Tait

[quote name='cytania' post='327296' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:00 AM']Yep, all that talk of sustain and clarity... bogus, what it's really about is that moment when you're at home had a nice warm bath, drying off with a towel round your waist and you pick of the bass for a tiny bit of practice... Ye Gods that bolt-on plate is cold! And poly finishes are pretty icy too. Neck-thru instruments were clearly developed with the naked player in mind. A square of cold metal to the abdomen kills the whole warm and fuzzy vibe (man)...[/quote] you talking from experience here?

when we all talk about how good it was, are we talking strictly from a bass players point of view? i was talking from the point of view of a guitarist/bassist in my last post. still very disappointing.

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='327691' date='Nov 12 2008, 03:44 PM']the ibanez is alot of bass for the money, i have the 500 which has slightly better wood/electrics. but i would imagine the stuff in the 300 to be not far off. from mine i can get a fairly convincing P tone and jazz, plus alot of others too so the EQ is very versatile. but then if you want a jazz go for something like the squire or look at second hand as like has been said you'll get more bass for your money.[/quote] +1 the SR range is absolutely excellent. whoever said about the ATKs, + another 1. i don't think ive ever played an ibanez i don't like actually. EDIT: just realised i don't like ibanez guitars, but i meant basses.

[quote name='ezbass' post='326534' date='Nov 11 2008, 09:48 AM']There was still the odd stand with demoers going slappity, poppity, all treble, little bass and no mids. All in all very disappointing and by far the worst Music Live I've been too[/quote] +1 to everything you said, but these two statements were sadly very true. i hate the slappers that do demos, it all sounds a mess and doesnt impress me at all, no groove or anything, just a tone that means you cant hear the notes and a speed which also means you cant hear the notes.

anything trios with a singer/guitarist should really do the trick. something like greenday or blink 182?

i was quite good at bass when i started lessons, because it taught myself at first. but my guitar teacher has a beginner have his lesson before me and i always sit on the end of the lesson, and he always ends the lesson by asking firstly "name the strings from top to bottom" (so EBGDAE) then to do it the other way around. then he asks sort of fret 3 A string? and just asks a load of frets on different strings. then he asks them to play different notes, he doesnt usually mind what position they play them in as long as its the right note. i'd begin by teaching them to read tab. teach them about root notes, and how to construct a simple bassline using roots, fifths and octaves. take a guitar to the lesson, then play some chords and get them to write a bassline. ask what music they like, base the music you ask them to write basslines for around that. read up on the bass players of their favourite bands - this will get you far. you'll know the style of basslines you want to teach them to begin with (progress to different styles later, but its more important to be able to play music you like IMO so you can set up a band to get experience and so you enjoy it), and what sort of technique they should be using (pick, fingers, slap etc.) - obvioulsy you should teach them all these techniques eventually, but to begin with teach them what they need to play their favourite style of music. this is all coming from someone who has never taught a bass lesson before, so i wouldnt rely on my reply too much, but this is the kind of stuff i'd plan for a beginner. IMO the most important thing is that both you and the student enjoy it. one lesson i really enjoyed (although is probably better for a more advanced player) with my old bass teacher was when he took a song i was only vaguely familiar with and not the sort of music i'd normally play (message in the bottle - the police, if anyone cares), and told me to rewrite the bassline. not necessarily make it better, but just rewrite it. he played the song through once, so i could get familiar with the bassline sting put down, but wouldnt let me work out stings bassline because that ruins the fun. he just showed me what the guitar was playing, told me the chords and then played it on guitar. it was a brilliant lesson. another thing im doing in lessons now is recording an entirely bass song (except a MIDI drum track). my bass teacher has written down a chord progression that doesn't follow a specific key, just random, fairly complex chords. then he's written random timings next to each chord. i've already recorded the chords (which i had to work out) on bass. now im working on what is IMO the hardest part, the actual bassline. this is difficult because of the different timings and chords that don't work together, yet it has to be a smooth bassline that all fits together well, and follow a similar groove, even though each bar has a different timing. finally im going to record a melody played up high over it. its good fun, but one of the most difficult things ive ever done on bass. i'll have to put up my finished recording when its done. obviously, this isnt suitable for beginners, but its great for a more advanced player who is willing to put a lot of time and effort into their lessons. as i've said, this is coming from a guy who has never taught bass! the only experience i've had is having had 4 bass teachers and 5 guitar teachers in my 4 years playing bass and 7 playing guitar. i get through em fast, don't i?

