mcgraham

[quote]V7sus4 chord (since V7sus4 = IIm7/V)[/quote] What about the fifth of IIm7? that would be the VI, which would not be in the V7 or V7sus4 - it'd be a V7sus4add2 or however it should be correctly notated. Interesting scales? Not meaning to be flippant, but (for me) it would depend wholly on the flavour you were trying to impart. IMO, if I were using the V7sus4 / IIm7/V ambiguity, I'd be trying to exploit the feeling of the suspensed fourth for everything it was worth. I'm also rather partial to chromatic runs and flattening major intervals to minor, particularly the 6th. You could perhaps alternate the octave root with diatonic or chromatic notes, the harmonic major is a particular favourite of mine ... could help impart that diminished flavour and 'imply' the chord change from a IIm7/IIm' to the V7 even if you aren't 'technically' using those chords with the bands.. helps strong resolution between the chords. Alternatively, perhaps the symmetric W-H/H-W to give some movement but weaker chord resolution? Again depends on what you're after...

From the little I've heard and seen, I am in awe of his technical mastery and how 'un-boxed-in' he is to the fretboard - even Hadrien Feraud (who is a mental technician in his own right) doesn't appear quite as fluid about the fretboard as JB. On a more musical front, I am inspired by his more legato-like approach to soloing and runs. Chorus heavy tone aside, I find that the tonality he imparts from the smooth and extended legato approach really appeals to me. Very connected from bottom to top, and very even throughout all of it - no excessive fret noise, the notes don't die out or sound like they've been hammered or clanged into existence.... Speaking of this more legato approach, I'd say Richard Bona is of a similar calibre in that aspect... but from what I've seen is not anywhere near as advanced as JB. I may need to look up some more JB when I get home, particularly the videos and see if I can work on some of his ideas.

[i]We [/i]heard you from the audience Bilbo. We heard you, trying to play harmonically rich and interesting music, trying to play F# but instead playing Gb... we all heard you... and we all thought you were a barsteward. Why don't you go home and play some Moondance whilst weeping over a copy of Cantaloupe Island? [/joke]

Nice. I assume this is a [i]friend [/i]of yours who is contemplating such a fretless. Has this friend contemplated whether or not they'd like a three octave fingerboard for such a fretless? Mark

I just realised this is going to be a fretted bass! I assumed it was going to be fretless - no idea why! I think Robbie's Marseers look stunning with huge fretless fingerboards. Still going to look stunning either way Nottingham is turning into a capital for custom boutique basses! Mark

Well you're entitled to your opinion There's a particular video I saw a few years ago that exemplifies this. It's Bill Dickens, Victor, Steve Vailey, Oteil Burbridge and perhaps one more bassist (whose name escapes me), and Bill absolutely steals the show.

Hadrien Feraud - only since seeing him live recently and can say he's improved loads, and I mean that in a musical/taste sense. Vic Wooten - can't think of anyone else who grooves that hard and has such epic technique. Matt Garrison - huge inspiration for me in years gone by both in terms of technique, phrasing, and vision. Others who are fairly high up my list: Janek Gwizdala - also great groover, GREAT tone and soloing voice, and still an inspiration for me. Bill Dickens - great groover and makes Vic look pedestrian at times. Flea - I have to own up and say he was the reason I took up bass - a true bass player who has written some killer riffs/hooks and really serves the song. Mark

I only had one bass for 3-4 years (the Geddy), so it was always that one. Once I got the Wood&tronics Chronos, it was that one exclusively for a year. Then I got the Wood&tronics fretless Zoid. They each have their own sound and merits but means it's a bit difficult to choose between the two Wood&tronics basses. I have more fun playing the fretless and prefer the tone of the fretless on a personal artistic level - so greatly prefer to practice with this and would prefer to use it in the band 100% of the time; however, the fretted generally fits better with the band stuff I'm doing at the moment, I can also be a lot more adventurous with the fretted with improv - hence the fretted tends to get slightly more band time at present. EDIT: OH! and everyone thinks the fretted [i]looks [/i]better, including the wife, and we all [i]know [/i]that aesthetics are what matter when picking an instrument

Incidentally, I also frequently return to the notion that it'd be nice to have just one instrument that allows me to play bass and/or guitar - like a guitar equivalent of a piano. Unfortunately, I have resigned the idea to the circular file and have decided just to have both guitars and basses. I just don't think it'd work when you consider scale length, string gauges, pickup placement, the different approach and levels of energy used when strumming/picking on bass or guitar... Hurts my head just thinking about it.

