CHRISDABASS

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='278127' date='Sep 5 2008, 07:10 PM']Right... I'll have one more go. I have no issue with anyone who seeks to educate themselves by studying theory, taking lessons, whatever. No doubt many, many people who do this get a great deal out of it. I've never done the above, but I've played bass in original and covers bands all over the UK and the world. I'm knocking back gigs as I have so much going on. I'll bet I'm not the only uneducated oik in this position either. There'll be plenty of others. As for never having a bassline in a grade 8 book, or emulating the genius of Steve Vai, Jaco, Jeff Berlin, Brian Bromberg, Gary Willis, Tom Kennedy, Lawrence Cottle, Paul Chambers, Janek Gwizdala, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Aaron Copeland, Mike Stern, Steve Morse, Mozart, John Scofield, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Scott Henderson, Holst.... I don't care. Sneer as much as you like... I'm too busy playing bass.[/quote] i agree with you mate!! im saying no more on the subject! it isn't getting any of us anywhere! lets go play some bass!!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='276755' date='Sep 4 2008, 09:53 AM']This is what is called a series of justifications. It all sounds perfectly plausible but what Chrisdabass is actually saying is that you can become a 'free and natural' player' without doing any work and, and this is the one that REALLY gets on my thruppnies, that people who have studied sound wooden [i]because [/i] they have studied and had lessons. This is a fantastic way of justifying a lack of investment in your playing. Music is about 'expression and feel'? Of course it is. But its not about magic and the magic bass pixie coming along and sprinkling pixie dust on the chosen few. It is about gathering as much information as you need to make defensible decisions about note choices, groove playing, musica textures etc The trouble with 'natural' and 'untrained' players is that they are invariably one trick ponies who have a limited potential to find work. They are generally less informed about the wider musical world and fairly entrenched in a small generic silo. Outside of their comfort zone they struggle. The fact that some of the greatest musicians in the world can't read a note of music is neither here nor there. The question is what route is going to get you the most long term benefits as a player. I would advocate for systematic study over pixie dust everytime! If you want my opinion, if anyone ever tells you there is an easy way to learn the bass that doesn't require concerted study, give them a wide berth.[/quote] well well well!!! someones upset about something!! there's no need to be like that! i look at it this way (and by the way this is not ment to sound big headed in the slightest!! as i still have a bloody long way to go as a player) lets take singing as an example!! some people can naturally sing very very well with no training whatsoever......while others range from tone deaf or just plain useless to average and thats fine! now...with lessons anyone can be a "good" singer but does that mean the naturally talented one is somehow wrong or irrellivant?? obviously to be good at anything at all ("naturally talented" or not) you need to really work at it but just because you dont have lessons os study theory does not mean your not putting the work in!! ive worked bloody hard to get where i am today!!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='276437' date='Sep 3 2008, 06:01 PM']Including you? *hides* [/quote] yep including me!! im only now looking to theory to further my playing! but thats just me! everyone is different! im hoping it will open new doors for me and make me a better all round musician!

ive been playin for nearly 14 years now and its only recently i feel like i need to start with some theory! (apart from the basics that i already know lol) i learned to play bass just by listening to the bands i liked and figuring the parts out! this has given me a pretty dam good ear and i can now pick stuff up really quickly! it also has led to me being a very free and natural player. i dont have to think about what im doing in a mathmatical way i just do it by feel. this really works for me in a band situation where you improvise and jam a lot! a lot of the musicians that i was around when i first started out really didnt understand how i could play with out lessons or theory (ive never had a lesson in my life) they had so many lessons and its all they talked about but in a band situation they sounded so wooden like they were being restricted by what they were being taught! like they were only aloud to play what was "correct" and "proper" but to me music is about expression and feel. i think you should start by playing how you want to play and develop your own style! then later on if you feel like you hit a brick wall or want to take it to another level consider lessons etc if your happy and confident with your playing then its obviously working for you! dont worry about theory too much or what other people say/think! just keep up to date with the basics and just get on with playing and enjoying it! after all thats what its all about! also remember that some of the greatest musicains in the world couldn't/cant read or write a note of music!!

