Dad3353

At its conception, tuners suitable for mounting below the bridge had not been invented; the 'standard' way of tuning, inherited from acoustic instruments of the time, was at the nut end. The Fender headstock was even a nominal nod and tribute to the 'scroll' headstock of acoustic double basses. The mechanics suitable, strong enough and reliable enough for headless didn't come until much later.

In that case, the answer seems to be 'No'.

If it's the basic shape you're after, there are other sources than Fender... Rondo 6--string 'jazz' bass ... I have one of these (fretless...); they're very good.

Both of them..? ...

... and given the circumstances, it's really not that bad at all..! You yourself have played worse (often..!)..! (OK, not the tubas..! ...)

And rightly, of course, but it does serve to illustrate just how difficult it is for Common Mortals to work with this stuff. The virtuoses that do this properly are to be all the more appreciated.

Mmm... Tea..!

Apprehensive, checking under the bed. Serious answer.

No need, I have Lenny for that.

What utter claptrap..!

Not really; I expect it just sets off the 'search' again, being a dynamic function without static results. Just a guess, though.

Waiting for the next post in six hours time, when you wake up in your armchair, having missed it all. ...

Open the page in a new tab (or window, if you prefer, but I do 'tab'...). When finished perusing, just close that tab (or window...). Hope that helps.

... and Adolf had a military career (of sorts...), for a while. None of the above is gospel; Luck and Life play a part, whatever ...

No, not quite. I'll take the standard 'quarter note' (I call 'em crochets, but I'm old, so...), and count, as you said, as '1 2 3 4 ...'. For eighth notes, I'd count '1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ...'. Sixteenths become a bit more tricky, but the principle is the same, with 1 uh and uh 2 uh and uh 3 uh and uh 4 uh and uh ...'. Try it out at 60 bpm (so 1 2 3 4 at 1 second intervals...). Repeat, at the same tempo, still with the 1 2 3 4 at second intervals, but with the 'and' interjection. Once that's done, do the same with sixteenths (you may want to slow the metronome down a little at first, though; it's not that simple for the tongue and respiration...). There, that's all there is to that. Next week: triplets and paradiddles...

It will help if you've a reference 'One' whilst you're playing. Either a metronome with a strong 'One', or a steady 'reggae-style' bass loop to lock onto. That's only 'training wheels' until it sinks in (see encouraging footnote ...). You can also try counting it differently, with something like 'one BOOM three four one BOOM three four...' in your head (or out loud, bugger 'em...). With a metronome, that becomes TIC BOOM tic toc TIC BOOM tic toc. The important thing is to 'feel' the 'One', despite not playing it. Encouraging footnote (which applies equally to many, many things in Life...) ... It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly easier.

You do know what a quarter and an eighth of a cake are though..? It's exactly the same for notes.

As an exercise, try playing a simple shuffle on the hats (ting tingty-ting etc...), constant, hats closed at first. Count yourself in, and play the bass drum on the 'Two' (so one Two three four one Two three four...). No snare for now, just that for a while. Once that's going down naturally (you're 'feeling' the one-drop for the bass drum...), add sporadic cross-stick snare clicks. Anywhere in the riddum, as long as the shuffle continues and you don't lose track of the one-drop. If you do, leave the snare and pick up the pieces, carry on. It's just a matter of letting it happen, with in mind the notion of 'less is more'. an occasional hi-hat lift brings it to life, once it's all cooking. It helps, once you're able to do this 'one-drop', to get a bass in there, but it's not essential. Good luck wid it, bro...

Nah, I'll stick with my Hofner, which has all the bass sounds I'll ever need, thanks all the same. My globe-trotting days are over.

Now that I look, I find a Fender Japan Thinline. Hmm... Rare, but they do exist... 2012 Fender Japan Thinline Jazz Bass VMH ...

I've not yet seen a semi-acoustic (hollow-body...) version, which is the style (and weight..!) I prefer.

This is incorrect. See here ...

'Never say never' and all that, but it's not looking likely for me, this time around. I've pinned it all, and put the pic on my desktop, as usual, but yet another bout of depression is setting in, which hinders my 'creative' muse quite heavily. Maybe, and I hope so, but it's only a 'maybe' for now.