Davo-London

I got slayed once on TB when I criticised a pro drummer for doing just that, i.e. changing the beat every 2 bars. It was a jazz gig with Brad Mehldau. To this day I stand by what I said. Don't care how good he was, he was ruining the set and it didn't fit the beautiful playing of Mehldau. Davo

C'mon guys give me a break - I'm a drummer and I'm getting increasingly upset ... So, how do you tell if it's a good drummer? Ears. Does the drummer listen? Can they react to what's going on? They should alter their dynamics to fit he song/section of the song. They should pick the right stick, they should be able to play quietly - this is the true test. I play bass with a ton of drummers at church. Most are poor by my criteria but you can forgive a lot if they listen! Davo

I am a drummer and it takes many years of practice as far as I can tell. Eventually muscle memory takes over and you can focus on everything else. Useful tips include: 1) Tap your left foot heel on the ground to keep rhythm 2) practice with a metronome that can be silenced for a bar. SO you start playing along with it and then you need to keep rhythm during the empty bar. Then you can tell if you're on track when the metronome cuts in again. 3) Practice as slow as possible that you can bear, such as 50 bpm. Count one-ee-an-er, two-ee-an-er etc, which splits each crotchet into four parts (1/4 notes or semi-quavers). This also helps you to keep in time and enables various off beats to be executed accurately. In my opinion playing along with tracks drumless or otherwise is great fun, but I'm not convinced it does much. Playing to a metronome is more telling and you can spot errors more easily. Beginners usually mess up the tempo during fills. So either keep the left foot rhythm or practice these against the metronome. Learning the drums is a lifelong activity. However, you will be in demand if you can keep it simple and keep it rock steady. Best of luck Davo

Any human that interrupts another human's award speech should lose their right to be involved in live broadcasts. Davo

I play drums too. Would there be any interest in having a drummer along? I'm assuming we get to jam a bit? Davo

Can someone explain the format of the day? Cheers Davo

OK, I'm in. Not sure what I'm signing up for but ... [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]1. TheGreek[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]2. Bassface 2k10[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]3. Billy Apple[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]4. bluejay[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]5. Skinnyman[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]6. gary_mac[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]7. such[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]8. Bottle[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]9. seashell[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]10. Grangur[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]11. Lozz196[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]12. Truckstop[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]​13. Sibob (pending new baby situations)[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]14. Jazzneck (90% sure)[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]15. NickD[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]16. ChunkyMunky[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]17. Davo-London[/font][/color]

Squire by a country mile. If Entwistle missed out a few notes - you wouldn't really notice - whereas you would with Squire. Squire had a unique and recognisable tone. Entwistle didn't. Squire was a showman; Entwistle looked mostly bored. Squire - easy win. Davo

I find the article rather questionable. Davo

OMG, loving the humour. Keep it going. I used to dislike it and i remember Rory Gallagher's Strat many many years ago and thought it looked awful. Funny how your own views can completely change. BTW I bought it because I couldn't put it down rather than wanting to pose with it. Davo

Silly moi. No, the church is fine. I did chuckle so. Anyway I had other compliments today so it's a good day. Peace Davo

I often play my '64 Precision in church, which is nicely beaten up and aged with lots of paint missing etc. [attachment=210556:64P front.jpg] Today a kid came up to me and asked me a bunch of questions, but he finished off with: "why don't you get yourself a new bass?" Honestly, I laughed and laughed. Poor kid, I don't think he really understood even after I'd explained myself. Just sharing ... Davo

Well I've just seen the Blackstar and Lazarus videos on youtube and they are really dark, really, very dark. Davo

Respect to David Bowie. Peace Davo

LOL. Phil Collins was awesome. So was John Goodsall and Robin Lumley etc. I much prefer early days Percy Jones on his wall. I don't care for his tone on the example added by low registerhead. Davo

Same. Great voice. Album will do well but not my cup of tea. We are obsessed with singers in the UK. I'd rather listen to instrumentalists. Davo

I agree with advice to find out what you enjoy and search out the chords and then play along. You need to feel jazz like any music and it's also useful listening to upright bassists phrasing. They tend to play lots of leading notes and ghost notes to add to the sound/song. The relationship with the drummer is slightly different too with the bassist taking a more rhythmic lead and the drummer creating dynamics and tension rather than straight rhythm. Whilst there is much to learn. Listen and enjoy first, then you will achieve your goal. Peace Davo

There are some good resources but they may take a bit of searching. Paul Baloche has some good resources on youtube. He talks about individual instruments and how they fit and the general context of worship. Basically, you are playing pop songs. So in principle treat worship the same way. I'm been doing worship (drums and bass) for 25 years! It's my main gig. So my top 10 tips for worship bassists are:[list=1] [*]Listen to the leader and follow their lead [sounds so obvious but ...] [*]You are serving the Lord and the congregation first - always remember this [*]Keep it 90% straight and simple. There's no harm in a little embellishment and runs etc but DO NOT OVERPLAY [*]Take great care over your dynamics - verses medium volume, chorus up a bit etc. [*]Listen, listen and then listen again [*]Learn when to stop playing. It sounds brilliant when the bass cuts out for a section then comes back in on the chorus etc. [*]You will play with musicians with a wide range of ability, learn to be gracious and encouraging with those less able. [This is still where I most often go wrong] [*]Find a good drummer and KEEP him/her close. You will never sound good with a bad drummer! [*]Some vocalists and keyboard players will slow down at the end of a phrase. This needs to be handled with tact. [*]Enjoy yourself and smile. There is nothing worse than looking at the band and everyone is sad or bored. [/list] There, all that advice for free. It's hard earned believe me. I'm still not gracious enough with some musicians that overplay, or can't keep time, or won't listen or play too loud or have to play every single note in every single bar. Calm ... Peace Davo

