skej21

Do you need photos without anything on them? (I.e. No text etc) If not, there's a good photo of JJ on the bass player mag cover - [url="http://www.imradio.com/webresources/image/user_uploads/0.61649900%201263848781BassPlayer_Magazine.jpg"]http://www.imradio.com/webresources/image/...er_Magazine.jpg[/url]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1209023' date='Apr 23 2011, 11:02 AM']No. I'm sure they're excellent quality instruments, but they look ghastly and have a stupid name. And I'm fundamentally very shallow. Jon.[/quote] + 1 Except I don't see it as being shallow. There's nothing wrong with paying a lot of money for a bass and wanting it to look good as well as play/sound good. At the end of the day, if people have that much money to spend on a bass, there are numerous builders here in the UK that could make you an instrument of similar quality but with the additional security/peace-of-mind that you have access to support if there are any issues, which is not the case with Conklin. That alone would make me purchase from the UK.

[quote name='merello' post='1208619' date='Apr 22 2011, 08:16 PM']Wee shot of a 5-string bass (Aspiration?) in Merchant City Music. Felt like a well made bass and had a confident maple board. I'd still rather have the 4 string but a brilliantly made bass. 5 string version of this? [/quote] Yup. I have the 5er version of this. Truly brilliant. Looks a lot less blue in reality than in the pics.

Just watched this again. How muscley/MASSIVE are his hands?! I'm suprised he can manage to do any tapping! Maybe he was working in a scrapyard before playing this... crushing cars with his bare hands!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1208947' date='Apr 23 2011, 09:30 AM']Already being able to play isn't helping because I can cheat by reading the chord above the bar and improvise a bar off that which I guess is also useful if you get lost but I am trying not to look at them.[/quote] To be fair, that's not cheating at all. I'd bet there are a lot of players who do this for a number of reasons, I know I do. It not only gets you out of a hole if there's a complicated bass run that you think you'd mess up if you tried to read it, but there will be times that you read a bass line and you can tell it was written by someone who knows nothing about bass. In the latter situation, use the chords to make the bass line sound more like a bass line. I've got a few function gigs doing that, where you get the guitarist/drummer/singer or whoever saying 'that's the best I've heard that line in ages!'... Reality is, that's because you've applied your musicianship to make it a bass line from the chords, rather than a guitar part in bass clef.

It's great news that you're enjoying it Pete. The only bit of advice I would have now is start expanding your reading library. One of the best things you can do for your reading once you get the basics, is to throw yourself in at the deep end and try reading things you don't know or haven't played before. Best thing to do is have LOTS of notated bass parts. Start a piece and play it until you make a mistake. When you make a mistake, turn the page and play something different. Keep doing this and soon enough, you'll be flicking a page and playing through a piece you've never seen before, start to finish (first time) with very few errors. It also helps you to avoid using your memory, which is a big problem for musicians who learn to read later in their playing. They've usually relied on memory and things stick in their head quickly, so you don't want to run through something 3 times and then not need the dots anymore. Give it a try, and hope it helps! P.s. Also, if you stumble across anything that you can't seem to figure out (like easy ways to count double dotted notes, or make sure your triplets/quintuplets are even and not rushed!) Just shout!

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1208654' date='Apr 22 2011, 09:01 PM']I'd be up for one of those - or an accurate '66 RI Roadworn or Fender version in a wider colour choice than red or white.[/quote] Or a Roadworn Series of CV Squiers. Either Precision or Jazz (preferably both!), in sunburst and fiesta red.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1208582' date='Apr 22 2011, 07:36 PM']I didn't post this to piss off the anti-Victor crowd. It's just a video demonstrating his awesome talent.[/quote] Great post. Nobody can deny his talent. Real quality player... Real quality beard. I want one

[quote name='Zach' post='1208473' date='Apr 22 2011, 05:05 PM']if that's for while you're sitting at your desk, you could try implementing a mirror?[/quote] Tried that... it smashed.

[quote name='gareth' post='1208494' date='Apr 22 2011, 05:39 PM']G&L SB2?[/quote] + 1 I was suprised to see that G&L didn't get a mention earlier tbh

Headphones that (when you're listening to music) let you know someone is behind you... No more sh!tting myself everytime the Mrs brings me a cuppa!

