, impulsively I just bought one. I'm dangerous with money.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1374428294' post='2148618'] It has all the integrity of a Justin Bieber song, who has also sold millions of records which emotionally connect to their audience. [/quote] Don't be silly Chris. Even you must on some level understand how Stairway To Heaven is able to spark a strong emotional connection with a listener, even if you don't like it yourself. If you don't see it then you're likely being deliberately obtuse. The Justin Bieber comparison for example is plain bollocks.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1374424460' post='2148564'] Can a song really be so dire if it can emotionally connect to so many people? [/quote] No. We've got a lot of sticks in the mud around here, people wanting to provoke reactions. The song is superb, if it can't be enjoyed that's understandable as people's opinions on music will differ. However the structure and writing capability of Page is something to be marvelled at, it's a skill far beyond most. The song is anything but awful, on the contrary it's genius.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1374343525' post='2147897'] Just a specific subcategory of the misconception amongst some bass players that playing a P-Bass is somehow mandatory? [/quote] When I play something that sounds better I'll let everyone on the board know

[quote name='njr911' timestamp='1374324122' post='2147568'] I think what you really mean is "Buy another P and have flats on one and rounds on the other" [/quote] That's what I do anyway, and it's a great shout. I keep my P with flats in our studio for the most part. My band far prefer the sound of flats on a P-Bass but I can never be arsed hauling two basses to gigs and swapping/changing from song to song, I get a decent palm-mute 'faux flatwound' sound with rounds. IME you can't cop a roundwound sound from a flatwound string nearly as easy.

The best MM I ever played was pre-EB, 1979 dated. I doubt very much that it was anything to do with it's age, it just sounded the best to me. I've played and owned excellent EB MM's too. Point being that no one is going to notice the difference in sound apart from you. Your audience sure won't.

[quote name='njr911' timestamp='1374322866' post='2147545'] I'm rethinking wether to put flats on it now ? Tone was good last night, would flats drop it out of the mix instead of the presence I had last night ? [/quote] I think it's becoming a bit of a misconception amongst some bass players that using flatwound strings on a P-Bass is somehow mandatory. I love the sound of flats on a P but often when I've only got one bass on stage with me and I've got to cover a lot of ground then roundwound strings on a P-Bass offer the best of everything. Solid and punchy without compromising bottom end.

I've never been as happy with my sound as I am now with my '78 P. I really love flatwound strings but I'm still using roundwounds on mine, I'm finding that as a life long Jazz bass player, I don't feel too much like I'm compromising the punch and articulation that you get with a jazz bass with just a minor alteration of where I play on my P bass, just a little behind the pickup closer to the bridge. The two instruments don't sound the same but I'm much happier with the fuller bodied sound that a P bass affords. That being said I'm picking up my friend's '72 Jazz today on a long term loan basis, it will be nice to have a Jazz back in the fold!

A very quick one, and a topic I'm sure covered a gazillion times before but I'm after a Paul McCartney style Vox Tonebender Fuzz sound that isn't going to require me spending a complete fortune. I'm thinking nice germanium sounds if possible but I'm open to ideas. I'm a bit out of the loop regarding pedals right now (excuse the pun) so I'd like to hear some good opinions! Cheers.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1372700105' post='2128794'] A couple of questions for you in that case . Why would " working incredibly hard to get where they are ", as you put it , redeem or recommend the music of the acts you talk about ? Why would not enjoying their music be neccesarrily due to an inability or reluctance to feel joy ? You say that we need to accept that people have a variety of views on music , but then you are telling others off for not sharing your view and expressing themselves in a way you disapprove of . [/quote] I have no issue debating music openly but vitriol is different. This thread is riddled with the latter.

There really are quite a few bitter people on this forum. Reading through some of the threads today when I got back from Glastonbury really pissed me off, full of total vitriol for bands that obviously work incredibly hard in order to get where they are. We get it, you don't like festivals/band 'X' or whatever, but it's like some people are doing their best to make themselves sound middle-aged, hapless and grumpy and it's working a real treat. Get some joy in your lives, understand that people have varying ideas on what constitutes good music and might not completely agree with the bluntness of your point of view. It's f***ing boring and not what I thought this forum was usually about. I for one was not at all interested in seeing Mumford & Sons this weekend but I had nothing else to do on the last night. I'm not a huge fan of their music and I think it can sound samey but the atmosphere they created was truly great and their live performance was absolutely belting. I'm hardly converted but no one in that 80,000 crowd of people wasn't smiling and dancing, not at least that I could see.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1369254727' post='2087030'] I dep for Inti. Lotsa dough. best, bert [/quote] Must be tough keeping up with all those prog bass parts and fitting your massive head through the door at venues that will have you!

Obligatory James Jamerson tune, the reality is that the list should TOTALLY be made up of James Jamerson bass parts.

I love that man, looking forward to finally catching Chic at Glastonbury next week. More so than anything else in fact apart from maybe Tame Impala.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1371818896' post='2118481'] I actually quite like a lot of Reznor's stuff, I'm dismayed to find out I've been wasting my time! Nirvana and G'n'R, similarly. Just out of interest, can you recommend some music of merit? Something that you listen to perhaps. I'm genuinely interested to find out what you consider worthwhile and of acceptable 'merit'. [/quote] Trent Reznor is incredibly talented, it's best to read between the sweeping opinions put forward as fact on this forum sometimes.

[quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1371753564' post='2117806'] My favourite is Noel Gallagher on Jack White - "he's like Zorro on doughnuts"!!!! Hahaha [/quote] That was definitely my favourite Kev, cutting but really funny! The Elvis Costello one was brilliant too. I basically laughed at all of them minus the Clapton one which was incredibly close to the bone and too vitriolic.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1371638751' post='2116408'] Shame really but essentially telling a drummer how his bass drum 'should' sound is like telling a bass player he should be using a fender P bass... [/quote] Bass players should be using P-Basses