fatback

At the risk of being shot down, I'm not sure learning the names of chord tones by rote is any use whatsoever. Learning the intervals is far more important. If you know your scale intervals and you know how to make those intervals on your bass, you'll hit the right notes for any chord. If it takes you a minute to think of the name of the note, so what. If you keep practicing scales all over the fretboard, you'll get the names of notes eventually anyhow. I found the single most important bit of learning I ever did was to study how scales worked. As I think Bilbo said, everything follows from there.

I would do what I did - buy a second hand solid top for around £600 and spend the rest on a setup, strings and pickup experiments. That easily hit a grand. Those extra costs are serious and are easily overlooked, and that's why I would hesitate over a new instrument.

[quote name='Earbrass' post='1374288' date='Sep 15 2011, 12:16 PM']She's not exactly a "front-person", but I rather like [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorstetguidedwalks/3914449721/"]this[/url] photo which features Jacky, the lead musician in the morris side I play for, though it was taken some time before I joined.[/quote] Wow! Morris, but not as we know it.

Are the Kolstein's much thicker than spiro weichs? Would you have to widen nut slots or any scary thing like that?

I have the same problem and have been asking about bumping. Some suggestions here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=154167"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=154167[/url]

[quote name='janmaat' post='1373081' date='Sep 14 2011, 12:15 PM']I find that the fingering technique is rather different. On fretted, I use 4 fingers - 4 frets. On fretless, I use a fingering similar to double bass, in that I use index and pinkie much more and ring finger almost never; so a 1:1 transition between the two might be a misleading approach (and is certainly a reason for why guitar players find it hard). Anybody else has something to say about that, would be interesting.[/quote] On fretless I use one finger per fret in all positions and a thumb pivot. Having said that, if I'm feeling lazy and the part doesn't jump about too much, i'll use the Simandl double bass type fingering (third and fourth finger together) on the lowest positions. I have small hands btw. I think it's very useful to learn one finger per fret (with a thumb pivot) because you have to make fewer arm movements that way, and that means better intonation. If you end up using the other technique for the first couple of positions that doesn't much matter. I've found it really helps to think above all of thumb positions and keep those fixed and consistent rather than drifting about. If the thumb is right, the rest falls into place.

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1372959' date='Sep 14 2011, 10:35 AM']One thing you might notice when going from a marked fretless to an unlined one will be the dot markers on the top of the neck. Some are on the fret, some are where they are on fretted basses (i.e. in the middle of the fret). It's something to watch for should you ever make the transition from lined to unlined.[/quote] This is hugely important imo. If the dots on the edge of the neck are not on the 'fret' positions, get stick on paper dots and put them there. You could use a marker to dull down the original misplaced dots. Those dots are very very useful, especially when you're gigging and moving about the stage. You'll never regret the fretless. Your ears will improve immensely. Just make sure you learn to play with the correct left hand technique or you won't get reliably good intonation. And practice at least some of the time without looking at your hand. And that's the downside of fretless imo. if you are out of tune, you're worse than useless, you're a major liability. Intonation is all.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='1207075' date='Apr 21 2011, 01:54 PM']Yeah second lot too:-( and an ext cab I later bought separately To me the promethean sound more scooped and hi -fi and refined than the midget which was very snarly, bitey,woody mid bark type sounding, if that makes any sense?!:0)[/quote] Very good description of the midget sound imo. note to self - must get pics of my EA/Midget up here

Interesting points. Thanks. I think I've been lucky on the feedback front anyhow, as the combination of bass and pickup (full circle) seems very resistant. The only time I suffered was when I had the cab behind me on the floor within about 6ft. Unfortunately, most of our gigs are in very cramped spaces with vocal only PA. When the cab was on the floor it was hard for the band to hear, especially for the drummer. Maybe that's because as Bill points out it's not omnidirectional above 200hz? Anyhow, the stand solution was excellent bar that loss of volume. I reckon what i have to do is cut less mids so the amp doesn't have to work so hard. Presumably the amp has to use lots more watts to push out bass. btw, intuitively you'd think a slight wobble in the stand would cause problems (newton and all that), but how severe could that be?

