The Funk

Many great choices above!

Bernard Edwards
Louis Johnson
Jack Bruce
Paul Jackson
Bootsy Collins
Larry Graham
Stanley Clarke
James Jamerson
Jaco Pastorius
Alphonso Johnson

That looks stupendously good. Time for a good think.

A lot depends on your style of music and how successful/popular you already are. I've watched gigs where the frontman did everything wrong in my view and the loyal audience loved every second of it.

I think the best advice I've heard is that you have to be yourself but moreso for the stage, an exaggerated version of yourself. And you kind of have to fit with your audience. If they're miserable shoe gazers the worst thing you can do is pretend you're a huge rock band in the 80s closing out your 18 month tour with 5 nights at Wembley Stadium.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/iTZ4IYPy_cE[/youtube]

Considering this...

I had to come back on here to commiserate with you guys.

Jack Bruce was the reason I became a bass player. I remember when I first saw live footage of Cream I couldn't believe the force of this guy. For about 2 years at school I would listen to a live recording of I'm So Glad every single day. It blew my mind that they were all soloing and holding it down at the same time.

At around the same time I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with Pete Brown who was always on hand to give advice to a young guy starting out. I then ended up playing bass on White Room and Sunshine Of Your Love with Pete at his wedding reception, which was totally unexpected.

Jack's son Malcolm is a very nice guy and a good musician to boot. Thoughts are with him and the rest of the family.

I remember standing next to Jack Bruce once as a teenager but being too in awe to say anything. Thanks to Twitter I was recently able to let him know how he was the reason I became a bass player. It was a great feeling when he replied!

RIP

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1398244965' post='2431933']
The sad fact is that some venues think they are doing the bands a favour
[/quote]

Everyone in music seems to think they're doing everyone else a favour, mainly because all the money's gone!

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1398192610' post='2431518']
[b][size=6]NAME AND SHAME[/size][/b]

please, would be rude not to
[/quote]

Plus a gazillion

Sadly, that kind of behaviour is the general rule.

If petrol money is agreed beforehand then try to collect it before you go on.

Do Re Mi Fa Koff

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1398171728' post='2431131'] It could be that all of us could discover we don't need half of what we drag around, obviously other than the instrument and the amp and cable.
[/quote]

Imagine U2 if The Edge left his rack and pedalboard at home. It won't work for everyone.

In the end I found that most things that sounded great in the studio, like effects, were a bit lost in the live mix. We weren't at a level where we had our own sound engineer so I decided keeping it simple gave the house engineers the best chance of getting a decent mix, which meant leaving everything but the bass, tuner and preamp/Di at home.

When I did take my amp to a gig though, that would involve a basic rack as I had a 2U preamp and 2U power amp housed in a 4U rack case.

Promising title. Location?

My son uses a small P bass called a Westfield or a Wesley. I'll have a look and take a pic for you in the next few days. It's very playable for younger kids (9-12) - and I can just about squeeze my fingers onto it too. It sounds and plays great!

I had this problem a few years ago. You want your wrists as straight as possible - even if that means sticking your elbows out at seemingly unnatural angles.

I have never managed to do anything but butcher this classic. Will check that out before I next have a go. Thanks!

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1397760934' post='2427218']
I just did what felt most natural & comfortable for me, which is sort of halfway between thumb up & thumb down..
[/quote]

Dead on sideways? I'm a thumb up guy myself but down works for many people. Never heard of a dead on parallel technique before!

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1398111791' post='2430626']
try just using bass->lead->amp and nothing else
[/quote]

This can work very well too!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1398109774' post='2430599']
Everything is prewired so I just plug a single mains lead in and run a speaker cable out and I'm ready to play.
[/quote]

Exactly. You can have everything set up the way you want with a lid on the front to protect your favourite settings and a lid on the back to protect all your connections.

There's also nothing to stop you having a rack and a pedalboard.

I've been saying it wrong for years. I even laughed at my dad for pronouncing it "when gay". One of you could have told me earlier!

Jazz After Dark in Soho. Tiny stage, nonsensical layout, and run by terrible people. The last time I played there the guitarist and drummer both came off at the end and said "never again".

The only good thing about it is you get 3 hours or so on stage, so it's a good work out.

[quote name='lou24d53' timestamp='1398002312' post='2429395']
I keep reading on here about how good Bass Direct are, but in my experience, they are not the 'holier than thou' retailer they are painted to be on here. I've only ordered online from them twice, but on both occasions, I have had to chase up my order.
[...]
I'm sure Bass Direct are one of, if not THE, best bass retailers in the UK, but they also are not without fault.
[/quote]

I think they're on here. You could message them and give them a chance to make it up to you.

[quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1397973856' post='2429048'] 'oh you want a bass let me slap the f#ck out of it for 5 mins first'
[/quote]

Classic. When I was starting out playing, I used to find that intimidating. I don't really see it much anymore.

I picked up a used fretless on here a few years ago. I hardly ever play it now but it certainly developed my playing having it and I don't regret buying it at all.

You don't need to spend £4-500 for a great-sounding bass for funk, especially if you buy second-hand. As pointed out above, the amp will make as much of difference to the sound as the type of bass (P, J or MM).

I would recommend a simple Jazz bass to start. I like the Warwick combo practice amps too.

Hi. Where are you based? Have been after one of these for a while. Thanks

I remember seeing some footage of him on Youtube in the band Upp backing Jeff Beck on some Scottish TV programme from the mid-70s and really enjoying his playing. Does anyone on here know a bit more about who this guy was and what else he did? Check out the nice bass solo in the middle of the jam below.