dmccombe7

I thought so too. It could have been a lot better had the attitudes been left out and we discussed in a more friendly and open manner. Shame but that's BC for you. Dave

yep he did a few songs for me that i was trying to learn. Gem of a guy and here's hoping he's ok. Dave

I just have it on my favs as Bilbo's Bass Bites but when i click on it the website is no longer there. Dave

No-one has heard from him, even his band friends haven't heard anything. Its a complete mystery and very worrying for us that know him well on BC. His own website has stopped too so i'm guessing all that work he did for us has now gone. I did manage to download a lot of the songs i liked. If you let me know what you're looking for i'll check to see if i have it. Dave

yep 100% agree............one size fits all

Your statement states "preferable depth for proper hand technique". Is that your preferable depth or do you have stats or evidence to support this preferred theory other than your own opinion on it. Yes i am curious and enjoying this thread but unless actual facts and evidence to support are provided then its simply an opinion. Your hand has a natural relaxed resting position. If you measure the distance between your thumb and index finger tip that should be the perfect neck depth. Neck depth increases on most basses as you move up the neck, does that mean you need to play at the nut end of the neck to play faster. ? With a shallower neck the fingers simply close in a touch more to their natural relaxed resting position. With a deeper neck you tend to push the fingers out and away from that natural relaxed hand position. Dave

I could understand the OP's argument if we all had the same size hands but surely differing hand sizes will mean different angles around the neck and therefore different finger height above the frets. Initially it did make me think more about this and had me wondering if perhaps there was a better way to play but my 45 yrs of personal experience and preference tells me its not so. Playing my 6 string bass and keeping my thumb on back and centre of the neck i find my fingers far closer to the fretboard than with my Jazz bass. For me that kind of negates the argument and different basses have naturally different hand positioning keeping in mind i have small hands. I have to admit i am finding this thread intriguing and wonder what the conclusion will be before the mods close it down of course because of its aggressive tones. Dave

Have there been any actual facts to back up either neck type. ? Dave

I just use it as a learning aid as writing it out helps me remember the song better along with just playing along to the original. I dont use it while gigging. Dave

i had 18mths of lessons when i started back in 76. Unfortunately the instructor said i had gone as far as he could teach and i just picked the rest up from there on my own. I cant sight read but i can read in my own time. I do write out almost every song i learn in notation tho. I'm sure i was taught how to slide from one fret to another all over the neck but it was a long time ago and maybe i've just forgotten how to move along the neck. Dave

Maybe i need more lessons ?

I have smaller hands so maybe explains why i prefer slim necks. Have to put a shout out for my Sandberg VM4 neck tho which is really comfy over a 3hr gig. Very low action on it too but i do play it a bit lighter than my usual style of playing. I use it in my 70's Glam covers band. Dave

I have the 6er fretless but didn't say i was any good on it Before i got back into bands few years ago i decided to treat myself to a 6 string bass for my 50th. Originally looking at fretted i wanted to challenge myself more and when i was just about to press the button i thought why not try fretless again and really challenge myself. Unfortunately i've never really mastered fretless playing but i like mucking about on it. I've attempted fretless basses many times over my 45yrs of playing incl a fretless P, WAL, Jazz, Jaydee, Yamaha basses and finally the Overwater. I have now got rid of everything that was more than 4 strings except the 6er cause it has a relevant name in pearl inlay across the 24th fret area and it was a gift from my wife for my 50th. Dave

Had a WAL custom lined fretless around 84 but i really liked the neck on that. One of the nicest basses i've owned apart from the dead spot on the G string and that's why i passed it on after about a year. WAL didn't want to know and were no help whatsoever. I currently have an Overwater custom fretless 6er and i can jump between that neck and my other basses pretty easily. Had a play around with the Vintera bass today and was actually quite enjoying it again. Dave

That's interesting as its the vintera P bass i currently have. Why couldn't you get on with it compared to other P basses. Just curious as to whether i should try other P basses before knocking it on the head with them. Dave

I find i can play easier (faster if you prefer to call it that) with my Geddy Jazz and my MarloweDK basses than i can on my P bass. On saying that the P bass isnt as well set up and does need a proper set up by a luthier. It has string buzz at top or bottom of the neck depending on how straight i make the neck. I've tried so many options but it just needs some fret work done which is beyond me. I definitely find i can move between the strings easier on a J bass but that's what i started on and have always preferred basses with a narrow slim neck. On saying that i can play the same songs on the P bass which has a higher action and wider neck than my others so to summarise :- I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT Dave

