Dad3353

Reassuring mostly for those ordering from Bulgaria, probably. Not much of a comparison with the UK. I order stuff in France, and have never had any issues. I'm not sure that the UK can be compared, really. Just sayin'.

This may be one for @Happy Jack; a video was posted recently demonstrating what he and his band use, to great effect.

Be warned that the first picture (the one you've posted...) looks to be a 'lefty' bass, whereas the other pictures show it to be 'righty'. Why this inversion, just of this picture, I can't say, but it's not a lefty. Just sayin'; if you're local to Crystal Palace it might be worth dropping in and having a look, I suppose.

Some would say that that's no Bad Thing. ...

Again and Again - Status Quo

It might indeed, and saved me a lot of trouble..! ... ... ...

And the winners are ... @Nail Soup, @upside downer and @xgsjx ..! Here, then, are your Winner's Certificates (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2022_10.pdf ... which look like this (but bigger, of course..!)…

I'd add to the above to declare that rare are those that enjoy listening to their own recordings, more so still in their raw, unprocessed, solo state. We are our own worst critic, never satisfied with what we hear. Ask anyone to sing something (anything...) and then listen back to it; it will pretty certainly be with much cringing and pulling of sour grimaces on their part. As the player, we can only hear the 'errors', whereas an independent auditor will absorb the whole. It's not really all that helpful to wallow in past performances, especially home practice. The (enlightened...) opinion of trustworthy friends, colleagues, or even family, at a push, is far more fruitful, and liable to be more accurate. Just sayin'.

Better than white is a pair of Par's or equivalent, one each side oriented towards the opposite corner of the stage area. One with a very pale orange/straw filter (Lee 205...), the other with a very pale blue filter (Lee 201...). This gives frontal lighting with a slight contrast each side of the band's faces, with no blinding beam directly in their eyes. Placed forward of the front of stage, as high as reasonably possible, angled across at 45°. Much better than plain white. Just sayin'; my 'Tip Of The Day'.

I popped this out of BIAB in a couple of minutes, It's F#, at 110 bpm. No drums or bass. Three 'repeats', but I could have set it up for 20 or more ... Gyrate Funky Dance Guitars F#_110.zip

These folk can provide backing tracks, customised to remove bass and/or drums etc. Worth a look..? Custom Backing Tracks ... If it's just for jamming, playing along to a style, I use BIAB (Band In A Box...). If you want something composed (a set of chords that you like, and a rhythm...), I can knock 'em out for you, if you wish. BIAB is very flexible, and one can come up with an infinity of arrangements, quickly and easily. Good enough for jamming to, that's certain. Any use..?

On drums..? Martin Lamble (RIP; was with Fairport Convention...) On bass..? Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane...) On guitar..? Jim Hall (Chord/Melody style...)

Although, to be fair to yourself, your sister is not entirely wrong.

I'm not sure that that's a correct interpretation. it's not so much the accentuation of the notes as the attention given to them. I'd repeat a little of what I typed above : if you were playing this on stage, with other musicians, you would be more 'in the zone', engaged, 'being' the bassist. In your bedroom, where you've probably played this same piece (and others...) a certain number of times, on or off camera, there's a quite understandable lack of engagement. In itself, it's not an issue, until this attitude, rather than the playing itself, becomes second nature. The fire and fury, the 'drive', the 'in your face' aspect is missing, and a compressor pedal won't bring that out at all. Try playing in front of a mirror, standing, and go though the (OK, embarrassing...) movements of a 'killer' bassist (KISS..? Rush..? Not Entwistle..! ) just for the craic, for kicks, over-acting it. Don't act like that for an audition, of course, if that's not your personality, but a little of the 'spark' should become integrated into your musical routines if you're to stride out onto that (OK, tiny pub...) stage and play with conviction. There, hope that helps. No need to grime up with clownish make-up, though, if that's not really your 'thing'..!

I concur. ...

No problems with that, as a semi-pro bass player that's very respectable. It would 'warm up' somewhat on stage, 'live', with the stage ambience and standing, moving around, 'swinging', if you like, so the 'stilted' nature seen here is because you're siting down in your bedroom, that's all. I'd be happy with anyone playing like that in any band I was in (and I've played, as a semi-pro and a pro, back then, with far, far worse bass players...). Have confidence; you're doing fine. Sock it to 'em.

Which wasn't really my point; I only chose Mr King because he's, as far as I know (which is not much...) he does a lot of slapping. Tribute Shtribute; a Hofner Verithin strung with Trubass strings will not give a satisfactory 'slap' sound. Its physics won't produce the dynamics and sound signature of that style of playing. In similar fashion that a nylon-strung flamenco guitar is not much cop for Steve Vai screaming harmonics, a semi-acoustic bass has its limitations (and, of course, other qualities which make up for that, and which I personally prefer...). Yes, I'd agree that any bass, including my own, can be played in any style; any style at all. Will it sound any good..? No, it will not, however talented the player. Perhaps with a very clever modelling amp, or MIDI detection, it could be done (I've used my bass to play oboe through a MIDI cable...), but native, it's no good for slap, end of.

OK, if you must; my Hofner would, however, not be suitable for a Mark King Level 42 tribute band, in my opinion, whatever 'style' you might like to call it.

Our Youngest plays my fretless, and has done for the last few years, in our little group, playing pop/rock, with stuff such as Radiohead, RATM, DeUS, Bashung, Bowie, SOAD, Noir Désir and more. The bass, plugged straight into our Hiwatt head, and rock on. No intonation issues, at whatever tempo the number calls for. On darkened stages, mostly, where, without LED's, no lines or markers could be seen anyway, still less 'quicker than the ear'. It's a non-issue, I say, if the player has had the patience and ability to learn how to do this. Our Youngest is not a superman, he just practices and gets it right. Others may struggle, maybe, but some, at least, are able to do this without sweating it. Can it be done..? Yes, of course it can. Can it be done by everyone or anyone..? Apparently not, to read some of the above. 👆

And I'm a drummer, so what would I know.

Maybe that my problem. My 6-string fretless doesn't have (nor need...) position markers at all (no more does a double bass, a cello or a violin...). The intonation of each string, at each note even, is done by ear, not by a 'position' on the board. Of course the octave sounds like the harmonic at the twelfth (and the other harmonics keep contant check, too...), so, to me, as long as the bridge is reasonable (define 'reasonable'..?), as the one in the photo seems, to me, I see no issue with intonation. Anyone with an ear can play that bass in tune, all along the neck, with the bridge set up where it is.

You do realise that this is a fretless bass, don't you..? How does one intonate an acoustic double bass..? (A clue : using one's ears, and a decent dose of both experience and practice...)

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