EssentialTension

When I saw the UOGB, the bassist called his acoustic bass guitar a bass uke as a sort of joke.

[quote name='artisan' post='402076' date='Feb 6 2009, 03:23 PM']cheers for that E'T',looks like i'll have to top load them then which is a shame but never mind. i've tried TI's before on my '62 R'I' P bass & found them a bit "floppy" so i gave them to a friend who loves them--dohh. where as i've got La Bella's on my Jazz & i absolutely love 'em to bits. on the subject of TI's,whats the tension like through body ? cheers. as for these basses-bloody awesome arn't they,just a tad bright with the rounds on for me.[/quote] As you have experienced, TIs are low tension and remain low tension through the body. I'm not actually convinced that through-body really makes more difference than a psychic medium could tell. And yes I love my ADP (with flats).

[quote name='artisan' post='401926' date='Feb 6 2009, 12:27 PM']i nearly always use flats on my passive Fenders but i was wondering what my deluxe P would sound like with flats on it. yes ok i'm too tight to buy a set & try them,i am a Yorkshire man after all. also would they be ok strung throught body or would i be better top loading them, cheers.[/quote] Hey Artisan. I've the exact same American Deluxe P and I've only ever used flats on it. Started with Fender stainless steel flats but then for ages used TI Jazz Flats. Recently I've been trying D'Addario Chrome Flats but I expect to go back to TI Jazz Flats. Flats are fine on this bass. And I've strung all of them through the body without any problem. I've heard though that La Bellas do not work through the body.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='401529' date='Feb 5 2009, 09:35 PM']If you are perfectly happy to put something in your mouth that heterosexual males would not, then I think so.[/quote] Sorry, I didn't realise they were perfectly happy I thought you meant they were doing it for the money.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='400599' date='Feb 5 2009, 01:05 AM']Duff Mckagan - G n R , Velvet Wotsit. According to an interview with Steve Adler in Classic Rock Magazine, before G n R were signed, and when they were both addicts, they were rent boys who used to do things to business men for $50 a pop. So to speak.[/quote] Call me pedantic, but does providing a service actually count as being gay?

[quote name='OldGit' post='395527' date='Jan 30 2009, 04:30 PM']Steve Swallow (allegedly)[/quote] Vibraphonist Gary Burton, who has often worked with Swallow, is gay not allegedly but actually out. Not that that can necessarily tell us anything about Swallow.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='395519' date='Jan 30 2009, 04:20 PM']Would anyone care to name a notable gay bass player? I've been racking my brain but I can't think of any![/quote] [url="http://www.andyfraser.com/andy.html"]Andy Fraser[/url], formerly of Free. [url="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stefan+olsdal"]Stefan Olsdal[/url] of Placebo. [url="http://www.nypost.com/seven/05192007/gossip/pagesix/gay_and_furtive_rock_n_roller_pagesix_.htm"]Chuck Panozzo[/url] of Styx. And, I'm sure, lots more. Maybe even some on BC.

Same string, same note, but longer scale length will give higher tension than same string, same note, shorter scale length.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='399608' date='Feb 4 2009, 12:29 AM']I wouldn't use 'em even if they were free.[/quote] +1

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='398771' date='Feb 3 2009, 12:09 PM']Ive got Chromes on my Fender 2008 P5. I already had them on my Duck Dunn so only needed to get the B string when i swapped them over to the Fender. I find the B sounds fine although its not a matched set as the other four are med/light while the B is .135. Still, enough tension for me and i find the lower notes sound just as tight as my old Lakland 55-01.[/quote] hmmm... maybe it's me.

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='398662' date='Feb 3 2009, 10:21 AM']Anyone out there play a contrabass recorder? Big buggers aren't they. Don't worry I've a brilliant solution that overcomes the size problem. My contrabass recorder is tuned 3 octaves up and because of that will fit in my shirt pocket. Don't worry - its still a contrabass, just tuned up a bit.[/quote] [quote name='Clive Thorne' post='398662' date='Feb 3 2009, 10:21 AM']But seriously, I have no problem with what the bloke is playing. I have no problem with what anyone wants to play. It's just a case of whether it should be called bass or not. To me 'Bass' doesn't say anything about the size of the instrument, or the technique used to play it. It does say a lot about the pitch range you'd expect to it cover however.[/quote] +1

I have a 4-string Precision at the moment tuned BEAD with Chromes. I like the Chromes but I'm not crazy about the B. Actually I'm not sure I like any B string. It sounds fine but not as solid as the other strings. I tend to like lower tension flats like Chromes and TI Jazz Flats. I think if I was going to be seriously/regularly playing a B string I'd be looking for something with more tension in it. Or just buy a 35"/36" scale instrument. Or just play EADG - which is what I usually do. Sorry not to be more helpful.