[quote name='rjb' post='275203' date='Sep 2 2008, 09:26 AM']I think they're generally rubbish. For the money they usually have a terrible set up and a crap bridge that is it hard get a nice action out of. Give me a Lakland or a Sadowsky any day of the week.[/quote] +1 on the sadowsky idea!! stop messing about and get a proper bass!!!

having had both USA and Jap fenders in the past i'd say that although the USA ones are good i reckon i'd go for another geddy lee or a marcus miller! just because the build seems way more consistant and they are better value

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='274819' date='Sep 1 2008, 06:16 PM']Rotosounds... out here in the sticks (Gloucester) I have no choice... it's Rotosound or lump it... even then, getting hold of flats is difficult... apparently there's no call for them... I'm never happy ordering via internet... I like to feel the strings before I pay for them... and make sure all four are in the carton... I've had a set arrive with only three strings in it before now... real pain getting the other one sent to me...[/quote] dude! call strings direct!! (01702 540 068) excellent service everytime!! plus free next day delivery!! ive used them for so many years now!!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='274473' date='Sep 1 2008, 01:30 PM']Works for me! Haven't read the whole topic but I want to go off at a tangent. I have grown to hate Jeff Berlin; everything he says and EVERYTHING he plays. There is a trio version of his 'Bach' thing on YouTube - it is so lame it is unreal. He plays with his head and not his heart and the results are emotionally dead. His MySpace posts are excruciating. His dress sense is worse than mine and that is saying something but, hey, I am not out there in public like he is. His moustache makes him look like an ex-70s porn star and his signature basses are pitiful. His Norah Jones duets are so cringeworthy it is astonishing and his efforts at self promotion are so transparent he wouldn't be out of place on Celebrity Big Brother. I am even getting worrried that I feel this strongly about a dork! I have no strong feelings about ANY other players but he is really getting on my t**s lately. Or is it just me?[/quote] before today i'd never heard him play or even speak!! i totally agree with everything you said man!!

where is the love?? i dont like all this bullshit! whats the point in dissing everything?? ive owned most of the basses mentioned and i believe each of them has their place! if we all played one type of bass it would suck!! at the end of the day we as bass players and people are all very different and our gear choices reflect how we express our differences! if you like and are happy with your gear then it doesnt matter what other people say! personally i couldnt be happier at the moment! i feel very lucky to have what i have!

i find GAS very strange these days!! you see ive been lucky and had pretty much every bass ive ever wanted to own......i then sold them and now i have the 2 sadowsky's! i feel like i cant really find anything else i want (apart from pretty much the basses i have in a different colour lol) out of habit i still look on basschat multiple times a day just because i love the excitment of finding a great bass for sale. its gonna be a hard thing to replace. i do love the chase!! suppose i better get on with playing rather than just buyin/sellin etc

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='270393' date='Aug 26 2008, 04:37 PM']Mark Latimour's blue Sadowsky I'm thinking of buying some burglar tools [/quote] yeah i want that one too!!

[quote name='ste_m3' post='269949' date='Aug 26 2008, 01:41 AM']I use elixirs, so never [/quote] ive been a very happy elixir user for about 5 years!! tried some on my NYC sadowsky.........did not like the tone at all!! sounded dead!! when compared with the sadowsky blue label steels the elixirs dont come anywhere near!! it was almost like having earplugs in when listening to my bass tone with them coated things on!! put the blue labels back on.........WOW!! AMAZING!! so now i'll probably be changing my strings once every 3 weeks to a month but hey the sads are way, way cheaper than elixirs!

i'd say try a quarter turn anticlockwise on the trussrod to give the neck more relief, tune the bass back up if it needs it and check it again! give it at least an hour or so though to settle and only do it a quarter turn at a time. (try not to do too many adjustments in the same day). fret buzz can usually be solved this way. its a bit of a balancing act between neck relief and action/string height but with a bit of trial and error you'll get there in the end. you may find that you have to lower action on the E, D, and G strings a little after the trussrod adjustments are made to bring them back in line with how you want them

i contacted the seller and politely asked him to make sure the potential buyers were aware of the bass's origin! he said: hi,thanks for your comments but if you look at the serial number and check it with fender you will find that you are very wrong..i paid over 700 pounds for it at TMC in coventry who are a fender dealer a year ago... after the bit of research ive done im pretty dam certain its not a US instrument!!! what does anyone else think?

wow there's some great basses listed here!! i currently only have 2!! an NYC sadowsky vintage 4 string, inca silver metallic, alder body, brazilian rosewood board and a sadowsky metro UV70 4 string, natural ash, maple board but to get to this point ive been through a lot of basses!! here's the ones i can remember off the top of my head! (roughly in the order of when i bought them) my first was an Aria then..... yamaha bb series peavey forum plus bass MIA jazz, white warwick FNA warwick thumb bolt on warwick FNA 5 string warwick rockbass corvette warwick rockbass streamer fretless warwick streamer stage one warwick streamer stage two warwick dolphin set neck bravewood jazz red stingray white stingray geddy lee jazz modulus flea MIA jazz, sunburst (this was a beauty) im sure there's a few more that ive forgotten .........and now i have the 2 sadowskys! it seems that i had to try a lot of basses to get here but i hope thats it for a while! all the buying and selling is really starting to take it out on my bank account!! lol

