The Funk

[quote name='BigRedX' post='284183' date='Sep 15 2008, 01:15 PM']Join a band.[/quote] +1

[quote name='timmyo' post='283826' date='Sep 14 2008, 06:52 PM']Anything similar that does not rely on reading the dots ?[/quote] No. You'll have to learn to read to get through all the fantastic music books out there. It slows me down too but all the good books are written with notation. That's just a fact unfortunately. [quote name='charic' post='283873' date='Sep 14 2008, 07:46 PM']Left hand is best practiced a finger per fret and thumb middle of neck really.[/quote] Hmm... disagree slightly. Left hand: thumb no higher than the middle of the neck, I agree with. 1 finger per fret, I don't agree with exactly. In the first 4 frets or so, I'd play with fingers 1, 2 and 3/4 combined (usually just called 4). So a 1, 2, 4 technique. Right hand, I'd recommend a floating thumb technique. That means anchoring your thumb on the string below the one you're playing and shifting it up and down as you move up and down the strings. You should also alternate with fingers 1 and 2 on the right hand. In terms of which section of the strings to pluck between the neck and the bridge, there are some advantages and disadvantages to all of them. Close up to the bridge, you can get a sharp, mids-heavy sound. Close up to the neck, a round, bassy sound. And in between you get something in between.

Hehe, that was pretty entertaining.

Brilliant idea! Band: Foolish Earthlings Site: [url="http://www.foolishearthlings.com"]www.foolishearthlings.com[/url] Area: London (headline or main support) Outside London (support) Genre: Funk (can/have supported/headlined Hard Rock, Soul, Jazz, Dance, Singer-Songwriter, Indie acts) Looking for gig swaps with bands from outside London - anywhere, really. With any genre except metal - we're not heavy enough for that and venues here tend not to mix metal with other genres, so wouldn't be a viable swap. Would not be able to draw any kind of crowd outside London, realistically speaking, with the exception of a handful in Manchester, Bournemouth, Leicester, Nottingham, Swindon. Should explain what I mean by gig swap: we book a gig here in London at one of the toilet circuit venues and persuade the promoter to put you on even though you won't generate much of an audience (we'll bring in a big enough audience to cover it), while you do the same thing for us in your area. Anyone up for that?

[quote name='lateralus462' post='281889' date='Sep 11 2008, 02:35 PM']it's quite tricky at times with the Keys and bass occupying the same sort of frequency range - I think I might just chop his left hand off - that should solve the problem.[/quote] Nah, just stick some porn mags on his music stand

We're big in Japa... aaaah, I get it. 5.

[quote name='charic' post='279173' date='Sep 7 2008, 03:44 PM']I currently own a line6 300w and love the ampeg setting. [...] My 300w line6 is definately loud enough.[/quote] Keep your money. With the credit crunch and impending recession, you'll be glad you hung onto it.

[quote name='stylonpilson' post='280165' date='Sep 9 2008, 09:34 AM']It's a good sign when people attack your spelling. It means that they couldn't find fault with your argument.[/quote] I believe it's called an [i]ad hominem[/i] argument. I agree with urb. There's room for all approaches to music - and even the most formally trained musician has his own personal approach to music, while even the most natural play-by-ear musician has his own theory of which notes sound good and which sound bad. I find the hardest part of playing bass to be figuring out which notes you can play against the chords/lines the other instrumentalists are playing. I don't naturally have a good ear - running through different scales/chords/progressions over the years has helped me improve it. Everyone has to play by ear when there isn't a chart in front of them.

The Cable Guru - not to be confused with any film characters played by Jim Carrey, Mike Myers or Jimi Mistry - is truly worthy of his title. Unbelievably fast turn-around. Initial enquiry sent very late one night, cables received with thanks two days later. Awesome.

[quote name='valentine' post='276396' date='Sep 3 2008, 05:10 PM']all the notes and stuff on a bass,i just cant be arsed with learning all the theory i just like to pick the thing up and play it ,like what i mean by learning the notes ie all you ES,F,GS,A,BS,C,DS, do i really need to learn off by heart where they are on my fret bord[/quote] If you don't want to play the bass with anyone else, then no - you don't need to know where any of the notes are on a bass.