[quote name='martthebass' post='396390' date='Jan 31 2009, 08:12 PM']Certainly is. I was selling my Ray4 last year and dipped out when the price got 'silly', luckily I learned to love it again. Still, managed to get a good deal on a Ray5 to partner it so no wories.[/quote] And how is the Ray5?

You could dispense with a strap altogether: And I'd say that's about as low as you can get a bass and still play it.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='397712' date='Feb 2 2009, 11:47 AM']Too Gibson for me too[/quote] I quite liked it but not over $6000 of like.

Have you seen this custom shop Tele bass: The sale thread was [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Masterbuilt-Telecaster-Bass-Guitar-NOS-Red-NEW_W0QQitemZ370125232716QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item370125232716&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50"]here[/url].

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='397479' date='Feb 2 2009, 02:25 AM']I think you’ve got a non argument there – you’re effectively saying that if he had a 7/8/9/whatever string bass with the highest 4 strings tuned to his piccolo tuning and the rest tuned a lot lower, then that would be ok and he would be considered by you to be playing a “Bass” even if he didn’t use the lower strings but because the range potential is there it’s a “Bass”? Doesn’t really make a lot of sense. I see what you’re saying about the literal meaning of a “Bass” Guitar, but I don’t think you’re argument works. Maybe he’s invented the “Alto Bass Guitar”? or even the “Soprano Bass Guitar”? – I’m not sure what sort of range he’s covering.[/quote] Well I agree it is not an argument really, more just a description of what goes on in musical terminology. If you put enough strings on it - 7/8/9 or even 88 - and then instead of plucking them use keys to hit them with a hammer it's called a piano and it can do bass register and other registers across ... er... is it seven octaves? So if what you say about me is true, I must think piano is a 'bass' too. I don't think that but I do think the piano can play in the bass register. An extended range instrument may well be able to play across a wide range of registers. None of that stops 'bass' being a reference to the range of register covered by an instrument or voice. 'Guitar' like 'saxophone' refers to the style of instrument, e.g. 'bass guitar', 'baritone saxophone', etc. With 'ordinary guitar' we don't usually bother to name its register which at nearly four octaves is quite wide, like the piano. Sometimes one hears of sopranino guitar (octave + fifth higher?); soprano guitar (octave higher?); alto guitar (fifth higher?); I think that makes the ordinary guitar a tenor guitar (although that term is also used for a four string instrument tuned, I think, CGDA). I'd accept that the term piccolo bass is in common use use to describe a standard bass guitar (or double bass) tuned an octave (or at least a fifth) higher than usual - which I guess is what the guy in the OP is doing. And good luck to him. But like I said, people can and will call it what they like.

TI Jazz Flats on mine - no extra tension there. Sounds good to me but I only really use it for practicing, working things out, and noodling

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='395402' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:57 PM']I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better.[/quote] At times I have suffered from this. I try to avoid it by only looking at the dot markers on the top edge of the neck and not the fingerboard - but habit can be a terrible thing.

[quote name='andy.' post='397088' date='Feb 1 2009, 06:33 PM']I was in a guitar shop a few days ago and I got the chance to play a skyline version of the bass. It was really great im all ways and im thinking of buying it. I was wondering if anyone has played the US model? I have read what the differences are but im wondering if there is anything about the US model that makes it a lot batter than the skyline version. Has anyone got any thoughts?[/quote] I've never played a US model but for me - given the quality of the Skylines, especially now they are Plekked too - the US model would have to be a great deal better to warrant paying well over double the price. However, if you were picking up a US model second-hand, they are sometimes not far above the price of a new Skyline. Then it might be warranted, especially if it had some bonus characteristic like custom colour or pickup arrangement that appealed. So how much do you want to spend on one bass?

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='394838' date='Jan 29 2009, 07:26 PM']What are the chances of finding a 1983 one with the exact date?[/quote] Better than the chances of finding (and paying for) a 1952.

Bilbo, I think you just need to find a local college or school that is willing to take you as an external candidate and act as your examination centre - they don't have to do this but they can and (I think) may charge you. If you phone the relevant examination board, they should be able to tell you which centres near you would provide such a service. I work in a Sixth Form College and we regularly have the odd (in more ways than one) external candidate. The point really is that it must be an accredited examination centre. Good luck.