LawrenceH

[quote name='lozbass' post='1160387' date='Mar 13 2011, 12:28 PM']Hahaha - me too: brilliant! Condescending, patronising and ironic in equal measure![/quote] And also correct!

[quote name='karlfer' post='1159758' date='Mar 12 2011, 07:44 PM']I don't like slap because of the actual tinny sound.[/quote] It doesn't have to be tinny. Larry Graham's tone is meaty as a hog-roast!

[quote name='ikay' post='1158008' date='Mar 11 2011, 01:19 PM']Heheh, six of one and half a dozen of t'other Slackening the strings has the same effect as a little backward nudge but does it without applying any force which I prefer. In the end I guess it's down to what you feel more comfortable doing.[/quote] It's a bloody great lump of solid wood and metal! Unless there's a defective glue or welding joint then it'd be damn hard to damage any correctly designed neck with even the most cavalier truss adjustments, with the exception of forcing it when the rod is seized or beyond its range.

I'm with Pete, slagging off an entire technique is ridiculous - slap bass <b>in the right context</b> is effing awesome. For me that context is Old School Funk. I can't really see the point of it in metal or punk, where it adds nothing rhythmically, but then I can't really see the point in metal or punk full stop I was just listening to Pleasure earlier, that man Nate Phillips grooves! A whole hall of people slapping without context would do my head in though. Mind you, any room of people playing disparate unmusical parts loudly on any instrument would have that effect, the only saving grace of them all playing trad walking bass lines would be that you could talk over it still.

[quote name='muttley' post='1159364' date='Mar 12 2011, 02:54 PM']Looked at a few basses this morning. Was really taken by the [url="http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-SR300"]Ibanez SR300[/url] but it maxes my budget so I'll have to see if they'll do a deal. What's the overall opinion of this bass? Reviews seem good. Slightly cheaper Ibanez GSR200 also very nice but the more expensive bass is certainly worth the small extra. Tried a Squire VM Jazz - did little for me. Nice neck, but heavier and the 70s styling puts me off (sorry, I remember it first time round). Anyway, I saw my soon-to-be teacher later and he said he wants to start me on fretless and will loan me a bass. Still, that gives me more time to look around.[/quote] The quality control isn't consistent enough on the Fender VMs to be worth recommending IMO unless you can try a few with an experienced teacher to pick a good one. The Ibanez are very easy to play and goodconsistent basses, but I find them a little dark-sounding compared to the Fenders. Alongside the Ibanez try out a couple of Yamahas from both the RBX and the BB range - they're similar in feel but may offer more tonal flexibility.

But there is also compliance/elasticity, which is different and can in theory be affected by other factors like string length including that beyond nut/bridge, and the break angle and friction at those points.

It's just theatre, that may well also involve musical skill and appreciation to execute. Nowt wrong with that. There's little point making direct comparison with originals bands really, it's catering to a different market that just happens to overlap wrt venues etc. More generally originals bands have to compete with music from the past but that just means the onus is on them to write damn good material that offers something the old stuff doesn't while being accessible! When I was involved in booking acts for student summer balls, we'd normally go for mostly originals acts, some jazz and one tribute - it seemed to offer something for the broadest section of the punters. It wasn't really about an originals act losing a slot to a tribute any more than an originals band losing out to, say, a cinema. What I will say is that when the originals acts were very good they got everybody up and dancing, regardless of preconceived ideas about what they wanted - Dennis Rollins and band were particularly notable (despite few people having heard of him beforehand), and he's touring with Maceo Parker now I see! Nice On the other hand some more famous acts were a real disappointment.

[quote name='Randy_Marsh' post='1155189' date='Mar 9 2011, 12:40 PM']Yes[/quote] That's me told then. I thought it was a pretty good video

I'm not a fan of the 'core' TC amp tone for funk, to my ears there's a low mid emphasis which suits heavier rock/punk stuff and it lacks funky bark. But it's probably sortable with the EQ, I've not played with one properly to test just heard others. Markbass though, fat and funky right out of the box! So I'd get that, or the super-clear Hartke if you can be bothered with all that weight.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1154363' date='Mar 8 2011, 07:44 PM']But it's awesome.[/quote] Is it?

Just to be different, I think necks contribute quite a lot to tone beyond just the fretboard wood- fret size/shape seems to make a fair old difference in particular. The modern, broader frets seem to have more inherent growling metallic buzz than the tiny steep vintage-style ones where the contact point with the string is smaller, and the way this responds to touch is totally different. I think I prefer the sound of the medium jumbos although both have their place. I like the feel of the vintages though. Having said that, the 'vintage' profile of my Jap 75RI is totally different to the 'vintage' profile of my MIM Classic 70s! The latter is far more inherently clanky and metallic, I have to dig in a lot harder on the Jap to get a similar effect. I'd suppose the mighty mite will be medium jumbo unless you specify otherwise, but what kind of 'vintage' you get on the CVs I can't remember. *edited to point out that no amount of setup adjustment has allowed me to replicate the differences between these basses in this respect.

