JellyKnees

Hello from Brokenhead

As a concept, they fundamentally suck. Music is not a competition.

I had a rotator cuff tear on my right shoulder last year (a screwdriver injury ffs!), so it was less problematic than the left would have been, but was still not great... My GP referred me to a good physio who gave me some exercises and also did some accupuncture, which definitely helped it settle down pretty quickly (within a few weeks). Of course it depends how bad your injury is, but I think the key is getting the balance between rest and mobility right. Some gentle swimming perhaps? But definitely try and see a physio and get their advice. On a more general 'bass playing' health related note, I took up yoga 6 months ago as I had been having some problems with my back for a couple of years. I work in IT and all the years sat at a desk were beginning to take their toll - this was also having a negative effect on my ability to play bass, particularly when standing. I would highly recommend this to anyone who plays bass - it has made a huge difference to my overall levels of physical strength, stamina, balance and co-ordination. I wouldn't say my back is completely cured - I still get the odd niggle, but the frequency is a lot less (and diminishing over time) and my ability to deal with it is a lot better.

I'm trying to sell a Little Mark 250 head at the moment... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=134847&st=0&p=1222913&"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...;p=1222913&[/url] For 150watts into 8 ohms, it's very loud and extremely clear...it's just wasn't driving my barefaced big one cab quite enough, but with a more suitably matched cab, it would be excellent.

I had a Boss bass chorus pedal back in the 80's that was very nice (until some tosser nicked it off me at a charity gig) - I think the one they do now is basically the same spec. I also used an electro harmonix electric mistress (more of a flanger/filter type effect really) for a while...not bass specific, but I used to get some interesting sounds from it. It's not an effect I use these days tbh, but i'm sure there are tons out there to choose from...

Is this related to penis size somehow? Like having a big macho car? Hmmmmmm......

I was taking some photos of some gear I'm trying to sell, and though it was time I put a few photos of my two basses up here... The KGB headless was made for me by KGB music [url="http://www.kgb-music.co.uk/"]http://www.kgb-music.co.uk/[/url] in my hometown of Birkenhead back in 1991. It's basically a status rip off, without the graphite neck. It's made from maple, bird's eye maple and paduak with an ebony figerboard. It has a through neck and bartollini single coil pickups. It's got a great tonal range, is excellent for slap and funk, but can also do more growly tones well too. Headless is not to everyone's taste, but I love it and will never part with it. I think it looks better than the original statuses myself, but I guess I would. There are only about 4 or 5 these in existence as far as I know, so it's quite rare. The Tune fretless I brought early last year. It's piezo only and has a gorgeous sound, great dynamic range and very expressive. I think I'll be keeping this for a long time too...

That is truly hideous

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I use a little mark 250 through a barefaced big one and boomy and undefined it is most definitely not, so it sounds very much like the room to me. My only minor criticism of the little mark is that its a bit TOO clean, especially with my custom KGB with it's bartollini single coil pickups - I'm now using a tech21 vt pedal to add a touch of drive and harmonic 'sparkle', which makes it really sing. I leave the amp flat to start with and then make minor adjustments to the eq to compensate for whatever room I'm in, and I can pretty much always get a good clear sound out of it.

I have a KGB fretted headless that I had custom made in 1991 and a Tune Bass piezo fretless which I bought just over a year ago. I'd count this as one because I consider fretless/fretted basses to be completely different instruments. If I had more space I'd love to get an EUB and maybe another fretless with magnetic pickups, but I don't at the moment so I can't...I've never owned more than 2 separate basses at a time though. I doubt I'd ever get another frettted bass as I love the KGB so much and I can get pretty much any tone I like from it. I guess it depends on what you are into, but I can't really see why anyone would want multiple instruments which are all very similar and do the same job. Backup? My bass has never let me down in 20 years...

I'd never really considered this much before, but I've just being playing a few things and realised that I use open strings a lot. As Doddy said, why would you not use them? If an open string sounds good in the context of what you are playing and it's in the key of the song...or even if it isn't for that matter but it works, then go for it. I don't have any formal bass training, so it's always been a process of trial and error for me, but I'm a firm believer in trusting your instincts and ears. I often play a phrase in a particular place on the bass, not because it's the easiest place to play it, but because of the particular tonal characteristic it imparts, or because is just feels right to my fingers. I'm sure on a technical level, I do all kinds of things 'wrong', but I think it's often the 'imperfections' in a musician's playing that give it character, otherwise we would all sound like clones, and who needs that?

