oggiesnr

I practice part of one of his exercises every day. I use it in conjunction with a metronome (subdivided as needed) to really make me concentrate on bow speed and useage. Steve

I enjoy Basschat and it is less bad feeling than many other forums I belong to. As far as OT is concerned I partake carefully and opt out when it starts getting personal. One of the forums I belong to has a forum called "The Fireplace", it's restricted to members who've made a reasonable number of posts and the Mods apply one rule consistently "attack the argument not the person" if it descends into personal abuse then sanctions occur. Seems to keep it in check. Steve

Love Potion Number 9 (take your choice of versions), any early Cash, Just can't get enough (Depeche Mode). If you think your set list is eclectic you should see the twenty-four songs we're working on with the ukelele group (five of your songs are on the list). Have fun Steve

I'm in the "using a tuner to check" brigade. Opening a slightly different can of worms there can be a good reason for this. Not all of us hear notes the same way and in fact the tempered scale is a compromise created for those instruments that have fixed tuning or frets. When I'm playing solo, certain notes in the scale that sound "in tune" to me are actually slightly out when measured against a tuner. So I'm using the tuner to help re-tune my ear. If you really want fun, try playing with a cajun box player using a traditionally tuned box where the third and the seventh notes are about fifteen cents flat (and the fourth may be 15 cents sharp) in an approximation of just intonation. It then gets more complicated as they play in cross position (G on a C tuned box). Great fun but really screws up your notion of intonation. Steve

Bandoneon, nearly a five octave range so I can even play bass lines on it and if I played it exclusively I'd finally learn where all the notes are It also has the advantage that it's one native key is A which suits my singing "voice" Steve

gstring on my android phone. Trick is to position really close in a noisy room. Steve

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1365520815' post='2040635'] Times change, I wonder if Stiff had to go through all that. [/quote] Every time we promoted a Stiff act they made sure we completed a PRS form so they could get their cut. Steve

[quote name='Leon Transaxle' timestamp='1365511956' post='2040484'] I really like Ed Alleyn-Johnson's original work, though not such a fan of his 'covers' albums. But again this is violin not bass. [/quote] He's great fun to watch live. His use of pedals and octavers is great, It also helps that he's a really nice guy. Steve

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1365078205' post='2034923'] I know a bass-playing mechanic, so I understand this. Very tough call. Some jobs are just hand-wreckers. No kind of gloves practical at all? [/quote] I have a couple of problems. My day job (part of) relies on cutting wood with a fretsaw (either pedal or electric depending on whether I'm on the street or in my workshop) which requires pressure to hold the wood down and also feeds vibration though my fingertips (one of which also has scar tissue from my last minor accident) so I have vibration white finger in a couple of finger ends. I also have the effects of the broken left wrist from eighteen months ago. My right hand is fine but the left one is hurting a lot of the time to an extent where I haven't used my Street Trading License for several months. I have tried working in gloves and it doesn't work real well, I also tend to sand through the ends of them at a rate of knots. I'm hoping that when (if) it gets warmer then things will improve but at the moment, just when I feel I'm making progress with the bass I'm having to cut right back. Steve

I'm at the stage where I can either work with my hands or play bass. When the weather gets warmer it may get better, if not there's going to be a bass for sale as I have to earn a living. Steve

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1364985472' post='2033589'] But what if you are employed by someone to be their backing band? If the front man wants all the attention then it is your job to stay out of the way and generally keep a low profile isn't it? [/quote] Prime example being Bill Black who got told by Colonel Parker "Hey, man, you've got to cut this out. You're not the star. Elvis is the star." Steve

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1364901024' post='2032287'] All I'm saying is that above inflation price rises are not sustainable in the current economic environment, regardless of their motivation or cause. This point is particularly important for retailers of non-essential goods (into this category, much as we might protest, musical instruments fall), as these are the first to get cut back on when the axe has to fall. Who knows how long this economic stupor will last? [/quote] It's a Catch 22. There comes a time when you have to put your prices up or you go under. Shops are under the same inflationary pressure as everyone else. There's no point selling basses (or in my case jigsaws) if you're making a loss. Most shops have done the obvious cost reductions by now, laying off staff, reducing inventory etc etc, in the end you can be left with little option. Steve