[quote name='bassmerchant' post='267801' date='Aug 22 2008, 01:03 PM']Hi Guys I have been reading this thread with interest and I know this could be seen as me advertising but I do feel I have a valid point !! Before I started my shop I was out on the road for a major instrument distributor so I called in to most of the music shops in the south of the Uk at one time or another and this attitude to potential customers is rife in the music industry and to be honest I dont get it at all .It seems a lot of retailers think it is acceptable to treat people in this way . I try to treat people as I would want to be treated ,this is not rocket science .If you have a good experience you will want to repeat it ,if not you wont . A completely un bass related incident but I bought a home cinema system from a high street shop and couldnt get it to work ,phoned their customer service dept ,waited for hours and got told to unplug it and plug it in again !! so in desperation called a local independant shop who stocked the same gear ,the guy spent 25 mins on the phone with me and finally located the problem ,one of the leads was incorrect ,he sold me a new one for a fiver ,problem solved and since then have bought any home electrical gear from him - The moral ,todays "timewasters" are tomorrows customers !! Anyway off the soapbox now and if these kind of comments are ever made about my shop I will close the doors and walk away ........................... All the Best Darren The Bass Merchant[/quote] you make a very good point darren!! you also made me a very happy customer a few months back when you sold me a very lovely aguilar DB410 in the chocolate thunder finish! great cab!! great service, super fast delivery! thanks again chris

anyone else had a listen yet??

personally i think the way the for sale section works is fine as it is! ive sold/traded about 10 basses so far and numerous other bits n pieces! ive also bought a lot of stuff!! every deal has been done without a hitch and ive met some great people along the way (marcus, mickeyboro, shaunB, jonny walker, birdy, molan, rayfw, bassmankev, whynot, andyMM, jake_tenfloors, jobiebass, bassbod, king tut, MB1, old horse murphy and a few more i cant remember lol) many of which ive had great chats with and got some great advice from 2! the experience for me has been great and i feel like ive built up a pretty good reputation for being good to deal with! there has been the odd time where i have had to unfortunately back out of a deal and ive had people back out on me a few times but its not a big deal! you just get on with it! at the end of the day if no money has changed hands then the seller can back out whenever they like! leave things the way they are please

[quote name='budget bassist' post='264290' date='Aug 18 2008, 01:10 AM']I was in london this weekend and i thought i'd pop into the bass cellar to see what's what, particularly the EBMMs. Some VERY nice basses in there, they have a redwood stingray, a couple of 30th anni rays, a blue dawn, my jaw dropped, some real eye candy in there. Like a polite citizen i went to the front counter and asked "would you mind if i tried out a stingray please?". Now being young as i am, maybe i didn't look too rich, sure, but surely that shouldn't stop me trying something out? Much to my surprise "are you going to buy one?" well how the f*** should i know? that's why i want to try one! I wasn't going to buy one that very minute, but towards the end of the year i'll be looking to buy something second hand maybe. Which is what i told him. So then he fed me all this bullshit about how they'll all be sold within about a month and the new stock will be entirely different. I mean come on, i saw the same SUB basses in there last year, and i KNOW they didn't get any new ones in! I've also seen the blue dawn, the redwood and the 30th SR4 on ebay several times, and none of them sold either. New stock my arse. You could tell he just didn't want to let me give one a go because i didn't look like i had any money, and i wasn't going to buy one that VERY second. I mean the point of trying one out is that maybe you'll like it, but maybe you wont. I was hardly going to drop or break one was i? I treat all instruments, be they mine or anyone elses with utmost care because i wouldn't want mine being damaged. Thing is, customer care goes a long way, and maybe if he'd let me have a go on one i'd have come back and bought one later in the year, or bought some little bits like strings or something. But no, f*** 'em, they're not getting a penny of my money now. And i thought instead of flipping him off and telling him where to go, or telling him exactly what i think. I walked out of the shop calmly, and posted on an internet forum about their service which has 3500 registered users and where anybody in the world can read this. You may think i'm overreacting, but a lot of other basschatters have expressed the same displeasures, and NEVER have i been into a music shop and been told that i can't try anything out because i'm not looking to buy this very second, ever. Like i say, good customer service goes a long way, and i thought i'd spread the word.[/quote] i have had exactly the same problem at music ground in leeds!! they were like "sorry if your not going to buy it then you cant try it out" bunch of idiots missed out! i went and bought a bass from sound control instead! there's just no excuse for poor service like this!

thats a pretty poor impression of a fender!! crikey i bet it wouldnt even burn very well............ coz its made out of sh*t!! £1500????