Other than the bass... 1 short lead 1 long lead tuner preamp/monitoring box power supply for pre/mon box IEMs + extension lead

[quote]Generally,I'll use one finger to play both notes by moving it rather than barring,although if it was part of a fast semi quaver thing I may use two fingers[/quote] I do the opposite. At slow speeds (or fast alternating between adjacent strings) where each note needs to be separate I use two fingers, one for each fret/string. At moderate speeds, generally where there's a note in between two on same fret/adjacent string, I'll use the same finger and move it. At high speeds where it's part of a longer phrase, I use 'finger rolling',... which is similar to using your finger as a barre, but involves rolling it in a way so as to only actually fret individual songs (as classical/jazz/rock/metal guitarists would do).

[quote][duncan bannatyne] What would make your product different from those already in the market-place like MySpace or ReverbNation? [/duncan bannatyne][/quote] +1 That's not such a silly point. Also, what sort of protection could you obtain for your idea? Thinking from a protection point of view, what is to stop other already established and popular networks with similar (but not identical platforms) adding features to offer almost identical services?

Not odd at all! I use my right thumb to mute lower strings, and left hand to mute all higher strings (relative to the one I'm playing) I used to mute all strings (higher or lower) with my left hand, but this becomes extremely difficult to manage when navigating complex riffs at speed and/or with lots of string changes and string skipping. You can learn to navigate these solely with left hand muting, but given the choice of that or an easy muting system that just does it's job, I'll pick the easy one thanks! Mark

+1 - sounds like floating thumb. It certainly can feel unnatural at first as there's not a definite 'anchor' compared to anchoring your thumb on a lower string or pickup. Nevertheless, I'd advise sticking with it as it is an incredibly efficient muting technique - no effort required once you get used to it as it just slides up and down against the strings. It also means you don't need to expend effort moving between strings, unlike the anchoring technique which requires you to 'unanchor', move, then 'anchor' again. Gary Willis vids on youtube are a good bet for an illustration. Also, try searching for 'floating thumb' in the BC technique section. Mark

Holy resurrected thread Batman! Thanks to Steve, I have copies of Hanon and my recommendations for use again if anyone is interested. PM me with an email address and I'll fire them off. Mark

When I left uni I felt I had two options: get a real job, or go to London and try and get in on the session scene. I opted a for a job "at least for the meantime". I've since realised that I love working for a living, and that I love the freedom and disposable income this gives me to (in my free time) make music that I enjoy. I could never have reliably secured that via trying to make it in the session scene. I've met a few soon-to-be graduates since that also want to 'make it big' and have told them the 'job route' is a lot more fulfilling, dependable, and even glamorous than it might seem at first.

Well they look stunning! unfortunately the pickguard has a three screw arrangement whilst the pickups are two screw. Also, the middle pickup has a bent plate design like the humbuckers, which makes it too deep for the middle position. Bugger! Should have known I'd be so lucky to have everything work just right first time Have dropped Andy a quick email just to check if it's OK or not advisable to bend the plates or anything to try and get them to fit. He's a good guy, bound to have run into this sort of thing before and have some good ideas.

[quote]Another important point to focus on is the time spent doing this. Depending on your level you should be spending at least a month on every transcription you are working on- sometimes many months.[/quote] I've really slacked off on transcribing of late. Been concentrating on my own arrangements. However, this is a sharp wake-up call that I should be transcribing more, and transcribing stuff that challenges me, rather than stuff I can just work out on the fly.

[quote]I'm sure if you asked for one one would turn up within a few days as usual![/quote] +1 I'm sure of this as well. I've recommended Wizard to a number of my friends that have been looking at pickups in the past, but they all get enamoured by Bare Knuckle, or Gemini, or DiMarzio, or Fender custom shops... which are all more expensive and the first two take much longer to produce pickups than Andy.

... and my wife informs me that they have just arrived at the house this morning. How's that for quick service!

Really glad to hear you guys have also had positive experiences with Wizard

Just had a great experience with Wizard pickups and wanted to share it here. I wanted to replace the pickups in my Surfreter (for my own tonal preferences) and got in touch with Andy at Wizard last Thursday afternoon. This was because the last set I ordered are simply stunning in the instrument they are presently in - they [i]make [/i]that instrument. I sent him a reasonably long email detailing what I was after, he read all of it, and he responded to my email the same day with a real personal touch. Andy gave me great quote for a completely custom bespoke set of pickups (HSH) that he felt would fit my description - and it was only about 20 quid more than a stock HSH combo would cost from him. He then made them over the weekend for me and they are ready to ship today. Better than that, he actually reduced the quoted price (quite substantially!) to reflect the actual time taken - it totalled more or less the same as a stock set of pickups. Now that's what I call service! I can't recommend Andy and Wizard pickups highly enough, and I am sure the pickups will sound stellar once received and installed.