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1208424' date='Apr 22 2011, 04:05 PM']Now that's a challange ![/quote] Luckily it was nearly two years ago. Can still remember bits and play through (quite sloppy). Not a challenge I'd like to have again in the future lol.

[quote name='Wil' post='1208301' date='Apr 22 2011, 01:57 PM']Ben Folds Five?[/quote] YES! Everyone loves Ben Folds Five! (Here's another in case the OP doesn't know much of them!)

Chromatic Fantasy [b]and[/b] Donna Lee by Jaco... Had to learn them both for my undergrad final recital and provide my own accompaniment (loop pedal!). Ball ache is an understatement. Couldn't find a decent video of Chromatic Fantasy, but here's Donna Lee.

Buy 20 Sue Ryder basses... just the sheer number of basses would stun her into silence

Cash in hand? If so, never existed

These are mine. Didn't know whether the J 5 would count as a jazz, so I put my Fender in there to balance it out! Just bought the Overwater Aspiration Contemporary J 5 and REALLY love it! The block inlays are beautiful and the colour is a lot more subtle than I thought it would be. The Fender was my first bass and is/has been my only ever 'keeper', although the J 5 may have just joined those ranks. It's incredible!

[quote name='mep' post='1207511' date='Apr 21 2011, 08:46 PM']What do you make of it and what will you be doing?[/quote] Simple, I'll stop using it. I used Spotify because it was free (even with adverts) and due to the large library of music. If they want to change that, I'll look elsewhere. Probably grooveshark, even though it's not as good.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1207423' date='Apr 21 2011, 07:23 PM']-------------2------------------ ----------4----------0H2------- ------2------------------------- -----------------3---------0----[/quote] Fixed This should make it easier for any beginners who follow tab very strictly... EDIT: I will take any punishment Doddy or Bilbo see fit for posting tab

Who did Jools ruin this week?

I think this is an interesting view on what should be the 'norm' with basses; “Why is four [strings] the standard and not six? As the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family, the instrument should have had six strings from the beginning. The only reason it had four was because Leo Fender was thinking in application terms of an upright bass, but he built it along guitar lines because that was his training. The logical conception for the bass guitar encompasses six strings.” Anthony Jackson

[quote name='ead' post='1204250' date='Apr 18 2011, 10:47 PM']+1 I bought my Aspiration from them and I thought they we very patient with me [/quote] My Contemporary J 5 just arrived... Beautiful out of the box and truly stunning instrument! Don't know who to thank really. Bassmerchant, Chris May and Tanglewood should probably all get a shout. CHEERS!

Great news! I'm a self-confessed Aggy whore and now within comfortable driving distance of Harrogate. Sounds dangerous, I might have to move lol.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1204128' date='Apr 18 2011, 08:54 PM']But where are your fours?[/quote] You've got them all! Get some up for sale so we can have our share

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1203816' date='Apr 18 2011, 05:10 PM']Any time I listen to any piece of music not composed or arranged by me, or featuring my playing, I get to hear all this, with my ears. I have done this quite often over the time I've been playing bass - in fact every single time I have heard any piece of music which fulfills the above criteria - and all of it has had an influence, one way or the other, on how I play & what I play. How would the influence be more profound if I had read it from (as a previous poster eloquently put it) fly-sh!t, rather than simply listening? J.[/quote] When did I say that the method I mentioned was the only way? I simply highlighted a benefit. In direct response to your question. It won't be any more profound for you because you've already discovered the best way for you to learn (by ear). However, some players on here may not have found the best way for them to learn and may be visual learners and find reading a better option for them. You can't expect everyone to take the same approach. If I asked you to read instead of using your ear, you'd probably find it hard work and frustrating as it's not the right approach for you. Similarly, some players may find it equally frustrating using their ears instead of reading. I'm simply showing another perspective so that the players trying discover what is best for them, can know all the options. Sight reading is not a one-fix solution for everything, but sometimes it helps and sh!tting all over it because it's not for you is pretty selfish and immature. I thought the point of this forum is to encourage players to develop and improve through other's shared experiences?