dc2009

Oh, and make sure you are warmed up. From as simple to playing in a warm environment, flick the blood into your hands NFL receiver style if it's cold, or your circulation is crap! Then, before going for any speed exercises, have at least 10-15 minutes of playing under your belt, even if it's just noodling, try and cover various speeds, strings and styles, so every muscle and tendon is ready to give it the beans when you want them to!

I personally think any [s]bass player[/s] musician worth their salt will nowadays spend as long as they can getting their tone right before recording a note in the studio. I think the instrument should initially be set up to sound right on it's own, then tweaked with the help of the sound engineer and the surrounding band to get it sound right in the band mix. With the plethora of gear available for all instruments these days, any player has a vast range of choices, budget permitting. Back in the day, when choices were limited, and styles were, well, more traditional, I think the whole thing mattered less, and I think the bass player, among other musicians in the group would rely on the engineer to mix everything as ideally as possible from the sounds they recorded with their Fender P/J and standard old tube amp. And @the guy above (sorry forgot your username): Your band didn't like the sound of statuses? Were they the graphite or wooden ones?

[quote name='4000' post='1249726' date='May 29 2011, 10:21 PM']What about anyone who IS at their best as a result of intoxication?[/quote] Some bands I've seen are at their best when my world is spinning. Whitesnake would be one of those, seriously glad I don't remember much of their set.

[quote name='ChTBoner' post='1249718' date='May 29 2011, 10:13 PM']160 bpm? wow... I mean... That playing 4th notes at 640 pm... What kind music do you play that require such a speed! How did you arrive at 100bpm? and how fast do you try to say you can't do it?[/quote] Lol I wish I thought of that as fast. Listening to awful music as I do, means I like to play Dragonforce, Nile and Necrophagist among other things, and they go above the semiquavers at 200bpm mark at times! Can't keep that up for long mind.

Oh dear God, thought I'd look at this as a sensible option, just wondering how on earth I am sat next to £4,300+ of musical equipment. Endsleigh have quoted me £66.62 for the year, for UK only which seems alright? Victor C Knight don't currently have a website, so are losing me as a potential customer, idiots. Musicguard wanted £112 for the same as Endsleigh. Also, would someone kindly tell me why purchasing my Warwick now would cost me a shade under twice as much as when I purchased it in 2006?

[quote name='silentbob' post='1248334' date='May 28 2011, 03:38 PM']Google Chuck Sarah Walker [/quote]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1249247' date='May 29 2011, 02:57 PM']I'm in two bands, in JWP there's a 2 pint limit before playing. In LJBS if I can see the guitarist to ask what chord the next song starts on, I'm not drunk enough. There's a different level of professionalism between the two bands...[/quote] +1 IMO it depends what the band's purpose is and what you want out of the gig/what you want your fan base to think of you. As for any reference to drinking amounts, it is completely relative to the individual, their mass, their tolerance to alcohol, the amount they've eaten, and the time span over which they have consumed said beverages. Personally I like to arrive plenty early for any gig (a few hours, just to be able to chill and get mentally ready), I also like to go and have a good sized meal somewhere local after soundcheck, this might not be more than a maccy d's but at least there's some carbs in there. After this I see nothing wrong with two pints or so. Last gig I played I had a coupla mojitos, then a bottle of beer on stage with me, which was a nice one to wet my whistle between backing vocals. I, like someone said above, know I hit my pool prime at 2 pints. I'm the slightest bit tipsy by this amount, though usually unaffected, but I find it gives me the confidence to rock out and focus on what I'm doing, whilst ignoring everyone else. I also personally feel like a mug dancing in a club when sober (typically because I hate the music), 2 pints in gives you a little relaxing mindset, and I think eases you into the right zone.

[quote name='ZMech' post='1248928' date='May 29 2011, 09:34 AM']3rd year Bristol for me. Don't worry, you probably don't have it as bad as me, 7 exams with 5 left, the last one being on June 16th. Fun times...[/quote] Lol 2nd year here, I do finish on the 10th June, but I have all 8 of my exams to do between Tuesday and then, fml.

What year are you in Zmech? And I'm glad to see I'm not the only uni (Imperial - aeronautics) still with exams!

[quote name='TimR' post='1248761' date='May 28 2011, 11:06 PM']Laplace and Fourier. Not good bedfellows on a Saturday night. Love the negligible elasticity and horizontal displacement. They've not seen my playing then.[/quote] Probably not good bedfellows since they're deceased And +1 for the comment on your playing, gave me a right chuckle, though I fear mine is the same.

