risingson

Because I thought it was going to be easy to play! I got asked by some friends at school to join their band, one of them was getting a guitar, the other was getting drums. I play guitar as well but I've got much more of an affinity for bass, it's a much more powerful instrument.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1331204' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:43 PM']We're in the grip of indie rock and the pub-banger scene is huge in the UK which often equates to tatty gear. As far as I can tell, the studio scene in the US is better and there is a massive Gospel scene too where boutique basses are par for the course. Not to mention a livelier fusion scene too.[/quote] I'm not sure what this comment is meant to mean? There are indie bands and bar-bands on both sides of the pond that favour Fender and more vintage gear. The problem has less to do with this stupid and tired 'tatty gear' argument and more to do with the fact that you're unable to accept that for some people, that's the kind of gear that suits their music the best and can be the most functional for what they're doing.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1331105' date='Aug 7 2011, 05:37 PM']Nope, not forgetting that at all... but there is a huge differnce between different in taste and just god-damn-haven't-a-clue awful. I'm talking about the latter in this regard.[/quote] One man's meat is another man's poison etc. I'm not at all keen on John Entwhistle's tone but it was thoroughly unique, there's no contesting it.

Congrats on the new bass! Get familiar with what the instrument does, what it sounds like, how you approach playing it. Make it an aim to learn a simple tune so you can feel happy with yourself that you know something on your new instrument, there's no beating the feeling of pride in nailing that first ever song on bass. I'd recommend buying some instructional material as well. Also, have a look on Youtube for beginner lessons and tips. A quick search brought me to this guy [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koZpFObCSis&feature=relmfu"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koZpFObCSis...;feature=relmfu[/url] who seems to have the right idea about the basics of bass. Good luck with it all.

[quote name='arthurhenry' post='1330862' date='Aug 7 2011, 12:41 PM']Probably dry solder joints. A simple job for a repair man, but might take a while to find the joints in need of repair, which could add to the cost.[/quote] +1, take it for a checkup and a resoldering, shouldn't be massively expensive if you take it to the right store.

[quote name='dan2112' post='1330554' date='Aug 7 2011, 01:22 AM']+1 (had my eyes more on him than John Mayer!!!)....though probably wouldn't cost much to do a bitsa bass?[/quote] He's cooler than John Mayer IMO and is less prone to saying stupid things! Both sickeningly good guitarists though. On the bass front, possibly not, but they tend to charge through the roof for stuff like this.

[quote name='dan2112' post='1330337' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:52 PM']When I saw John Mayer live, his guitarist was using a tele version of that bass. Looked very cool [attachment=86436:23715_14...839502_n.jpg][/quote] David Ryan Harris... amazing player. I like the bass more than anything Fender have put out recently, but i get the feeling I won't be so forthcoming with the price of it.

[quote name='ossie' post='1329412' date='Aug 6 2011, 12:01 AM']I often wonder why Jaco used a Jazz Bass when he could probably have had anything he wanted. At the top of his game, I would imagine that any manufacturer would have given anything for him to be seen with their gear.[/quote] They tried to give him all sorts, he was the biggest bass player on the planet. He had two Jaydees made for him shortly before his death as well. But Jaco carved out a sound for himself, which love it or hate it was definitely a distinct sound and that sound had a lot to do with his Jazz basses. You've got to hand it to him, he was a man who knew what worked for him and never got caught up taking on every endorsement deal under the sun. As for Jeff Berlin, technically brilliant but that's it as far as I'm concerned. He just loves riding the waves of controversy and has a big chip on his shoulder. My guess is that he's always felt that he's been in the shadow of bigger players, and the way he talks about music is just stupid, almost like he's got no clue at times what point he's trying to make.

[quote name='chardbass' post='1329898' date='Aug 6 2011, 01:47 PM']I can remember being blown away by AJ's lines and some of those ridiculous, out-there fills and figures on Naughty and Whatcha but feeling (slightly) relieved to read that he was allowed the time to re-compose and re-record all of his lines (not sure which ones tho)[/quote] All of them I think! Arif Mardin must have been mad for letting him do it, but if you're that passionate about a project then why not. It's still mind-blowing bass playing though, so intense and harmonically interesting.

Steve Ferrone was on kit for most of What Cha Gonna Do For Me and Naughty, as was Anthony Jackson on bass... as far as I'm concerned some of the most amazing bass put down on record. Will Lee filled in on a few tunes as well I think.

Why not? There's no rules set in stone with anything, maybe you could make it a 'thing' people start doing.

