risingson

If I could choose to be anyone from music history it would most likely be Herb Alpert or possibly Quincy Jones. What an amazing man and an amazing life he had.

If it is other people's music you are to be playing (and if I were you) I would put together a good set of tunes that James Jamerson performed on and make sure to include a good coverage of songs from the simple but effective ('My Girl', 'Higher and Higher' etc.) to the rhythmically and harmonically complex ('For Once In My Life', 'What's Goin On'), and then go on to showcase a few other tunes where the bass lines and bass players have been very obviously affected by Jamerson's bass lines. You can choose a whole world of music by doing this.

*Puts his boring hat on* There is a theory that I was told by one of my old lecturers that from birth; we choose to utilise our ears in different ways depending on the kind of person you are, i.e. if we react well to music from a young age then generally you develop a musically discerning ear, which can lead to sufficient interest in music and perhaps later for some. an interest in playing an instrument. There will be other people that choose to use their ears for much more medial and naturally human tasks, e.g. engaging in everyday discourse, spacial awareness and balance etc, all things that our ears are naturally meant to help us with. I find this fascinating because if it's true, then the path that we take to becoming musicians is largely a subconscious decision as opposed to a sudden choice to take up an instrument.

Slap was 'of its time', it was a great means of bridging the gap of rhythm and harmony when funk was big and it got done to death by some really superb players. Unfortunately nowadays a lot of the use of slap (not all) is so conceited, and it's taken on this role of being the only way bass guitars can be demo'ed in music stores around the world. It's part of the reason why I'd be reluctant to go to somewhere like NAMM or where ever. Maybe this is all just because I'm more interested in hearing bass as part of an ensemble of other instruments being played together and in the current climate slap is totally unpopular. I'm not averse to it either; my favourite slap players are Nathan Watts, Freddie Washington and some Louis Johnson because they made it fit into their music so well and it works for the tunes they played on. But hearing the same old slap riffs in E is just totally uninteresting to me. I understand they'll be plenty of people that will disagree with this of course.

Just personal preference here but from what I've played personally I have enjoyed Nordstrand's pickups, they're of a very high quality, and I also like Dimarzio Ultrajazz's as well although depending on whether you wanted to stick to a more 60's sounding Jazz you might be better off with some Lindy Fralins or maybe some Seymour Duncan Antiquitys... all of which are worth checking out anyway. I like Badass bridges and Hipshot hardware as well. If I were to drop a preamp in my Jazz it would most likely Sadowsky's own preamp, but it's not for everyone. Again, Nordstrand do good preamps and there seems to be a lot of buzz round J-Retro, although of the one bass I played with one in I found it a little sterile. Again, just opinion.

Slap is like MacDonald's for bass players. Satisfying to a point, but afterwards you always end up feeling robbed and violated.

More 80's funk/electrofunk really. Excellent though.

If I was going for great musicianship: Stevie Wonder - Vocals/Keys Hiram Bullock (RIP) and Paul Jackson Jr - Guitars Greg Phillinganes - Keys Pino Palladino/Anthony Jackson - Bass Steve Ferrone/Steve Jordan - Kit

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1245074' date='May 26 2011, 01:07 AM']wicked.. thats always good to hear bro.. great compliment.. you must be good dude.. [/quote] I'm definitely good in my head if that counts mate!!! God knows what everyone else thinks

Yeh, great playing and a great guy as well! His guitarist he brought with him to jam with came to see me the next week at my performance task and said I played like him... that was possibly one of the best compliments I'd ever had in my life!

Amazing looking bass! I got talking to Paul Turner from Jamiroquai a while back at a masterclass at Uni, he brought along his '66 Jazz, same colour scheme as the one pictured but without the block inlays. I wanted to ask him if I could have a quick play but I didn't have the bottle Nice guy, also mentioned to me he was selling his '77 Jazz (ash/maple), another lovely bass.

[quote name='davebass66' post='1244951' date='May 25 2011, 11:04 PM']It's not like it's branded as a re-issue or anything....I think they're just taking some of the best bits of the P bass over the years and making something 'new'.....well as new as a P bass could be I guess!.... Each to their own and all that... [/quote] Absolutely, I'm not mad on the look of the split P as opposed to the usual single coil, but different strokes.

The first bass I played was a very old Fender P-Bass. Being the age that I was, I was not aware that it was worth anything, and neither was my sister because she had it refinished by a friend in a really nasty silver colour. Based on memory I would have guessed it to be an early to mid 70's P. The first real bass I owned was a P-Bass copy. I loved it

I'm thinking 'I wonder why they've re-badged the Mike Dirnt Signature model and charged thrice the amount?' if I'm totally honest!

