tedmanzie

This wouldn't last long on Dragons Den... 😝

On 16/04/2019 at 21:09, musicbassman said:

OK, let's consider the bassline on Go West's  'We Close Our Eyes'  (1985).  It sounds just like a very well written sequenced bassline now, but at the time it seemed to tear up the bass rulebook in terms of phrasing.

Around 1986, Richard Drummie was a guest musician as part of a bass and drums workshop in Brighton which I attended, and he explained that the bass line for this was originally the vocal line from another song he had written with Peter Cox - " we fiddled around with it and it seemed to work"   - God, if only I was that clever!  But maybe it does help explain why it sounded so fresh.

Here's two bass players covering this - contrast and compare - 

Mattivenn goes for a very staccato approach, but Doc 40 Khz is very slightly more legato.  ( By the way, doesn't that Yamaha sound the biz ?)

 

Yamaha version is tasty! (both v good)

Crikey 😬

For anyone that wants to luxuriate in the finer details of the bassline and drums without Mr Astley, then here is the actual mastertape, just  drum and bass tracks - nice!:

I was casually playing along to Aleem - Release Yourself last night, and I found myself really getting into the details of trying to play exactly like an 80s sequencer -  trying to get 'machine like' timing, exact note length, dynamics etc. No fills, no little extra bits chucked in! I really enjoyed playing like that, especially the lack of fills and 'decoration'. I can't say I sounded much like a sequencer tbh but nevermind.  I think it might be the future for me. I Am A Robot. 🤖

Anyone else enjoy like playing like this?!  Sorry if this a daft question.

I’ve had 6 or 7 Precisions, you don’t need to spend £1500 but for that money you can get a lot of options. It’s not particularly helpful advice but you really need to just go and try a load out - the neck shape and the weight can vary a lot, fret size too (I like old school skinny frets) and not many have a thin neck comparable to your Geddy Lee - I mean NONE are as thin as that (I had a geddy at one point) but the 80s JV Squiers (the 62 models) i have owned have pretty small necks for Precisions, so I’m assuming current Fender 60s replica models may be similar? The 50s style neck is wider string spacing and chunkier from what I’ve tried. I think the current Nate Mendel signature model has a slimmer neck than standard but rosewood board (lots of good reports about that bass though, may be worth a try!).

I like older style p-basses, ones that have been kicked around a bit - my absolute favourite is my mid 80s Japanese Squire, cost £450

I’m quite a fan of those CS lightly reliced p’s, but some people think it’s daft.

hmmm rambling on here... 

3 hours ago, ubit said:

Im at work just now, but when I get home I can give you the exact model no. But I think most active EV speakers will be top notch. I have tops and subs 

Thanks

1 hour ago, ubit said:

I’ve got an Electrovoice PA. it sounds incredible! I’ve plugged my iPod into it and gave it the beans and it sounded better than the disco pa that was in the venue we were playing in. Mp3’s And it was absolutely crystal clear! Thumping bass and super defined high end.  Just heavenly! 

What are the speakers?

59 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

All PAs at any given price are pretty comparable. None stands above any other for quality (at any particular price point, obviously). RCF, EV and Mackie are 3 of the big players in affordable PA. Things improve (obviously) as you spend more.  Why not try hiring a few different ones at your usual rate and see which you prefer? 

I don't want to take the chance that it will be worse than what I normally get, I was hoping to piggy back on the wisdom of someone else's experimentation

I occasionally do parties for 100ish people and I’ve always rented the same kit - either Mackie srm 450s + matching sub, or RCF 322a s with matching sub. These are the only option this particular rental place provides, the sound is fine (rcf are better I think) but I’ve never tried anything else. Does anyone have experience with these and others that could recommend if I could get a better setup please?  This is for DJing, not a band. I’m after quality and big sound - think club/dancefloor!  I usually pay around £150 for hire.

Thanks

Bump for EBS tremolo

Are these the lightweight tuners?

£780 (inc vat) + Postage £15 (uk) Offers considered (pm me)

This has had extremely light use in my non-smoking studio. Mint condition, boxed, original Elektron psu, Elektron USB lead, manual, latest firmware, compatible with Overbridge 1 or 2 (download from Elektron) so you can control the machine from your DAW, stream audio etc.  3 months guarantee remaining.

True analog combined with samples, this thing sounds genuinely fantastic 😜

 

Barely used, well looked after, £10 posted

bump 

Update! After causing a near Basschat Meltdown with the 'pros use a p-bass' clip, Scott Devine posts another clip from the same interview where Sean Hurley clarifies that he uses a P-Bass with roundwounds on 90% of his sessions, but also has a P-Bass with flats, a McCartney-esque Hofner, and a 5 string in the boot of the car... So some semblance of order is restored to the universe. Or does it unleash the P-v-J-Bass war?! 💥😝
 

19 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

is it just me or does anybody else find it irritating when bassists take their hand off the neck when playing an open string, usually with a 'look at me aren't I clever' look on their faces? when it's exactly the opposite to being clever.

It's the bass player's equivalent of riding no handed on a bike - you can get away with doing it when you're a teenager, but any older and not only do you look like a knob, it's very likely to go pear shaped 🍐😬

Thanks Paul 🌵 

I'd like to buy some shorter set screws for my japanese squier fender bass saddles, but I can't find out what size i need -  M3, M4 etc.

Can anyone help please?

John Paul Jones on this Dusty Springfield song, I love that propulsive rising chromatic run thing in the intro (also later on) and the busy Motown-esque bassline. 

Got any favourites that do this kind of thing? I like the way it pushes the song along.

Bump and price drop

bump and all prices dropped 🎉

Bass Gallery are selling the new Wilcock short scale basses if you fancy spending £1500
https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass-new-arrival/products/wilcock-the-mullarkey-short-scale

51 minutes ago, chris_b said:

My thumb moves between the pickup, (B string), E string or A string. It moves automatically, and without any input from me, depending on the string I'm playing. I have only seen floating thumb being used on a gig (as opposed to a video lesson) once, by Alphonso Johnson. So far I have not seen any of the "greats" using floating thumb, so I don't see any benefit in trying to change my perfectly workable technique.

I mute the strings positioned above (ie E when you're playing an A etc) the one I'm playing with my right thumb and the ones below with my left fingers. You will get problems with ringing strings if your accuracy when plucking the string isn't very precise. Try to only hit the intended string with your right hand.

Thanks I'm going to work on this, I need to get smoother when moving my thumb down to rest on the A string.

I’m trying to improve my finger technique. I mostly play with my thumb resting on the E, briefly lifting it upwards to rest on the pickup if I’m playing the E string. My two fingers are doing the muting ok - eg pluck the A and rest/mute back on the E string below. The problem is sometimes playing the G string leaves the A open. I’ve tried the ‘floating thumb’ (like scott devine) technique but I’m finding it awkward.  I watch some pros on YouTube and they seem rooted to resting their thumb on the pickup and I can’t work out how they are muting. Should I just persevere with the ‘floating thumb’?  I think that’s what Pino P is doing in the vid below?

Btw my left hand muting is pretty good,  but maybe there are techniques I’m missing.

I’m coming from pick playing where muting is all left hand and palm, and that’s all ok.

Any tips welcome

[ignore £639 above that was when more mics were listed here]

Shure DMK57-52 drum mic kit - £390 £360 posted (uk)