funkypenguin

[quote name='51m0n' post='498941' date='May 27 2009, 04:08 PM']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] +1 bass playing (or any instrument for that matter) should be a pain free experience. i cant recommend the comfort strapp enough AM1. it really helped take some of the pressure off my left shoulder. i had to storten it a little to get the bass to sit high enough but it was one of the best £25 ive spent! im in agreement with the gentleman. neoprene fetish in progress yeah the myspace stuff is good! i should really hurry up and finish recording the stuff for my own myspace...

[quote name='51m0n' post='498889' date='May 27 2009, 03:34 PM']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 [/quote] 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 name='AM1' post='498876' date='May 27 2009, 03:24 PM']I know you are probably right..but I'm being very careful about overstretching without knowing how...as you said....it's better to err on the side of caution. Incidentally...I moved the height of my bass earlier in the week and it has made a MASSIVE difference to my left hand dexterity but now killing my left shoulder! I was in the studio for 4 hours on Sunday evening with a band that does not do breaks..so we pretty much played solid for the whole time. Next day my shoulder and the muscle in the left side on the middle of my back was well aching! It's really quite amazing what a difference just a few small adjustments can make. The other thing is now my wrist is bent a lot more. There is so much conflicting advice regarding the correct wrist position. But for sure, having the left wrist bent more certainly has improved my reach. Ha, but at what cost, I'm sure I'll find out next week![/quote] then may i recommend one of these [url="http://www.comfortstrapp.com/"]http://www.comfortstrapp.com/[/url]

phwoar! thats certainly got the 'schwing' factor! how does she play/sound?

[quote name='AM1' post='498857' date='May 27 2009, 03:12 PM']Yes, I think you're right...I can definitely feel more strength coming into my fingers over time, it just seems SO slow! Maybe I'm unrealistic about progress/speed. Bass in hand as we speak...there's something really satisfying about wasting the day playing bass instead of paying for MP's moats! But yeah I do keep stopping and resting it when it aches. HAHA![/quote] 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 name='lozbass' post='498764' date='May 27 2009, 02:13 PM']Thanks to all for the very kind comments - I'll get some decent photos asap. Funkypenguin - I'm just to the south of the city, around the university area (Fallowfield).[/quote] not that far from me then! im up salford way (since i study there). never had the chance to play a fodera (one missing from the checklist ) how does it compare with some of the other high end material around? whats the neck profile like?

[quote name='51m0n' post='498803' date='May 27 2009, 02:36 PM']Uh-huh thanyewverrmuchhh (in best Elvis voice) Dreadlock kicks arse, Khaos rulez OK! [/quote] love it!

[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] you should try playing my 6! then you'd know all about pivoting your wrist for 1st fret! it sounds to me (not to split hairs) that your left hand needs conditioning. scales are a very good way to do it. start at 1st fret and play a one octave major scale ascending and descending, then move to 2nd and so on until you get to 13th fret, then come all the way down. then move to the A string and do the same. start with a REALLY slow tempo and gradually build it up (around 60bpm if you use a metronome?). slower excercises do a lot to improve your hand strength. DON'T PUSH TOO HARD! if it gets painful (as in really starts to ache) stop the excersise, take 5, then start again. youl soon notice an improvement. do things like this every day before you start jamming songs or begin songwriting, and youl find your playing improves very quickly FWIW - it was a shock when i switched to 6, just how weak my left hand was. took a lot of hours to get it up to scratch

[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] use the one finger per fret principle. on scalic patterns you should never have to stretch too far, even in first position, unless you're going through 2 - 4 octaves and hence shifting your hand position. bear that in mind

OT question here: How did the Matrix and Empathy basses differ from the S2 OutToPlayJazz?

