risingson

Don't get stuck playing Sir Duke (or insert standard impressive bass tune here) like everyone else is my advice, every bass player knows it or likes to think they know it at least so they will have heard it a million times. I think you're thinking outside the box with the ELO tunes which is good but look at something that shows you've got excellent note choice and feel. I auditioned Kid Charlemagne and For Once In My Life for mine which went down really well. Pino's Who Did You Think I Was is amazing but incredibly hard to cop his feel, it's incredibly busy but in a way that only Pino can be. Sure to impress with a bit of practice.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1390241300' post='2343053'] Measured my hand ok from first to last little finger full stretch is 15 cm. But if I turn my hand like I was holding the bass my stretch is 12 cm uncomfortable max. I don't know how that measures up to others lol. I guess I'm impatient and a bit competitive. Anyhow good replies. Feeling more positive [/quote] One piece of advice, put your tape measure away and never measure your hand again. I'm a bass player of 12 years, I've played professionally for much of this time and I have small hands. I can't remember the last time I struggled to stretch as far as you seem to be describing, it's a complete red herring so put it out of your mind. If you worry about stretching in your hand then check out Tal Wilkenfeld, a female bass player who has tiny hands but no limitations in her abilities! What you'll notice over time is that some of the more difficult stretches become much easier in your left hand when you develop a better technique. It's advisable for you to be looking to a competent teacher to show you the ropes of the finger-per-fret technique and such but for the time being stick to your routine of playing. Jumping the gun on stuff will get you hugely frustrated.

Love marmite! But what a seriously nasty looking bass.

I would absolutely love one of these right now! Enjoy the new bass.

[quote name='Absolute Beginner' timestamp='1389908074' post='2339525'] Thanks all for your comments. I really appreciate it. Although, I love playing my Viola bass, I'm not overkeen on the whole neck dive issue, or the fact that it leans forward quite a bit if playing when standing up. In some ways now, I'm not sure whether I should have opted for one of my other bass choices though, ie: Epiphone EB3 Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Just out of interest, does anyone own one of the two basses ? If so, would you recommend them, or do they suffer from the above issues ? I must admit, given their relatively low cost, I could be tempted in buying one of them once I have developed and feel more confident. Thanks again, Fraser. [/quote] My own advice if you were to look for a second instrument would be to go for the Squier. I doubt it will suffer from neck dive and generally speaking it will provide you with a better blueprint on which to practice as a lot of the bass guitars you'll encounter through time will be Fender-derived to some extent (not all, just of lot of them). Both instruments you mention have a 34" scale length which if you've been playing a short scale instrument like your Viola bass will take a bit of getting used to at first, but it won't take too long to adjust.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1389911906' post='2339586'] Has this been verified as genuine? Only reason I ask is that a similar story went round about the Robin2 in Bilston W Mids a few years ago and IIRC it turned out to be a hoax. [/quote] I know the right people on Facebook have been talking about it who will know the owners (promoters etc), almost certainly not a hoax.

I think you need a degree of musical aptitude to play any instrument but I think that can sometimes be included under the umbrella of really loving music in the first place. In fact the more you love music the more passionate you'll end up becoming about your instrument and it will feed your desire to drive yourself forward when learning. There are plenty of hurdles in place too, for example the frustration of not being able to play right away or feeling like playing scales is a million miles off. You've got to battle through all that. I remember the first time I picked up my new bass that my parents bought me 12 years back and coming up with something vaguely musical right off. I think I was trying to play it like an electric guitar, my older sister who had long been a bass player showed me that what I was doing was fine but I probably needed a few 'technical' adjustments. But don't be afraid to experiment, just bask in the glory of learning a new instrument!

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1389741455' post='2337548'] I'm generally considered a fairly busy player but I've never understood why people have issues with plodding basslines. But maybe that's because I'm a songwriter first and whatever suits the song is the most important thing IMO. AC/DC could be said to have plodding basslines but anyone who thinks they need busying up is barking up the wrong tree entirely. [/quote] +1, it's been discussed in the past but there's nothing wrong with the way someone plays an instrument providing the music being produced is of a high quality and sounds good. In fact it's a pretty shallow means of judging music, unfortunately too many people do it.

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1389533066' post='2335128'] Also, did I spot a guy playing DB at 3:06? Is that not a bit redundant with Sting plonking away? [/quote] That's Christian McBride I think, certainly moving round like him.

I've got two relatively worn in basses right now that are simply a product of their (35 and 40 year old) history. It's probably a pretty 'fashionable' look to have at the moment and yes they are cool. I'm not always sold on the look of reliced instruments but that's because I kind of consider it cheating!

I don't think the vid posted previously is the kind of clip you can watch to be thoroughly entertained by a bass player doing what he does best. Anthony Jackson (at least as far as I'm concerned) is nothing short of a musical genius but you can't help feeling like he's been worn down enough by the kind of people that stage these bass workshops to finally turn up to one and play. He deserves to be recognised so much more than what he does in that very short clip, it's kind of beyond him to be doing it having worked for year and years to become a true virtuoso of the instrument. It's a shame for him to be judged by the original vid.

