Golchen

Well there's a rehearsal room I know of in Luton that my mate uses, a few miles in from M1 junction 10. I guess it's probably too far?? You not playing with Andy James these days?

Anyone with a better ear/eye than me know roughly what he's doing here technique wise? I can't make out how he's getting so much out of his right hand - I'm something of a newb with the whole slapping thing?

I don't know if this has shown up here before, but .............. Solo bass playing often seems to descend into un-melodic indulgence that is best saved for behind closed doors, but I just saw this video on YouTube and I thought that it was a beautifully rhythmic and melodic bit of solo bass playing: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy3V2Tl4g3s"]LINK HERE[/url] Nice stuff!

[quote name='Nate' post='328749' date='Nov 13 2008, 11:33 PM']That'd be me! Playing with that drummer was so much fun! Perhaps it made me overplay but self indulgence seemed to be the order of the weekend!! However - as I was playing on the stand alone, I did play quite a few slower tunes. I'm sick of hearing the same old s**t. Although this video doesn't quite show it, I'm working on changing my sound. I've been to a few shows recently and everyone sounds the same. Time for a change methinks. I'm also hoping that 2009 will be year of the groove so I don't always feel the need to play so many notes in order to impress the people coming round the stand. People only stay and watch if someone is tapping/slapping etc...!! I realise that was a rather sweeping statement and it doesn't apply to everyone but you get my point! I got to jam with Guthrie Govan on the sunday at Music Live. He's a monster!!!! I've been off this site for a while. Great to be back baby! Nate[/quote] Love the playing there Nate! I hate to admit it here, but I'm a 6 stringer at heart and Guthrie is my favourite guitarist - the guy is amazing!

OK so I bought a cheap fretless some time back. It's a harley Benton 5 stringer and lets just say that it's not an amazing instrument, although it is sufficient for my meagre fretless abilities! Here's the thing - the fretboard is a rather dry and uneventful surface. What can I do to make it feel nicer? My guess would be either some kind of wax or oil to make it less dry, or some kind of varnish, buffed up really well? What's the thing to do here oh great knowlegeable ones? I'm considering putting lines on it as well. A tricky little job but one that I think I'm up to!

I was a bit pissed off. Didn't get there. Despite having it earmarked on the household calendar months in advance, my bro decided to have his birthday get together that afternoon (but cancelled on the day due to sickness!) and also, the annual family firework bash was plonked on that day two weeks before, so I'd have had to travel 92 miles and leave after a couple of hours max! It's a total rip-off that they don't include parking in the extortionate fee, they should at the very least flag it up on the adverts that you also get mugged for that. I went to that other show in London in the summer (EXCEL building??) and it was superb. tons of live music including Guthrie Govan, Billy Sheehan, Yngwie Malmsteen. You could meet Yng, Billy and Satch if you could be bothered to queue. They had an international guitarist competition as well that was great. loads of gear to try, but the downside was that they were not allowed to sell anything on the day!?! I'm gonna stick to that show in the future.

Definitely natural with a nice hunk o wood. Has to be a dark one though, I really don't like light colour basses.

I tried the Willis fretless myself last week. Apart from the fact that it confirmed that the sun will burn out before I ever manage to get anything remotely acceptable out of a fretless, it looked great, felt really great to play, and I really liked the (ebanol?) fretboard. If ever I was going to get shot for not learning fretless, that is the bass I'd go for.

[quote name='Monz' post='325049' date='Nov 8 2008, 10:57 PM']Bernie told me at the S E Bassbash the absolute minimum was 3 months but even that was pushing it, I'm sure it's worth waiting for but waiting is not something I do well.[/quote] That's nothing! You have to wait over a year for a new Chapman stick!

I have an S2 classic headless, but I guess I'm too far away - Luton in Bedfordshire (approx 30 miles north of London). If you find yourself in my neck of the woods then you can give it a spin. Incidentally, I wouldn't say that the status had narrow string spacing!?!

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='322753' date='Nov 5 2008, 04:05 PM']What's an exceptable number for it to be worth a road trip?[/quote] One string more!

[quote name='thedonutman' post='322011' date='Nov 4 2008, 06:07 PM']Reverb (what used to be Sound Control) still stock them.[/quote] Well, according to the website they have one 4 string available! That's why I started the thread.

Thanx for the (speedy!) replies. I live in the UK's national cesspit, otherwise known as Luton, but I work in London NW9.

It's about 25 miles, but Coda music in Luton has basses - quite a lot of Warwicks.

now that Soundcontrol has gone pear-shaped, are there no Spector dealers? I'm wondering where I can try out some??

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='320665' date='Nov 3 2008, 08:33 AM']I go for the point of practicality & weight distribution. Headless is king![/quote] +1 on that. At no point in my life have I ever followed fashion/trends, whether it be haircuts, clothes, music listened to or anything else. This did often make me look a total tw*t, but at least I was a tw*t on my own terms! First time I ever saw a headless status I thought that it looked brilliant, even though I didn't play bass at the time. Took many many years before I actually got one. Curiously enough, I'm looking to get a headed bass now. I'll always love the look of headless basses though.

Apologies for the repost everyone! I haven't been that active around here recently and missed the other(s). Still, it's so bad that it deserves more than one thread!

Just saw this on eBay: Music Man Stingray 5 String Piezo, 2007 model Apparently it's a "custom paint job (some hate it some love it)" what that really means is some tw*t found a couple of cans of spray paint. The reserve is over £750, I'd be amazed if he sells it for that! I might have have considered it for about £300 - it looks a total car-wreck. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MusicMan-Stingray-5-String-3EQ-Piezo-Custom-Finish_W0QQitemZ250314973687QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250314973687&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]EBAY LINK HERE[/url]