[quote name='51m0n' post='498744' date='May 27 2009, 01:59 PM'][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![/quote] OT here...but your avatar is immense!

you have lovely wood my good sir i am a big fan of this single cut design. one more string and it would be there! hehe where abouts in manc are you? (im not going to steal it, just interested!)

looks like an NS2000/4. manufactured in Korea. No longer produced. RRP would be about £700 brand new

moved from 4 strings to 6!

if anyone is going from t'north (i.e. yorkshire) and has a spare seat i would really appreciate a lift. will be happy to go halves on fuel costs

[quote name='AM1' post='497512' date='May 25 2009, 08:14 PM']Hi - that's exactly what I've been working on, particuarly the two octave stuff, which is really opening up the fretboard playing wise. Now we are getting to exactly what I am talking about. An example...if I would want to play a swing jazz line over a blues progression, then just knowing patterns doesn't really cut it. So, for example on a quarter note walking bassline, if I was following root, 3rd, 5th, 7th model, there's lots of stuff that can be done to spice it up as long as hitting the root note on the downbeat of the chord change happens..i.e. keeping the foundation that the harmonic structure depends upon...but say I wanted to keep ascending for a while on top of this basic foundation before coming back down for the turnaround..just knowing patterns won't really work.[/quote] if its jazz you're thinking about, then there are many other things to consider (i am by no means a jazz expert on the bass). as a bassist in the jazz ensemble your primary role is to lay down the harmony, but you dont just have to stick to arpeggios and scales. alot of what you play depends on the nature of the chart, the era, the style, and if you're backing a soloist, how adventurous he/she is being (in moving in and out of the harmony through related/unrelated keys/modes etc.). for example, if the soloist is moving outside the harmony alot, then you may play a very chromatic bass line, still moving around the chord structure, but with little/no emphasis on the root, 3rd, 5th. or, if they are really sticking to the harmony on the leadsheet, then you may wish to build your bass line around the relevant scales/arpeggios. Its really experience more than anything that teaches you to play this type of bass. Il be here for a few days explaining the ins and outs of fretboard harmony and walking bass. how well do you know your chords and movement over chord changes for example? can you spot a cycle of 5ths progression in a lead sheet? if youve a few quid, buy a jazz Realbook and 'building walking bass lines' by ed friedland. these are both excellent tools for getting your fretboards knowledge up to scratch. always remember. this knowledge can be applied to any form of music, not just jazz! Have fun! oh btw. check this out! my personal favourite big band chart amazing bass work. patituccis solo is one of the best ive ever seen in ANY genre. end of [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMPZ75wQOt0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMPZ75wQOt0[/url]

If you want to expand on what you already know and improve/branch out on the way you play, IMHO fretboard knowledge is the best place to start. Just how deep into fretboard harmony you want to get into is up to you. but a few things you may want to look at... Learn your scales. major, minor (harmonic and melodic), diminished and whole tone, all through 2 octaves run your scales up and down the fretboard (its a good warmup if nothing else!) Learn your modes try and apply all this to your improvising (it wont happen overnight!) i never know all the notes im playing in an improvision (thinking more solo based here), but i know what sorts of things are going to work, what sorts of scales are going to work, and where i want to go with the improvised line. If its a bass figure, say a walking line, i tend to know what notes im playing, mainly because they are far more important harmonically. Hope this helps!

The makes id hedge my bets with are as follows Shuker ACG Jim Fleeting All are absolutely top class builders, willing to incorporate your ideas (especially shuker) enjoy buying your bass!

ive tried a shine 6er and it was a good entry level instrument. but, if you're looking to modify and upgrade, i would recommend the peavey grind 6. the construction and harware are better, with only the electronics lacking a little. i think youl end up with a better bass in the long run

any chance of some soundclips?! would love to hear that filter preamp in action!

20th looks cool! would be nice to come to a big bass bash!

Get Shuker to build you a bass and spend the rest buying a warwick hellborg half stack!

listen to all the music suggested here and try and get the feel of the music. check out some of MKs bass grooves (he's got some fantastic fingerstyle stuff going on thats too often overlooked)... check some of these out for fingerstyle funk The Sunbed Song - level 42 True Believers - level 42 Flying on the Wings of love - level 42 My Hero - level 42 Too Young to Die - Jamiroquai Give it away - RHCP Listen to the nuances in the groove, the way certain beats and notes are emphasised/phrased. and also, how the bassist locks in with the drummer. MK and Gary Husband do this VERY well.