ahhh fair enough. i think itd be easier to get a 22 fret neck, it shouldnt be much more expensive than what you could sell you 20 fret neck for.

why put a 20 fret neck on a bass that already has 22 frets? what does this achieve?

[quote name='Wayward-Wanderer' post='323101' date='Nov 5 2008, 11:47 PM']Nice, How are they for tone? Good taste yes, but an expensive taste no doubt with the way this project is going. o.o[/quote] both growl like hell! or you can get a nice thumpy tone out of the p pickup - it does both. i tend to play entirely on the p pickup with a pick, or entirely on the mm pickup with my fingers, no blending or anything. i havent even really tried out many sounds blended, cos i love the sounds i get at the moment too much, i cant imagine a better sound.

[quote name='Wayward-Wanderer' post='322323' date='Nov 4 2008, 11:54 PM']Pickups Seymour Duncan Bassline Quarter Pound single coil vintage pickup Seymour Duncan Bassline Musicman ceramic pickup[/quote] ooh nice, my taitycaster's got the same pickups in. and did you mention swamp ash earlier? same wood as my taitycaster. youve obviously got good taste my friend!

yeah, it was my old bass teacher. i agree its absolutely foul, and definatly not worth the money, but lets not insult him guys.

[quote name='martthebass' post='317907' date='Oct 29 2008, 08:22 PM']Well that's one way of knocking a few hundred quid of value off a perfectly decent bass........[/quote] he was trying to sell it for over a grand in a local shop a while ago

[quote name='nick' post='320395' date='Nov 2 2008, 07:34 PM']Another Wooten here I'm afraid @ 83% Never heard him before, gather he's a funkster.[/quote] look him up. even if you find that whole "one guy and his bass" thing boring (i do), first time i saw him i was in total awe.

i always liked les paul shaped basses, dont know why you dont see them more often. the outline is looking great, im looking forward to seeing this finished, you sure you dont wanna get it done for January? I can look after it till june if you like.

i think it looks great... i must have poor taste i suppose. would never get another thunderbird anyway.

this quiz sums me up well - 58% wooten - after all, i am arguably the best bass player alive 42% flea - hes one of my favourite bass players, and indeed a great influence on me 25% pete wentze - i used to play a precision with a pick 8% jaco - as i said, im arguably the best bassist ever, but the reason im so little jaco is cos i dont play fretless, jazz basses or "fusion jazz" or whatever it is jaco is supposed to have played. 0% john myung - of course i dont play like him, never even heard of him. nah, in all seriousness, it depends who im playing with. when in a band id say im most like ben osmundson or maybe bruce foxton cos i try to follow the roots and try to put in something a bit more fun, too.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='316795' date='Oct 28 2008, 03:54 PM']So, lets call this a 'Most Popular' poll rather than a 'Best' because, objectively, most of the players everyone here is raving about are pretty limited and, considering the full basket of skills, are likely to be found wanting.[/quote] i didnt realise this was a BEST poll. it says TOP TEN in the title. there is a difference - i voted for players who inspired me to be more creative, players who i have learnt things from and put things into my music from. i voted timmy c, as i said, because of his tone, and also the way he talks about finding that perfect tone in interviews. he inspired me to do my best to find my perfect tone, and i acknowledge that he isnt one of the best, but ive learnt from him and hes inspired me, so hes in my top three. same with ben osmundson of zebrahead. he's nowhere near the best player ever. but he taught me that just cos the guitarist is bashing away at power chords, doesnt mean you have to. he taught me about moving up and down scales to create an effective bassline (listen to anthem by zebrahead and how he uses the major scale). he plays what i think is, for that style of music, the perfect mix of exciting, fun, different basslines and simply holding the rhythm down whilst the guitarist does his thing. and i voted billy sheehan just because he left me in awe when i first heard him. hes one of the best, but not boring to listen to (i find listening to jaco and wooten and whoever really boring, a guy standing there playing bass by itself just isnt interesting, im afraid). so yeah, i dunno about everyone else, but i voted my top three and not the three best players cos thats what the question asked. EDIT: my apologies. it does say the best players, but it didnt on the thread that we voted in.

