Bilbo

If you draw a circle around what you think is art, someone will immediately step over it. Its his call.....

The trouble with men in the mid life crisis phase is you can't tell them. Like bigots, they cannot but see themselves as reasonable people, unaffected by such things. What tattoo have you got, molan?

Trouble with internet forums is that, unlike real life, because person A and person B have a discussion in January, person C and D can't have it again un February Personally, I think there is an element of 'mid-life crisis' spending in this as well. Most Harley owners are not hard core bikers but middle aged blokes with more money than sense. The kids have left home, the income is as high as its ever been so why not? A kind of reward for all those years of denial!! I would have one (an AJ Presentation)in a shot all things being equal but it will be a long time before I have £14-16K to spend on a bass. I struggle to see that most of the folk who have these basses are pros as most of the pros I know could not afford these prices.

Hit The Road Jack.... Hit the MD, more like.

Man and machine in perfect harmony.

Not surprising, really. Its a case of grow or die and a lot of projects never get past the occasional gig and, consequently, people get frustrated and move on, psychologically or physically, so changes are made etc. Either that or, when you buy a new bass, you turn into a bass trainspotter and piss everyone off!!

It is a great sound, Ben. I wish my recordings were so quiet! Nicely executed and a great transcription. Excellent work all round.

Was it Gareth Lumbars on sax? I heard he was doing that gig...

I would rather download 4 Pink FLoyd cds or eat my own liver......

I thought I might get one of these......

More to the point, how do I get a saxophone sound out of my fretless bass...

It's definately a bass.......

Nice one, Scott. Getting chords to work on the bass is always a tough one but the concept works here. Very Swallowesque tonally but I don't think even Steve could pull that off quite so convincingly.

You aren't going to get an Italian hand made bass that is painted white or covered in flames but I suspect you knew that!! It'll be fine; at these prices, the difference betwen one bass and another won't be a deal breaker. When it arrives, it is likely that the bridge will be lying flat (don't worry, its not broken) so you will have to initially set it up yourself. All you need to do is line up the bridge with the notches on the f-holes and then tighten the strings as you do on an electric (it'll take longer, tho ). A proper set up can come later but, for the first few days, just have a bit of fun and slap it about a bit.

I just hope they didn't all try to get there on public transport.... Can you imagine the queue at the bus stop?

9 hours? They produced Kind Of Blue in less time than that!! Seriously, though. Nice work.

You can, of course, use the '8va' / '15 ma' options which keep the reading manageable but instruct you to play the notes one or two octaves higher.........

If he was Duke Ellington or some major composer of innovative material, I may think about it, but all this to play covers? I'm going to die soon and I won't be lying on my death bed thinking, 'wow, I can go to my maker knowing that at least I nailed some other people's s***'. No people skills.

There are layers and layers of things here to consider and context is very much the point. Personally, I think the best tecnique is technique that you can't see. A bit like acting, if you can see the technique, it isn't very good. When I listen to any piece of music, I can be listening for different things; a good arrangement, a good melody, a nice solo, a great groove. When we are discussing music on here, we are very often discussing a [i]part[/i] of the performances we are evaluating and not all of it. I have heard it said that the 'greatest' bass line is Good Times by Chic. Its fine as a line but the whole tune is two chords and the lyrics are total pap. James Jamerson played great lines but a lot of Motown stuff is lollipop music. There are great lyrics by Dyaln that are sung with that irritating whiny voice he has etc etc. As a jazzer, I am often accused of liking stuff that is lacking in melody when it sounds really melodic to my ears. Its all about what we as listeners require from a piece of music, what we see as its purpose at any given time. Sometimes that purpose is to move emotionally, sometimes its cerebral, sometimes about moving feet. Sometimes, we have to accept, that its no more than to showcase chops. When we are discussing specific techniques, be it slap, tap, ERBs, bowing etc, it is perfectly legitimate to point people in the direction of that techniques leading exponents. I heard Bobby Vega for the first time this week. Great player, great pick technique. Glad I have added that to my understanding of the potential of my instrument. No I won't be buying any Bobby Vega records because his cv is full of stuff I don't particularly enjoy, same with Pino, Mark King and Jamerson. It is also entirely legitimate for kids who are new to this game to share their excitement at new discoveries. Those of us who know better should allow them to be excited. A kid who is learning about bass is going to get a buzz out of watching Wooten etc whereas someone who has already been there may look for something more tasteful. Eventually, most of us get to the point where the 'song' (in is broadest sense) is king but lets not s*** on people's picnics and lets let them get excited about stuff that floats their boat.

If you can do it without the bass in your hand, more power to you!! I have done short transcriptions like that but its really hard and takes me longer so I tend to do it with a bass/guitar/keyboard to hand!!

I have the Fishman and it really helped me control my sound at higher (gig) volumes. No feedback and a useful eq. Comments from other musicians are positive so I can concentrate on my playing and not fret about whether the sound of the gear is fit for purpose.