Kongo

I have, over the years, bought LOADS of tuition books...anything that took my fancy starting with my 6-string bass book, when I bought one, my 2nd bass that was but mostly slap, 2 handed tapping and chordal approaches thereafter...now I have read through them and took some bits here and there...but how do you go about learning them cover to cover? I've got an AMAZING book called: "Ultimate slap bass : By Stuart Clayton" It's AWESOME! It starts off with the very basics and by the end (I listened to the CD too) it really DOES get you to (apologies for sounding boring, I don't use his name much) Wooten style speed and fluidity of using double thumping and triple pops like Stu Hamm...So, if one was to use this book from cover to cover in time you could, at least playing what is in the book, get pretty hot at slapping and, taking what you have learned, explore and build your own take on it...which is something that interests me. Thing is...I can't do it! I sit and I play an example...then I hear something and WHOOSH! Off I go, for hours practsing a line I jus heard in my head...and yep, got no further in the book....Day 2...same thing happens again...How do you approach these books with an order of discipline? In my 3 years of college bass tutors would set out a set route and take it...how can I do this and not stray? To note, I also have intermediate slap technique so...how far in this book should I start? I can skip the basics but where is best to drop in where I won't get bored? Then I shall apply this to all books and learn new things every day...I'm not so keen on learning songs any more cause I can't find any, other than Primus etc that really grip me...so books are a nice alternative. And please, feel free to recommend me some. Jus no...Jazz theory please! I don't enjoy that AT ALL! lol!

Am I perhaps a rare breed that still likes Alder? O jus think it has a nice all round tone to it...I know it's a boring wood in todays terms but so far I don't like these exotic woods...Or maybe it's the pickup combination with them maybe that's wrong? I really must try some Warwicks as they use exotic woods with good electronics...Some companies, like Ibanez which I do like BTW, have gone exotic woods and now give you cheap electronics instead...still, makes them VERY mod friendly I guess...Better to have good wood first. So, I need a 2nd 6-string to accompany my BTB556MP as I'm coming back to 6-string full time...should something go wrong a 5-string isn't a good backup...and my first 6-string is being de-fretted (A Peavey Grind...seems EVERYONE defrets these). I was looking at the new BTB676: [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/world/country/frame_uk.html"]http://www.ibanez.co.jp/world/country/frame_uk.html[/url] A thru-neck, just like my Grind back in the day, I like the feel of not having a neck join...the pickups, is it just my eyes or are they thinner than the Bart MK2's on my BTB556? They are right? The wood, walnut and light ash...that's a nice combo! I got basses made of walnut and one of ash...Jazz basses...Nice tone wood IMO...are they good combined? Either way, for now whilst money is tight (As my band is picking up rapidly I have gone part time to spend more time with it) it's a good 2nd, if not 1st 6-string bass...And for £600 and think that's good...not many others, if any, can compare in that price bracket. The pups may be equally crap but it's the wood I care about...If only it was made of Alder....LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!! I have literally just noticed though that they don't use the vari mid any more...Hmm and it's been replaced by the Bartolini MK2 3-band...I have heard BAD things about these...But again, can't be that bad and if the woods good, the electronics are EASY to upgrade!