My feeling is that if you really know a tone well, then the bass absolutely has to have the right pickup in the right spot to nail it for you. 'Ballpark' can be achieved with most 2-pup basses (my jazz does a fairly passable 'ray impression if I roll off the tone, solo the back pickup and play in the right place). From what you say, the jazz tone is the one to sacrifice as the 'p' and to a lesser extent 'ray have to be right. Is the MM pickup position compatible with the P position? If so, I'd say get a roadworn/classic P routed for a MM pickup with switchable pre. If not, you have a problem and have to sacrifice one or the other.

[quote name='umph' post='1149367' date='Mar 4 2011, 12:12 PM']you can blow speakers with pops? speakers can handle thousands of watts for a fraction of a second without going poof. If the speaker was going to go it would've gone while they were playing it.[/quote] You'd never blow a woofer like that, but I think you can wipe out a compression driver - pretty sure I've seen/heard that happen with PA cabs

[quote name='Doddy' post='1149724' date='Mar 4 2011, 05:58 PM']For those of you that care,everything I know was learned by either doing it on a gig or by sucking on a gig and realising that I need to learn more if I want to get rehired.[/quote] That's exactly it though - you learn with your ears, and that's what tells you you suck! Theory involving notation and chord/key names is a great shortcut to helping make sense of what you're hearing, narrowing down the options. I just think that for some people that kind of academic approach becomes a real barrier to participation in something where they could actually engage with it on terms that don't require that degree of abstraction. I think my perspective is informed by my wife's experience as an anthropologist dealing with very different cultures to ours. My 'proper' job is as a research scientist and so I'm very used to the type of logical abstraction involved in academia and general theory. But we forget that this is a particular, culturally-informed system and there are alternatives which are effective although they articulate the issues very differently at first glance. Perfect pitch is an interesting extreme example of where the brain itself approaches a problem in a completely different way (why don't we all have this ability? Probably because it confers serious disadvantages compared to one prioritising relative pattern spotting). Neurologically speaking if you actually analyse the process of learning itself it's clear that different approaches to what is ostensibly the same complex problem require different mental strengths. It makes sense for an individual to play to theirs, and also that some people's approaches will appear completely incomprehensible to certain others. As a final point you do seem to place a lot of importance on reading chord charts. Obviously, that's crucial for what you do and is fair enough, but would be of little use if those around you are employing a different system, which is fairly common when talking globally. You talk about thinking in shapes rather than notes, whereas as an analytical system I'd say it can be entirely equivalent knowing the sound of a note as a position in a shape or as a name within a scale. The difference in the two systems is that one involves a visual and the other a linguistic semiosis, the only important things are whether you have a firm grasp of the link between sound and its representation in whatever system is being employed, and to a lesser extent which system those around you are employing. For instance, I have to rely entirely on my ear or visual cues whenever I play with anyone who uses tab!

[quote name='Doddy' post='1149115' date='Mar 4 2011, 12:22 AM']It was Me and Bilbo that made the comments about it being unconscious. What I said wasn't arrogant at all. If you have an understanding of what you are doing you are more likely to eliminate the pure trial and error than a player that doesn't.[/quote] It's extremely disingenuous to suggest that a player who doesn't have formal theoretical training lacks understanding of what they're doing. I don't think anyone's denying that musical theory can be and often is very useful but you do have to remember not everyone learns the same way. For some people forcing them to translate between the music they hear and the spoken word is just off-putting and unnatural. From a selfish point of view I'd love it if formal academic faculty equated to talent in all spheres, but like it or not, it doesn't. Think about sports with a tactical element. Plenty of players with great tactical acumen and 'vision' sound frankly less than smart when you hear them speak about their sport. Likewise I don't need training in calculus to cross a busy road or intercept a moving ball, despite the fact my brain is dealing with complex rates of change calculations. It sounds silly but the point I'm trying to make is that understanding is one thing, but articulating it requires a separate skill set based around linguistic or mathematical ability to analogise. The idea that 'those who can, do and those who can't, teach' is very trite and unfair and music is a subject where teaching is far more integrated than most - but I think it's fair to say teachnig (ie analysis and re-articulation) is a very different skill to doing. A decent 'natural' (ie non-thoery) musician is absolutely fine at analysis but just doesn't bother with the re-articulation. These people are rare but by the same token it's rare to find the absolute best theorists among the top rank of performers.

The pickup placement isn't 70s. The neck clearly isn't 70s. The Corona plate very very clearly isn't 70s. I feel sorry for the bidder there, they've been conned.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-/250782490823?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a63cd20c7"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAZZ-BASS-/25...=item3a63cd20c7[/url] To be fair it's possible the strat-style knobs are genuine late 70s...but that's about it

[quote name='icastle' post='1147794' date='Mar 2 2011, 10:30 PM']As musicians we communicate through music. Someone who cannot grasp the what the name of the chord they are playing is called is destined to be a solo artist.[/quote] The language of music is the music though, not the names we ascribe to aspects of it. I find music theory really interesting but someone can be such a complete ear player that while they're fluent in the language of music, they're unable to speak in English/(Italian) about what they're doing. That's only a problem when the direct communication through the music fails. It's interesting to remember that most of the rules which define something like formal harmony or, say, sonata form (or bebop for that matter) were defined after lots of the music that exemplifies it was written/recorded. I don't like it when people are anti-theory but at the same time I do respect people who obviously have an aural understanding of what they're doing even if they can't put it into words. Just a bit annoying when my ears can't keep up with them or if I think their ears are letting them down and there's no handy way of explaining it to them!

Have a look at [topic="121455"]this thread[/topic] and the included links for info on stripping, among other things, a classic series. Ash does have a stronger, coarser grain than alder but I think alder can look perfectly fine with a natural finish, I quite like the colour when varnished especially once it's aged! The pattern under the sunburst will tell you what the grain pattern's like. Btw it's much easier doing a decent natural finish than the solid colour I went for!

[quote name='hhoward' post='1144111' date='Feb 28 2011, 03:25 AM']but if anyone out they has Sennheiser HP280 pro's and and Alesis M1 MkII's for sale PLEASE let me know, maybe then i can get both[/quote] I'd suggest you have a look at these articles: [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/mixingheadphones.htm"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/arti...gheadphones.htm[/url] [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/articles/studioheadphones.htm"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/arti...oheadphones.htm[/url] [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun02/articles/sennheiserhd600.asp"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun02/arti...heiserhd600.asp[/url] Note what they say about open/semi-open v closed back - although the HD280s are rated highly as 'best budget closed-back' they may not be as good a choice as an equivalent-priced Sennheiser open-back design for studio-based mixing. Unfortunately they don't have any budget open-backed models in the test, I've included the link to the HD600 and I think there's also an updated 650 version, but these may be a bit expensive - maybe check out the 595s/598s? These last two I haven't heard personally but I'd expect them to be more natural than the 280s. Btw the other nice thing about open-backed headphones compared to closed that I've found, is that they tend to be comfier when worn for long periods.

Oh yes, and I can hear more detail in a mix on the Sennheiser HD280s than on the Alesis M1s, but I wouldn't trust the bass end mixed on either!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1143185' date='Feb 27 2011, 12:05 PM']Yes but so do speakers.[/quote] Yes, this is the point - ALL cheap stuff sounds very obviously different because it all colours the sound in different ways as each manufacturer chooses a different set of compromises. As you start to get more expensive, the sounds start to converge as the colourations become less noticeable and they get closer to 'flat clean' response. The key difference between headphones and speakers is that the price-point at which you start to notice this convergence is a lot lower for the 'phones than the speakers! FWIW I have the Alesis M1 MkIIs, and I also chose them over a lot of other reference monitors after auditioning them as Dannybuoy did. They were sonically closest in character to the £600 Genelecs, and fairly detailed sound. However they have a more smeared bass end than the Genelecs and the Genelecs are even more detailed. The Genelecs weren't even the best speakers there. If you spend £150 on well-chosen headphones you will get a 'truer' representation of the music than similarly priced monitors, other than the stereo imaging (but that to me is not such an issue since at least half the time people are listening on headphones anyway these days). Open or closed back headphones: the open let the sound out both sides, the closed have a sealed cup around the ear. The open 'phones give a clearer, less distorted bass response and are what I'd choose to mix on except in situations where you absolutely have to block out external noise or prevent too much sound leaking out of the 'phones'. This is why people use things like the HD25s, they're good all-round mix headphones for live use as they block out a decent amount of the outside sound and have a fairly detailed midrange. But they're not as good for the studio as a decent open design. Whatever you use to mix on, you have to get used to how it sounds and how the mixes translate to other systems - use commercial tracks that you know well as a reference.

[quote name='Paul S' post='1140990' date='Feb 25 2011, 11:21 AM']Thanks for that Lawrence - it doesn't surprise me that the P-Lyte isn't much of an improvement - if at all. I am certainly enjoying the Bass Collection a lot. Just out of curiosity what did you do to upgrade the electrics? Mine is (I think) the B-310, so not the high end of the spectrum.[/quote] I didn't, I bought a 330 which has the soapbars and an active/passive switch and just run it passive! But if I was going to upgrade the 310 I'd go for EMGs and make it growl!

Pickups and it will sound like a whole new bass. Then a fret dress and it'll feel like one too!

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1142871' date='Feb 26 2011, 10:46 PM']Mae sure and use really good masking tape.Tamiya gets my vote.[/quote] Yup. Also, depending on the feasibility with a particular design spray the colour you want as a background first once the tape's in place, then the top colour. The first colour plugs the gaps and helps keep the edge lines clean.