Kiwi

Was it stanley clarke who once said learn all you can and then forget it and go with your heart? I know the theory but I haven't put it into practice so I'm not even anywhere near forgetting it all yet. I can technically solo over chord changes in some jazz standards but I haven't mastered making it mean something yet.

I just try to drink lots of water during the gig and swimming helps keep the joints and back loose as well. Then when I get home I have a light snack of something without salt or fat and either have a shot of whiskey and a melatonin pill (never fails) or if I'm feeling tense, I drink as much milk as I can handle. Milk knocks me out as well but in a more gentle way than a shot of whiskey.

[quote name='Kingbassist' post='255125' date='Aug 5 2008, 10:06 AM']Hello there.. Yes I see Phil every so often, I work at the top of Drury Lane at Hairspray and he works at the bottom of Drury lane on Dirty Dancing so we bump into each other quite a bit and occasionally grab a bite to eat in between shows on a matinee day and talk bass... or should that be bass chat??[/quote] For a while Phil and I were chatting on facebook while he was between songs in the pit at Dirty Dancing. I nearly managed to persuade him to hook up a webcam and beam live pics out! That would have been a bit of a hoot. Imagine if all the west end pit bassists had laptops and an internet connection...

[quote name='Kingbassist' post='255104' date='Aug 5 2008, 09:51 AM']Hi there, thanks for the message.. I'm not sharing the JTQ bass chair with Andy, I've just been depping for him on a few gigs whilst he's been busy with other things.. Andy comes in to Hairspray and covers for me when I want a night off too.. We're pretty much the same age and are very similar players so we end up throwing a fair amount of work each others way.. Top geezer is Andy...[/quote] Yeah, I haven't met him yet but it seems like we might have a few acquaintences in common. He's a superb player - some really funky solos! I went to see JTQ at the Hammersmith Palais a few years back. I think Gary Crockett was playing for him then though. Whats James like to work with? I'm guessing the JTQ bass lines are fairly demanding physically? Did you learn them by reading or by ear?

i generally play two basses at a gig, the worst thing I've had happen is battery failure but I spotted that during soundcheck. Second worst thing was a wireless transmitter battery failure because I was using rechargable 9v cells. Now I use procell 9v and the drop off is less sudden.

[quote name='Kingbassist' post='254537' date='Aug 4 2008, 03:43 PM']Hello there. I'm new to Bass Chat so I just thought I'd introduce myself and say hi. I'm a professional bass player living in Guildford. I'm currently the bass player in the west end show [i]Hairspray[/i]. Previous shows I have played in include [i]Fame[/i], [i]Daddy Cool[/i], [i]Never Forget[/i] and [i]Dancing in the streets[/i]. I've also depped in [i]Mamma Mia[/i] and [i]Billy Elliot[/i]. Recently I've been gigging with [i]The James Taylor Quartet[/i] and [i]Sister Sledge[/i] as well as [i]Winston Rollins' band Real[/i] featuring members of [i]Jamiroquai[/i]. I'm occasionally lucky enough to get the odd session in but generally the majority of my work is live. I use [i]Overwater[/i], [i]McIntyre[/i] and [i]Sei basses[/i], [i]Epifani Amplification[/i] and [i]EBS[/i] and [i]Boss pedals[/i].[/quote] Wow! A real professional! Welcome sir! Are you sharing the JTQ bass chair with Andrew Mck then?

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='254868' date='Aug 4 2008, 09:43 PM']CK's pinned post may well do what it says on the tin but - to clarify - is it deemed bad form, then, for someone selling something in the regular 'for sale' forum ads to add a link if that item is up for auction on Ebay - either at the time of the ads posting or at some point in the future.[/quote] Thats a fair point Dave, obviously something I wasn't clear on. I've added your thread to my pinned topic so you don't have to bump it. If they've already tried selling their kit and have decided to use Ebay as a next step I can't see any problem with putting links in their threads. The ebay link forum was originally set up really as another discussion forum, not as an extension of the classifieds so I think it would be nice to stick to that original intent if possible.

Ronseal.

[quote name='obbm' post='254448' date='Aug 4 2008, 02:40 PM']Not quite. The V8 is a more sophisticated version with 7 valves.[/quote] Mine goes up to 11. In all seriousness, I've just counted mine. 8 power valves and 7 preamp valves (excluding the one that lights up).

Not any Jaydee I've ever seen before!

[quote name='mcgraham' post='254669' date='Aug 4 2008, 04:59 PM']There we go Alex, summed up what I was trying to say in a few lines [/quote] +1 Mr Claber is concise as ever!

