fatback

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1420223613' post='2646912'] I can speak with a little authority (as an ex VAT man). It sounds like a pain now but a guy who can handle a digital studio will not have any trouble with an Excel spreadsheet. Also, if you are not VAT registered you are forking out VAT on a whole load of things. When first registered, you can claim back the VAT on any goods you have on hand when you register - going back 4 years. You're not going to change it so why no consider the advantages of being VAT registered. I'll give answers happily, when I am certain of the facts. Do not ever make the huge mistake of listening to the man in the pub ad forming your opinions on that basis. [/quote] Sorry but this is C**p. Ever tried tried running a small business and managing VAT? Thought not. Ever tried it managing VAT for half a dozen rates and countries as they're proposing? And there's VIES as well. I know many people who have deliberately kept their businesses under the VAT threshold and I don't blame them, even though it costs jobs. I know other people who have stayed in the black economy because of it. And that's with a system vastly less complicated than the one now proposed. VAT is a cobbled together piece of nonsense as a tax as it is. It's one great big reason fro being employed by somebody else.

[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1420226269' post='2646978'] If anything was ever calculated to make me NOT sell from my individual on-line site, this hits the spot. It's a gift to Amazon, Bandcamp, EBay et al, who are now going to have a mass of sellers effectively forced to use their already overpriced services....... [/quote] +1000 The EU is all about big business. It's no solution for people to say sell through Amazon if Amazon is the predator you're trying to get away from by selling on your own site.

[quote name='BassTool' timestamp='1421424398' post='2661074'] Haha I'm gona need it!! What have I let myself in for?! I'm impressed with the bass for the money, and this one is in mint condition for a used model, but it's much more difficult than I ever imagined Right hand is not too bad as I have swotted up online for advice, but that neck depth and left hand finger spread required has totally surprised me - not quite 'just a big fretless' as a non bassplayer once described EUB! [size=4]A lot of practise coming up [/size] [size=4] [/size] [/quote] The left hand really isn't solved by stretching. You'll be supporting your little finger with your third finger, rather than using either independently. The choice then is either to make lots of arm movements up and down the board (Simandl) or pivot on your thumb (Rabbath) to cover an extra note. Either way, it's not one finger per fret, although the Rabbath method let's you cover notes as if it is. As a relative beginner, i'd say that getting the left hand technique sorted at the very beginning is the key to future happiness.

I hate working out complex parts by ear. I never thought i'd be able to say it, but the dots are becoming my friends (slowly).

There's so much free stuff on the internet that you might not need books at all. Especially for theory, and that's where the really big payoff is imo. Honest, get a free sequencer for your PC and start making harmonies. You'll love it and you'll learn buckets. And you don't get blisters.

And something that's so important (and obvious) that i failed completely to take it into account until recently in my own practice. When you're learning a motor skill, your brain is doing a bit of rewiring, growing new connections. You know the old thing about London taxi drivers having a bulge in their brains where all the maps go? Well, music is the same. Unfortunately, this growing is not the same process as rational 'learning.' It's development, and that happens more like growing a plant than building a shed. There is no point shouting at a plant to grow faster. With this in mind, i'm no longer surprised when I can suddenly play something flawlessly that I couldn't do last time I tried. Practice and repetition shoves on the manure and the brain-plant grows a bit more. Even in the dark.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1420556244' post='2650585'] Any album with Oscar Peterson (piano) and Ray Brown (bass). Sublime. [/quote] Oh yes! And the Ray Brown Trio too.

Grab a sequencer for your PC and create tunes to try out your knowledge of chords etc. No need to get a keyboard at first. The advantage of this method is that you listen rather than play, you get to know the (virtual) keyboard (even if you're only placing notes on a timeline) and you get to test out what you read about. Worked for me.

Just remembered 'Black boys on the corner.' supposed to have been the original A side instead of Whiskey in the jar. The biz! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEEi8KIyCE

Demigod Mick karn proves fretless is as funky as you like to make it. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flHWJoDt3Yo&list=RDfuiRBLa7pdA&index=10"]https://www.youtube....La7pdA&index=10[/url] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHH-D6y_O5Y&index=20&list=RDfuiRBLa7pdA Sorry, can't remember how to embed.

When i was a kid, my Mum took me to see one their earliest gigs one lunchtime somewhere (the peacock theatre i think, but could be wrong). I never got over the coolness of that man. Before he polished up his performance his long legs used to knock over the mic stands when prowled across the stage. And a nod to Skid Row as well, where it all started. What a loss. A poet, really.

