pierreganseman

As a freelance bass player i think music theory is a tool for communication in my opinion. Nothing more. Nothing less. Some people have written amazing music, barely knowing what a C was. That is great and I respect that. Coming into a studio and being given a chart with bass line, or chord chart or what ever. Person looks at it and knows within less than a minute knows more or less how the tunes goes. person X can get the job done in 3 takes. Altough the ability to write a decent chart seems to be a lost art. I have been given some stuff completely unreadable. Nothing more awful to have to re do all charts before a gig with 24 hour notice lol. Could the recording be done with no knowledge of music theory? Of course, that's not even a question..... but I have been stuck in studio with people saying like "yes I don't know... just add more color".. or "so it goes like this... you put your finger on 1st fret" (cause they did not know what an F was).... And OMG that is frustrating........ in my opinion those sessions could all have been done in 1/10th of the total time spent. Music theory is there to communicate... once you gotta start putting it in word..... its the "end" of it... As one person "mellow" will be another persons "mid tempo"... or what ever... bla bla bla bla...... .......over and out

Yes man... i hope the cutlass still serves you well... tim lefevbre is an insane animal on this tune lol

That's how it goes with custom builders.... I think in the end , most of them don't care, and have a whole catalog of bulls***t excuses ready to be used. In the end that's how it is. Brands that provide great service : Fodera , Alembic, mike lull....... and a few more... sadly the list is short ;-)

I am a happy owner of two custom sei basses. I paid £3000 each. Martin told me that to be able to actually make money out of sei basses, and live.... he'd have to charge minimum of £4000/4500 per bass and do only that.... he said quote "i don't even wanna know how much per hour that is.... still not much...." cost of life is high in NY, like it is in london.... to be able to live good, and have a business that makes sense. Builders like fodera MUST charge a lot (all their employees have health insurance paid by fodera, which is a huge issue in the US as Barrie said). And yes Martin could charge less, if he was living in a remote place up north or what ever... Fodera would charge less if they were from arkansas.... ;-)...

I usually practice about 3 to 6 hours per day. Sometimes more or less, depending on gig schedule and teaching. I usually pick a tune and learn it inside out. With Transcriptions. Then record the line..... and analyze what has to be changed , or improved, + the usual rythmical exercices... and scales... etc... have to keep in shape for students... my latest : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMfxKYEN_KQ Tim Lefvebre is a ******** animal on this tune. Give it a go. good luck... you'll need it ;-) it took me a while... and still i don't get it "right"... lol

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1380552235' post='2226951'] Luthiers have a particular skill when they do choose to communicate. When contacting a certain luthier about my specific problem... "If it's good enough for <famous bass player #1> and <famous bass player #2>, then it's good enough for you." Charming! [/quote] LOL no... i never had this kinda experience with any builder. Martin Lee was sweet and polite on the phone and by email. When he chooses to answer...... Martin Petersen from Sei bass, was always super nice to me too when buildind me two Sei's with a 3rd on the way. Bernie Goodfellow was always very polite to me too.... Otherwise I have countless experience, when I did not get an answer ... or had answer 6 month later...

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1380551300' post='2226927'] I think this is the key, its disarming and gains sympathy and patience. Honesty and communication. [/quote] I would have had not a single problem with them. If they had COMMUNICATE!! he was very honest after my rant though... then never answered regarding strap locks... lol

Yes... I think some builders are deeply retarded when it comes to communicating anything. I have no problem naming some of them, when I had a quite unhappy story. I have ordered a custom Overwater, the 1st one was exactly as described with ETA. Second one , I think had 3 month delay, without a single explaination. When I actually went on a rant Martin Lee explained that Overwater had been having some staffing problem and that he was alone building basses. Not that its really my problem I feel.... but what about taking 3 minutes of your time to send an email to actually explain the situation? it seems like normal business ethic to me. I then asked 4 times what type of strap locks were on the bass , in case i needed to buy other "strap bits" I actually never had an answer from Martin Lee regarding on where to find others. So it could be Overwater strap lock designs... i don't know and would be totally screwed if i needed or lost them. The product though is outstanding ... i could not be happier... OW basses are built to resist a war... I just feel taking a bit of time to communicate with the customer when investing £3000 in a bass. Is something very important. Just my personal experience, I do understand that many people have bought from them and are VERY happy!

Now the mob mentality of this forum. As soon as you go against a topic and offer a different alternative opinion, X amount of people make every effort to destroy what you said. I guess Simon and I and some others should have said "go to wunjo and don't go to Gallery"... lol what ever.... and yes every one is ok to have an opinion

[quote name='jamesbass116' timestamp='1380303696' post='2223617'] ummm...??? haha [/quote] yes... every squier , a few vintage modded stuff, a few vintage fender.... doesn't qualify as interesting gear for me, they are the kind of shop you go through the whole bass range in about 45 seconds. Just by looking. Not bassdirect or the Gallery....... I spent week ends there... but that's just me, it may have changed, but as said ... staff was always super friendly and nice.... a shop can have boring gear but excellent service and customer care.... yes yes I dared to say it...

Went to the Gallery first time about 6 years ago I think. Indeed, alex was a big "rough" on the edges. As most of us are on Monday mornings lol..... When he saw i was coming back and became a "known face" he eased up.... (which I agree should not be that way) At the end of the day i could not be happier with the shop (yes I had 2 or 3 down times with them, but they were always fixed to the best of their abilities) I find that place amazing, as neither Martin or alex will come up with the usual bollox that denmark street and other shops come up with "yeh mate you need to put a bad ass on this bass, will make it sound loads better, we happent o have one in stock i can do it 25 quid cheaper just for ya mate".... or "switch pick ups and it'll be great" or once I was looking at a P bass usa dlx worth about £1500 from what I remember Alex answer : "in my opinion if you jsut need a decent bass, squier matt free man + a decent pick up , you're all sorted ! no need to spend that..." ... when I about to give him £1500 in cahs for the P dlx... Martin is the best luthier who's ever worked on my basses, and I would trust him on anything regarding wood work on any bass or guitar.... I do agree that if alex is no there it is a bit hard to get informations on products (don't even ask john...).... still i have been out of london for some years now, and was always welcomed back with some tea at the shop and long bass conversations, life conversations , vacation conversations..... I have nothing bad to say about wunjo though, they have useless and boring gear in my opinion, but the customer service was always nice

Hi guys, 3 tunes from my last gig. Have a listen, it was good fun.... with about 800 person around the stage in total. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL2gwDOIIOg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUOcwz64IMB5cbSTTraBIRwA[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCTV_P64Isg&list=UUOcwz64IMB5cbSTTraBIRwA[/media] cheers I am only a hired person for this band, and will not express any opinion on any one in those clips.

I'd go there anyday. Martin is the man!!!! he built me two sei (with a 3rd on way)...... and has done many other things on many basses! he's the dude!

they are insane, i live in germany every thing is delivered in 24 to 48 hours.... what's better ? ... none.... :-)

yes true... forgot to mention it... i feel honored lol

I have personally never had a problem with Mark so I cannot say. Its all in the way, I have asked shops sometimes to match something. Alex at the gallery usually says "nah man that's all i can do..." No need to laugh at potential customers.... I would personally never come back to a shop where some one laughs at me and makes me feel low.

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