BottomE

Not a bad year. Not the best. 2010 was the best for us with over 80 gigs. This year looks like we'll have done 67 gigs. More are coming in and the phones still ringing. Whats helped is a change of material letting us compete for better paid gigs.

Great bass tone in the original recording.

I own what was once called a "super-jazz". Its a bass that was made by Hamer in the early nineties called a Cruise bass. Why did i buy it? I got fed up buying shoddy Fenders. Don't get me wrong i still own Fenders but i wanted something with a boutique feel and also to be a little different. The build quality is way above anything i have seen from Fender. So to answer the OP i think that the Jazz bass is a fantastic design but the build quality is often suspect. This is why other manufacturers have been able to plug a gap in the Fender market.

Can i be controversial? I tried the MarkBass cabs but ended up using TC Electronics because i found i got a bigger but tighter sound using a TC 2 X10 and 2 x 12 as compared to 2 MarkBass 2 x 10 cabs. It could have been the room or other factors but i haven't been dissapointed. Funny enough i did a gig recently where the backline was an LM II and 4 x 10 MarkBass cab and found the same thing applied. It was brilliant at mid range stuff but didn't seem as full or transparent as the TC stuff. As with all things sound though it is subjective.

+1 for the line 6 LowDown range if its for home use. I got the 150 watt version for £79 off of Ebay - used it for a year for practise and sold it on for £140! This would give you enough money to buy a decent bass. Squire Affinity are actually pretty good if you are prepared to upgrade the pickups. Others will say try them at your local store but if its as good as mine you won't get a huge selection. That said you seem to be sure about what you want as a bass. There are some other alternatives though and looking on the For Sale topic on this site might be a good idea. Only buy if the seller has got decent feedback. Good luck taking up the bass.

Got me thinking that i haven't seen anyone using an ampeg backline for a while now. Shame. About 15 years ago i had a bomb proof Ampeg flip top thingy on castors which i used to push to gigs if less than a mile from home (lived in the middle of town in those days). I would even show off and ride it down hills! What was i thinking.

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319571096' post='1416018'] Jaco, Marcus Miller, Flea, Victor Wooten, Bernard Edwards, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Bootsy, Burnel, Louis Johnson, Stanley Clarke, etc... I think that, over the decades, every sound has been done. But saying that, you often recognise a sound by its player [/quote] But wouldn't Jaco still be recognisable if he was playing Geddy Lees bass? It might be a the technique that you recognise?

Clarky did the business for me on a beautiful set of Lollar Jazz PuPs. Great comms - very easy going and agreeable. Wheres the catch? There ain't one. Feel free to deal with Clarky as he is a gentleman. BottomE

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1319535855' post='1415215'] To quote my other post in this thread "people looking to theory for a definitive guide as to what to play, and what not to play, are looking on the wrong place". As others have also intimated, scales are an "outcome". A song is a group of chords, a chord is a group of notes relative to each other and the root key. Quite often the sum total of those notes happen to fall into a pattern we call a scale, treat that as a happy accident not as your sole vehicle for note selection. [/quote] I wasn't looking for theory to be able to supply a definitive what and what not to play. Far from it. I was looking for some specific guidance for a particular element of playing - Jazz improv so that i can practise productively. As a latecomer to theory, as with all things in life, i have realised that the more you begin to know the more you realise you don't know which is both inspiring and depressing at the same time . The depressing part is accepting that there is so much to learn and trying to focus practise time on what will be a real benefit to your playing. The inspirational part is knowing that there are limitless ways of getting a great result applying new knowledge to real musical situations.

[quote name='Faithless' timestamp='1319129022' post='1410388'] Taking Doddy's drill as a base, what you want to do after shedding that drill is write out those Autumn Leaves changes, and write dowmn some lines using only chord tones and those chromatics. Learn them out of time, and then put on a record of AL, so that you'll hear how it sounds against the changes. You'll be surprised how good can it be. easy Laimis [/quote] Lamis what a very cool exercise. My brain hurts though. Thanks for that. B

Our drummer has Toms but never brings them. It makes a massive difference not having a stickmeister wandering off around his/her kit and being dedicated to the groove. Does some amazing stuff on the hi-hat instead. There are some good drummers around and they are all busy.

Great. Must be a fun gig.

Theres no excuse for disrespecting another bands gear. Ever.

Bit late now but i intend to be using this. Thanks.

I am still quietly beavering away. Had a bass lesson and the chap gave me some dots to go away with so its forced my hand as he wants me to sit in on a Jazz Fusion gig very shortly using the sheets he gave me. Trouble is my memory is so well developed from not reading that i can pretty much remember the bass lines after 2 or 3 run throughs then i stop reading

Thanks

Many thanks. I'll try both those suggestions.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1319113727' post='1410046'] That's all about leading notes and grace notes, BE. They work becuase they are adjacent to the chord tones and are used on weak beats of the bar as a lead into a diatonic phrase on a strong beat. Holding any lead in note will create tension that is released when it is resolved. A lead in note will work better on a chord tones than a non-chord tone and on a weak beat rather than a strong one although turning that around has long ago become acceptable in the right context. You learn to recognise the difference quite quickly and make your musical decisions accordingly. [/quote] Thanks. I have been looking for some kind of tutorial on this as its where i think i am at. Damned if i can find one. Any recommendations/links would be gratefully received.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1319112116' post='1410012'] Trust me. Just because they sound jazzy and cool to you doesn't mean that they don't fit a theory, just that you don't know that theory. I did a session once and the producer (who worked for the BBC) said he had ths jazzy chord sequence he wanted to use but had not yet found a use for it. The sequence went Emaj7, F#m7, G#m7, Amaj7.....He said it reminded him of Level 42. Nuff said... [/quote] But thats exactly it. Where is this theory? Chord tones - great but what notes can you put just before the chord tones or just after to spice up the phrase. I can't find much about this kind of stuff yet lots of people do it. Is it something that can't be articulated?

Sod all that. I want to learn about the wrong notes. The interesting ones that don't fit "theoretically" but sound jazzy and cool.

Having had my first proper bass lesson last night i would say get a teacher. Don't worry we are all frauds to various degrees. The fact you are prepared to do something about it is cool.

Ditto on that Had the same interface as Legion (Focusrite saffire 6 USB). Good quality and importantly for me good construction. Its one of the only ones in its price bracket to be made of metal. Big bonus as i dropped it on a wooden floor. Still works. 2 years now and fault free. Very low latency and good Windows support.

Scott. Great and thanks again. Brilliant stuff. Will check this out later for sure. One thing that i can't find (in a way a simpleton like me can understand) is the use of the "wrong" notes when soloing. I was hoping that someone might put something up that shows how to integrate say chord tones and "wrong notes" over a 2-5-1 so that the solo doesn't sound so twee and sounds more, well, jazzy.