51m0n

[quote name='The Funk' post='474533' date='Apr 28 2009, 08:01 PM']Errrm... guilty.[/quote] oops +1

[quote name='Musicman20' post='473659' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:09 PM']Also, what in reality does Berg make that competes against a full weight normal 4x10?[/quote] Well the ae410 is a [b]tiny[/b] 410 that blows all the rest I've ever heard away IMO. Not heavy for a 410 either, and incredibly compact. A pair of ae112s will keep up with a 410 in reality I think (haven't actually a/b'ed at a gig myself) A pair of ae210s more than = an ae410 (slightly deeper sound apparently, I have a/b'ed them with an ae410 and its a tiny difference IMO) The HT112ER mini stack is pretty much equal to the ae112 ministack - if not a bit more depth and that non-neo thing going on Oh and the HT210 is spectacular for a 210, its not up to a high end 410, but its the best 210 I've ever heard. Really would love to get the HT115 to put underneath it!

[quote name='beardybass' post='474852' date='Apr 29 2009, 10:26 AM']Good to see everyone being so positive about this like! See that's the upside of places like this, there are people like 51mon who can say, "this guy talks cack, ignore him!"[/quote] Yeah and there are enough people who say that about me too There will always be a need for recording, if only as the advert to get people to come to the gig of course!

Oooooh scare mongery, classic FUD. AJ talks out of his butt! <shock horror> Sorry that kind of ranting tosh makes my blood boil, and AJ has done enough of it to make me no longer take any notice of anything he says. Remember his rants about slapping and not using an ERB etc etc - tw@t! Great player though. Needs to shut up and play! Live music at a grass roots level is thriving. I've seen it first hand. Staggering young players who really can play, can read on their instruments if they wish, can compose and play to an audience. Brilliant. He should get out more. There will always be people who prefer programmed/electronica. Excellent! Nothing says we cant play bass on that too (Doug Wimbish made a name for himself doing just that) There have been 'talent' shows for as long as there has been Saturday evening TV (Opportunity Knocks anyone), it will continue to be ignored by real music lovers. Home recording is getting cheaper and cheaper. But, and its a huuuuge but, you can not beat a great live room. Sorry thats where its at. Only a serious studio can get the sound of a fantastic live room, cos they are huge and tend to have really nice acoustic work done to them too. No one in a bedroom near you is going to have a Neve console, and they really do sound that good. Most home studios spend less on mics and outboard than a serious studio spends on wiring and yes that makes a massive difference too. Upshot is if you want to record live music really well you need a serious studio. If you want to record a really really great demo that is releasable you can do it at home (but it really will cost you a lot in both cash and time). Lastly, and this is what counts most, a serious studio should have seriously good technical staff, and I would trust a great engineer to get a great sound in his studio working his way over anyone in a bedroom. I'm not saying it cant be done, but I am saying in all probability even now, and looking forward 30 years from now, the professionals will still have the upper hand, and it will count. Right now mp3 is good enough. That will not last. As bandwidth and harddisk space and solid state RAM increase in size people will realise that better sound quality makes for a better experience again (witness the HQ button on youtube). Then the better recorded material will stand tall. My concern is actually how long we will have to wait for over compression at the mastering phase to peter out. Its very seductive, however I was listening to some old cds yesterday, and yes I had to crank them up a bit (what a pity), but the drums (particularly the kick) sounded amazing for it! I think this trend is actually doing more damage than the entire mp3 issue myself....

[quote name='MrT-Bass' post='474082' date='Apr 28 2009, 11:41 AM']+1 for the Harvest gigbags. I ordered a full leather bass bag from Station Music 3 weeks ago. It arrived in the advised 5 days and is fabulous...In fact, I'd go as far as to say they are the best gigbag I've seen. Clearly for the price, you'd hope so but well worth the investment. It needs some breaking in and will no doubt age as all good leather products do but I can't see me needing to replace this for quite some time. [/quote] Never thought I'd have bass bag gas but this:- [url="http://www.harvest-guitar.com/double-bass-bags.php"]http://www.harvest-guitar.com/double-bass-bags.php[/url] Is 'kin gorgeous!

