EssentialTension

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1351155755' post='1847915'] I asked for a few progress pics, and got one! [/quote] It's a nice one though.

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1350899625' post='1844711'] Young kids dont seem to want to create bands or learn instruments ... [/quote] That is the opposite of my experience. In Brighton there are shed loads of young bands with many already proficient players. My son (18) is in two for a start: one is a guitar/bass/drums funk-blues trio; the other is a seven piece drums/bass/guitar/trumpet/accordion/viola/harmonica/vocals playing what they call gypsy-dub-folk. I asked him how many teenage/student bands there were in Brighton, he reckoned at least one hundred. However, there are, as you suggest, lots of people making music at home on their computers too. The reason there are more of those is because it's become technologically possible. Sometimes the people in the bands are the same ones making stuff at home.

[quote name='StephenFerguson' timestamp='1350838140' post='1844067'] ... Rickenbacker ... ZERO versitility ... [/quote] Not true, Rickenbackers are versatile and can make a variety of sounds like any other bass with two pickups, with different varieties of strings and styles of playing - check out McCartney and Squire, totally different sounds. Having said that, I've never really liked the way they look but it wouldn't stop me playing one.

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1350846344' post='1844237'] I could do with some lessons, but I'm afraid my unique "crapness" might be stifled! [/quote] I could do with some lessons, but I'm afraid my unique "crapness" might be revealed!

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1350846014' post='1844228'] Both nylons & flats sound great on fretted acoustic basses. Unamplified there is a loss of volume but they sound so much more authentic to me [/quote] ^This. ... and the loss of volume hardly matters since with any other instruments you'll need to amplify anyway.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1350814340' post='1843647'] In terms of local authority music services then, is there anyone in the whole country who is teaching bass only in schools, or is all bass teaching done my guitarists/multi-instrumentalists? Edit: Of course, there could also be bass players who are teaching other instruments. [/quote] In Brighton, I know of at least one music service guitar teacher who was originally a bassist by training.

Also available here at similar prices: [url="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bt.x=68&bt.y=14&sts=t&tn=Bass+Culture%3A+The+John+Entwistle+Bass+Collection"]http://www.abebooks....Bass+Collection[/url]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1350775730' post='1843471'] I got one, my bass playing lad has pinched it though, the paper jacket now not quite in the same condition! I'll not sell it so I suppose it's more important that he's enjoyed the book than how good the condition of the cover is. Maybe keep an eye out for 2nd hand one. [/quote] There are second hand copies on Amazon from £63.

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Culture-Entwistle-Collection-Guitar/dp/1860745938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350761454&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Culture-Entwistle-Collection-Guitar/dp/1860745938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350761454&sr=8-1[/url]

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1350747523' post='1843011'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1yl0MFYzXc[/media] [/quote] Ken Robinson is a very interesting chap and I largely agree with his analysis of compulsory universal schooling, although my version might have sounded slightly more Marxist. However, I don't see that his analysis has anything to do with whether having non-compulsory individual musical instrument lessons to learn the skill of that instrument stifles creativity.

[size=4]Haven’t played any on the OP list for thirty years or more. Last gig set list was about ten of our own songs plus: Hallelujah I Love Her So – Ray Charles Vincent Black Lightning 1952 – Richard Thompson Write Some Lines – Mississippi Fred McDowell Ode to Billie Joe – Bobbie Gentry These Boots Were Made For Walkin’ – Nancy Sinatra Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show I’m Walkin’– Fats Domino Green River – Creedence Clearwater Tennessee Waltz – Patti Page Way Down in the Hole – Tom Waits Nobody Knows You – Bessie Smith Walk Right In – Gus Cannon It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Bob Dylan Jump Sturdy – Dr John Jambalaya – Hank Williams[/size]

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1350669831' post='1842166'] I agree and I think lessons can stifle creativity and inhibit the players originality... [/quote] If lessons can stifle creativity and inhibit originality then there can't have been much creativity or originality in the first place. On the other hand, most creativity and originality is total cr*p anyway and would be better stifled.

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1350576079' post='1840797'] Some plonker told the seller what this was! [/quote] So, they did the right thing. Good.

[quote name='helikacarvalho' timestamp='1350410543' post='1838500'] Can I call the police/?? [/quote] You can call them but they'll tell you it's a civil matter.

Not a 62, and not a 76. How much did you pay?

Dull.

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1350318803' post='1837234'] The la bellas that I know (FM I think, 49-109) are higher tension as I recall, these are well balanced across the bass, and it'll be hard to tell before I properly play them in how the tone compares as they're too "Steve Harris" for me at the moment It was interesting to find out that you can't (or maybe shouldn't) put flatwounds on a string-through-body setup. Why would this make them snap? (Lakland seriously advised against this in th packet!) [/quote] Because flat tape winding likes being seriously bent less than round wire winding does. Hence flatwounds are more likely to unwind at the bridge when used through body than roundwounds are. Some flatwounds are worse than others for this problem. I always string through bridge anyway because I can't hear or feel any difference if I string through body.

There's no reason not to adjust the truss rod yourself as long as you follow the procedure: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8qFpcsg-0A[/media]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MdWzN_100

This tell you the tools to use as well as how to use them: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIzV9462xeE[/media]

The little finger sticking up so you cannot use it can be caused by having the whole hand in the wrong position. The neck will be in the way, of course, but the thumb ought to be in such a position that it can fully oppose all four fingers. Try it without the neck in the way first. Make a ball shape with the whole hand and touch the tip of the thumb and the tip of each finger. The thumb needs to be cocked. Try it again wihtout the thumb cocked and you can't do the oppositions properly, especially the little finger. Once the neck is in the way, make sure you are cocking the thumb into the opposable position and then all four fingers ought to come into play. Works for me, might not work for you.

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1349988115' post='1833315'] Just found out that la bella do five string sets, they're just rare. Gutted. Hopefully the Lakkies are good [/quote] I didn't realise that you didn't realise you could get five-string La Bellas. I took you to mean that you wanted to try something different. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Very nice.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1349789529' post='1830536'] I didn't get a date stamp. [/quote] Still very nice though.

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1349733217' post='1829948'] Any good? [/quote] Yep, they are made for Lakland by GHS and are basically GHS Precision flats. Since Lakland stopped calling it the Joe Osborn signature and it became the 44-60/55-60, they also dropped the JO name from the strings, so now just Lakland flats. I don't know anything about the B string though as I only ever play four strings.