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='1327866' date='Aug 4 2011, 10:00 PM']Marcus doesn't have high standards of tone, you say? It doesn't take much effort for you to get a better tone than him, you say?? Go and dig out "The Nightfly" by Donald Fagen, have a listen to "Maxine" and "The Goodbye Look" and reconsider those statements. Then post something you played on that demonstrates how you get a better tone.[/quote] Quite. Marcus's slap tone isn't my thing, but I can't help thinking this might be because so many single slap bass players have ripped his sound off and I've just got tired of hearing it. On the other hand, you simply cannot deny his adaptability to so many musical situations and his extraordinary skill as a bass player. You just do not get work with the biggest names in New York City without being that adaptable.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1327680' date='Aug 4 2011, 07:41 PM']Marcus Miller has played a jazz bass as his main bass for years...reason to suspect he doesn't have the highest standards of tone...confirmed when you listen to him![/quote] Ahh, MM's lack of standards! That explains why he's one of the most recorded and revered bass players of all time I suppose.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1326836' date='Aug 4 2011, 12:56 PM']This forum is mostly older players discussing older players and old music. But I don't know if that's because young players simply have more interesting things to do than work on their bass anorak credentials, or whether they came here, found it was mostly threads about funk or prog bands from the '70s, rolled their eyes and closed their browser.[/quote] I'm young and I can think of quite a few other players on here of a similar age, although I would agree it's mostly an older contingency. The reason I like this site is for being able to discuss music from a bass player's point of view, although the gear chat doesn't totally interest me so I don't get too involved.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1326309' date='Aug 3 2011, 11:26 PM']I'm not irate - you made a point and I agreed with it.[/quote] I get the impression I made some other points with which you didn't, but okay. Back to the magazine, reading Anthony Jackson's opinions are always interesting. His passion for the instrument and music in general is infectious but you help feeling like you wouldn't ever want to mess him around unless you wanted a pasting with a Contrabass.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1326304' date='Aug 3 2011, 11:21 PM']You're making stuff up again....[/quote] It's just the comment led me to believe you were a little irate at my point of view. No harm intended of course!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1326281' date='Aug 3 2011, 11:01 PM']Yeah.. I thought so too.[/quote] So I'm not allowed to post my other thoughts on it? Interesting.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1326274' date='Aug 3 2011, 10:54 PM']Who said it was great?[/quote] No one, I was saying it's not so great. Don't get me wrong, it's an interesting read for those who haven't seen the original articles but I think it's pretty lazy journalism. edit - ah see what you mean, amended

Nothing is wrong with the content of it but it's been hashed together from interviews that are many years old now, and they haven't done it convincingly (Bob Glaub's interview for example, he's answering questions that were originally part of a Q&A and it makes for a weird read). Also it doesn't accurately represent the current climate of session musicianship very well. Interesting a read as it may be for those who haven't read the interviews before it's really lazy journalism and I can't help feeling like they should have come up with new interviews discussing the session climate as it exists today. Sorry to be harsh, but i don't think it's particularly great!

I've played a few Dingwalls now and the fanned fret thing just isn't for me. I'm always a little drawn to them though... I can't say I like the look of them either, that headstock on the Jazz is quite frankly a bit nasty and it looks absolutely crazy. But they sound brilliant. An acquired taste all round I suppose, and I still find myself not ruling them out to buy in the future. Not too sure what I'm to conclude from all of this, but I'd very much like to try this one out.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1324730' date='Aug 2 2011, 07:34 PM']So if you turn up with a Jazz or a Precision does it mean you don't take pride in your performance? Let's be honest about it,the reason people use Fenders is because they are good working instruments that sound great and can take a beating. Just because I favour my Fenders(especially the Jazz 4 and 5) over my more expensive instruments doesn't say anything about the quality or pride of my performance. I don't care if someone turns up with a custom whatever- I'm more interested in if they can play than how much money they have.[/quote] I had a similar response lined up but couldn't really be bothered with it as I think the original statement speaks for itself really.

View to a Kill is a brilliant, brilliant bass line, the way he moves under the chords and manages to pedal interestingly over that C is very clever playing indeed.

Hi there, the gear looks fine for a beginner but I can't help feeling the guy doesn't know what he's talking about (it seems a trivial point but the string that's missing from the bass is the D string and not the G, just stuff like that) and that the gear looks a bit 'scrappy' for my liking. The bass guitar is a Yamaha RBX of some kind. I've played a few of these basses and they are perfectly functional, it would provide a good starting point for a beginner bass player. The amps are Laney, again very functional providing everything is working on them. Finally the Digitech effects pedal would give you some interesting effects to toy around with also. My advice if you would have it is to either a.) ask to meet up with this gentleman if he is local and to make sure to the best of your ability that the gear works or b.) look elsewhere. This might look like the bargain of the century for £50-100 but I think you might be happier off looking elsewhere. There are a few starter packs for bass players available from the likes of Fender (Squier) that would suit you just fine as well. You'd pay more money but then at least you could have a fallback if anything did go wrong with your gear... it would just be a case of taking it back to your local music store. Also if you did elect to purchase new gear from a music store then you can be happy in knowing that you'll get some sound advice as a beginner player from the guys in the store. Maybe some of the Swindon guys on this forum might be able to point you in the right direction as to where to look for such a store. So like I say... if the gear all works then it's worth a punt. Never be worried about asking questions, as a beginner you're entitled to probe a little deeper with people like this. Maybe the replies you get through you could post up here on this thread and I'm sure I and many other players will be able to verify information that you might be unsure about. Let us know how it turns out!

If I had your money I'd commission a Roger Sadowsky to make me a 5'er, but I'd consider Alleva Coppolo, Celinder and Pensa as well. I've never been a fan of the look of the Seis, however a friend of mine owns on of the Jazz 5 and it does sound quite brilliant. There are quite simply a staggering amount of options here! I'm a sucker for U.S stuff but there's plenty of homegrown luthiers that could make you a great instrument.

Amazing article, thanks!