The Funk

How about anything by John Illsley of Dire Straits? Did he actually do anything to earn his £40-odd million?

Some brilliant suggestions above. How about this - it's a classic 2-note bassline that just works: 'Muff' Winwood, on Give Me Some Lovin' (Spencer Davis Group).

You're [i]that[/i] dude. Someone posted your clip on here before. That's some cool sh!t man. As for thumbs up/thumbs down, I really don't see what the problem with trying it both ways is, especially when you're starting out. One might suit you better than the other.

Ah, I see! Thanks for the explanation. Another quick question, if you don't mind - does it matter which way up you stack the B2s?

[quote name='alexclaber' post='25361' date='Jun 30 2007, 06:55 PM']My only bugbear with Acmes were the protection bulbs but now you can have polyswitches which solves that problem.[/quote] How can I phrase this... huh?

Hehe, you're in trouble now, man. I agree with you but damn. Seeing as we're name-checking, Louis Johnson is a monster. In a good way, of course. Edit: Parker, seeing as you're still new to slap, try thumbs up too. It just enables you to do slap and pop in one smooth wrist movement rather than an arm movement.

Any experience of their new subwoofer-type cabs? The B-2W and B-4W? I think they may be the solution to my low end problems. The speaker in my Hartke 1x15 just can't handle the amount of movement required. Sounds like the increased Xmax you were talking about in the Acmes might be the answer.

This is a good place to ask around, man. All the self-taught players picked up whatever advice they could from anyone willing to explain their approach.

Come back to this thread in 3-6 months when you've worked on the things discussed, then we can talk about phrasing and left-hand technique.

The [url="http://www.eden-electronics.com/products/cabs/indiv/d112xlt.asp"]Eden D112XLT[/url] looks very appealing. Eden cabs are known for having an aggressive mid-range growl.

Warwick Corvette Taranis - 4-string designed specifically to be strung B-E-A-D

From the tone of the thread I was worried the video might be complete cr*p. For a year's playing that's pretty decent. I can't add any more advice to all the good advice you've been given. All I can do is emphasise the importance of what they've already said: Time-keeping - practice getting it more precise, in the way Luke and others have described above. On the issue of right hand slap technique, there were two main discussions: 1. Hand placement (ie. thumb up v. thumb down) 2. Force My advice on these two things would be to try out all the different things that people have suggested - that way you'll be able to figure out what sounds best to your ears and what works best for you. And then you'll be able to develop your own style. But if your time-keeping's bad, none of the rest matters.

Thanks man. The Aguilar's lovely but I didn't realise until I got the Eden power amp just how good it is. I honestly didn't expect changing the power amp would make that much difference. Hopefully when we don't have a gig clash, you'll be able to come check it out live for yourself - then we can talk tech!

Apologies for the picture quality. My rig: ETA Power Distributor Drawmer DL 241 Stereo Compressor Aguilar DB680 Valve Preamp Eden WT1000 Stereo Power Amp Hartke 2.5XL Hartke 115 XL In the rack case next to the rig is: Warwick Quadruplet Valve Preamp QSC RMX 850 Stereo Power Amp

I don't know about you guys but I tend to play differently on different basses.

How did the gig go?

B*gger. I've got a rehearsal tonight otherwise I'd be there. Have a good one, man and let me know how it goes. Need to check your band out soon. I'll add you guys to our myspace now.

Tom, yeah I bumped into some of your ACM pals. Very good band and nice guys too. I'll keep you posted about our gigs - it'd be good to catch up. I could show you what I'm doing with your old fretless too.

I've heard the Washburn models are good, although I've never tried them. Personally, I've found every acoustic bass guitar I've tried to be cr*p. If anyone does have any recommendations, I'd love to find a good one.

My guitarist just got one of [url="http://www.wesleyguitars.co.uk/StoreFrontProfiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=44184&c=519508&i=231365257"]these[/url]. Having tried it out, my thoughts were: looks good, sounds good, plays well and is great value for money. They also do a decent looking Stingray copy.

I use Pro Tools LE on a PC, along with Reason and Cubase SX2 or 3 - can't remember it's been so long since I've actually used it. I'm planning on hooking up an equivalent portable set-up on my Macbook. Cubase is great for MIDI sequencing and programming, Reason is almost a super plug-in and Pro Tools is just the standard for audio. I haven't used Digital Performer (is it Mac only?) but I've heard good things about it. I know a lot of people who swear by Logic. It looks like a great all-rounder. I remember being annoyed when Apple bought it and decided to discontinue the PC version.

Doesn't look too bad as is.

Exactly what Alun and SHG said. The main accent is on the 4 and the main rhythm is the clave.

Chic - Good Times?

[quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='23568' date='Jun 26 2007, 03:12 PM']Urb?[/quote] To mis-quote that dude from Lethal Weapon 2, "... but... he's.... blick!" Also, Urb's style is so different.