Grassie

If it bothers you that much, and is causing you genuine discomfort with itchiness, go to the doc's. You never know - you might get your problem solved quicker that way. I would stay away from talc - that will get in all the nooks and crannies of your bass, and royally f*** it up.

+1 for the Warwick Reds - that's it for me now - can't see the point in buying other brands when these are well priced, last a long time too, a lot of "zing" for your "cha-ching".

No, I'm not talking about Alan-is-a-Marmoset, but the fact that my current band which I have been playing with for the past 6 years is coming to an end (final gig on Friday 29th April), and I've just discovered what [i]could[/i] be the perfect tone from my set-up. After playing a MIM Jazz through a Hartke HA4000 + VX 4x10 cab for the past 3 years, we had our last rehearsal last night, and as we all know the set list inside out, I thought I'd have a little play with the EQ on the head. Wound the "D-Bass" right back, knocked the top end on the amp back to flat, turned everything up on the bass and played most of the set with a .46 pick. Well, scratch my scrotum with a space shuttle! I finally managed to cut through 2 "git"-arists and our drummer, with a tone that remained "creamy". Never been much of a pick player, but, as we play a lot of modern rock (Foos, Green Day, KOL etc.) I've found it necessary to use one on occasion, but have always used a 1.52 pick. I've found that the .46 gives a clearer "bite" and has more give than a 1.52, making up-down strokes easier and more defined. I've always preferred to go fingerstyle since taking up the bass in 1994, as I'm a big fan of the FONK and players like Flea and Mark King to name but two, but have struggled in the past year or so to get a consistent tone using just fingers on songs that require constant eighths or sixteenths (I used to play along to a lot of Michael Anthony's later stuff with Van Halen as well), and I also started to get problems in my wrist from playing our material using fingers, so it looks like I might well be using a pick almost exclusively in the future, as I can get pretty FONKY with a pick as well! So I just thought I'd share that with ya! If you're struggling with your tone or fancy a change, just completely change your playing style! Works for me!

I was given the chance to buy a (I think) a 75 P-bass back in 96. I had just bought a MIA Deluxe Jazz 5 'er, and didn't like the way P's sounded at the time - it seemed that a lot of the Britpop bands were keen on winding the treble up full whack, taking as much bottom end out as possible and playing with a pick, to give their basses a horrible, plastic-y type of sound. I thought all precisions sounded like that so I steered clear. The guy selling it wanted £400. I would now give my right testicle to own such a bass. Isn't hindsight always 20-20?

Sorry, just seen the related earlier thread...[b]RRP[/b][i][/i] £490 for a Squire???? Sheeeyet! Still want one though...

GAS...it's a terrible thing y'know? I like that a lot. How much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? And did you say it was made from pine???

I bought a MIM Jazz after playing a MIA Deluxe 5'er for 8 years (sold the MIA to pay for a new amp), and beacause i wanted to go back to a 4 string. My MIM Jazz is a dream to play, looks good (all Jazzes do) and sounds great. I always struggled to get the sound I wanted out of the MIA, and now, after playing the mex for 3 years, I've realised that it's down to the mex being passive - no need for fiddling, both pickups on full, wind the tone back, turn the low end down on the amp and voila! FONK machine. I also have a VM Squire fretless Jazz - very nice, but feels a lot lighter than the mex, and for some reason, the Duncan Designed pickups are a lot quieter than the ones on my MIM....go figure...

Just the green LED dot markers to go then...?

I've never really been keen on the look of these basses, but that, my man, is one sexy instrument. Is that what they call a "pea"-bass...?

Tell you what - hope I look as good as Bowie does when I get to - what is he? 60 something? Whatever. He's a genius, and Gail Ann Dorsey sings her arse off on Under Pressure. Goosebumps I'm telling ya...

Of course it is...but only at weekends...

I like to use gaffa tape to secure my bottle of Grolsch to my hand, in case I drop it...

