funkle

Yep, it was a great experience. However, if you can't afford to go, you can always find someone who has been and get them to teach you. Phil Mann teaches at the ICMP in London and has also attended...

So, that's the potted review of what I spent my time on at PSOM, and what you can expect if you attend. The last 2 and a bit years since I started coming have been a musical epiphany for me, and I have improved a lot. I have completed the harmony and ear training courses at the school and learned more about composition and arranging, and am playing well these days. I'd say the school pretty successfully achieves what it sets out to do, and if you're willing to put the legwork in, you will not fail to improve. It's plenty of work, though! As a final comment, I would say that if you intend to make a living playing your instrument, I would regard everythng that Jeff tells you as gospel. Everything I have learned from him has turned out to be true, ranging from his views on metronomes to those on how to practice correctly/'out of time' (although not 'out of sync'). I'm going to say this simply - Jeff's methods have worked extremely well for me over the last couple years, and I expect them to continue doing so. I might not have been convinced of everything he said when I first 'got serious' 2 and a bit years ago, but it has all proven itself many times over since then. If you want some further detail on the concepts Jeff espouses, have a look at his 'Jeff Berlin on Music Ed' threads on Talkbass, or my previous PSOM review thread (there's a post on it there).

So going through each class in turn: [b]Ear Training 8 (combined class with Harmony):[/b] We moved into continuing the sight-singing of chromatic solfege, sight-singing syncopated 16th and 32nd note lines in a variety of time signatures, and writing out chord progressions from listening to them. This was hard work and required constant practice between lessons. However it definitely got easier with time. In terms of the Harmony, I had in fact completed the school's harmony course from my own private study of their materials, so Matt Bokulic had me composing a new song (or two) each week. Which was pretty hard work; composition takes me a while. We worked around major/minor/etc Blues, Rhythm Changes (major + minor), Blues based on sus chords, pentatonic melodies, melodies and ways to invert/change them, etc. This was incredibly useful to me overall, helped me to understand melody better, and got me thinking about writing a lot more. Matt composes fairly constantly, and having someone who is experienced to read over and make suggestions on your compositions is invaluable. [b]Ear Training Analysis:[/b] This was a class I'd never heard of before, but essentially involved detailed analysis of the form of a variety of different songs and styles. It required a lot of listening to music and noting of many features - time sig, key, form and function of each of different sections of a song, instrumentation, dynamics, etc. An apparently simple class which turned out to be deceptively difficult (especially when trying to pick apart songs with many different meters). Kind of hard to explain in some ways, but it really has helped me to listen to songs very closely and pick apart how they work. I'd call this class the flip-side to arranging. [b]Ensembles: [/b]This was pretty much the same format as previously, with an hour daily of playing and improvising on a jazz tune with the superivision and commentary from a teacher (Matt Bokulic, Jeff Berlin, Joe Porter, or Jeremy Powell). The crux of the school, really. This year, the ensemble I was in made it through Jordu, Days of Wine and Roses, Seven Steps to Heaven, How My Heart Sings, and Tune Up over the 10 weeks. [b] Chart Reading:[/b] At the stage I am at, this was essentially a reading class focused on written out jazz/funk/latin charts with 16th-note syncopations. Many of these were originals, some were big-band charts. Also expected to improvise/solo over these. Done with Matt Bokulic. [b]Private Lessons with Jeff Berlin: [/b]These were really good. Jeff can listen to you and give you exactly what you need to deal with a problem. The material we worked through was pretty wide-ranging this semester. I transcribed some solos he played for me (simple ones, given my level), worked on some Pat Martino lines Jeff had previously transcribed, and worked on a ton of Charlie Banacos material, which is uniformly excellent. I can't really go into all the details, but we covered a whole heap of material in a range of different tonalities, which is really starting to open things up for me. Also, a great lesson on phrasing, which I need to work on. Jeff himself is a very easy to get along with, and he and I have a good friendship. Of course we've known each other for a few years now, and I always do the work he asks me to do... [b]Introduction to Arranging:[/b] A great primer on arranging, covering all the main instruments, ranges, transpositions, pitfalls, etc. The final assignment here was to arrange a song of your choice for drums/bass/sax/trumpet/piano (+/- guitar). I chose Frevo, by Egberto Gismonti, which was considerably harder to arrange than I had anticipated. However, the teacher of this class is a well-known arranger (Brian O'Flaherty), and he was extremely helpful and patient with us. A great learning experience overall, and it was great to have the arrangement performed by the teachers at the ned of the semester. I would recommend Noteflight (www.noteflight.com) for getting basic musical ideas down (it's free), but I turned to Sibelius for the final engraving and layout. [b]Introduction to Recording:[/b] Not too much for me to say here, except that I dropped it after a few weeks as my schedule was too hectic to accommodate it, and I felt that it was a bit too lecture-based for me (the school does not currently have a lot of hands-on recording PC's). I believe they are looking into developing this course further. Wait and see, I guess. In addition to the classes and work required, I generally spent 3 hours a day practicing, varying a bit with workload. The school recommends a minimum of two hours a day of practice to keep up. I also spent as much time as I could squeeze in playing charts with other students - generally flipping open the Real Book and going for it.