I don't have a 'spare' bass as such. I do play a fretted and frettless with my band and take both to gigs, so if one did break, I could play the other and get away with it for 90% of our material. I've never had a bass 'break' in 30 odd years though. And I've only every broken one bass string, back in the days of relative poverty and cheapo strings. I do always test all my gear before every gigs to make sure everything is working, including the batteries in the basses themselves. And I make sure I have spares of everything I might need, and some basic tools to fix things. If I was playing large gigs and getting paid loads of money, it would be different and i'd probably look at getting a backup instrument, but doing small local unpaid gigs in an original band..nah. Too much hassle. Ditto for a spare head - there is always the pa, or our keyboard player's amp at a push.

hey ras, cheers for the offer but I'm going to stick with the tapewound for now...I really like the totally smooth feel of them, plus they look very cool on my bass, which is a pearlescant white...exactly like this one in fact... [url="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tune_fretless_Bass.JPG"]http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tun...etless_Bass.JPG[/url]

I use a lot more effects now than I used to, but only when I feel that they add something interesting to the sound of the song. I mainly use a zoom b2.1u, a separate EBS compressor pedal (because the compressor on the zoom is crap) and a tech 21 VT pedal to warm up my fretted bass a tad. I like a splash of reverb on my fretless - I also use a fair bit of octaver with it too. I use a bit of delay here and there, I use some distortion on one section of a particular song, a phaser on another, some wah on another....you get the idea. I find compression is useful to help the bass cut through better live, but I generally record without it. But I think it really depends on what kind of band you are in and what sort of music you are playing. In my case, they are 50% my songs and all my bass lines, so I have free reign to do what I like. I do play some songs with a clean sound too. I think effects are fun to experiment with, and can be very effective when used tastefully and creatively. I think Tony Levin is a brilliant exponent of effects on bass. But I don't think you can really use them to compensate for bad playing though. You can't polish a turd after all.

The La Bella tapewounds weren't in stock at stringbusters, so I ordered some Nylonwound Status strings which I put on the other day. The gauge is lighter than the La Bellas at 105-85-65-45 and so far I really like them...a lot less tension than the d'addario half wounds and a lot nicer to play. Also, more sustain yet I can still get a nice fat tone too. Definitely more like what I've been after.... cheers to walbassist for his suggestion.

Personally, I'd have walked out on general principle..I can't stand bad sales people of any description, for whatever reason. Not that I'm rude to sales people as a matter of course, in fact quite the opposite ...I worked in retail many years ago and know what dealing the public can be like. I just can be doing with shop staff who don't seem to have grasped the concept of good service. I once went to buy a camcorder (pre digital) and was all set to make a purchase when the sales girl started trying to sell me a case to go with it. I told her i didn't want one, but she kept banging on about it, telling be that I'd need something to carry it around in...like I didn't know that already. She was so persistent that I got fed up, left and took my custom else where. She lost a £400 sale because she was too pushy, all for the sake of trying to sell me a £30 case. For all this guy knew, you could have been a novice player and could have been totally intimidated by his flash playing and posing. Karma my arse, I'd have told him and left. No wonder service is crap in the UK, we're just no good at complaining...except about the weather maybe!

For a minute there, I though you were after some groovy shoes to get funky in!

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We have dispensed with a live drummer altogether (for a variety of reasons), and use a combination of loops, sequenced drums plus a few extra keyboard bits and pieces as backing. This is what we use... [url="http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/denon-dn-f300-professional-solid-state-audio-player--68472"]http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/deno...o-player--68472[/url] A bit expensive but totally reliable. Solid state, so no moving parts (unlike a computer, mini disc, CD player etc etc). Will read a USB pen drive or an SD card. We have a mono mix on each channel, with a click intro on the left hand side for stage monitoring. Works a treat.

I'm 45 later this year...I guess i'm lucky in that I probably look about 10 years younger (on a good day), but I don't think I'd be too worried if I didn't. As someone else said, it's all about attitude to life, and it's not like there's a whole lot you can do about it! In terms of playing bass and writing music, I think the last 8 years or so have been the most creative and productive period for me so far. I got my own original band together 4 years ago and am having loads of fun doing it. It's the first time I've been in a band since the mid 90's, and it's also the first time I've had so much input into the writing process. For me personally, I now have a lot more confidence in my own ideas as well as much more skills in terms of playing, arranging and recording than I did when i was younger. Somethings definitely do improve with age! The only negative for me post 40 has been some lower back trouble caused by years of working in IT, but I've recently taken up yoga and upped my general exercise routine, which is helping to keep it at bay. No arthritis thankfully - fingers are still working fine!

Yup, I'd agree with a lot of the posts on here in that it's all about context and execution. It's just a technique, like any other. It only becomes annoying when overdone, or used as a form of musical masturbation. For example, I think there's a huge difference between the way Mark King and Marcus Miller play slap. Marcus Miller has a real lightness of touch and is so in the groove - he is great at slapping and plucking [i]around[/i] the drums whilst leaving lots of holes to let the music to[i] breathe[/i]. Mark King just sounds like an exciteable child with an annoying new toy to me... And the example that someone mentioned of Chuck Rainey's bass on Peg is a good one. Again, some choice playing that gives a nice contrast between the verse and chorus. I use a little bit of slap (and occasionally some tickle) in maybe 4 or 5 of our 20 odd songs. It's a useful rhythmic technique, but its a bit like a particularly strong herb (no, not that kind), say sage or tarragon. Don't overuse it, or you will ruin the dish!