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1364811242' post='2031046'] Companies in general had better watch out, the more they increase prices (further pushing up inflation) while the disparity between inflation and salary increases continues, the less people will be able to afford the goods offered for sale. I'm no economist, so excuse my simplistic view of the situation but it seems like a slippery slope to me. [/quote] The converse being that if companies don't make a profit they go bust. In some businesses there are other options, change product lines, manufacturers etc, but if someone wants a Fender they're probably not likely to accept a substitute so as a retailer you're between a rock and a hard place. Running a business costs money and there's only so much margin you can squeeze before you no longer have a business. A weak pound means that, irrespective of what Fender do, dollar goods are becoming more expensive and at some point that has to be passed on. Steve

If it's your finger tips that are the problem then it could be Raynards (vibration white finger) which I have in two fingers. In my case it's because my day job involves using a fretsaw which transmits vibrations to the fingers I use to press the wood down as I'm cutting it. What happens if your hands get cold? Steve

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1364673095' post='2029605'] Blimey. They were clearly paying attention during the 'Business Development' module of their ACM/BIMM/LIM course. As impressive as the website is, sadly I find the actual musical part of their product very limp and sterile. As the Jam lyric goes, 'the public wants what the public gets'. [/quote] Either that or they've been looking at how wedding photographers work/charge these days. It's a very good, up front approach. You just have to be sure to deliver on the package. Steve

I have a Hidersine. Be warned, the back straps are worse than useless as the top of the bass ends up so far above your head that it catches on tree branches, road signs etc! I strap it to a small sack barrow for longer distances and so far so good. Steve

As with all instruments I think it's a case of getting out there and trying some out, what suits one person may be a dog to someone else. It's also worth remembering that not all guitars of the same make and model are created equal, the difference in feel and tone can be startling. Steve

I'm having fun with this but it's a huge learning curve. I've never tried to do this before and so I'm learning as I go. Probably won't get a useable result this time but maybe another month. I've had four false starts so far and I'm just about to go back and start with the drums. I'm using Cubase LE4 and by the time i finish I may know my way round their manual Steve

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1363779854' post='2017390'] I do covers and originals. I couldn't give a stuff who wrote the tunes. They're either good or they're not. [/quote] +1 Added to this I'm a folkie so everything I do is a cover . However not all covers bands are created equal. I have heard some which can take a song a rework it and make it sound fresh and interesting (and get the audience going) and others who can take a great song and kill it even though they're playing it note perfect. Steve PS I'm currently playing double bass in a ukelele group which is about to start gigging. I'm playing a range of material that I would never usually have played and because the keys and feel are different from the originals I'm having the fun of making up my own bass lines. Highly recommended as a way of stretching your comfort zone.

There's no point getting most semi-acoustic or acoustic basses, they won't hack it against guitar and vocals. I'm lucky as I have a Tacoma Thunderchief which can handle a guitar and several other instruments OK in a purely acoustic setting ( I use it for Irish sessions). If there's a PA then I plug it in to whatever amp or channel is handy. Other than that then the small Line6 works well but you need to be aware of the balance with everything else. Steve

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1363598525' post='2014405'] Can they not break up the scar tissue with physio and laser/ultrasound? [/quote] Yes, but it's a long wait as it's non-urgent. Steve

It now transpires that there is long term damage, I have scar tissue throughout the muscle above the joint. It means that I have to finger any instrument with my finger tip otherwise it gets very swollen and painful. A side effect from this is that the neck on my current bass is too chunky (I have small hands). I can't yet afford an upgrade to the next level of bass so the bass has gone back to Peter at Beverley Music to re-profile the neck. Hopefully this will help sort the problem. Steve

Thanks for Scott's exercise, I'm away to practice Steve

Set a metronome to 60 and clap along to it. If you are on the beat you will not here the metronome, if you're off you'll hear a double sound. Once you're happy at 60, speed up to 70 and repeat. Keep upping the tempo. For further exercises (thank you Lisa, my bass teacher), set the metronome to 30 but clap in double time (on the off beat as well) so every other clap should be in time. Speed up and repeat etc. Finally start at 20 and clap four times so every fourth clap should sound on the beat. Repeat etc. It's a lot harder than it sounds Steve

As another trying to move to two fingers, are there any specific exercises that anyone can suggest? Thanks Steve