Chris2112

But what happened to the last thread?

[quote name='Faithless' post='965386' date='Sep 23 2010, 10:54 AM']I think that there are a lot[i] much-harder-to-get [/i]players than Jeff, actually..[/quote] Harder to "get" maybe, but not harder to copy!

Talkbass suffers badly from the "flavour of the month". I recall when Warwicks were all the rage there near the year 2000! The real problem there is that as soon as someone states that they don't like something or someone gets upset, posts are deleted and "infractions" are handed out. Pretty sad really but I guess they just can't get on like we do here! Even though we've got disagreements over basses the discussion continues to be meaningful and there is no heavy handed and unneccesary intervention.

I think there is also something to be said for Jeff's unique identity as a player. We've all seen the bad Jaco clones etc etc. Even those dedicated enough can become a sloppy Wooten Wannabe! But Michael Manring and Jeff Berlin are about the only two players I've seen who just seem impossible to copy. Michael is an easy case because of the technology he employs, we just couldn't copy him if we wanted to! But Jeff just sits there with a 4 string tuned EADG and a touch of chorus and does things that just seem untouchable! Even if you can get inside the phrases and patterns he creates with his hand, how do you even go about looking at his brain and the way he gets those crazy phrases working!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='964836' date='Sep 22 2010, 07:52 PM']What you on about they all sound the same? The Status ones sound way worse and a lot thinner than all his others! (Running away from the usual Status suspects!)[/quote] His Status collection should certainly be rescued by someone who can put it to good use (Eg, someone who will let the basses shine and be heard). Leave Chris Walthamstowe or whatever his name is with a P bass, it'll sound just the same through his rig!

Even still, it had some good discussion in it, particularly from Urb. If there is one thing I like about Jeff's music it is his tone. Always nicely chorused and played with such a delicate touch. I recall someone on TB talking about playing Jeff's bass and how they couldn't get a note out of it. They said it choked constantly because the action was so low and that Jeff plays with the most delicate touch. Watch his left and right hands next time you watch a Jeff Berlin video, he has the most superb control of what he's doing. I guess this set up and low action is what allows him to pull of those amazing legato phrases he has. I should also state that Jeff is a master of phrasing IMO, he comes at his lines like a horn player. Much like Jaco did, but to me Jaco was more like a stacatto trumpet and Jeff is a jazz saxophone!

I think sitting down with a metronome on a slow click and getting the basics nailed before trying to syncopate the left hand and right hand is really the place to start, as many have said. It makes me think of when Stuart Hamm said that some things are much harder to play slow than fast, and to demonstrate he played one of the tapping parts from "Country Music" slow and showed just how much more difficult that was! So in the end, excessive speed just covers up how sloppy you are and disguises your lack of timing and pace. You've got to go back to basics and build it up slowly. Learning things at a slow pace helps too; get to grips with the notes and the space between them and when you play it at full speed it will feel like second nature. I've done this with a lot of Level 42 tunes, for example. Mark can have so many ghost notes and clicks in his lines that you have to slow them right down and work out exactly where they are coming from and get the timing right. Especially if you've got a drummer going at it like Gary Husband!

At the end of the day, it's just a band. No point in getting yourself wound up or causing a load of grief over it. Just tell the other guys you're not happy with the singer and you're moving on. If you're friendly and mature about it you'll probably end up playing together again future.

[quote name='Toasted' post='965059' date='Sep 22 2010, 10:14 PM']This thread is hilarious. A bunch of people who don't own Sadowsky basses telling those who do and gig them regularly that they're poor sounding basses.[/quote] You make it sound as if those parties are at fault for voicing their opinions, even if they've played numerous Sadowsky basses and found them lacking! Basschat gold for all the right reasons, bucking the trend and being forward thinking as usual!

Yeah, what did happen to the last thread? I went looking for it a few days ago but couldn't find it!

I love Jeff, but he's been doing jazz for way to long now and he needs to get back to fusion! Jazz standards bore me and as great as Jeff is, I won't be tuning in!

Wrong forum, but that wasn't what made me go

That price is quite frankly outrageous!

[quote name='Conan' post='964460' date='Sep 22 2010, 01:37 PM']So how come with all that gear, his sound is essentially the same for every track? [/quote] I'll have you know it takes a vast array of pedals and [b]three[/b] amps to accurately recreate that specific wooley and uninspired sound! :snob: