Doddy

I love the Meatbox, but I never look at it as being an octaver because it doesn't do the traditional octave thing like the OC2 or the the EBS (for example) does. I look at it more as a dedicated sub, that sits under everything and sounds massive through the PA. I nearly always take both out ( normally the 3 Leaf Octabvre and a Mantic Beefbag) and they both do completely different jobs.

Is it? It looks like Mike Gordon from Phish to me.

F Bass BNF

You wouldn't call the chord something like a G3 because the third is the defining note as to whether the chord is major or minor. For example, C and E is major, D and F is minor. You could play just those two notes together and it would imply the chord quality, whereas a power chord would really just emphasise the root motion without much tonality. So rather than write G3 you could just write G or Gmin, depending on which third you play. A slash chord like C/E is saying that you would play a C chord with an E in the bass. I would take a guess that if you were asked to play a C double stop on the violin you would play it in this inversion without thinking of it as a slash chord, in a similar way to how a barre chord on guitar puts the 3rd above the 5th. The notes might be inverted, but they are still portraying the chord quality. I hope this makes sense, it's kind of long winded.

Rutgar Gunnarsson usually played a 60's Fender Jazz or a 70's Musicman Stingray. Later he used the Hagstrom Super Swede and a Steinberger (according to his interview in Bass Player years ago.) Mike Watson usually used a '60's Fender Jazz.

The Subdecay Proteus is a really cool filter . It's a similar size to the MXR, so it's not massive, and it sounds great to me.

There are so many good drive pedals around, that it really depends on what style you like. I like the Ashdown NM2 because you can use the channel 1 as a relatively mild overdrive, channel 2 for more distortion, or both for a full on sound. You can pick them up at a good price. I also like using an OCD style overdrive. My favourite is the Fuzzrocious Oh See Demon (now just named Demon), but you could get a similar sound out of most of the OCD style pedals. I know you said no multi effects but the overdrive on the Fender Downtown Express is pretty good too.

It's not really an Octave pedal though is it 😉😊 It makes sense that you'd like the Line 6 M5 octave sound if you like the EBS pedal. That's what it is modelled on.

When I have to play this song I use a 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre (with the mix knob at about 1 O'clock) running in to an envelope filter, my favourite being the Emma DiscumBOBulator. It gives a slightly synthy tone but with enough clean signal that it's not muddy. The filter adds a bit of a vocal quality. You can probably get a similar sound with any decent filter and octave pedal, although something similar to an OC2 will be more synth like than,say, the EBS.

Yes. It's meant to simulate the upper bout of an acoustic, so it should be at the rear of the bass rather than crossing over the front. There is another piece that hangs around your thigh area. Both pieces together give you a similar feel to the solid back of an upright.

Lovely. Mo Clifton makes the best electric uprights, in my opinion. Just out of interest, I think you may have the upper bout on the wrong way around.

I've not read every page, but I'll throw in my 2 pence worth. I've got a bunch of good octave pedals, but I've pretty much not done a gig in the last 5 years where I haven't used my 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre. I love that pedal. It might not be quite as subby as the OC2, but it's pretty damn close, and I think it has a wider tonal range and the switch to solo the sub makes it super versatile. I've also been liking the Digitech Whammy Ricochet for the times that I want to use an octave up, and though not strictly an octave pedal, I've been using a Mantic Beef Bag a lot for some super low subs.

I spent a few hours at the F Bass factory back in October. As well as being shown around every part of the workshop, I was able to try out a few of their basses. The BN5 felt great. The 34.5" scale was comfortable, and the elongated top horn shifts the bass position to bring the lower frets in closer. Sound wise, they are clearly Jazz influenced, but the boost only preamp has a huge tonal range. The slap tone was killer. I also tried out an AC Classic fretless which is undoubtedly the nicest fretless I've ever played. I've got some very nice high end instruments, and I've played a lot more, but I'm currently discussing my build spec on a BN5 with the guys at F Bass. For me, they are that good.