[quote name='man_at_arms84' post='142734' date='Feb 18 2008, 09:52 PM']I heard from matamp (the people that made the first orange amps) that they are working on their own reissue of matamp bass 200, 200watt all tube bass head. Again not quite orange, but still one to look out for.[/quote] Not quite Orange but better. My guitarist has a '70s Matamp guitar head: 120 clean watts of pure sex.

QEH - wicked! Enjoy it.

From the For Sale forum, a 4 ohm Mesa 6x10" (which Alex points out could be rewired to 16 ohms)... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=22354"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=22354[/url]

Very interesting. I remember one of the younger guys was looking at this head for his first rig.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='275544' date='Sep 2 2008, 03:57 PM']It seems to be that using a 50W valve amp for bass is only a wise idea if you like your sound to be dirty and overdriven all the time or you play in a small jazz combo. If not you're so short of headroom that you'll have to cart such a big cab to get loud enough and stay clean. Nice wattage for guitar though, more than enough for anything![/quote] Noone else had the heart to say it.

[quote name='MuseMatt' post='275334' date='Sep 2 2008, 12:08 PM']afaik.. you don't really play BETWEEN frets on a fretted bass but you lay your finger on or very close near the edge of the fret. A fretless bass would therefore just be shifting your fingers a fret's lenght?[/quote] Pretty much.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='275316' date='Sep 2 2008, 11:42 AM']You can rewire most 4 ohm cabs to 16 ohms which would do the job.[/quote] And then he could just stick the amp on the 15 ohm setting.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='275337' date='Sep 2 2008, 12:11 PM']That is a fiendish hat![/quote] Why, thank you! I've had it for 12 years now and wear it at every gig I play. Some people complain if I don't wear the shades with it but sometimes on a dark stage, I just don't want to risk it.

[quote name='tom skool' post='275049' date='Sep 1 2008, 10:55 PM']i v'e got a choice of 7.5 or 15 ohm outputs. i used th 7.5 ohm.[/quote] [quote name='alexclaber' post='275299' date='Sep 2 2008, 11:24 AM']If you have to use this amp I'd be looking at 8x10", 4x12" or 2x15" cabs to get enough sensitivity. Alternatively a DIY horn loaded box like a DR250 or OmniTop212 could do a good job with less size but you'll have to compromise on bass extension.[/quote] Can you get commercially available 8x10", 4x12" or 2x15" cabs with an impedence of 8 ohms? If not, the DIY BFM cabs might be the way to go.

[quote name='tom skool' post='274979' date='Sep 1 2008, 09:41 PM']yeah perhaps but i hadnt even got halfway.[/quote] You do realise that "halfway" doesn't mean anything? You can get to full power long before halfway. Is there an Input/Gain control and a Master/Volume/Output control? If there are two controls, then the first one controls the preamp (matching the output of your bass to the amp - you can get preamp overdrive with this), while the second one controls the power amp (matching the output from the amp to the speakers - you can get power amp distortion or damage your speakers with this). 50W is not a lot for a bass amp these days which means you'd have to use more speakers to move a lot of air and get more overall volume. Try an 8 ohm 4 x 10" cab with good sensitivity.

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='275279' date='Sep 2 2008, 11:09 AM'] That will make her day if I told her, and I say “if” because “if” I tell her then she will know I’ve posted a pic of her on here and there’s quite a high possibility that she will totally blow her nut [/quote] Tell her it's pronounced "be arse, see hat", not "bass chat" and that you posted it in the wives/girlfriends pics thread. I may as well post one...

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='274283' date='Sep 1 2008, 10:07 AM']Not quite. On a fretted bass you fret the note by placing your finger BETWEEN the frets. On a fretless, you place your finger where the frets would be. There is a marginal difference.[/quote] You're right. You obviously have to shift up accordingly when you start. But after a while you just know where the notes are on your fretless the same way you just know on your fretted.

[quote name='Oscar South' post='274255' date='Sep 1 2008, 09:32 AM']I don't listen to any music at the moment with the bass as a central role[/quote] Good. Write some songs, form a band, take an active role as a leader. EDIT: Reading your post again, I see you've done that. In which case, I'd suggest laying off bass for a while and playing guitar and keyboards for a while. What's more fun though, is playing the drums. Ask yourself this question: the music that you want to create and leave the world with after you die - how does it sound?

If it's a 34" scale, then all the notes should be in the same place as on your fretted. Looking to start with doesn't seem like a problem to me. Eventually you'll have to stop looking at the fingerboard and start looking up at the audience/chart.