I'm curious to hear this as well. I'm sure @Cuzzie answered this for me a long time ago on this thread but i'll see if we have any up to date replies before searching back. That black P bass does look tasty tho. My issue with Fender P bass is i find the necks a bit too wide for me. I love a Jazz neck but my VM4 has the perfect neck for everything. I'm finding the VM4 neck more comfortable on longer gigs. Dave

I'm also a Mesa fan. Love what they do. I did get slated on TB when my order for a TT800 was cancelled after a year waiting and i voiced my opinions but to be fair the majority of true TB'ers understood my frustrations and accepted why i was annoyed but some Mesa fans said i shouldn't be posting negative comments about Mesa. I have found TB'ers are a tad more sensitive than us BC'ers who generally accept viewpoints and we debate/ discuss as required. (most of the time 😂) I'm with you on voicing my own personal experiences. I'd rather see honest opinions and viewpoints than just fanboy posts on gear. Subway cabs are just amazing. I hopefully will get my TT800 later this year when Mesa start shipping to EU again. They have told me it will be Sept / Oct 2023. Dave

I play in a 70's punk band where guitarist uses a Marshall head with 412 cab and the WB-100 copes really well with master at 10-11 o'clock and Gain set at anywhere between 12-2 with 2 being the crunch mark. If i hit that distortion button it boosts the volume considerably and i get that really overdriven valve tone. Its not something i generally like but i've played some large 200 capacity venues with the WB-100 and Mesa 210/115 cabs without PA support and its never missed a beat. I do appreciate that grunge metal bands will play at higher volumes than i would ever dream off. It depends on whether you actually need that kind of volume on stage. Surely same tone at lower more manageable volume on stage with FOH providing the volume out front would produce the same listening results. Having had Marshall stacks when i was younger i do get the loud stage volume tho. Its an age thing but make sure you are wearing ear protection. Dave

I'm an oldie but yes i agree i'm usually impressed when i see women playing rock or prog when really i should be judging solely on their ability as a drummer and in this case the main singer too. We dont see a lot of lead singer / drummers whether that be male or female and for me its an art in its own right. To co-ordinate hands. feet and vocals is an amazing level of musicianship. I cant sing and play so i'm not one to criticise anyone that can do more than one thing at a time. I have become my own hypocrite there 😂 Dave

Good as always Steve. Keeping busy with the bands with quite a few good gigs in for Glam band this year so its good to see that picking up now. Hope you are doing well too but probably better catching up on the old FB rather than hi-jack this thread. Dave

I always assume we all kinda know each other on here but i guess we're not all as close as we think. I know a few people on BC that are on my FB friends and know the bands i'm in and would hopefully update BC if anything happened to me. @theplumber being one of my fav bass type persons. Dave

This isn't good at all. His website appears to be off-line too. ? Such a shame as he had a lot of great input to BC and i miss his opinions and his music sheets too. Lucky enough i downloaded all the ones i really liked and wanted to try. I'm hoping he's just taking time out from social media. Dave

When i was young i enjoyed bands that were unusual / experimental and not run of the mill. Started with pop in my early teens then rock, prog, jazz rock and listening to bands like Greenslade, Bruford, Patrick Moraz, Mahavishnu and a few others that pushed boundaries much the same as the youngsters in the above vids are doing these days. One of my first proper bands used to jam a lot at rehearsals and we would come up with some of the weirdest noises over a rock solid drum and bass line. Guitarist and keys would just get lost in themselves in a good way. Happy days too. As i got older i started to prefer a nice vocal or musical melody in whatever style of music i listen to. IMHO i think this style of music is more for a younger generation who still have an imagination to take them to places most of us oldies have long forgotten about. Young girl is obviously a great drummer and i enjoyed them but all credit to any band that is making the effort to play what they want to play. That for me is what its all about. Dave

I played a Wheatsheaf pub in mid 80's near Luton i think it was Dunstable. Was a brilliant night and a few of the audience came back to see us the following morning to help with our gear. We were staying overnight during a mini tour around England. Venue let us leave the gear overnight so we could have a few beers with the clientele. Think this was the last stop before heading back up to Scotland. I had a broken leg too which meant roadies doing all the heavy stuff. I just went on stage and played. Happy days Dave