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='474034' date='Apr 28 2009, 10:36 AM']Oh, well if we're playing that game - mine's a Learjet. S.P.[/quote] For special gigs I use a TARDIS you can get so much stuff in 'em and you're never late!

My experience, perception and enjoyment of music can be split absolutely at the point I started playing bass. Songs I loved before bass:- I know the lyrics without any thought I know the form without any thought I dont really know the b-line/drum part ususally I listen to in a completely different 'top down' way (ie vocal performance, harmony/rhythm guitar, drums, bass) There's a bass line???? Oh! After I started bass:- I know the bass line well enough to sing from memory, from which I can usually figure out the groove from memory (albeit not always in the right key) I know the drum part well enough to program a fairly accurate representation of the groove from memory I know the harmony (not always) I may know the form What lyrics??? There's a singer? Noooooo...... When I listen its to the rhythm section interplay almost entirely. Obviously some songs fall into both categories, but that isn't a very long list. Its very weird!

1995 BMW 3 series Gets my whole rig in the boot (well until I put the rack in a bigger case - that goes in the passenger seat well now). No other 410 fits in the boot, not even close! Its not very fast, its quite noisy, but the handling is [b]really[/b] nice and its probably got the lowest mileage of any similar age 3 series on the road (39k for a 14 yr old 3 series ) I love it dearly though....

[quote name='alexclaber' post='473988' date='Apr 28 2009, 09:25 AM']I see your point. As an engineer I am looked down upon by real scientists as one of those people that gets their hands dirty yet still treated with suspicion by the tabloid press as one of those boffins. If my relatively shallow understanding of economics is comparable there's a whole load of silly language (bulls, bears, doves, hawks, etc) that seems to exist just to obfuscate the situation. Engineers prefer to call a spade a spade fortunately. I think the playing stuff just because you can rather than because it sounds good is often tied to immaturity, a bit like the way precocious children behave. And authentically Spinal Tap-esque guitarists act... Alex[/quote] I thought Engineer was a posh word for Mechanic though..... and Scientist a modern word for Witch.... :ph34r:

[quote name='redstriper' post='409175' date='Feb 14 2009, 01:16 AM'][url="http://myspace.com/redstriper"]You can check my band here.[/url] One Love.[/quote] Thats excellent! Yes there are very definitely parallels between funk and reggae feels imo. Only played a bit of reggae, but played a lot of funk, and the parallel is around the 16th note thing that seems to be central to both. They're really different at the same time though Couldnt verbalise that difference in any meaningful way though, other than often Reggae has a slower pulse, and the bass is often further behind the beat. But there are so many variations of both styles that even that is often demonstrably inaccurate. Do love a bit of it though

[quote name='Beedster' post='473371' date='Apr 27 2009, 01:56 PM']You've got to train your conscious brain to leave the unconscious alone, there's loads of techniques (imagery, self-talk, distraction, simulation training), but to be honest, the best way I know of doing it is by assuming an attitude of "[b]who cares if I f**k up[/b]".[/quote] That just about sums up my longer post above, its absolutely vital to get into your head, otherwise the stress you put upon yourself guarantees a hugely painful ordeal for yourself at ever gig. Wish I could have put it that succinctly though

Hadley does and always did sound like Richard Cheese to me.....

[quote name='maxrossell' post='473111' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:22 AM']I'd say work on improving your ear. Get a load of your favourite records, and using nothing but your bass and your ears figure out all the basslines. A great ear is one of the most valuable tools you can have as a musician.[/quote] +1 oh yes! Start with relatively easy stuff, then move to trickier and trickier....

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='452715' date='Apr 2 2009, 08:25 PM']I always recommend Mark Levine's 'Jazz Theory Book'. It has a nice clear lay out and is easy to follow and is not just for jazz players so don't let the title put you off. Where are you? There may be someone near you on here who can help.[/quote] Thats a very expensive book! Anywhere I can get it for less than £35???

