Maverick

In my metal band we're tuned down a step and a half, so C# standard. My other band we tune a half step down for the singer's benefit, so D# standard, and one song there we drop tune, so end up in drop C#. I do this all on the one bass and it's manageable with 45-105's, although I would prefer a bass specifically set up for each band really.

Well, simple greed is one obvious factor, and the basic essence of ebay (imho) is pitting the greed of the buyers for a bargain against the greed of sellers who want to make a decent wedge. I often also get the sense that a lot of sellers don't actually want to sell what they've listed, and intentionally price high, so that if it doesn't sell they can always say they tried (possibly to the O/H who's trying to force them to sell), or if it does sell they know they've got a silly price for it and they can at least console themselves with that fact.

Basically, everything's subjective.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='730543' date='Jan 31 2010, 01:15 PM']Sorry to hear life is temporarily sh*te. Learning songs can be very rewarding, but how about taking a short break and working some stuff of your own? Maybe invest in an accompaniment app like Band-in-a-box. Key in some chord progressions (it's very easy and very flexible) and set to work on a blank canvas.[/quote] [quote name='MIJ-VI' post='731674' date='Feb 1 2010, 01:25 PM']+1 Improvising-->composing-->arranging-->producing-->a larger perspective on the bass' role in music.[/quote] Another +1 here. If you've got emotion to let out, improv/writing is a better way to do so than just a few covers IMO, certainly is that way for me. It needn't be for any specific band or project or anything, just something for yourself.

Sorry, I have nothing useful to contribute other than to say I giggled at your thread title as it implies that a slap tone can't be a good tone. I'm sure many would agree!

On a similar note, I'm fairly sure I saw this second hand Marcus Miller listed around £700 earlier this week, which I thought was rather optimistic itself, but now, well see for yourself: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marcus-miller-jazz-bass_W0QQitemZ230429899216QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item35a6b139d0"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marcus-miller-jazz-b...=item35a6b139d0[/url] Nothing to do wth 'Big Jon' though afaik, whoever the hell he is? [b]EDIT: I've just read the listing properly and it's cos he's actually already sold the bass, which somewhat astounds me anyway![/b]

[quote name='SS73' post='728178' date='Jan 28 2010, 10:17 PM']Looks good, and IMO much better looking than black. Wonder if the other Jazz was a US one or still a CIJ.[/quote] Could it possibly also be MIM? You'd think it'd be a fairly important detail to include, as it would affect the price quite a bit I'd have thought. Also, just to add the Geddy Lee now also comes in Sunburst now whereas he says they only come in black, although it's about £150 premium for the sunburst IIRC.

Bought an EBS Microbass 2 & Fulltone Bass Drive from Smash - good comms, very prompt, well packaged & 2 great items - pleasure to deal with

I had the LoMenzo Hyperdrive and the Dual Band Compressor on my pedalboard, both of them carked it a while ago whilst everything else (at least as old or older) is still going strong. They both pretty much went at the same time . The Hyperdrive was pretty good to be fair, but I never got the hang of the compressor, although reviews suggest it's also pretty good for the price. One big downside for me though was the size of the bloody things, if they could have made them a bit smaller in either direction I'd have been happier, but having two of them made it a pain to fit other stuff around them, and it's possible the crampedness may have contributed to their demise.

I'd just go with dropping the E string to D for the song, probably the easiest solution. Does the guitarist not have to re-tune? If he does then I can almost guarantee that you won't be the one they end up waiting for.

I've never tried it, but here's an explanation vid, try not to end up like the guy at the end though.....

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='698799' date='Jan 2 2010, 04:21 PM']Well, it's 2010 and time for basschat's [b][u]first[/u][/b] planned bash of the year. So far:[/quote] Yorkshire?

[u][b]Underrated:[/b][/u] Caleb Schofield (Cave In) Not a particularly well known band but I like them, and in particular Caleb's bass playing, he really carries the songs. Does well to be so prominent alongside what is often a big twin guitar attack. Some good vocals too. [u][b]Overrated:[/b][/u] Flea Just doesn't do it for me

For my 'main' band, our guitarist writes our songs, and is a competent bassist, so often has 'suggestions' for me to try, but as time has gone on I've got more confident about saying no and doing my own thing, but he generally prefers I keep things fairly simple and most of the time I'm fairly happy to do so. I was the band's second bassist, but I got quite a bit of freedom with the old songs when I joined, ironically more than I sometimes get now actually! My other band is a metal band and I get quite a lot of freedom there. Guitarist writes the riffs and I usually go along with them, but if he goes too fast or I fancy doing something else I generally just go for it and most of the time it works, I've got a couple of cool basslines that kind of go across the riff.

At Alice in Chains last month, I forgot my earplugs (£20 Elacin jobs) so put in my headphone (£20 Klipsch noise blocking jobs) instead, I'd guess they were just only slightly less effective than my earplugs would have been at simply blocking noise, although the frequency response was different. I'd have had no problem listening to my iPod had I wanted to, for example. I was tempted during the supports! You can get custom molded earplugs with in ear monitor attachments, but they're bloody expensive. [url="http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=27&osCsid=a67f1dc18494465602f71d72b1dbdc5f"]http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/shop/index.ph...2f71d72b1dbdc5f[/url]

As usual with these kinds of arguments, I think the truth is neither black nor white. Theory is not useless, and when applied properly it shouldn't restrict creativity. However, nor is it the be all or end all of music. 'Theory', in music as in any other many other contexts, is not a set of hard and fast rules that must always be obeyed. It is, instead, a model of the way music works. It is a means to and end, a tool to expedite the creation and performance of music. It is not infallible - sometimes a musician's experience, judgement and (non-theoretical) knowledge will come up with something better than pure theory would suggest. It's striking this balance that is important. Relying purely on one or the other will rarely produce good results.

EDIT: what the hell? I'm in the wrong thread . I did watch these vids last night though, great stuff!

I dont really see the problem, as long as they're clearly labelled as feelers, then everyone should be clear where they stand.

Rob's a very talented bassist but if you're talking about solid groove then I thought Newsted was better for that, but he's a much more 'no frills' bassist than Rob. I'd also say that in metal, a poor bassist is much easier for the rest of the band to 'carry' than many other kinds of music, unless the bassist is really trying to be up the front, like Steve Harris or Billy Sheehan or something like that. I often think that for a lot of metal bands there's not really much point them even having a bassist, as the bass is often so inaudible and anonymous. BUT: a good metal band with a good bassist is a joy to behold.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='698317' date='Jan 1 2010, 07:56 PM']If you think that's unusual, the last piece of footage of Deicide I saw clearly showed Glenn Benton playing a black Rickenbacker...[/quote] He has done for years hasn't he? [quote name='neilb' post='698311' date='Jan 1 2010, 07:49 PM']Er...its a Precision mate. No surprise, Steve Harris likes em.......so do I.[/quote] With J p/ups though. Does that make it a Prezz or a Jacision?