[quote name='agoulding' post='664579' date='Nov 25 2009, 12:31 AM']I used to play in a VERY heavy death metal band with the same bass. I had no problem with the sound, infact i thought it was great. I then started using the Ibanez SRX300 which is very similar to the rbx, just a thinner neck and a higher output. I changed because i didnt like the feel of the yamaha, it simply didnt play fast enough. I think Ibanez would be the best way to go next, SRX or SR both are great fo that type of thing. Im back to yamaha now though, an older BB and TRB. I play in a stoner/doom band using drop c, and i use fairly heavy strings (55-110) and they make a huge difference. Just try a few things out.[/quote] I'm thinking of moving back to Yamaha and also fancy a TRB 6-string...They are very nice and Yamaha always did me well before Ibanez...both companies offer very well built instruments but now Ibanez seems to be going with exotic woods on the BTB series and lack in the electronics section, giving weak output... On the note of Dark Lord strings...Rotosound also do their "Drop Zone+" which offers a low F# of .175.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='663348' date='Nov 24 2009, 12:10 AM']If you were near Edinburgh I'd say come over and try my pickups in your bass. As it is, why not ask your friend with the Nordies if he'd mind doing a little experiment? Or anyone else you know with pickups that'd drop in. You don't even have to screw them down to get a rough idea of what they sound like. Based on my own experience I'd say it will definitely improve things swapping out the Korean Barts, and if the bass sounds good acoustically that's gotta be a good sign. Be interested to hear what you decide and how it goes.[/quote] Not a friend, more a bass acquaintance and I would but he's native to Ireland...a bit far lol! Yeah I spose I could try switching out but what for? I REALLY love MM pups but that'd take some work...and then getting ones to suit 17mm spacing...Well...So it looks like it's soap bars again...Hmmm but so many companies to look into. I jus want something that has some good gain to it...weak pickups dont work for me...for some delicate Jazz nuances and such maybe but not for my play style...Maybe the preamp wont be so bad when it's not trying to colour an already bad tone...well not bad just flat and overall...Flat...LOL! Can't do it for a while yet but yes I do love the play and feel of the bass so we'll see...in the new year I may switch out the pups...

[quote name='Skinkemann' post='662519' date='Nov 23 2009, 11:34 AM']I tought a 5 string was needed when playing drop c. But what I see now, 4 strings to more than enough good.[/quote] It is for me! LOL I HATE detuning bass it doesn't feel right...you never get the right feel or tone out of the strings than when it was standard. So I play 5 and 6-string bass, tuned standard...My band plays drop-B (Fine, but different fingerings), C# standard (No open string there then) and drop G# (C# standard with lowest string dropped right down to G#)...and I still don't detune...Actually I do drop the lowest string too for one song because it's better for slap but that's as far as I go. Who needs to play the same as the guitarist in metal anyways? So for drop-C it's up to you but for drop-B 5-string is fine.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='663005' date='Nov 23 2009, 06:28 PM']I swapped out the Bart MK1s on my Ibanez SR500 and replaced them with Nordstrand Big Singles. They're slightly narrower than the Barts but I wasn't bothered about cosmetics at all. If I was, I'd fit a pickguard to hide the gaps. At first I ran it through the MK1 pre but have now gone passive, and much prefer the single coil passive sound. However there is something of the 'dark' character of the bass that remains, giving it quite a thick tone. I assume this is due to the body (mahogany) and neck (bubinga/wenge with rosewood). When I flip the S1 switch I fitted when I converted to passive, it sounds massive. My conclusion was that bad/poorly matched electronics can really 'choke' the tone of the wood, conversely a good bit will bring out the best in the wood's sonic properties. But the wood's fundamental tone is always there and you can't make mahogany sound like maple. I could be wrong.[/quote] Yeah Mahogany has quite a thick low end sound from my experience whereas Maple has defined highs and SHOULD be snappier...As it is unplugged but not plugged in...I really must look into this but I do wonder if it's worth doing or not I mean, it might do nothing or sound worse...and cost a bomb in doing so! I'm not sure...there's so much to think about.

