Crawford13

7 minutes ago, SH73 said:

Screaming may be not your cup of tea, but some vocalists in metal are just fenomenal, Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio R.I.P., Michael Kiske, Lemmy, Bon Scott ( sort of metal). These cannot be matched by Simon Cowells manufactured horse stinky poo

I totally agree there are some great vocalists in metal, I'm just never drawn to them. 

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

A lot of people drop out of life in general between 30-45, then come back at 45 wondering what happened. You see young groups, you see old groups, that middle area is a bit less common.

I'm 36 and this is totally true, I reckon it's because we are trying to figure out how to be parents😂

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

And by playing them badly (we all know that he can play like a beast) - he's started conversation. Engagement. Views. Money. Brilliant move.

Dammit your logic is sound. Unfortunately he is just giving fodder to people to say that bass is rubbish. However you are right it's a great business move. 

I'm not a massive metal fan, mainly due to the vocals. I love the musicality of metal, I really enjoy instrument metal, but as soon as some one starts screaming I remember it's not for me. 

1 hour ago, Sarah5string said:

I had been lusting after a BTB Ibanez for years. They looked stunning, had the pickups I like, and already beign a big Ibanez fan I was certain I'd play one and fall instantly in love.

That was until I actually played one. The sound was lacking and weak, plus t didn't feel anything like the Ibanez I'd played in the past and loved. It felt bulky, heavy and just not the same as I'd imagined.

Needless to say I no longer want a BTB Ibanez.

Have you  had any basses that you'd wanted but just didn't fit the bill when you actually came to play them?

Yeah BTB a beast onto themselves. They are absolutely nothing like the SR range. 

Possibly worth looking at the SR1805, it's a fantastic instrument. 

1 minute ago, NickD said:

I'm not sure how I understand how anyone can 'dream' of an Ibanez.... That's the car equivalent of dreaming of a Ford Mondeo. Even their posh ones, that's like dreaming of a high spec Mondeo.

Nothing wrong with dreaming about an Ibanez, it's all subjective. Also nothing wrong with dreaming about a Mondeo either. 

It's all about perspective. 

3 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

You folks are all sour.

He's found a market and he's smashing it out the park. He's a killer player and would no doubt be able to sit in on most gigs and get the job done better than most (and I would wager much better than those that are moaning about him).

His style, presentation etc may not appeal to all - but the stats speak for themselves. I'm sure he's not going to lose any sleep over comments on BC. You can't really be a creator if you are going to be impacted by comments. The whole of social media is built on engagement... positive and negative.

He's an entertainer... that is using bass as his gimmick. Fair play for him finding the gap in the market and exploiting it.

 

EDIT: the fact that we are talking about it, clicking and watching - engagement - shows that Davie is winning.

I should clarify that in my original post I'm not meaning to imply that all of this content is depressing, or that YouTube bassist are depressing. 

It really just this particular video, as I think that the playing in it is really poor. All of these solos can be played on bass, but he does a really bad job of it in my opinion. 

As has been said he had found his audience and is certainly entertaining them, and presumably making a very nice living for himself. 

1 minute ago, Russ said:

He's probably the most technically proficient bass player I've ever seen. More so even than the likes of Wooten. Plus he's incredibly musical with it. 

I worry about his "employability" though, would being a Youtuber who makes funny bass videos go against him if he was looking for a gig, or is it good advertising? Same with Davie (who's good, but not exceptional). 

I get what you mean, by the looks of it he has started to make a pretty decent living through YouTube. 

I reckon he can also groove with the best of them if that's what he chose to do. Probably never find out though, as I fear you may be right. 

David's saving grace in my opinion is that he introduced me and I'm sure many other to Charles Berthoud. I'm pretty sure he is the most technically proficient bass player I have ever seen, plus he is very creative. I have a lot of time for him. 

6 minutes ago, owen said:

He obviously has a market which is totally not us and he is hitting it well

Yup totally agree with this. Unfortunately I can't handle his tone, and this video was particularly poor in my opinion. 

38 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I unfortunately managed to land on Sultans of Swing, right notes I think but no feeling, so nothing like a solo really.