I met him in April last year at after the Hiromi gig, Simon Phillips kindly introduced me which was a blessing because he's notoriously shy. Predictably the words failed to leave my mouth as I attempted to make conversation with (and this part is purely my opinion), probably the greatest living bass player on earth today. He has total command over the instrument to the point of total disbelief. His technique is obviously flawless but he executes everything with such musicality that you're left wondering whether the guy is truly superhuman or not. He was really nice, very humble. When he's interviewed I originally thought he came across as a little arrogant and maybe aloof but he's just very sure of his position on music, plus he really does give credit where credit is due and to some unlikely bass players - he counts Joe Osborn and Jack Cassidy amongst some of his favourite bass players which sits nicely with me too. He really bigged up Pino to me as well when we spoke. He's a capable solo bass player but I'm not always drawn to clips like the one above. He's not outside his comfort zone soloing, he has a very unique phrasing that's unlike any other bass player but I think he just truly shines as a sideman and I think it's always where he looks most comfortable and at home. Anthony Jackson and Pino Palladino are my very favourite bass players just for their sheer musicality. Anthony really is the man though!

They're great, Joe Dart is so funky.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1388452220' post='2322258'] Wow that's all pretty impressive! Your cuz is terrific! [/quote] I shall let him know Lord Sausage on here recently did the Rent tour with my cousin too which was also great, we met up after the show in Liverpool. Another great bassist in our BC midsts.

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1388444436' post='2322171'] Does this mean that if you have tried ampeg and weren't impressed then the sansamp is not for you? [/quote] Maybe that's true of me, I think the Sansamp does lend itself to an Ampeg-type sound. Others I'm sure will tell you how much success they will have had with theirs though, I'd just say try out before you buy.

That's my lead singer and cousin playing Simon. He played Jesus in Adelaide and Sydney whilst Ben was unwell, to really good acclaim as well. We did the aftershow party in Liverpool on the last leg of the UK tour, we ended up playing with Tim Minchin for about 4 hours onstage. Top guy, Chris Moyles even got up and ended up playing drums with us, but we were just about destroyed by then! The Oz tour was Phil Mulford on bass who is just unreal. Not sure about the UK tour because I know Phil couldn't do it. Ben was cracking as Jesus and another lovely chap.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1388433556' post='2321977'] One guy latched onto me during a break and asked how I was going to fill the room with just my 'little' Trace Elliot 15" cab. Then he spent most of the break asking me how to get Cubase working on his PC. How random is that? I couldn't get rid of him. Luckily by the end of the gig he had disappeared. Probably when found out my Trace rig was big enough after all. [/quote] People love to talk. If they're not on stage then they'll overcompensate by trying to impress you in other ways and I've always found it far too painful to deal with!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1388094722' post='2318553'] IME, the Sansamp is very, very coloured, and will make a remarkable range of basses sound very similar. If you like that sound, it's a Godsend. [/quote] This is the exact reason I don't use Ampeg, it leaves a massive toneprint with whatever instrument gets used, at least generally speaking. If you dig that sound then the Sansamp is for you though.

Mine is my '78 Precision that I bought from Lozz196 earlier this year. I was a Jazz bass player since I was 14 or 15, stayed like that until I was about 21 before I got another P-Bass and over time my preference has changed completely to Precisions. It isn't a light instrument but I love how substantial it feels. Almost everyone who's played it says how intimidated they are by the thickness of the neck but I've never found it to have hindered me and I love the feel of it. It sounds massive, it fills a mix brilliantly just where I need it to. I still like Jazz basses, in fact I've just bought a 1974 Jazz that I'm really enjoying playing but it would be the first to go if I needed to rid myself of one of the instruments I currently own. But there is something very right about a P bass that I'm not sure can be topped by any other bass I've played. I've used quite a few high end instruments but I always come away thinking how much they don't really say that much about me. My P-Bass is very personal now and I doubt I'll ever get rid of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-PyzscBrs

More modern stuff. If you've not checked out D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Bilal, Roy Hargrove etc. etc. then do that, and then listen to these guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-0JZlrk4xA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLFzdcWVZjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsRB4a0G2o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2t4nnGfudI

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1388257678' post='2320134'] Fender = Could be a Mondeo, could be a Mustang. Alembic = Perhaps a dated supercar, but a supercar none-the-less. [/quote] I was just lending a bit balanced opinion to the argument, the car thing might be a bit far fetched! Although if the comparison is apt then we should have seen a lot more race car drivers have historically significant success driving exclusively Ford Mondeos

There are loads of different sounding flats so I can understand why you'd want to string expensive basses differently. The majority of flatwounds might be a little more limited in frequency range, but then some bass players will like the sound of flatwound strings on high end basses which I think I can understand. Flatwounds will also sound different from instrument to instrument. [quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1388217974' post='2319502'] Fender = Mondeo Alembic = Ferrari [/quote] Fender = Mustang Alembic = Dated supercar Just my opinion too of course. I've played many instruments and never felt like the difference between a very high end bass or an 'off the shelf' Fender has impeded my playing, in any way whatsoever. It's a myth I think it's kind of pushed around by companies that are looking to sell more expensive instruments, and by the players of said instruments that might be trying to justify playing them, maybe some just critical of Fender. Your instrument shouldn't hinder you and luckily Fender has never hindered my playing.

In: 1978 Fender Precision 1974 Fender Jazz Fender Starcaster semi-hollow Out: Musicman Stingray 5 Fender Starcaster semi-hollow… the same day I bought it. Horrible thing! [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1388021263' post='2317975'] [b][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In[/font][/b] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Bergantino CN212 [/font] [/quote] Do let me know when that's going 'out' Chris!