So, when I went back to school, my schedule was this: Ear Training 8 (combined class with Harmony) - 2x week Ear Training Analysis - 1x week Ensembles - 4x week Chart Reading - 1x week Private Lesson with Jeff Berlin - 2x week Introduction to Arranging - 1x week Introduction to Recording - 1x week Each class is an hour, or up to an hour. This schedule was extremely busy, and resulted in a lot of work. So, I dropped the Recording class after the 4th week, because it was eating up valuable time, and was not essentially what I had come to the school for.

In the 9 months since I last attended, I spent the time: - practicing through 6 complete keys from the Chord Studies for Electric Bass book, practicing every exercise in all 12 keys - practicing various pieces of Charlie Banacos material obtained from a bassist passing through my town (ii-V7-I's, triad pairs, etc) - practicing through material from the PSOM Chord Studies book (primary subordinate substitutes in all 12 keys, etc) - continuing the PSOM Ear Training course, bought from an ex-student, finishing off books 6 + 7 (there are 8 books in total). Book 7 moved into chromatic solfege and 16th note syncopated rhythm studies, which took me a lot longer to get through. - playing in 3 different jazz bands, 2 amateur and the third semi-pro - lots of reading needed. Cut a jazz demo with the semi-pro band, planning to look for gigs after I get back from school. Practicing the music associated with all of these. - working a busy day job.

Hi all. This is my 3rd thread on the Players School. I have two previous (long) posts on the subject in this forum. One from when I attended Oct - Nov '07 ( [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7438"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7438[/url] ), and one from when I attended Jan - Mar '09 ( [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44548"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44548[/url] ). I have also posted this review a little while ago on Talkbass. I'm keeping a similar format to the previous reviews, although I'm chopping it up for readability purposes.

[quote name='Sibob' post='769909' date='Mar 10 2010, 12:19 AM']New CV's are seemingly Chinese made........not indonesian! What are his thoughts on his previous information suggesting the contrary: Si[/quote] Ah. Apologies. Not sure - this person is visiting the relevant factory in China now. They were confident that production had been moved from this factory to Indonesia, and that it had already happened for the CV Squiers. The other possibility, which I am sticking in here on my own supposition, is that production could alternatively have been moved from one Chinese factory to another. Wait and see, I guess! The labels on the back of the headstock will eventually tell.