It only gets worse I made it to sweet child of mine, but he basically started playing random notes not even in the correct rhythm I gave up. 

Oh man, this came up on my feed tonight, and it has left me, well let's say sad for want of a better word. 

The guy just butchers guitar solos on bass and makes a hash of it. I couldn't make it to the end of the video so I apologise if he addresses the poor playing at the end. How does this guy have 9M subs? 

22 minutes ago, Naigewron said:

I agree that single coils can definitely work for a three-piece,

Yup single coils can definitely work in a trio, listen to Try! By the John Mayer Trio. 

Perhaps if you tell us your location, members from local area will be able to recommend specific Facebook groups. I'm in Glasgow and there are 3 or 4 really good musicians wanted Facebook groups, I'm sure it will be the same for most larger cities. 

Oh one other piece of advice would be don't be too picky about genre etc as once you are on the scene its much easier to find other musicians as you were be sharing stages etc. 

9 hours ago, Ed_S said:

We're actually a 5-piece but we'll play gigs with the rhythm guitarist missing and our singer only sings, so I'll join in. On those gigs I haven't changed my tone, but I've sacrificed a few twiddly-bits where it's better to just keep the rhythm driving, and I generally don't play super low to begin with; I find that if you're thundering around at the bottom of the B string when the guitar switches from rhythm to lead it's a much starker contrast when the 'middle drops out' than if you're routinely based half way up the E and A strings so there's still plenty going on in the mids to connect everything together and the bass part was just never that low.

I totally agree with this when the guitarist starts soloing the mid frequencies disappear and the music sounds less full, so start playing a little higher. 

It sounds counterintuitive but play the actual notes higher and kick on an octave pedal to keep the bass frequencies going. 

I love the tone of Elixir strings and how long they last. I'm not a fan of the tension though, I much prefer the tension of Dunlop nickels. 

Yup that would annoy me too. Poor packaging is a bug bear of mine. 

Really enjoyed that track. The guitar solo is great and some monster bass at the end of the solo. 

3 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Interesting. Is it because being a "top class" bassist you've often got to do the things that go unnoticed rather than being showy? A but like being a "top class" referee in Footy or rugby, you've done well if nobody really noticed you're there. 

Pretty much exactly my thoughts. 

Glad to hear that the sponge has helped. 

Next step is to practice moving your fingers completely from the last note to the new note you want to play, while using other fingers to mute the unplayed strings. Working on this will allow you to remove the sponge and still have the other strings muted. 

2 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I would suggest that "Average bassists" are significantly outnumbered by "less than average guitarists" though.

I would also agree with this. In fact in Scotland its really hard to find a bassist full stop. 

43 minutes ago, Vin Venal said:

Maybe. But I reckon its easier to be an average bass player than an average guitarist.

Thank gods for that too, or I'd have packed up long ago. Lol.

Yeah I would agree with that to be fair. 

1 hour ago, Vin Venal said:

So you think he should play guitar and use effects to generate the lower octave instead?

Maybe he can't play guitar?

Also, no offense, but bass is easier than guitar. Lol.

Yeah I do think he should use effects to generate the lower octave, and guitar would give him more flexibility to play that type of music. 

No offence taken, however the 2 instruments have very different roles in music and also in a band context. My personal opinion is that it's harder to be a top class bass player than it is to be a top class guitar player. Just my opinion. 

1 hour ago, Vin Venal said:

You get that he's doing that cuz it's a two-piece, right?

Yes, my whole point through out this thread about royal blood is that the guitar is a much more suitable instrument to use for his purposes than bass. 

But as I have also said its only my opinion. 

In my opinion he is playing guitar riffs on bass, and trying to make the bass sound like a guitar and a bass, which furthers the stereotype that bass is easier than guitar. 

15 minutes ago, ian147 said:

 

I agree with you, although Lemmy and J Entwistle also said they played bass more like a guitar (just in a less obnoxious way )

This is true and you are right there are many other bassists who play the bass like its a guitar, but they don't also try to make it sound like a guitar also, by shifting it up and octave and applying many other guitar effects.