SlapbassSteve

I think I'm secretly a lead guitarist in a bassists body, I like plenty of mid/treble so I can kid myself my jazz sounds like Geddy Lee and every now and then do sick lead fills that don't turn into mush. More generally speaking, most music these days is mixed for those tinny phone speakers you hear kids playing music through on the bus, so for the bass to be heard it has to be pretty trebley to cut through... especially for the likes of all this bass-lead indie-ish stuff, Two Door Cinema Club spring to mind...

I'm after one of the Squier Standard P/J precisions in that sexy redburst colour but they're proving a bit scarce- are they discontinued and if so, when did it happen? And if anyone knows where I can get hold of one that'd be boss... [size=4] [/size] [size=4]Cheers![/size]

How are we defining band here? Admittedly this probably shows my ignorance, but from what I've seen JLS themselves are basically a few glorified karaoke singers working to a backing track(or if an actual backing band of instrumentalists is involved, they're very well hidden indeed...)

Definitely looks worth the extra £150 over usual going rate for a hohner jack, I'd say that's a good price for one

I think the '1' in the price tag must be accidental... surely..?

[quote name='kerley' timestamp='1357929674' post='1930828'] I prefer the standard Mustang without the Pawn shop amendments. [/quote] I wonder what the price difference will be?

Was just about to start a thread on these... beautiful! Anyone have any idea when they're gonna land over here and how much they'll go for?

Walk of Life and Walking on Sunshine absolutely do my head in, although weirdly Dakota is one of my favourites- not for the notes I'm playing but because we finish with it so it's the only song where I can justifiably pretend I'm a guitard by playing a mini solo fill behind my head in the last chorus and stuff.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1357831677' post='1929206'] That's fair enough chap, was just curious. Popular music really changed in '54 when "That's Allright" was released, and the first mainstream electric bass, as you say was late '51, so 1960 seemed to be an odd choice, but then if thats what the courses these days start from, then who am I to comment. Good luck with the dissertation anyway, interesting, very broad, and very subjective subject, that you could sum up in 3 or 4 paragraphs, or a 4 volume book series, no doubt yours will be somewhere in between. I wish you well, can I reserve the first copy when you're finished? [/quote] Cheers! Will update this thread when it's done and send out copies to anyone interested

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1357828719' post='1929122'] Why have you chosen to start at 1960? Any specific reason? [/quote] A lot of my popular music exams through college and uni so far have been concerned with 'popular music since 1960' as it differentiates from 'classical music since 1900' ...not ideal, I'd have said somewhere between 1945-55 would have been a better start date, or for this at least from '51 when the first P was introduced.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1357827335' post='1929071'] No problem, if you're looking for anyone to chat through ideas/details feel free to drop me a line PS. good on you for giving yourself more time to do it than I did... ... 4 days [/quote] haha brilliant, was convinced I'd left it far too late, but leaving it to the last 4 days must've required some absolutely heroic levels of procrastination! I'm stocking up on ProPlus in case I forget about it again...

[quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1357826784' post='1929056'] ...is something I would like to read. Drop me a line if you need professional (i.e. amateur but with registered company) proofreading, depending on time constraints. MA in English, qualified to teach at Uni level and all that. [/quote] Fantastic, may well take you up on that if you've got the time when it's ready!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1357826171' post='1929026'] Ok, how about a slightly different spin on it then. Build a timeline of the significant developments in bass construction[list] [*]Pickups [*]Circuitry [*]Strings [*]Neck Construction [*]Body construction (chambering etc) [*]Outboard equipment, DI's, effects pedals etc.. [*]Fretboard developments - Fretless, fretted, impregnated.. [/list] ...and instead of saying how the sound actually changed, perhaps describe what new opportunities arose for bassists to alter their sound [/quote] Cheers, that looks like a good way into it! Be interesting to write about why/or not the new developments were used

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1357825690' post='1929014'] Out of interest what's the title of the dissertation? [/quote] Might need to edit it once I've actually done some more research, but for now I'm going with [i]'To what extent have technological developments (and not genre developments) changed the sound of the electric bass in popular music since 1960?' [/i]

Cheers for the words of advice folks! It is a very broad subject, I was thinking the best way of tackling this would be to find two recordings from 'then and now' within a particular genre and comparing them- say the tone on a 60's rock tune like Born To Be Wild and the comparing that to whatever the modern equivalent is, say Kings of Leon (or perhaps something a little heavier, I expect I'd need to look into some metal). The biggest problem I can see is the subjectivity of it, it'll be very easy for me to start gushing over how amazing Geddy Lee sounds compared to James Jamerson's dull thudding, whereas someone else would quite happily do the 12000 words on the exact opposite.

Hi all, currently working towards a dissertation but lagging behind a bit as I can't find(alright, haven't really looked yet... been busy gigging n' such... ) a whole lot of literature on the subject. Anyone know of any books which discuss how bass sounds in the studio have changed over the years, or failing that anything on close listening so I can use the recordings themselves as sources to talk about, but using the right lingo in the process..? Looking for things like development of the basses themselves(active vs passive, rise and fall of foam mute pads etc...), improvements in studio audio quality, bass amp development, and also changes in playing style. Bit of a broad topic I know, hoping to really whittle it down once I've spent the next few weeks intensively focussing on it. Any thoughts?

What on earth is that..?

I love it, had it on repeat all day and pretty disappointed it isn't eligible for the UK singles chart. ...Did anyone else notice Tony Levin's cheeky nods to Don't Give Up near the end? I like the reference, but it's odd to feature a nod to a 1980's Peter Gabriel hit on DB's supposed comeback in 2013.

I've just bought a BDI-21 to spice up my Markbass rig's tone, sounds boss on it's own and the tube distortion is decent, however it seems to absolutely destroy the mids in a fashion I'd have loved when I was going through my bedroom bassist phase... looking forward to trying it in a band setting to see if I can keep the valve sound without loosing all the mids and promptly getting lost in the mix...

I'd steer well clear of eBay for Shure gear, there's more fake then real SM58s on there... Thomann/GAK are a much better bet as you can be 100% certain it's the real deal.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1357257591' post='1920138'] Folks, Got two Classic Vibes with s.nrs. starting with CGS08 and CGS12 The web seemed inconclusive as to whether one or two number positions count. Were they made in '08 and '12, Were they made in '10 and '11? Thanks! best, bert [/quote] Pretty certain it'll be '08 and '12

It's all in the mwahh. And slides. Gotta love the slides... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNDqzpgzdis

I had a Wesley Nimrod flying V bass for a couple of years, pretty sure it was under £100 new and very nicely made for the money. V's are a bit marmite and pretty rare s/h, and I ended up selling mine because I simply couldn't justify using it with my covers band because it looked a bit too metal and it was impossible to get a case for. Also had a Stagg flying V guitar once, easily the worst 6-string I've ever owned. Not bad to look at(the finish was boss), but the worst pickups I've ever found in a guitar, and a horrendous cricket bat neck(it was wider at the nut then the body joint... is that even possible..?) so if Stagg still make a V bass I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm sure there's a video somewhere of Geddy Lee playing a Precision and still sounding alarmingly like Geddy Lee on his Jazz.