[quote name='henry norton' post='661634' date='Nov 22 2009, 11:14 AM']Yeah you kind of got the answer there yourself Kongo. Barts aren't known for being particularly hot or especially aggressive so it's not surprising you're not getting a loud, aggressive sound. The wood adds allot to the sound but if the pickups aren't picking it all up you won't hear it through the amp. Presumably the money went on the woodwork rather than the fittings so it sounds like a perfect bass to hot rod. Have a trawl on the net for pickups, most alternatives will be louder and more aggressive than the Barts.[/quote] One guy I know went Nordstrand pups, Audere preamp and SWEARS by it's tone which he says is "Second to none", and he got a lot of basses...But it's a costly endeavor if you get it wrong...Basslines do do soap bars but there active...I don't really want active pickups because 1) they wont drop right in and 2) some preamps such s as Audere say they dont work with active pickups...the pickups in my RD tell me that passive pickups are still good. Which is worth swapping first? I'd say the pickups myself and then see what that does...What say you? [quote name='JTUK' post='661806' date='Nov 22 2009, 02:37 PM']so, be careful how far you go if you want the basses to retain similar qualities, not so much in sound but gain etc...[/quote] My RD is 5-string with 18mm spacing, the BTB 6-string with 17mm spacing...Cant play 6-string songs on a 5-string and thus, I don't play both in the same band...I only wish Ibanez made 6-string RD's or even still made them all together! GREAT basses with HUGE sound and coil tapping allows an array of tones... But hey, if they did that my world would be perfect so...LOL!

Wow how many replies! I guess this is the 1 Million Pound question eh? [quote name='henry norton' post='660833' date='Nov 21 2009, 10:19 AM']There's always a point, the number of threads regarding electronics and pickups on this forum alone will tell you that. Some pieces of wood just seem to work better as a bass body/neck than others - that's why you can pick up two otherwise identical Fenders and one sounds lively and resonant and the other sounds dull and lifeless. The type of wood will have some effect on the timbre (the frequencies that make up the sound), but even the most seasoned electric guitar luthiers are at the mercy of the wood to some degree or another. An archtop guitar luthier will carve, scrape and generally work a top & back until they get the desired resonance, something you can't really do with a two inch slab of hardwood. If the bass sounds good to begin with, fitting better pickups will make a huge difference, as will a good pre. Whether you'll like that difference is another matter [/quote] Well the bass in question does sound really nice unplugged with enough highs and lows across all 6 strings accordingly, but plugged in it sounds dull and flat, even extreme tweaking of the preamp EQ jus makes a more nasal or subby flat sound... It's my Ibanez BTB556MP thats on the agenda here first. With maple top and bottom and walnut sandwiched in between. It's on the top of my list for sustain and the natural tone is good, just plugged in...not snappy or aggressive enough. It has the vari-mid preamp and Bartolini MK2 pups. My other one I used before coming back to this is an Ibanez RD605 with a 2 band EQ Ibanez preamp and Basslines pups, one jazz in the neck one MM @ the bridge, this is the model with the proper Basslines not the later Ibanez designed ones and they are ceramic too! My RD, made of much cheaper wood once plugged in sounds HUGE! Such POWERFUL low end, punchy mids and bell like highs...A little HOT in the signal and excites any amp its plugged into (turn the input DOWN LOL!)...with a switch for the preamp you can hear how it sounds passive...which is still massive and punchy but not as refined. My thinking is then, maybe the RD over compensates with pickups...the preamp is great but is considered cheap. But what could I switch my barts out with? There not proper ones, Korean made, but they are jus too weak in output...I have to crank it to about 1 o'clock on the input gain to get the sweet spot on my Trace Elliot head (thats the yellow light)...and the preamp seems to be...worthless. I think the wood is good and if you think it is defo worth changing the pups and preamp then I might jus do that. I'm just interested in the relation of why wood affects tone so much.

This is one such phenomenon that eludes me...Your told that pickups pick up vibrations from your strings that are then turned into a current that goes into an amp, gets amplified...and this is how your sound is made...If this is how it is to be...why does the wood matter? It does, and I know this but how? I have a few basses of varying wood type and density and all of them carry the natural sound (when played unplugged) as well as the tone of the pickups and / or Preamp...the denser the wood, the woodier the sound...the softer the wood, the flatter the sound... How is this? I'm looking to mod some of them but, if the wood will always affect the sound...is there any point? Can any preamp and pickup combination overcome this?