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Davo-London

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Posts posted by Davo-London

    New pots and wiring day

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I might need to do this, but not to change the pots, just to rewire.

    I noticed when I took my '64P apart one of the pickups was connected by a single strand of wire. Amazingly it still works but I can feel a rewire and resoldering may be required.

    Cheers
    Davo

    Strings

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    Here's my advice.

    Pick a manufacturer. Stick with them a try a range of their strings. Then when you find that light gauge nickel (or whatever) is your thing, then you can try other manufacturers light gauge nickels. That way you stand a chance of finding Your string!

    It's taken me 32 years to find my string - they happen to be DR Sunbeams. It's no good asking for advice - you need to start the journey.

    Peace
    Davo

    Bonham

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Anyway back to the OP.

    I appreciate Bonham for what he left. My fav is Kashmir. Bonham manages to produce the most ponderous heavyweight millstone-around-your-neck groove - utterly superb. Every time I listen I try and work out how he did it. I assume he is deliberately fractionally late with the snare or kick drum to produce that groove.

    Anyway respect.

    Davo

    Bonham

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This Letterman showcase for drummers had a series of drummers playing solos.

    Here is Peart:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWyABiUpihs

    He only really gets to groove at 4:05 and ironically to big band jazz. I watched this over and over and he's just not doing anything for me. Oh well I don't mean to bash the guy.

    I learnt the OP's groove last night. Took me a while and then it never quite sounded right. With drumming it real does take a long time to get the sound right. I similarly have learn't Steve Gadd's [i]50 ways to leave your lover[/i] groove. Even though every hit is correct and in time. It still doesn't groove anything like Gadd!

    Trust me, quality drumming takes a L O N G time to master.

    Davo

    Should the drummer keep time?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1333733570' post='1605908']
    Holy crap, that's thirty-eight years I've wasted, then! :blink: :lol: ;)
    [/quote]

    I expected this response. I genuinely think they are different. I've been playing bass for 35 years and I know a lot of them have not really counted as improvement years. But the changes are now very subtle as you would expect. There's still plenty of improvement capacity left - don't think otherwise. On drums I am striving to improve each month. I have to. I can't stand still.

    Davo

    Should the drummer keep time?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1333699496' post='1605337']
    What do you do if your drummer keeps speeding up !
    I've been playing with my current Blues Band for just over a year and I'm getting to the point of frustration (I'm very patient) because no matter what, he speeds up on nearly every track we do. I've come to the point where I no longer go with him any more just to see how long it takes him to realise.
    He's a lovely guy and I'm loathed to call him out on it, I lost a mate (drummer)over this before and I'm worried he'll have a hissy If I do. The times when we are playing together as a "rhythm section" are few and far between, especially on the funkier stuff we do. He struggles with swung beats and shuffles too, pretty fundamental stuff for a Blues Band. He played at a jam night the other week and someone videod it and put it on youtube. The tempo starts of at 130 and after 3 minutes it's up to 150.
    I'm relieved I went home early and was not there to be a part of it. :(
    [/quote]

    Explain nicely the situation or record it and tell the drummer later that you checked and the tempo went from A to B - then ask to practice with a metronome. If a drummer is offended by this then he's not on the journey I'm talking about. You may have little choice but to find another drummer.

    Davo

    Should the drummer keep time?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Usual drum-bashing going on in this thread, which is depressing. What team players you are!

    Listen, as a drummer you can play on the button, you can play the hats on the beat and move the snare just ahead or behind the beat. Or you can do the same with the kick drum. There are a zillion options as a drummer. Learning the drums is a life long learning experience. It's not like the bass. With decent tuition and practice you can become a useful and dependable bassist after say 3-5 years. In drums this doesn't happen - if you maintain a practice routine you just keep getting better. World class drummers like Vinnie Colaiuta keep striving to improve. It never ends there's so many permutations.

    Talk to your drummer and see where he is in his journey.

    Peace
    Davo

    Should the drummer keep time?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='MetricMike' timestamp='1333626598' post='1604445']
    In almost all cases (there are rare occasions when the music demands otherwise), it's the drummers job to keep time, and the job of the rest of the band to play to the drummers timing.
    [/quote]

    I'd go with that. I've never experienced it, but I'd be happy to go with that.

    Davo

    Should the drummer keep time?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='bigd1' timestamp='1332938340' post='1595108']
    I find this unberlevable as a question on a musicians forum, although I agree with the statment all the band should be able to keep time.
    Bit of a basic no brainer sort of question though
    [/quote]

    I'm a drummer-bassist. Trust me there's lots of "musicians" that should never play with a drummer. They have absolutely no concept of maintaining a tempo. So as a drummer I have a dilemma, should I stick with the tempo and clash with the lead or go with the flow?

    I nearly always "go with the flow" because the alternative is too depressing. If you think this is an unbelievable (spelling) question then I suggest you have a look at your own timing. Most bassist are surprising poor at keeping tempo in my experience.

    Davo

    Fender Dusty Hill Signature Precision Bass

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [indent=1]I had a bass made by Cliff Bordwell in Florida for around £1700 incl taxes and importing costs. It was totally to my spec. Walnut, maple, Hondurus rosewood, Nordstrand PUs with Audere preamp etc. Alright the exchange rate was very favourable at the time but no I don't think £2800 for a modified Fender is a very reasonable price.[/indent]

    [indent=1]But folk love Fender. Fender know what price they can charge. Simples.[/indent]

    [indent=1]Davo[/indent]

    How Did You Train Your Drummer?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The OP asked: [i]Have you had this problem, and what did you do about it? Can you train a drummer like you can train dogs, kids and spouses, i.e. by using a reward system? Or what?[/i]

    Actually re-reading this, the OP question is rather drummer-bashing, so it’s not surprising what has unfolded.

    Shame
    Davo

    How Did You Train Your Drummer?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Having said my piece. Having a good drummer makes the world of difference and it is worth searching for that illusive drummer.

    Good luck. In my view, and I'm looking for a drummer for a covers band (where I play bass), I would be looking for someone with at least 10 years playing behind them. May seem a weird requirement but this is something I've noticed. Even playing the simplest of grooves an experienced player will always sound better.

    Cheers
    Davo

    How Did You Train Your Drummer?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    A lot of negativity here in this post.

    I'm a drummer and basically you go through stages of learning. Firstly you learn basic grooves and then try a fill and lose the timing. Then there's the thinking you're better than you are as you can play along to any track. Then you record yourself and realise there's a long long road ahead of you. Then you play with other musicians and realise this is a lot trickier than you thought. Then you start to get the feel of some track and someone says you're playing it too slow or vice versa. And then you learn to practice with a click track. And you get proficient at that. But this doesn't help you play with live musicians of varying ability. And so it goes on.


    Truly there is no substitute for putting in the years of playing. I've been playing 6-7 years and I've pretty well done all of the above. I've been a bass player for 35 years and I find the drums far more difficult to master. You can become a competent bassist in a few years but to become a quality drummer takes longer IMHO. The responsibility of the drummer is greater too. Setting and keeping the tempo spot-on is genuinely difficult.

    The hardest songs are the slowest. Keeping accurate tempo at 60 bpm or even 55 bpm for a remark you made by Weather Report is truly mind numbingly hard.

    So folks, there's a lot of superior beings on this forum doing a lot of drummer-bashing. Try it yourself if you think it's easy. I'm telling you from the heart it isn't. There is so much to learn.

    So, I always have time for musicians that practice and are serious about there instrument as you know in time they will probably get there. If they don't practice then I lose interest. That's my arbiter.

    Peace
    Davo

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