[quote name='Sibob' post='769762' date='Mar 9 2010, 10:24 PM']This is a quote from another thread relating to the new new new Fiesta Red Classic Vibe Precision: "[i]Well that is an easy one, I did ask the gentleman on the phone when I was ordering mine, what does it say on the back of the headstock and he confirmed that it's the same as the other 3 Classic Vibe's i.e. "Crafted in China". in fact except for the colour there are no differences in quality and parts. It's exactly the same as the Sonic Blue Precision.[/i]" I'm genuinely interested to know what your 'friend in the know' thinks of this Si[/quote] No problem. I'm not quite clear here though - What's the question you want answered?

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='758368' date='Feb 26 2010, 05:44 PM']I don't mean to doubt any of this as such but could you clarify. Is this a rumour with some evidence to back it up or is definite truth, as they say?[/quote] Definite truth. The person whom I know is next week visiting the factory in China where the Squier CV's were made, before production was shifted to Indonesia. I spoke again to them today - to paraphrase: if the Squier CV has 'Crafted in China' on it, it was made in this (very good) factory, and it will be alder. Some of the 09's may be alder too, but only if they say they were 'Crafted in China'. Otherwise, they're made in Indonesia, and hence are basswood.

[quote name='Sibob' post='750407' date='Feb 19 2010, 01:05 AM']This is very interesting, the CV's seem to have been introduced around March '08, so nothing prior to that?!. I purchased my CV in the latter part of '09 absolutely new, and it was a Chinese made instrument. I imagine if the original ones were made of Alder, Fender would have made a big song and dance about it!? Si[/quote] No idea. My contact said Fender quietly changed the website in '09 to mark the change in specs. Me, I'm late to the party, I had no idea. Today was a total surprise. I suspect Fender may have not wanted to make a song and dance about it - they'd be creating a line which would rival their own more expensive products. WHy buy a MIM Fender for more, when the CV will do the same (and better) for less? For the same reason, and to improve their own profitability, I assume they are going to ensure that future CV's are cheaper instruments to manufacture (although hopefully still great sounding).

Another quick thing. For mods to electronics, this bass is apparently pretty easy to work with. According to Jeff's tech, the routing of the electronics cavity is fairly generous compared to other jazzes, and there's a large route around the neck pickup which is continuous with the electronics cavity (hidden by the pickguard), so there's plenty of room.

Point of information to raise. If you have an '08 or prior CV (serial number starts with 08), which is stamped 'Crafted in China', then the body is not made of basswood, but of alder. Apparently, sometime in 2009, production was shifted from China to Indonesia, with a change in the specs, including a change from alder to basswood. I had a friendly chat with someone here in Florida who works in the instrument manufacturing industry, and who works with the factory where these basses were made (in China). This particular factory uses the same wood supplier as the Fender Custom Shop, and in fact has much larger wood stocks than Fender. Wood choice and quality control is apparently top notch, and basses cost more to produce at this factory than others in Asia; hence Fender's move of production last year to Indonesia. I handed my bass today over to Jeff Berlin's tech for the work I mentioned previously - right enough, he confirmed it was alder. Guess that explains the weight on mine - 9.5 lbs. I'm not sure what the '09 CV models sound like. But if you can snag an '08 that says 'Crafted in China', then you're on to a well built bass with good wood quality. Pretty much exactly the same as what many bassists of yesteryear would have played on.... No wonder Fender shifted production, I'm sure they literally cannot afford to make a bass this good at this price point. In passing, I note that OutToPlayJazz's CV was an 08/'China' model.

[quote name='alanbass1' post='744523' date='Feb 14 2010, 08:29 AM']Well, if you are travelling in the 'states I would advise you pick something up when you are out there. Likely to work out cheaper. The RH450 head may be expensive, but it's worth it.[/quote] Err, I did. Bought the RH450. I said that two posts ago. Got it from Proaudiostar on Ebay - sold as a TC refurb, came to me looking brand new - has been flawless so far. Pete

