The Funk

Hi guys. I'm looking at picking up a 5-string Streamer LX Jazzman second hand and I was wondering if you guys had any information about them. The first Warwick I ever tried was a Streamer LX and I loved it (just couldn't afford it as a teenager). I love the sound of the Jazzman pick-up combination when I see other bassists playing Streamer and FNA Jazzman basses at gigs. As much as I love my Infinity SN 5, it can be slightly difficult to get a great sound of if I have to share other people's amps or play a tricky room. The Jazzman pick-up combination just seems to work everywhere. Unfortunately, the Warwick website doesn't seem to have any information about the Streamer LX Jazzman, so I thought I'd come to you guys and see what you could tell me.

[quote name='ahpook' post='197353' date='May 12 2008, 06:07 PM']i don't do showing off either what i'm saying is that as i get to decide what the bass is playing then by definition it's can't be dull...not cos i'm an amazing player, but cos if i have to play it i make it interesting (to me that is)[/quote] Yeah, I can understand that. How could you possibly write a part that would bore yourself?

Headlining a venue, being told we're soundchecking at 2pm, then finding out we're not on stage until 11pm. The sound engineer not marking any of our settings at the end of the soundcheck, always making us sound like the rubbish indie band that was on before us. Venues bullshitting friends on the guestlist and charging them full whack - then giving me sh*t when I go give them a bollocking and ask them to refund the balance. Other bands. Everything about them. Except the nice ones.

[quote name='ahpook' post='197277' date='May 12 2008, 04:34 PM']i don't do covers...if the bassline's dull to play it's my fault !!![/quote] I'm happy to play a simple bassline where the song wouldn't hang together if I was showing off. (It also helps if I get plenty of opportunities to show off on other songs ).

[quote name='Russ' post='197205' date='May 12 2008, 03:10 PM']It does sound either like bad porn music or the soundtrack to a blaxploitation film.[/quote] Finding it hard to see the problem there.

I quite enjoyed your solo tune. But I was really put off by your time. Quoting your myspace page: "Sounds Like A bassist struggling to make a decent sound thats in time... sorry". You made a decent sound but what was up with your time? You can clearly play so just use a click when you record so you don't get lost. I always get lost without a click. Always.

[quote name='Basszilla' post='193792' date='May 7 2008, 12:43 PM']for anyone who likes a bit of speed crunch.[/quote] I have no idea what that means but that sounded awesome. (I hate that vocal style though. Don't let that put you off. It's why I can't listen to most modern metal.) The music was immense.

[quote name='clauster' post='195325' date='May 9 2008, 11:46 AM']Be forgiving because I don't normally play funk and am crap at slapping.[/quote] What are you talking about? That sounded pretty funky to me. I didn't really hear any technical problems. It sounded tight and grooving to me. I don't know if the vocal wasn't well recorded. I think it was recorded ok but just wasn't sung at the same standard as the music. But you could work that angle a bit if you wanted. It wasn't out of tune or anything. Just a bit like Joe Strummer's vocals but without the conviction and self-belief. It doesn't sound like the vocalist really believes in it on the recording (which is strange as he wrote it). If you had more time and more takes he'd have got it. I think the project is worth pursuing if the songwriter wants to give it another go. It sounds fun and a bit different.

Some amps may automatically mute the speaker out if the headphone output is engaged - presumably for home practice purposes. If I had to amp share and used in-ears, I'd want to split the signal from my bass into a dedicated in-ear system so that it didn't matter what amp was available. But then I wouldn't use an amp and in-ears (unless I was playing huge venues).

Tried out the briefcase once. Spent 20 minutes trying everything to get a decent sound of it. Failed miserably. May have been a dud unit or, more likely, a severely abused shopfloor unit (or me). But I did a gig where Harambé played support for us. Their bassist used a huge PJB rig. It was loud and extremely clean. A bit too clean for my taste but it suited his playing, his bass and his sound perfectly. I think the 5" drivers are basically mid-range speakers (hence the clarity) and he must work some mojo with the cabinet tuning to get the low end out of the cabs. Very interesting angle. I think the smaller stuff just suffers from a lack of power for some uses (so get the bigger stuff if you want it to sound bigger).

