51m0n

I wanted to move to five strings, I had literally worn my 4 string out (it needs a refret at the very least) over 15 years of use. The Roscoe is incredibly light, easy to play (unbelievable neck and action) and most important has the best tone I've ever heard (for me), bridge pup is fat and the neck pup grinds. I dont believe in eq to get a tone - I know I'm weird maybe - I believe in getting a bass with tone thats there already, and using your hands and pickup blend to get different timbres, it works for me!

I didnt get time to try but it was there in all its glory. Some interesting variations including a mute button on the input modules (both tube and SS, LMII vs sa450 eq sections, VPF,VLE,Line Out Master Level right down to just Master Level output sections. Looks well impressive for a demo set up! Oh, and no they still dont have the MB fx pedals in (their delivery note says by April 14th, so they have no idea when it will actually be).

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='498989' date='May 27 2009, 04:38 PM']Oops. Posted in wrong window. The danger of having two forums open at once...[/quote] ROFLMAO

WRT comfort strapps I remove the strapping bit between the leather connecting piece and the main strap on the horn side - its about 2" long and serves only to lower the bass in a way I find really annoying. I like my bass to sit with the neck up a bit rather than horizontal, I find this gives my left hand the least problems. Other than that they rock.

[quote name='AM1' post='498961' date='May 27 2009, 04:24 PM']I don't understand how I can play for hours with my bass low but when I raise it up, my shoulder is well throbbing really quickly! And yeah, just been flogging stuff to indulge my GAS, in a relentless, tone chasing crusade. [/quote] Your are probably overcompensating, and have been using more muscular strength than letting the bass rest against you relaxd skeletal posture. Regular breaks (even just take the thing off and stretch your shoulders out for 2 minutes) are required...

[quote name='AM1' post='498954' date='May 27 2009, 04:20 PM'][b]Soooo predictable [/b][/quote] I would hate to disappoint

[quote name='AM1' post='498948' date='May 27 2009, 04:16 PM']No, no, no, the black suit is the latex suit. THIS is a neoprene fetish. Red neoprene...yummy![/quote] Crikey! Latex and neoprene (picks himself up off floor).... .... I think I banged my head....

AM1, in all seriousness, now you've changed your strap length (it really should be such that your bass stays at the same height when you are sitting or standing) watch for hunching your back, favouring one shoulder straining your neck against your strap, the strap moving into your neck etc etc. Make sure your strap is over your shoulder, not your neck etc Otherwise you will be paying all your GAS dough to an osteopath!

[quote name='AM1' post='498899' date='May 27 2009, 03:39 PM']Haha!! I just tried that and I could only just about reach the 5 th fret...and I bet my hands are MUCH smaller than yours! There's no way I'd be making a habit of that across 5 frets though, utter madness for my hand size..that's a HUGE stretch. But it's certainly good for improving the old four fret reach. How come you are always right!!!!!![/quote] Well in reality you dont need to ever make that kind of a stretch. But you can actually do it cant you! So there you go!! And it didnt hurt did it (because you did this slowly and carefully, watching out for pain etc etc). So, when you play you should have practiced a refined technique whereby this is normal, and you wont hurt yourself, and you will reach 4 frets with ease. Note how that slight curve of your index finger is dampening the ADG strings. Neat that isnt it! Men prefer women with small hands, its a win all round......

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='498897' date='May 27 2009, 03:38 PM']ahh yes i get it. i can just about do that . my comfortable stretch is 1 - 4 on the B or E of my 6. as you say, gymnastics arn't necessary im liking what im hearing on your Myspace btw (neoprene fetish) HAHA! [/quote] 1-4 is definitely my comfy stretch, I guess I'm saying I can get another fret if I really have to without hurting myself by using a slightly different technique may be. Glad you like the myspace stuff, keep listening, you may find you stop liking it so much it's been really nice hearing positive comments about the stuff on that page! Just look at the lady's picture, if that isnt a neoprene fetish I dont what is , she'll be the first to admit it too!

I saw this a couple of days ago and have been considering funds (that dont exist). Then my partner saw it and asked if I was going to buy it. This was yesterday (my birthday) I think that may have had smething to do with it I cannot afford it (repeat, a lot to myself), but its soooooo nice (I love green basses, and I love Roscoes). Any reason particularly why it keeps getting moved on???