Another excellent one. Thanks a million, Geoff!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1419432797' post='2639914'] Originally, the stave was 11 lines, complete. Perhaps you could try to add, by hand, the extra middle C and treble lines above the first bar of your score..? This would serve as a visual reminder that you're reading, really, from a complete, 11-line stave, but only see the bass part. If one has treble stuff to do, add the extra middle C and bass lines below the first bar, too, as a visual clue. There is no fundamental difference between the staves; it's only for convenience (not having blank lines everywhere...) that we've become used to splitting the two. Try it and see how it works for you..? [/quote] OK, an update on this. This tip really has made the whole thing click for me. I'd bought a pricey book on thumb position playing and abandoned it cos it was in treble clef. Back at it again now. Cheers.

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1419434998' post='2639944'] Silly money actually :-/ They've gone up a lot since I first looked a while back. Seems they've caught on then! [url="http://www.davidgage.com/store/index.php?cPath=26"]http://www.davidgage...ex.php?cPath=26[/url] [/quote] Can't see theprice for the case, but I imagine that'll be steep too. Lovely basses though. They don't have the awkward look of a lot of alternatives. Now all I need is an international touring career. Still, I comfort myself that the upside is that in theory I could drive a Maserati without worrying about where to put the bass. I did say in theory

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1419432797' post='2639914'] Originally, the stave was 11 lines, complete. Perhaps you could try to add, by hand, the extra middle C and treble lines above the first bar of your score..? This would serve as a visual reminder that you're reading, really, from a complete, 11-line stave, but only see the bass part. If one has treble stuff to do, add the extra middle C and bass lines below the first bar, too, as a visual clue. There is no fundamental difference between the staves; it's only for convenience (not having blank lines everywhere...) that we've become used to splitting the two. Try it and see how it works for you..? [/quote] I'm going to try this. I think it might suit my easily befuddled brain. Thanks

if you have long drives to gigs and you want comfort as well as plenty room for db, cabs, pasenger etc, the best value on wheels atm is the Ford Cougar 2.5. hatchback. Well under £2k for a low mileage one from 2000-2002. Dunno what road tax is like your way, but i pay over £1000 tax here and it's still an absolute bargain. Cheap ford spares (and plenty second hand too). 36mpg on a run. 170 bhp. Front wheel drive. The X pack version has leather, a/c and all the comforts. Back seats fold down to give a cavernous space, for a coupe. Unvelieveable what you get for your money. Makes a lot of sense if you value build quality and ultra-low purchase price over tax etc.

Good on you for determination. I knwo you're talking mostly about right hand, but for the left maybe think about adopting double bass Simandl type technique? Takes all the strain off the fingers. As for the right hand, everything is legit imo, including hitting the thing with kitchen implements.

Lovely! Don't know how you can bear to be away for a whole week. Can't you send a body double or something?

Well done! You'll love it so much your other half will sulk

Just watched part1 - terrific Geoff, thanks. Answered some questions I've had really well.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1418472907' post='2630458'] I want me one o' they pork pies... [/quote] There ya go [url="http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/pork-pie-hats-c_porkpie_hats/?cid=MNLAD7PCQ133E6YFHJZTGPQEZ3KS5IFU"]http://www.hatsandca...JZTGPQEZ3KS5IFU[/url] Very cool, Buzzy. Has to be done.

Hi Paddy, a belated welcome. A few here from Ireland, though not too many Dubs, I think. Not too many soloists either. Looking forward to getting a listen to your stuff.

Welcome! True, this is a friendly amazing place if you're trying to get back into playing. Lots of us came back to bass after a long gap doing stuff other people insist is real life. Cheaper than therapy.

[quote name='Hector' timestamp='1417707784' post='2623298'] There's also the fact that getting more meat on the string when you pizz can help to pull a bigger sound with a stronger fundamental. [/quote] Intuitively i feel this is what's going on. And by 'dig in' I don;t mean anything deliberate, more that the one finger with as much string contact as possible seems to naturally lead to the string being displaced more. And as I said, it seems to suit my bass. - not saying it will suit everybody. It doesn't matter how good or careful my two finger technique is, I hear that with one full-meat finger the sound is waay superior. But maybe that's just me.

[quote name='Hector' timestamp='1417691310' post='2623038'] I read a really interesting interview with the late great Dennis Irwin, where he spoke about being told not to use two fingers when walking by Betty Carter: [size=4][i][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Playing tempos and plucking the string with the index finger when walking. One night after a gig at Ronnie Scott's (in London) she says. "Listen, babe, it's getting' uneven." She played on her arm with her single digit. She said to look at these old pictures of Ray Brown, Pettiford, Mingus, even their solo stuff. Paul Chambers and LaFaro were the first cats to (solo or play with two fingers). "[/font][/i][/size] [/quote] This is interesting. I've always found my bass (cheapish hybrid) to give a way better tone one-fingered. Partly the meat and partly the tendency to dig in more one-fingered. I raised my endpin a bit to try and get a better arco height and noticed my pizz tone was worse. I think when the bass was low, I used more finger. Gotta say the principle of sounding better while doing less greatly appeals. Now if I could get the left hand down to one finger...