Quick update, for those who are interested. Tried several different types of strings on this bass over the last few months: [list] [*]DR Sunbeams 40 - 100 (NPS, Round core): Nice feel, supple, but very mid scooped on this instrument. Stopped having the prominent mids of a 60's Jazz. Slapped very well. Off they came. Too darned bright, even after a couple of weeks on the bass and playing it a lot. [*]Fender 7250L 40 - 100 (NPS, Hex core): Great classic Jazz Bass sound. Excellent fingerstyle sound, great bridge PU sound. Don't slap so well as the round cores, but still more than adequate. E string gets a bit 'hollow' sounding around the 12th fret. Upper mids became a bit more prominent after a month. Cheap, cheerful, will suit a lot of people. [*]Dean Markley NPS RoundCore (Rocco Prestia) strings 40 - 100 (NPS, Round Core): Similar to the DR Sunbeams. Very bright out of the box, though they calmed down some once they've been played for a few weeks a couple of hours a day. Slap well, great feel, but not really a 60's Jazz sound anymore. More 'modern Jazz', mainly due to the mid scoop that they seem to have. [/list] I loved the original D'Addario Nickel XL's that came on the bass (NPS, Hex core), but they were too big a gauge for me (45 - 105). As I only recently figured out that's what this bass came with, I have only just ordered a set of XL 40-100's to try. Will post an update over the next few weeks after I stck them on. High hopes! In poking around the innards, I have noted that the bass is shielded with carbon paint. Nice touch, especially in this price range. Not sure if anyone pointed this out before. I have also started making some mods. It's so cheap, why not? The bass now sports Hipshot Ultralite 1/2" tuners (a worthy upgrade - better than the standard tuners - £80), block inlay decals (£7, ebay), and chrome knobs (£4, ebay). Also, a good bit more 'mojo' from having carted it over the the US for music school, playing it all the time, and the little dents and bumps that go along with constant use. It'll have a Graphtech piezo system in it in another couple of weeks too. And possibly an acrylic ramp. Just for the heck of it! It's my only bass, and so cheap, that I'm having a lot of fun playing around with it. When I think about it, most of the music of the 60's/70's/etc was made on Jazzes which were built about the same sort of quality as this one (no graphite stabilisers, Alnico pickups, etc), so I reckon if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me. I enjoy this instrument more and more! It's great 'stock', and inexpensive enough that I don't feel bad about modding it a bit more to suit my tastes. Pete

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='744370' date='Feb 13 2010, 11:54 PM']Nickel. The XL's. D'addario prosteels don't feel like that.[/quote] Brilliant. Thanks so much! I stopped by the local guitar shop today while I was out, and they said the same. Sadly, they didn't have the gauges I liked in stock. I'll have to order them online instead. I played the CV Jazz they had in the shop, and once again I was reminded of how much I like the D'addarios. Can't wait for them to arrive now! Pete

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='744345' date='Feb 13 2010, 10:49 PM']Grand Reward who make the Cv's in China use d'addario on everything they make. So, although Fender say they use Fender strings on the spec, the factory who make them for Fender use d'addario. Do do Gibson Custom Shop sometimes, and Takamine acoustic guitars. Rotosound have just done a deal to supply strings for Fender Japan too apparently.[/quote] Thanks for that. Very interesting! Thoughts on whether they might use nickels or steels for the CV Jazz?

Ok. From parsing this thread (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8692799) over at Talkbass, it looks like the consensus is that they are D'Addarios. Just one question now - nickel or steel?

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='743703' date='Feb 13 2010, 09:29 AM']There appears to be a glut of these for sale on eBay @ approx £475; however they are from the States. I realise you then need to factor in shipping and import taxes/duty but are they easy enough to convert over from 120v?[/quote] I'm over in the USA and I bought one (of the refurbed RH450s off Ebay you're talking about). It doesn't need conversion, the manual says it works internationally already. Auto-sensing power supply. Can't wait to use it at home when I get back! I went for a company that had a return policy (Proaudiostar), but didn't need it, as the unit came out of the box looking brand new and working perfectly. Pete