[quote name='Beedster' post='473233' date='Apr 27 2009, 11:18 AM']Motor performance is motor performance whether it's in sport, dance, surgery or music, so what applies to the confidence-performance relationship in sport likely applies to the others, music included. Confidence comes from experience mate, so like the guys have said above, get out there and get the experience Chris[/quote] +1 I only really understood this after going to music college for two years. Every few weeks we'd have to do performances to the entire department, which were marked. Believe you me nothing causes nerves like playing to 300 seated musos, all of whom want you to look worse than them (so they get better marks). To begin with it was really difficult to get through, after the first term I could put my game face on and not show the nerves at all. Byt the end of the first year I was all about those performances, they were the best bit, getting to show just how good the bands I was in were. And we absolutely rocked! The second year was a breeze after that. Ever since then I've had no problems improvising or playing more normal gigs of any kind.Even after a long break (several years where I really didnt play) and getting back into when I was asked to dep at the last minute it wasnt a problem (didnt half cock up the first tune though ). Largely because I came to realise that very very few people hear your mistakes. Thats not an excuse to not work hard, improve, be tight, get it right, its just a fact. I made some howlers in those performances and no one (even my bass tutors) really noticed, because I covered them well, or they werent nearly as bad as I thought. As for groove and improviation. Listen to bass/drum interaction on favourite tracks. Take a groove you love and play it for 5 minutes exactly the same. Now work out 4 variations. Play the groove alternating the standard and a differnt one of the 4 variations each time for five minutes. OK now work out a variation that only uses one note and throw that in. Now one that use a super simple rhythmic variation, (just 8th notes) but goes through the scale that the groove is in. Keep going. How many fills/variations can you figure out?? Now play the groove for five minutes, but play a variation every 4 times. Now play all the variations one after another for 5 minutes, but choose the order spontaneously. Now go for somewhere inbetween. Now you are improvising a groove. Easy...

Adjust the pickup height. A little lower should help IIRC....

#3 Violin bass (if going on recognition outside bass community aside) #4 Rick (maybe) or a Warwick Thumb IMO Frankly you're lucky if a non-bassist knows its not a guitar

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='470955' date='Apr 23 2009, 05:32 PM']In my day, Paradox was a Brighton nightclub.[/quote] B100dy hell BBC, that is going back a while, mind you before that it was called The Pink Coconut - 'nuff said!

Congratulations. Think I'm there too, except for a niggle about some kind of filter, but that way madness lies... I hope it lasts for you (and me) for a considerable time. For instance, recently rather than logging on here and various other places, I've actually been practicing reading, the horror! If I'm not careful I might work out what some of those arcane squiggles actually mean (I hope)

You bunch of nitpicking swines! Shes 'kin brilliant. I love Kung Fu World Champ I & II, because of the daft keyboard, cos I've never seen anyone else play that kind of thing with that kind of sound. I've heard it sequenced up but not played. Totally blinding! I get very bored by her more conventional smooth jazz stuff though, tedious as.... ...but I'd say that about almost all smooth jazz I'm afraid (the joy of being a jazz philistine ) The band kick booty too IMO

[quote name='alexclaber' post='466780' date='Apr 19 2009, 03:34 PM']The first 'vintage look' Compact: Alex[/quote] Those chrome corners look the business too Alex!

I give my basses a pretty thorough clean when I switch the strings, I hate gunk on the fret board. Other than that a quick wipe over after a gig is cool.

I'm not trying to suggest that everyone needs to start saving right away for however long to get a truly expensive bass. I am suggesting that you DO get what you pay for. If you feel you need to spend that extra, or you are willing to save for it because it means that much to you then I think the bass will reward you in all probability. Having said all that I have I would again say I just had my socks blown off by a bass that cost me £150 second hand, so sometimes you really just get a winner!