I've not been on Basschat for ages,other than to look for gear, but I was having a nose around, saw this thread ,and decided to comment on this bit. I've heard a lot of people say that they have never been asked to read on a gig. There is a reason for this. It's because you are not a reader, so nobody will call you for those types of gigs. You will only get offered reading gigs if you put yourself out there as someone who can read. You say that rhythm is not hard for you, in which case you are over halfway there. There are far more variations in rhythm than there are notes. Without sounding like an arrogant jerk or anything, I reckon that I could have you reading some basics within a couple of hours, as probably any decent teacher could.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1413911600' post='2583529'] I know exactly what you are saying. The point is, if you had 5 mates who wanted to form an AC/DC tribute band, and that is all they ever want o do, is there any reason for them to learn to read music? If you want to be the best you can possibly be, then reading music is probably the best thing for you to do. I am not arguing with you on the merits of reading music, as i have a lot of respect for your answers on the theory side, but there must be some reasons why you just don`t need to read anything but tab [/quote] If you want to play in a band like that, then no you don't need to read at all.In those situations I would always recommend learning the music by ear. It's the best way of doing it. I'd still recommend to read though,if only to a basic level. Not even for gigging reasons. It just opens up a whole new world of information that was previously unavailable. I've got tons of books and magazines and I can only think of one that has any form of rhythmic notation in the tab,yet every single one has complete notation.My favourite books to study are all notation only.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1413908095' post='2583467'] ...but this is patently not true, or only for Western music. There are many Oriental virtuosi who have only ever learnt and played by ear; it's their musical tradition. All is not Mozart; there are other idioms. [/quote] Of course that's their tradition.There is nothing wrong with that, I've never said their is.There are great players all over that play by ear. What i pointed out was that the guys who have a good ear and can read will get more work opportunities than having just one or the other. That's why guys like Nathan East and Will Lee and Steve Pearce are so busy.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1413907860' post='2583462'] But I don't want to do theatre or cruise ship work. Therefore I don't need both. [/quote] Neither did I.....but I get them because I can do both.

[quote name='TheSiberian' timestamp='1413875846' post='2582906'] However, playing with a flat eq needs first the bass guitar to be well balanced and set up. [/quote] Its a good job that all my instruments are, then.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1413907338' post='2583453'] You don't 'need' both unless you're likely to do a gig where it's essential that you read. [/quote] But you'll never get offered those gigs if you can't do both.

The question is, why would you not play by ear? It's an important skill to have.I'm pretty sure everyone here has learnt songs just by listening. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I used to sit with the radio on and play along to everything that came on. When you are transcribing stuff you are basically doing the same thing, only you are putting the notes down on paper. If you can combine playing by ear with knowledge of harmony, you can pretty much play along to anything first time.

I don't think that's what Bilbo was getting at. Of course their is nothing to stop anyone from learning to read, but generally if someones thought is 'I don't need to read for my situation' they often won't feel the need to learn. What I think is interesting in this situation is that when people say that they have never had to read, I find that it's because they can't to begin with so they aren't going to get called for those gigs. If you are a good reader you will get reading gigs because people will know that you can do it.

I think there is always new things to learn. It's easy to say you don't need to practice because of this reason or that reason, but I don't think like that. Maybe I'm on a gig and didn't execute something as well as I would have liked-I now what I need to practice next day.Maybe I got thrown by reading a difficult passage, so I'll go away and practice my reading. Maybe I wasn't happy with my soloing one night. There are always things to brush up on and improve. The other thing is just learning new things for the sake of it.I'm currently working Damian Erskines excellent books.I may not need to use the 3 finger technique or some of the concepts and ideas right now, but there will be times when I will, and I want to be prepared.I also want to be better today than I was yesterday.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1413884394' post='2583029'] If i wanted to join a covers band and get out live, then i probably would go down the tab route [/quote] Even then, I wouldn't recommend that route. Every band (cover or otherwise) that I've worked with that uses any form of chart, uses either chord charts or notation.

I play 5 strings 90% of the time, and there are times when I don't touch the B string all night. There are other times when I might play further up the neck to give my shoulder a bit of a rest. I really don't like it when people camp out on the low B just because it's there, especially in a trio setting-it doesn't add weight, it often sound emptier.

I set up my EQ for pick playing in the same way I EQ for everything else-everything flat. The only time I EQ anything is if I have to notch out a certain frequency because if the room. I change things up by moving my right hand position. With a pick, I like to play with a more palm muted sound rather than wide open-it's a great sound. I like to use heavy picks too-the Ibanez Steve Vai ones are my favourite.