the answer to your lack of skills with electrics, maybe? [url="http://audereaudio.com/3ZB.htm"]link[/url] easy to install and you get to choose what controls you want and how you want them configured. ive never used one, so i dont know just how easy to install they are, or how good they sound, but ive seriously looked at gettiing one before. and my dad put a jazz one on his jazz and it sounded great.

nothing special about it, i just thought id do this guy a favour by posting it here cos anyone who searches flying v bass isnt gonna find it. hes posted it at epiphone flying vee base. nice looking bass, anyway. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EPIPHONE-GIBSON-FLYING-VEE-BASE-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ320314279904QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320314279904&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A16%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EPIPHONE-GIBSON-FLYI...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url]

oooh... depends on the bass really. i voted red because ive never seen a red bass i dont like the look of, but i have seen other colours i prefer on some things, but would look terrible on others.

my choices for the tie breakers would be - 05) Marcus Miller 06) Stuart Zender 07) Geddy Lee 08) Mark King 10) Jean-Jacques Burnell

[quote name='alexclaber' post='315793' date='Oct 27 2008, 01:32 PM']DIY 3-string: Alex[/quote] whats the point? he might as well keep the g string just in case. its not like it makes a difference to neck width or feel or anything.

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='315607' date='Oct 27 2008, 10:16 AM']Problem is that we live kinda scattered, and we never meet up unless we're practicing or gigging, and the guitarist is always busy working at a pub far away from the rest of us, so if I said let's meet up everyone would know something was afoot. Thanks for the suggestion, though.[/quote] in this case im gonna go for via email before next pratice. let them talk it over at next pratice, and it seems a waste of your time and theirs for you to show up to rehersal to tell them either at the start or after that you're leaving EDIT: morning before practice isnt great though. id go for ASAP.

yeah... but you have to play something that fits. perhaps we did try something imaginative, but who said it worked. i found in my last band (punky grungey stuff) that when i tried anything more than messing around with the major scale and the minor pentatonic scale it just didnt sound right. and tbh id rather sound like part of the band than a cocky show off who does whats best for himself by proving he CAN do slap or double thumbing or do stupidly complicated basslines, even if they sound awful with the rest of the band. just because you CAN do it doesnt mean you SHOULD. saying that, i do always try everything i can to find a bassline that fits with the song and is more fun than roots. the way i did it when my band wrote songs was to begin by following the guitar exactly, then as i become more comfortable with the song, put a ryhthm to it to give it feel, then slip some notes in. it used to take me weeks to come up with a bassline i was happy with. i would also often go to rehersal and play the same line as i played last week only to find myseld thinking - this is too much.

am i the only one who couldnt care less what everyone else is playing? i dont feel the need for an ERB, but then, im never gonna be able to do what the guys in these clips (the last one especially - thats absolutely brilliant) are doing. if you gave me a six string or more, i think id only ever use the five on a five string. just because i dont feel the need for one doesnt mean no one feels the need for one. tbh to me, theyre completely different instruments. provided you are keeping a bassline going (after all - you're playing the bass) i couldnt care how many strings you're playing on and what you play over it. besides... jaco only played four strings *ducks for cover*