If you have reach issues I'd strongly suggest an Ibanez SR300 or similar. I can reach even further on those

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='498882' date='May 27 2009, 03:28 PM']then may i recommend one of these [url="http://www.comfortstrapp.com/"]http://www.comfortstrapp.com/[/url][/quote] +1 they are nice, and you already have a neoprene fetish, so it'll be right at home

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='498873' date='May 27 2009, 03:23 PM']slow and steady wins the race. practice consistently and you'll see the improvement soon enough you must have the biggest small hands around mate if you've got a stretch like that!! [/quote] Not really, I just learnt how to do it. Hold you left hand in an open relaxed position. Keeping you index finger pointing straight pull you pinky toward your thumb, it doesnt hurt, its all really relaxed, but thats a huge distance on a bass neck between tip of index and tip of pinky as the pinky comes in towards your thumb at such an angle as to increase the distance to the index tip. Now close your thumb in toward your relaxed middle finger and with the slightest curve to your index finger you can fret both notes (fret 1 and fret 5) This is impossible to really describe, but thats what my stretching is based upon, and I really dont have huuuge hands, I have very medium possibly slightly small hands for a bloke (I'm only 5'7 and 3/4" (dont forget the 3/4"!!) tall. Note my wrist is not bent (overly) to do the reach cos my bass is high enough. Now I have a 5 I dont really go in for gymnastics like this (cos I can play the same notes further up the neck). PLus I'm old and decrepit

With a really well set up bass its more about comfortable use of your fingers at a stretch than raw strength. This is all about 'proper' ie safe/good LH technique, and goes hand in hand with your damping issues as well I think. 1 finger per fret exercises from 12 down to 1 are great too, as they can slowly make you stretch further. I would always suggest anyone interested in stretch work from higher to lower rather than the other way around, that way you progressively increase the distance you need to reach.

[quote name='AM1' post='498819' date='May 27 2009, 02:44 PM']I have to pivot my wrist a bit to be able to do 1 finger per fret on the lower frets as I haven't got enough reach..well I can just about do it but I feel too much of a stretch. In fact since I've been working more on scales, I am noticing some aching down on the karate chop side of my left hand.[/quote] I bet you have enough reach. You may not realise how to maximise your reach safely. Or the height of your bass is impeding your reach. I have small to average sized hands for a bloke, and I can reach from an F to A on the E string of a 34" bass fairly comfortably (index to pinky) However I think that it would be very hard for me to try and explain how to do this over the internet - its the job of a teacher in person I think. To much risk of misunderstanding causing you to do it wrong and possibly hurt yourself.

[quote name='AM1' post='498759' date='May 27 2009, 02:08 PM']Ello mate! Just had a look - excellent resource - many thanks! That's actually a brilliant exercise as you're kind of forced to figure out the notes and think about where they are. I really must stop playing by ear so much! I don't know where you dredge up all these gruesome exercises from, but you've single-handedly killed what was left of my social life! You really are a git, in the nicest possible way! The only thing is...how do you know what fingers to use when practicing in the way described in that exercise? Cheers AM[/quote] Alright chuck! 1 finger per fret works a lot Also try and use open strings to help shift up more easily. So in the key of C play EFG on the E string, open A, then BCD on the E string then E on the A string etc etc Helps cover ground. Where necessary it can help sometimes to develop the ability to play two whole tones on one string, using fingers 1,2 and 4. SO to play G->A->B on the E string as an alternative way of playing the first three notes of G major. Finally as a general strategy for shifts if you get to the pinky and need to stay on the same string then move your hand such that your index is used to play the next note rather than shuffling the pinky up a couple of frets, It means you always play a whole tone half tone, or half tone whole tone or whole tone whole tone pattern for each move of the hand. Naturally there may be exceptions to this 'rule'! I only wish I had the time to devote to these exercises as much as I do in finding them, I'd be blinding if I did! Personally I have taken the pattern knowledge thing about as far as I think it can be taken (including Gary Willis' fingerboard harmony book, which is a complete swine to get your head around). I've recently been looking at reading and fingerboard note knowledge properly as a way to open my playing up further. I can not emphasise how much just working on C major scales all over the neck has helped me already. I think pattern stuff is an easy trap we subject ourselves to as a result of the fourths tuned nature of bass. Clearly a great ear is the best thing to have, but a full and extensive knowledge of the fingerboard in a harmonically meaningful manner must be an equal goal if you want to be able to just play the thing. Naturally IMO, and if I put loads of effort into this and it doesnt make a great deal of a difference I reserve the right to debunk myself later