The Bass Gallery and Bass Direct are one-off shops and the service you get is their business. If either were a big business then they would have trained staff that would know how to sell. Hard. But they're not and thank goodness for that. It's old school and to an extent makes a nice change. However, as a more mature member of this forum with plenty of spending power, I've been ignored in both stores! My daughter works in an art gallery and has learnt the name and tastes of their top 200 clients. The art sells between £300 and £30,000. I would say that this art gallery's approach is commendable and a better model than we are presented at music stores. Considering the competition, i.e. the internet, I would have thought that their sales manner would need to be a lot slicker. Regards Davo

There is no BEST. Please let's not do this. What follows is my experience of 40 years of Precision ownership. I am not an expert - just a player. I'm expressing my opinion. There is no need to flame it. 1951-57 Original Precision - the real thing in terms of truly the original Fender. This is the bass that Sting plays. Never heard anyone complain about the single single-coil pickup but that is a drawback in terms of potential for hum. The original bodies did not have cutaways and so may not be as comfortable as later versions. The bridge is also somewhat basic but again not really complained about. 1957-1959/60 Precision as we know it today in terms of shape and cutaways. Maple neck throughout and either ash or alder bodies AFAIK. Nice era to collect and great choice if you prefer maple necks. 1960-1964 (Pre-CBS) Precision was predominately Alder body and Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard (except blond finish, which had an Ash body). Some would say the most collectable era of Precision and usually the most expensive to buy - however, priced significantly lower than the Jazzes of this era, making the Precisions quite reasonably priced IMHO. The necks tended to be slimmer from back to front than the 50's and the later Precisions. I have a real soft spot for these Precisions and the price reflect the playability and collectability of this era. 1965 Fender sold to CBS 1965-1969 Precisions tended to look like their pre-CBS cousins and for a while at least had similar components making the 1965s and 1966s a bit of a bargain. However, Brazilian rosewood was replaced by Indian Rosewood and the general consensus was that the quality started to go down as production went up! I've found the necks to be thicker (back to front) that the pre-CBS cousins but that could be just my experience. 1970-1979 Precisions were a very mixed bag. I have a '76 I bought from new and it weighs nearly 10 lbs. The bridge was in the wrong place and there were body gaps etc etc. The bodies were mostly ash and the necks mostly maple in this period. The quality definitely went down hill during this decade but there are some really good ones and hopefully you'll get to try one. Definitely heavier basses when compared to 60's basses. 1980's Precisions were slowly improving in quality but generally not as good as post 90's basses. Neither old enough to be collectable or young enough to be desirable is one way of looking at them. Actually if you were looking for an 80's Precision I would buy a MIJ. Starting with a Squier model and then regular Fenders these were well made and starting to be sought-after. Japanese necks were exceptional IMHO and the models/colours tend to be different to the USA models - so some good ones to search for. 1990's - 2010's Precisions are not my era but the quality is back where it should be, so this is a safe era to buy from. Key decisions are: a) collectable or not? alder or ash body? c) rosewood or maple neck? d) PRICE! Plus I haven't even mentioned all the signature models and MIM etc etc. Davo

Reading through the whole thread - it would seem that Mark's a Jekyll and Hyde character. And you never know which one you'll get. The more I think about my visit the more bizarre it seems. I don't think I'll be going back. Davo

I would say that the stock is exceptionally good. Where else will you find Fbass, Fodera, Rob Allen, Sandberg, Roscoe, Spector etc etc. So I tried the BSX Allegro today with the Rob Allen and other fretlesses. Every single bass was beautifully set-up and easy to play. That said, the main guy completely ignored me. I mean there was 2 customers and 2 folks running the store. Mark completely ignored both customers - it was like we didn't exist. Weird Davo

You need to give an instrument much more than a few weeks to see if it's for you. Drums in my experience - I've been playing for 10 years - is a life instrument. What I mean is if you practice you will continue to improve but it's a very slow process. Bass is different IMHO. You can get to a "good enough" standard to play with other musicians quite quickly and then you can continue to improve as you learn more etc. As said above, I've no idea if depression or OCD has anything to do with it, but I would stick with a single instrument, get in a band of beginners and have some fun. Davo

I use DR Sunbeams and find that after 2 week the strings are perfect. Enough zing and plenty of body. This tone lass for about 3-6 months in my view - very gradually getting duller. Davo

Could you post a video of your fretting hand so we can check your technique? It is possible that there is something else going on. I have played other folks' basses and foudn them unplayable. Everyone's different! Davo