Dougal sold me his programmable sansamp bddi. It's fantastic, the service was fantastic and it was shipped exceptionally quickly. A pleasure to do business with. Dan

Attached are a very small part of the notes for my maths exam a week on thursday, they include a nice analysis on how guitar strings work the way the do. The section can be read on it's own, and is very short (think it's 3.3) but the stuff before is decent background reading if you need it to rejig your maths brain. Personally I find it very comforting to know that we understand how these things work, and can exploit them to make lovely sounding guitars and basses. Just uploaded it for anyone who is interested. So please enjoy, Dan

[quote name='silddx' post='1248457' date='May 28 2011, 05:34 PM']Assuming your bass is in decent nick, the neck's not warped, and the truss rod does not need much force to turn it, try the following. Fret the low string at the first fret, use a capo if you've got one. at the same time fret the same string at the twelfth fret. there should be a tiny gap between the string and the 6th, 7th and 8th frets. If it's more than about 0.5m you could tighten your truss rod a 8th of a turn at a time until the gap is tiny. If there is no gap, loosen an 8th of a turn. Righty Tighty / Lefty Loosey looking along the neck from the end you are adjusting the truss rod at. DO NOT FORCE IT! If it does not want to move, take it to a good music shop with a good repairer. When you've got the gap right you'll probably have the right relief on your neck. Sight down the neck from the body end, in a playing position, the neck should have a slight concave bow in it, away from the strings. Bolt-ons can develop a slight S shaped relief due to the rigidity near where they join the body. To get a very low action you will probably need a fret level in this case. Even my Warwick 'vette had this. Then adjust the bridge saddles until you can play all the strings at all the frets without getting more than a little fret buzz when played firmly. Any proud frets should make themselves apparent by buzzing more than others. Remember it will be the fret above the one you have fretted the string on. You could then try leveling it with a stone or a fret file but take it to a good shop if you're not confident. Disclaimer: if you force the truss rod when it doesn't want to move, and it breaks off or you damage your instrument in some way, it is not going to be my fault [/quote] Thank you Siddx, disclaimer duly noted. I will do all this when my exams are over in a fortnight, and I have a thumping headache.

For some nice technical pieces that aren't too hard but sound good to get you going, try: Terminal Beach - Stu Hamm Moonlight Sonata excerpt from bass solo - Stu Hamm Blackout - Gorod Waiting Silence - Angra And then various Necrophagist songs if you're feeling brave. There's that little run at the start of Fermented Offal Discharge, and the intro to Only Ash Remains is blindingly fast (and sound good too) - some Symphony X could be good too

[quote name='Truckstop' post='1248386' date='May 28 2011, 04:17 PM']Surely just 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulance? Truckstop[/quote] Agreed, and am going to listen to it now, having that great reminder.

Great thought markstuk. Anyone else in SW London (earl's court - very accessible) or nearby? This is something I'd rather learn as a skill than just give to a shop every time, I'm also an impoverished student (largely because of GAS and low self-discipline) so would rather not splash out on a pro-set up. On another note, my Sansamp got here today, and oh my god I understand why everyone raves about the things, by far the best bit of kit I own, it blew me away. It even makes my playing sound better!

A mate of mine back at school picked up drums with a year and half left to go (of school), within 6 months he was good, within a year he was a fantastic drummer. Technically gifted, able to play paradiddles out of his ears etc etc, he started learning a lot later than many, and yet given he's probably bordering on the autistic side, he picked it up ridiculously quickly. I have another friend who happens to be a very good guitarist and drummer, yet I know other guitarists, just as skilled, but they're even worse than me at drums. I think there's definitely a natural aptitude for all sorts of these things, not convinced by this book at all.

Opeth's original version of black rose immortal + dream theater's a change of seasons should see you through 45 mins A change of seasons/The glass prison is actually a fairly good shout, if you can play a 6er

Dood that action is lower than kicking an old man in the balls! Who do you play for btw, I don't recognise the song, but quite liked it?

I've heard some fantastic singers live, but I think I'd have to go for: Vocals/Guitar - Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) Vocals/Lead Guitar - Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) Drums - For this kind of project I'd have to pick Chad Smith (his feel is amazing, and as for the sound - just go listen to stadium arcadium) Note if the project was heavier I'd have to recruit Marco Minneman/Gene Hoglan for the job. Bass - If not me then I'd have to let Steve DiGiorgio take charge on a fretless!

Nice amp those, for the money. I loved one when I tried it in the shop, would've got one in place of my half stack if I wasn't sick of combos. There's that one setting that gets you the ultimate David Ellefson/Megadeth tone. Perhaps not your cup of tea musically, but by far the best bass tone I've ever got out of an amp of this sort.

A very useful angle would be: If you were to buy one of these, which would it be. And ask the same question for buying two or three. I think this would be incredibly useful, as I have never even heard of anyone buying a full set of a brand's pedals, at least not in one go. So you could say for the average player, which single pedal would make the most difference to their sound quality and variety (choose the factors as you wish). Similarly, say that if you had the money to spend on only two/three (they aren't cheap), which ones you would then go for, this also may be different to buying just the 1 pedal, if perhaps 2 or 3 of them work particularly well in conjunction with each other. Hope this helps, Dan

I remember back when I got BGM, James LoMenzo put in a full diagram of his horrendously complicated live rig etc, some of them are proud of it. I'm sure various guys, especially now, really try hard to get a great tone (I'm thinking Tool here), but IMO it even begins with what bass you get, and what the electronics are. I'm sure some albums are done bass -> straight into desk. Man I cannot take my eyes off your avatar, who is she?

The red is a touch too pink for my liking, and not a fan of the shade so much, though the figuring of the quilt on the red bass is a fair bit nicer., However, I voted blue/green cos it looks the best overall (no one can see figuring from a distance or when playing a bass anyway) and is a bit more uncommon looking!