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='498758' date='May 27 2009, 02:08 PM']OT here...but your avatar is immense! [/quote] Uh-huh thanyewverrmuchhh (in best Elvis voice) Dreadlock kicks arse, Khaos rulez OK!

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50170"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50170[/url] Pacman's sure-fire scale practice method If you dont know your fretboard after this lot (and in a useful way) you are dead from the neck up (pun intended) Now get to work!

You need a notch filter. Which is an extreme setting on a fully parametric eq. IE maximum gain reduction, minimum Q (bandwidth) at exactly the correct frequency My BP8 had one built in which was brilliant, esp as you sweep the frequencies with the wah pedal! Set and forget too until a power cycle, 'kin brilliant. Would love to find another device like this.... [quote name='foal30' post='498495' date='May 27 2009, 08:25 AM']well the Boss PQ-3B is on my pedal board[/quote] Do you know how to use it like a notch filter rather than for tone shaping? {maximum gain reduction, minimum Q (bandwidth) at exactly the correct frequency} Really ideally you need a Q that is literally a few Hz wide at most at the low frequncies you are dealing with, maybe only a single Hz is actually required in some rooms. [quote name='foal30' post='498495' date='May 27 2009, 08:25 AM']and I think 5 string bass means 15" speakers.[/quote] With all due respect thats utter plop. Its a function of cabinet design not driver diameter. For instance my stereo has 6" drivers, but being old school TDL transmission line cabs it goes down to ridiculous depths (around 25Hz on my Studio 0.75Ms) My berg ae410 easily handles my low b and never ever farts out, not even close, at crushing volumes. 10s, 12s and 15s can all do low notes at high volumes in a correctly designed enclosure. [quote name='foal30' post='498495' date='May 27 2009, 08:25 AM']potentially not as cheap a solution as a blanket under your cabinet though.[/quote] Thats not a solution. Boominess is almost always a function of standing waves and resonant room frequencies, not some perceived coupling with the stage - its the entire physical shape of the room more often than not. Also the width of a blanket is not going to make any diff, most stage coupling is not mechanical (if it were then your cab would be bouncing around like mad due to the amount of vibration emanating of the side panels). Its acoustic coupling, in which case you need to be well over 2 feet away to decouple if I remember correctly. The auralex pads are great for preventing downstairs hearing you bashing a drum kit, or that energy being transmitted directly through the floor to a not prperly decoupled control room. They wont make so much diff on a stage, cos that isnt the solution to the problem. Point to note though (and I have experienced this on many occasions) if you knock out the resonant frequency of a room, you often need to turn up significantly to compensate for that 'weight' having disappeared. Really, these are often between 40 and 80Hz, and if you lose the boost from the resonance you have to compensate somehow. The result can be the most glorious live sound you can imagine though....

[quote name='alexclaber' post='498094' date='May 26 2009, 04:30 PM']That reminds me I meant to start a similar thread for someone I saw I while back but I'll be damned if I can remember where or when it was now! Hmmm... On the other hand I still can't forget the covers band I saw at a ball a few years ago. I'm sure they were talented individuals at something but the rhythm section's talents clearly lay somewhere other than in rhythm! Alex[/quote] Oh yeah Alex, I can see you getting loads of people owning up to being 'the really cr@p bassist who didn't gel with his drummer at all' that you saw last night - unless it was me in which case I hold my hand up, guilty as charged Excellent, the "name 'em and shame 'em" thread!!! Make it so!

They werent in GAK last week. I'll pop in again this week and see if they are now.... [EDIT] Nope still not in.... [/EDIT]

Nice job! Is it all your own design??

Oooweeee thats a clear case of chewing on a wasp there - or possibly letting one go with more than a hint of a gamble involved Great groove though, nice!

Subscribed:- I want to see how this goes down Looks great so far.