Here I am, sat at home, clock-watching before I start a late shift at the most depressing place it's ever been my misfortune to work at. I'm reading this topic and I shall now go to work with a smile on my face. Thank you to all the professional piss-takers, you are men after my own heart. By the way, I bought a VM Squire Jazz fretless on here last year, and I am now considering taking up fretless exclusively. So the For Sale section works for me. P.S. If it was a Schecter Model T(im) I might have been interested...

Hi everyone, Bought a VM Jazz fretless last year, and would like some advice on strings. I've been playing it with some stainless roundwounds on for a while, but have just taken them off as 1) they are as dead as a dodo, and 2) they have started to mark the ebanol fingerboard. Now, as I understand it, flatwounds won't make a mess of the fingerboard, but will I get the same sound as I do with rounds? I love the tone the late, great Mick Karn got from his bass and would be happy if I could get close to that sound, but I'm doubting I could do it with flats. Don't fancy ground/halfwounds as I don't want to bugger the fingerboard any more. I appreciate that this thread has probably been started before, but I would love to hear your opinions on this.... Cheers

Soundcloud and Hyped Sound are two others that spring to mind... : )

[quote name='ezbass' post='1082397' date='Jan 8 2011, 06:18 PM']A hugely underated player and a great harmony singer too. Van Halen's loss is Chickenfoot's gain.[/quote] Needs to ditch the Yammies and get back to the Stingrays IMO...

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1082280' date='Jan 8 2011, 04:37 PM']Funny, I was just listening to "RV" by Faith No More and thinking about how awesome Bill Gould is![/quote] The humour in FNM's stuff gets overlooked sometimes - RV is hilarious!

May I chuck my two pence worth in? 1. Mark King - When I was ten and discovered Level 42, then discovered MK is from the same place as me (the Isle of Wight), I realised anything is possible. 2. Flea - First song I learnt to play was "Give It Away" - then proceeded to absorb every note from "Blood Sugar Sex Magic". 3. Gary Beers (INXS) - Economy with added groove - the most underrated player ever. 4. Michael Anthony (Van Halen) - Constant sixteenths like MA plays will give your forearm a hernia! Holds it down like no-one else in a rock band - replaced by EVH's 16 year old son - bass playings biggest travesty. 5. Billy Gould - Killer tone, killer attitude, killer grooves (check out "King For A Day" from the album of the same name or "Stripsearch" from "Album Of The Year") Thangyewvermuch! Grant

"Adhan" by Michael Manring or "Standing On The Corner Of The Third World" by Tears For Fears - Mr. Palladino again. Total class, either of 'em.

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='1031731' date='Nov 21 2010, 07:32 PM']Hey Grant, Not sure if it's of any use, but it's in The Mark King Bass Book - which I wrote last year. You can check the book out here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-mark-king-bass-book.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-mark...-bass-book.html[/url] Hope that helps, Stuart[/quote] Hey, nice selling technique Stuart! I'll be sure to ask for a copy for Xmas! Thanks mate!

Hey everyone, Would appreciate the tab of a section of this tune by Mark King if anyone has it. It's the section from 11: 45 on The Essential from his Influences solo album. Only lasts a minute, but I adore this little piece. Can anyone help...? Cheers Grant

I don't clean it as often as I should - and I suffer from sweaty hands when playing. This has meant I've had to replace the bridge because of rusty grub screws and intonation screws, rusty pick-up screws, rusty pickguard screws and rusty pole pieces, which have become so bad that I've given up cleaning them and replaced the exposed pole piece pick-up covers with blank ones. All that rust is ok if you like the "relic'd" look, but my jazz bass just ended up looking like i left it out in the rain. Still not as hot as I should be as the frets have started to go a funny brown colour, especially up at the dusty end, which is strange, as I rarely venture that far east (or west if you happen to be watching me play). Maybe a re-fret will change my habits and force me into looking after it a bit more...

Mark has just played on Dominic Miller's new album - and he's unrecognizable. And so he should be, as it's Dominic's album and not Mark's. Mark is also the house bassist for the upcoming Prince's Trust gig (which he's been doing since the 80's) so to regard him as a one-trick-slap-pony is just plain wrong. Mark [i]is[/i] the King, and has done more for British bass playing than anyone else...nuff said.