If the feedback reduction is about the notch filtering then I should maybe just use the notch filter on my amp Naw, too fiddly, I found. One big advantage of the stand is that it's easy to find a spot on a very crowded stage where it can be clearly heard. And it does work. No feedback at loud volumes. I was just puzzled at the losses. The angled stand is a nice idea. Seems a good compromise, although at the height in the picture, it wouldn't be much less lossy than the one I've got - it's really only a small amount closer to the floor. Here's a related question - is a bass sound omnidirectional from the cab when you're up close, like within 5 feet?

Thanks for the replies. Looks like it is raising the cab that's cost me output. I didn't realise the volume drop could be so great. I've probably made things worse by cutting so much mids, although in my defense my upright with steel strings produces a very middy attack that I need to reduce if I can. Sounds like I have to live with more mid though. Unfortunately, putting the cab against a wall hasn't been an option on the stages we've had, and a keyboard stand is the only way of raising the cab that is guaranteed to find enough space, so I reckon I'm stuck with that. Definitely the last couple of gigs I've had stability problems with the stand and no time to wedge it better, so maybe that's not helping. I wonder how bad the effect of a wobbly stand could be?

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1370030' date='Sep 12 2011, 01:07 AM']If the volume you're losing is at the frequencies where feedback occurs it's moot, because if you don't lose the volume you don't lose the feedback. An exact figure is difficult to arrive at, as there are a number of variables. To vastly oversimplify you'll lose about 6dB, centered at the frequency where 1/4 wavelength is equal to the distance between the cab and the floor.[/quote] I think it cures the feedback just because the cab is not so near the body of the bass rather than because of lost frequencies. 6db is quite a lot though. The cab is a metre off the stage, which would give a freq centre of 85.75hz, is that right? I wonder if the problem might have been made worse as I tend to eq out a lot of mids and boost the bass, leaving the amp with a lot of work to do. I might be able to get away with raising the cab somewhat less; i'll maybe try that.

[quote name='marvin spangles' post='1369954' date='Sep 11 2011, 10:28 PM']Just curious but what do you mean by "bumping"?[/quote] Using an A as a E and a D as an A etc, hopefully making steel strings a bit easier on the fingers. I swear the fingers of my right hand are an inch shorter than they were.

Done

Thanks for your replies, guys. I'll do some thinking about this.

I've been raising my Midget to chest height by putting it on a keyboard stand. The idea is to stop my upright feeding back, and that's working a treat. However, I seem to be losing a significant amount of volume. How much volume, at what frequencies would I be likely to lose at that elevation? This is a pretty important question for me, as I've now found myself overdriving the amp (EA Doubler) at louder gigs, and that's nasty. Also, if a cab on a stand wobbles a bit cos of an uneven stage, does that cause any volume loss? I really don't want to have to use a second cab, and the doubler / midget combo was well powerful enough until I started raising that cab. Any ideas, cab gurus?

Hi all, Going to try bumping my Spirocore weichs. Any thoughts about which string might work best for the G? Would Spirocore C weich be too light? What about the medium C? Corelli? Thanks for your thoughts.

Top class pedal and amazing value. My only worry is the way the ground lift switch sticks out the side. I'm certain I'm going to break it off one day. Dave, any chance it could be recessed or protected in some way?

Ooh, I'll have this idea! My aching arms say thanks

I found Rufus Reid excellent for getting started reading rhythms and working up the right hand on open strings. After that, Micheal Moore's Bass Method was very approachable and systematic. Simandl made me want to shoot myself.

[quote name='tomhunt' post='1351850' date='Aug 25 2011, 10:38 PM']Hay all, Its my bands first gig this Friday (26th) abit late notice I know... But if you are in the area of Ashby De La Zouch (Leicestershire), head to the Bowling Green.. Start around 7.30 - We are doing, Soul, Ska, Mod, Motown covers with a track of our own. Tom[/quote] hey, i was born near there. Cutest place name in England. Can't get to your gig, unfortunately, but good luck with it.

Greets from the opposite end. Welcome to BC. Great city, Cork.