[quote name='Oscar South' post='196773' date='May 11 2008, 10:41 PM']have to admit I do love most Stevie Wonder, its just on a different level to most funk influenced stuff.[/quote] Funk as a genre has never reached its true potential, with a lot of the writing being extremely lazy (as someone pointed out above). Stevie and Curtis are two exceptions. As other people have said, a lot of people like it as dancefloor music but it has the potential to be so much more than just that. As someone else said above, that's not really a problem to do with funk itself. But, like I just said in the post above, I didn't realise that bassists were expected to love funk. Having said all that, if I asked you to play something funky and you gave me some tapping, I'd punch you... unless it was funky.

[quote name='Oscar South' post='196705' date='May 11 2008, 09:08 PM']Don't really hate it, just don't really like it. Hate how every bassist is expected to love and embrace funk though, I'm competent at it but give me some Post/Prog Rock/Metal, British Folk or some serious Jazz over funk any day. Anyone else feel similarly?[/quote] Take a look at my screen name. I love it. Nothing wrong with a bass player for not liking it. Some might think it odd that when bass is all about the groove that a bassist might not like funk, the genre of groove. Not me though. Metal depends on entirely on groove and as for jazz, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that thing. I didn't realise every bassist was expected to love and embrace funk. I don't think you have to at all, even to develop into a groove-monster, in-the-pocket player.

As Stanley Clarke once said, "funk is its own reward".

I thought it went Corvette -> Thumb -> Streamer -> The Neck-Through models

Victor Wooten has pretty small hands. He seems to manage.

You could do a heavy version of Prince's [i]Kiss[/i]. It's just blues.

Cancel the next lesson, for sure. You can get a better tutor than that. I thought I'd make the worst tutor in the world but at least I'm not sexist or a con artist. I'm sure there are some good tutors in Kent. Have you had a look through the Bass Tutors forum at the bottom of the main forum page? (EDIT: Just saw you've already posted in there.)

[quote name='far0n' post='195800' date='May 10 2008, 01:32 AM']Tried googling the name and all that but sod all shows up [/quote] The first google result is now this exact thread. Spooky!

Is there anyone out there who's actually worked out the bass part note for note? Outstanding. [url="http://www.getsomevideos.com/videos/Prince/Alphabet+Street+(A+Version)(WindowsMedia).html"]http://www.getsomevideos.com/videos/Prince...dowsMedia).html[/url] I have no idea where to start.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='117514' date='Jan 10 2008, 12:00 AM']Also Kevin Bacon of The Comsat Angels[/quote] Jeez, not only was he in every other movie of the last 20 years but he's a bass player too?

I love the bass tone on the whole of Lenny Kravitz's "Mama Said" album as far as the amp and recording goes. I love the tone Jaco gets for fingerstyle stuff. And I love Louis Johnson's and Larry Graham's slap tones. I try to approximate the Larry Graham and Jaco tones with my playing and Kravtiz's "Mama Said" tone with my preamp.

Musical integrity? Yeah, I've been trying to turn "my vision" into reality for 10 years. The trouble is it's difficult when you're not a musical genius and when people don't really get it. It's only now that I've got band members who get it and can put it into action. I'm glad I stuck at it though and didn't give up on it. In the meantime I have played in a few other bands. If you're a bass player first then you can't lose touch with your instrument.

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='193991' date='May 7 2008, 04:22 PM']I completely agree. We play there a lot, and it's great bumping your head on the mirrorball and trying to get through the throng between sets. Apart from the occasional groups of rowdy Norwegian drunkards that seem to get in there, it's usually a great atmosphere.[/quote] That mirrorball plucked out so many hairs from my head, I blame it for the small bald patch that is beginning to emerge. I haven't played there in a couple of years but I keep planning on going back.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' post='193784' date='May 7 2008, 12:38 PM']My understanding is that the above may not be strictly true. If you are refurbishing something, you may also have to update the old to comply with the new standards. This first came to light when organ builders discovered that they were expected to replace all the lead-soldered pipes in church organs if the refurbishment of the organ strayed over some threshold value or proportion. I'm not sure whether this has been resolved, and I am not tracking it, so my information should be treated as suspect until proven otherwise.[/quote] I heard something about that as well. They were fighting for an exemption last I heard.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='193944' date='May 7 2008, 03:33 PM']Is that supposed to be funny cheddatom?[/quote] Maybe it's meant to be erotic? Jazz After Dark is a great place to gig. Everything is against you and so if you can pull off a good gig, it's because it all came from you. One gig there is worth 20 rehearsals. Good luck with it. I won't be able to make it along unfortunately.