Doddy

It depends on what you want to use a looper for. I've only used one a few times on gigs, but I think they are an important practice tool. It's great to be able to loop a series of changes or a bassline and play ideas over the top.It can also lead to some compositional ideas. Just out of interest, I don't use the TC Ditto.I've had a Boss RC20xl for years and I bought a Digitech JamMan Express XT last year which is similar to the Ditto but I preferred it.

I'd start off with 'Greatest Hits of the 20th Century', it's a good overview of their first few albums. There is great stuff on all of their albums but you need to listen to the tune 'Sinister Minister'.

Carol Kaye Esperanza Spalding Me'shell Ndegeocello Rhonda Smith

Yeah they did but like you say, that's where they ended up. As the OP has only been playing for under a year I think it would be more beneficial to encourage them to focus on a better technique at this point.

Regardless of whether Slither can be played using open strings or not, I think there is another important point that hasn't been mentioned. A couple of posts have mentioned panicking at having to play a song in a slightly different tuning than you've practiced, or being out of tune and not being able to hear it. If you can't hear that you are a semi tone or tone out or you are so stuck in a pattern that you struggle to get out of it, you need to spend time in the practice room working on your ear training and fingerboard knowledge.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1406719861' post='2514025'] The "rule book" works for most players but every so often someone comes along like Larry Graham, James Jamerson and Jaco Pastorius. Those guys ripped it up and started again. [/quote] Jaco and Jamerson new the 'rules' first though.

The shape switch certainly gives you are very usable tone.It gives you the popular mid scooped tone that has been used and heard many times. Personally, I don't use it much because I prefer a flatter resonse, but it's a good option to have.

No problems at all with using your thumb to pluck the strings.Ever wondered why the inger rest is under the strings on the original Precision Basses? Fretting with the thumb is a bad idea though.It shifts your hand in to an uncomfortable position and really restricts your hand movement. I've seen it use in certain situations but it's not a good idea to do it consistently.

I'd recommend an OC2 any day. I've got loads of fancy effects but there is nothing like the OC2. It's certainly my most used pedal.

I'd recommend an OC2 any day. I've got loads of fancy effects but there is nothing like the OC2. It's certainly my most used pedal.

I think the problem is that it becomes easy for people to take the piss under the guise of charity. You get some bands that play loads of charity gigs for nothing, that's their choice...no problem. The problem starts when it then becomes difficult to get any form of money because you've already set your reputation as being willing and able to play for free.Why would a venue pay you when another place up the road is getting you for nothing a couple of weeks later? The other side of it is the fact that there are other people being paid.You may get some stuff for free but I guess bar staff won't be one of them? People are also, generally, paying over the bar and I pretty much guarantee that money won't be going to charity. I don't mind charity stuff if it's worthwhile, but I still expect to get my expenses covered. Edit...I was watching Undercover Boss the other day.It was nice to see the boss of Oxfam didn't get paid lots because it was for charity. Oh, wait.............

That song is dead easy in drop D because you can just bounce off one string,but even on a five string I don't think that it's particulary difficult to play-it's basically just an arpeggio. It's the kind of tune that I'd prefer to play on a drop tuned four but if I was playing a five string I'd just play it in standard tuning.

From what I've been told, the Nerve sound basically starts with a Boss OC2 with the direct level turned down low or off. The Digitech Bass Synth Wah has a pretty good low pass filter,you just need to play around with it for a bit.For the price, you can't knock it.I've also had success with the Ibanez SB7.

I think the best way of learning rhythms is just to count.Try to count the bar as 1e+a 2e+a 3e+a 4e+a, that way you have all the subdivisions of a bar of semi quavers.So, for example, if you were playing a galloping bassline the rhythm would be 1(e)+a 2(e)+a etc. Eventually you become able to recognise the patterns and you don't have to count them, but when you come across something unfamiliar you'll still be able to count it. This, for me, is where learning verbal phrases falls down short-if you've not seen a rhythm before and you don't have a word or phrase for it, how are you going to work it out? If you're counting, you can work it out easily enough.

I don't get why this is a problem. If you know what notes you're playing and where they are on the fingerboard in whatever tuning you are using(drop D isn't much different than standard) , then there shouldn't really be a problem.

I used Comfort Strapp for a long time.They're very good but I was still getting uncomfortable when playing long nights. I swapped over to the Gruv Gear Damian Erskine Duo Strap and can honestly say that it's the best strap I've used. Really comfortable and distributes the weight nicely. I'm guessing that the Solo Strap would be just as high quality if you don't fancy the comfort of splitting the weight over both shoulders.

One of my favourite bands. I think 'Stunt' is probably their best album,but there is some great stuff on all their albums.They've changed a bit since going down to a 4 piece but they're still cool. They are great live. Jim Creegan plays some nice stuff on both electric and upright too.