[quote name='noisedude' post='254526' date='Aug 4 2008, 03:38 PM']In the context of tonewoods, if you made a P-Bass from mahogany and with a mahogany neck it would most certainly sound different to how it would if you made the whole thing from maple.[/quote] Thats a really interesting idea and the question in my mind is how different? There are Stingrays now with mahogany bodies and Mike Brooks did a review in BGM of the 20th Ann SR5 with the mahogany tone block. I would have said smoke and mirrors but he was convinced there was something to it. [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='254578' date='Aug 4 2008, 04:03 PM']I would be prepared to believe that a 40 year old plank of wood sounds different to a newish one due to all sorts of factors, but vibrartion of the strings?? Sounds like bollox to me [/quote] The strings ARE connected to the wood! I think there's something to be said for older instruments, it depends on the amount of use they've had. I think the wood loses mass a little bit and becomes less rigid with a bit of sustained thrashing. Thats part of what makes the growl! My PreEB SR is well muntered but is very growly. The neck doesn't feel as stiff to me as a new one.

blimey that IS tidy. Any ideas on production numbers?

[quote name='simon1964' post='254288' date='Aug 4 2008, 12:03 PM']Have they been sending free copies to Basschat members?[/quote] I doubt it, we don't have any postal address data for members and we don't give out real names or any other personal information to third parties without members written consent.

[quote name='noisedude' post='254061' date='Aug 4 2008, 02:23 AM']I got shot down in flames a while back on this forum for having the temerity to claim that neck joints make any difference to how a bass sounds...... ![/quote] Where was that then? Got a link? [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='254069' date='Aug 4 2008, 06:58 AM']I think if you read his article you'll see that he doesn't say that the wood doesn't make any difference - he says that it doesn't make as much difference as (some) think it does. Firstly, I'm inclined to think that he knows what he is talking about. I also, suspect that I haven't played enough instruments and really thought about it to know any better. The type of hardware, pickup choice and location etc., could *easily* make much more difference than the choice of wood and I'd find it hard to refute if someone claimed that.[/quote] In principle, fair point but my experience differs from his. I don't think he has a very well structured argument.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='253991' date='Aug 3 2008, 11:09 PM']Crazy Kiwi: Hey Steve, just listened to all your basses Love your 'rhythmic' right hand damping - I do that a lot as well. That Cellinder jazz sounds amazing! Rich.[/quote] thanks Rich , I literally plugged the instruments and bashed stuff out. Which reminds me, I should really upload clips of the Cutlass II as well.

I think wood is fundamental to the tonal character of an instrument. Listen for yourself. [url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmanstingray.htm[/url] [url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/musicmancutlass.htm[/url] One has a graphite neck. If materials didn't make a difference, the two basses would sound the same. Maybe some people can't appreciate the differences, in the same way that some people can't appreciate the difference between red plonk and a half decent merlot. However I've played enough instruments (and buggered around with them) to feel pretty comfortable in knowing how much of a contribution the wood makes. The rules aren't hard and fast for tonewoods because wood varies in density and mass, and the sound of an instrument can even vary with humidity so its always possible that a piece of alder and a piece of ash could sound similar if they share similar characteristics. However if you've played enough 70's Fender Jazz basses you'll notice the good 'uns from the bad 'uns despite the materials being the same. The other thing that hasn't been addressed in article is the way in which tonewoods contribute to the feel of an instrument. The flexibility of the neck has an impact on characteristics such as sustain, attack and decay and on the tension in the strings. Its this characteristic of planned flexibility which is key to the warm growly sound of Smith basses, Ken Smith deliberately designs some flexibility into the instrument. Alembic, by contrast, designs out as much flexibility as possible. By way of further demonstration, have a listen to samples here: [url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/alembicseries1.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/alembicseries1.htm[/url] [url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/smithbsr5gn.htm"]http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/smithbsr5gn.htm[/url] Do you think the writer of that article would retain any credibility by arguing that these instruments sound the same? If he's arguing for not needing to use exotic woods, fair enough. I think he has a point. But to make that point by completely dismissing the idea of tonewoods is remarkably ill-considered.

No gigs again this weekend, I backed out because I was down to go to dubai which didn't end up happening. Didn't miss it at all. It was nice to rattle around the flat a bit, if anything.

I thought you'd snagged the graphite necked energy that was for sale. The wooden necked status basses rarely sell for a lot of money. They can be reasonably good value so long as you can be sure of selling it for close to what you purchased it for.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='253617' date='Aug 3 2008, 09:40 AM']Curiously, Bongos seem to be worth more at the moment. Is it the modernity or the novelty value, I wonder?[/quote] Probably because they aren't as easy to find second hand?

That looks really nice, no wonder Jon's pleased with that blue. I was due to pop up there today myself to drop some bits off and check on progress but apparently it was a bit of a drop in session according to Jon. Looks like I might be up there next weekend, assuming I'm not overseas.