[quote name='Mgmikeyg' post='1244809' date='May 25 2011, 09:20 PM']Hi I'm am 13 and am just starting to play bass, currently I have a Squire Precision Bass but it is much to big for me. What would be a good buy for a good short scale bass on a budget? Thanks in advance![/quote] Hi there I remember my first bass guitar that I was bought when I was 12 (nearly ten years ago) was a P-Bass copy and it did seem very large at the time. However, you'll most likely find that the size of the instrument becomes less and less of a problem as you advance and get used to playing. Some players use smaller scale basses but you should give playing your current bass a bit more time. My opinion is that if you learn on a smaller scale bass you may well have issues when the day comes making the transition to a larger instrument. Stick with it... I'm positive the size will become less of an issue over time.

[quote name='Evil Undead' post='1244624' date='May 25 2011, 07:08 PM']Here it is! It's even better than I thought it would be to be honest. Plays like melted chocolate, and sounds really good. Quite full sounding, with more of a variety of tones than I expected. Build quality is awesome, the frets are nice and level with no sharp edges. The colour in person is a darker cream than in the photo, more vintage looking. I really like that. It's a rich colour and really easy on the eye. [/quote] Looks great mate!

Good music is good music, doesn't matter what instrumentation is being used. There is always going to be something nice about listening to a good bass performance on a track though, it's part of the reason I like listening to Motown tunes. [quote name='TheGreek' post='1244674' date='May 25 2011, 07:39 PM']This is only true of their live performances..The studio albums had sessions players on bass..[/quote] As far as I was aware The Doors used both bass and Rhodes bass for live and studio didn't they?

[quote name='lojo' post='1244163' date='May 25 2011, 12:49 PM']But I am wondering, for those that really do pro gigs, like pit work or sessions etc, although a broadway production wouldn't suffer if the bassist played a Cheapo, would you be judged by the guys employing you on your gear before you play a note ?[/quote] People in those situations will be called in because of reputation and through word of mouth, not for the gear they use. It's possible that producers will ask a session player to use a different instrument for a more fitting sound, but I doubt that anyone would care what instrument you were using providing you weren't causing difficulties for everyone else. If it ain't broke, don't fix it etc.

Here, definitely [url="http://www.rudysmusic.com/"]http://www.rudysmusic.com/[/url]. It's the best place I've ever stepped foot into.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1243704' date='May 24 2011, 11:56 PM']It always hurts when I hear someone sounding better than me when they're playing crap gear!![/quote] Pino Palladino regularly uses a bog standard Squier in the studio and god knows I'd love to be able to play like he does.

A bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar at the end of the day, 99% of people won't care what make it is and what it sounds like. Expensive gear is nice but it's mostly a placebo thing. I'd prefer to play a Sadowsky all evening at a gig if I could but would the majority of an audience noticed if I played a Squier instead? Probably not!

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1241626' date='May 23 2011, 02:13 PM']All completely true, sil. However, having spent several years trying (and mostly failing) to get anyone on here to think past mainstream pop and rock and to listen to something else only midly challenging, in my case Jazz[/quote] With the greatest respect, maybe most people aren't okay with being told to listen to something else because their own tastes reflect the unchallenging and mundane. I don't see why I'd take on a recommendation on music based on this assumption. A lot of the music that will stand the test of time is simplistic in nature. For example, Pat Metheny may have challenged the perceptions of jazz, but you can be certain that it you'll never catch me humming a melody of his because for many people it lacks appeal and isn't memorable. Name any number of Beatles tunes on the other hand and you'll probably hear me humming them on a daily basis, not because I listen to the Beatles a lot, but because the music has stuck with me. Some people thrive off instant gratification, not everyone wants the food for thought. Challenge people's perceptions by all means, but remember not everyone will have the same level of affinity for jazz as you do sometimes.

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='1241766' date='May 23 2011, 03:49 PM']Just looking at fenders on guitar guitar's site! A 5 string 2011 american deluxe fender is £1515!! So i dont see the £1875 i paid for my Sadowsky PJ5 as that bad at all!! ive played both basses and i personally consider the Sadowsky well worth the extra £300+[/quote] Like I say though, no one should be lambasted for choosing to pay anything from £100-10,000 on a bass should they want to, the inherent value of the instrument is decided by the person that chooses to buy it. And I think the current Fender prices are ridiculous. All I'm saying (and I could be wrong, I don't know) is that I bet Sadowsky somewhere down the line could elect to work out a way of selling their basses cheaper than they are currently without sacrificing the quality of the final product.

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='1241678' date='May 23 2011, 02:50 PM']Having owned both nyc and metro i really dont get why there seems to be this wierd thing against the metro range?? The quality is the same but with less paint / wood options I personally wouldnt ever buy a new fender because i dont think they're worth the money but thats just me! [/quote] Ironically I would buy a Metro second hand but not first hand, and for the same reason you wouldn't buy a Fender! 6 years ago or so I came very close to buying an RV-5 from the U.S. I was a little put off by the price (a bit over £1300 new) and went for something else in the end. In direct comparison 2011's Metro price tags are insane and I think you're paying more for the Sadowsky name on the headstock more than anything. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that of course, people can buy what they want, but I wouldn't say the price echos the sum of the parts.