Cheers Skank. I wouldn't say it's gone to the dogs but I have noticed that there are a few people who don't post regularly anymore.

Let's look at it from an absolute beginner stage then. Going from my experience on my very first lesson and the way I've since taught students,if you show them/get shown a few basic notes both on the stave and on the bass it becomes just as easy to understand as learning numbers.Even something as simple as learning open strings or the first couple of frets and where they sit on the stave gives a grounding where you begin to associate the notes with their position on the stave rather than just as fret numbers. Why is it arrogant to suggest that people learn to read over using tab? There is often as much, maybe more,arrogance in the pro tab section-how many times over the years have you heard things like 'I don't need to read, because I have a great ear' or something similar? Like I said, there are some great players who don't read but I can honestly say that the best players I've ever played with,on any instrument, can. What it ultimately comes down to is do what you want, I honestly don't care.However,I will always argue the case as to why it would be more beneficial to learn to read, if only to a basic level, rather than use tab.

Steve The whole 'Tablature Disapproval Specialist' thing is a long standing attempt at humour, because I've had many discussions on this subject. There's no sinister motives. Earlier on you disagreed with a number of Jakes points and said how tab can display as much information as notation and how it can be used in a playing situation. That's fine, I've got no problem if you use tab with your band or not.However, if you were to play in the situations like Jake, or myself, does (which you might, I don't know), then the uses for tab pretty much become moot...there simply aren't any. What my problem is, is that I don't know why guitar and bass gravitate towards tab, while pretty much any other learning musician will learn to read, even to a basic level.It's not actually that hard to learn the basics. To me, it just makes sense to learn the language both written and aural. I just looked at that piano tab...that just made absolutely no sense to me and seemed to actually be over complicating things.

I was at the Liverpool gig, leaning on Victor's monitor. I don't know what I was expecting because I wasn't a huge fan of his last couple of albums, but he is absolutely ridiculous. Awesome gig and his playing keeps getting better. I was also impressed by the fact he uses really expensive basses through relatively affordable gear.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1405689106' post='2504366'] My view would be that was is required to play at a professional level, is to play at a professional level. As long as you produce the goods, does it really matter the process you use to do so? Live and let live, say [/quote] It matters if you walk into a situation where you are expected to be able to read. There are many areas where it's expected that you will be able to read the music. You'll turn up and be given the music and it doesn't matter if you can play like Anthony Jackson-if you can't read the music you won't get rehired. It's no secret that I don't like tab, but why in every discussion about this do the non readers always bring up the snobbery argument? I don't see any snobbery in people extolling the virtues of reading music over tabs.All I see is people stating the benefits. The way I look at it is that being able to read opens up a whole new world of music to play.Even if you never do a reading gig there are hundreds of books that you can study to help improve your playing and give you new ideas, which are not available to you if you can't read. I understand the arguments about not needing to read because the rest of your band doesn't or because you don't get those kinds of gigs, but maybe the reason you don't get those kind of gigs is because you can't read therefore you don't get offered them. I've played in plenty of non reading bands too, but it didn't mean that it was not worth practicing. I will say that I've worked with some great players who can't read and some bad players who can but, without a doubt, the best players I've worked with have all been able to read. If you don't want to learn to read and want to use tab, that's fine...go ahead. However, I think that trying to argue with people like Jake that tab is as useful as notation is kind of a bad idea.

I recently bought an EHX Micro Synth off Matt. No hassle at all and dead easy to deal with.

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1369809105' post='2092863'] My question is what types of excercises can you do to be able to produce more consonant, singing like lines when soloing? Or even any drills that really engage your brain to think about the harmonies that are played? [/quote] The best way of learning to play melodically is to transcribe. Actual melodies/heads are a great place to start but for solos,horn players or piano players are particularly good to study because they usually play more melodically than most bass players. Transcribe their lines and then take fragments and apply them to different chords and changes so that you aren't stuck to just playing 'licks'. For harmony,it's really all about the chord tones-from basic Major and Minor to more complex chords with various extensions, all the basic harmonic information of the chord is there. You mention Blue Bossa,so look at the changes and learn what notes are in the. For example,taking the first two chords,we have Cm7 (C,Eb,G,Bb) and Fm7 ( F,Ab,C,Eb) and do this for the rest of the changes. Eventually you won't have to think about all this,but initially it will all really help.Of course,you could use a fingering pattern but you are limiting yourself to how and where you can play the notes. If you study the notes you can play them anywhere on the instrument.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1360341466' post='1969031'] I can only think of two: Guns 'N' Roses and 311. [/quote] 311 are really cool. I'm not embarressed about liking anyone,but if I'm going to play along I think Barry Manilow is great.