geilerbass

[quote name='dood' post='216075' date='Jun 10 2008, 12:29 PM']It's a fantastic tool! My notation skills have improved no end! The guys in my band and I (as we live so far apart) can't really play an idea to each other - over the phone, for example - so we share a GP file and write each of the guitar, bass AND drum parts into it, so we can hear what it will sound like. For sharing, I have set up Google Apps on my domain with the file and document sharing facilities. I really like this way of working, as we can export the MIDI from GP in to say, our pro tools set up and trigger superior 2 or other virtual instruments, without having to spend ages replaying the parts! (not that I fancy trying to paly one of our drummers parts myself!!!) So yup, I think it's a great way to learn bass lines and at the same time improve your reading and timing skills too.[/quote] This is pretty much how we work in one of the bands I'm in. The guitarist writes stuff in Guitar Pro and sends it out as midi for us to learn/work on. I don't have Guitar Pro, though usually import it to Cubase and set up some basic midi sounds to get an idea of how it will sound. Seeing as how my notation reading is far better than my ear for picking up basslines, I find I can learn stuff far more quickly using this method. I've been thinking about getting Guitar Pro myself, since it's pretty cheap for that kind of product and has some great features such as the speed training. It's also a lot less hassle than creating a new cubase track each time. The only thing is I find tablature very off-putting, so hopefully it's got a tab-free mode.

I always use the ones on the side and, in fact, only one of my current flock has markers actually on the fretboard. My first bass didn't have them on the fretboard, but I don't recall having too many problems with getting used to using the ones on the side.

Due to the type of gigs I've been playing, I've generally been forced to use borrowed/hired backline and when DI-ing out of the amp, I've found I'm getting ground loops, causing a hissing/buzzing noise to come through both the backline and the FOH/monitors. As such, I've been forced to go through a DI box, rendering the backline somewhat superfluous. Which is a shame, as I don't have a Pod or Sansamp/equivalent and only have the basic compression and eq from my old Pandora to rely on, meaning my sound is far from optimum. If I use my own gear, I'll make good use of backline, since my Trace head has both ground and earth lifts and sounds great. Though a Pod/Sansamp may still be a worthwhile investment, particularly if I keep having to used borrowed/hired gear.

[quote name='Wooks' post='213657' date='Jun 6 2008, 09:38 AM']Billy is on satge just before Paul Gilbert, makes you wonder if they will get together to do a bit of Mr Big together??[/quote] Oh don't, please... The prospect of that blows my mind...

I was thinking about heading down. More than anything just to check out some gear.

[quote name='cetera' post='212386' date='Jun 4 2008, 11:37 AM']It is GREAT fun, but very hard work.... Yep, I've met him quite a few times..... that pic was taken when he asked us to appear on his TV programme 'Rock School'.... The firebreathing is actually quite easy when you know how.... but it's still VERY dangerous. I was taught by a stuntman/circus performer.... Makes for a novel way to light the BBQ at parties! lol! [/quote] It wasn't the second series of Rock School was it? That was filmed in my home town, which may have meant that you got the opportunity to visit sunny Lowestoft. It was so bizarre seeing one of my bass heroes wondering around the town that I grew up in...

[quote name='cetera' post='211203' date='Jun 2 2008, 04:30 PM']Yep, we wear the 'Love Gun/Reunion' era outfits (7" heeled monster headed boots etc) and I spit blood & breathe fire! Tis GREAT fun...... and da laydeez LOVE it! See here: [url="http://www.dressedtokill.org.uk"]Dressed To Kill - Official Website[/url] Or here: [url="http://www.myspace.com/kisstributeuk"]Dressed To Kill - Myspace[/url][/quote] That's too cool - looks like so much fun! And judging from your profile photo, you've met the man himself? Kudos for the fire-breathing - must take some balls to do that!

[quote name='Basszilla' post='209564' date='May 30 2008, 12:57 PM']It's gonna have to be south of heaven or hell awaits![/quote] These two are good suggestions - not insanely fast, but very satsifying to play. Angel of Death is the classic track, but I recall that being pretty fast - though not un-playably so.

[quote name='BOD2' post='208975' date='May 29 2008, 03:36 PM']Since this has gone a bit "philosophical", can I ask if there actually [i][b]is[/i][/b] a correct way to pronounce a name like that ? Is the correct way not just the "local" way ? So...does the correct pronunciation not depend on where you are ?[/quote] No, Yes and Yes to your three questions. It's contextual - if you want to be understood over here you say Pa-ris. If you want to be inderstood in Paris, it's probably worth saying Pa-ree. If there is a [i][b]true[/b][/i] way to pronounce a name, logically it should be in the pronunciation of the language from which it was derived. But since there are different ways of pronouncing words even within a single language, a correct/true pronunciation is rarely going to be of any relevance.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='208929' date='May 29 2008, 02:52 PM']"Eye-ban-ezz" appears to be the most common pronunciation - anyone want to try going into a guitar shop & asking about an Eee-ban-yeth, just for a laugh?[/quote] A good point - it depends where you're shopping. Obviously for most people, it's going to be a shop in England, so they're going to understand the English way of saying it. If you ever get the opportunity to go bass shopping in Tokyo and happen to have a penchant for Ibanez, then maybe you'll get a different response. But then again, you'd probably just point at the bass you want to try, rather than messing around trying to make yourself understood.

I also studied Japanese for a short while and was trying to figure out what the Katakana would be, but since I'd never heard a Japanese person say the word, or seen it written down in kana, I had no idea what it would be. Interestingly, Spanish and Japanese are very similar in terms of their vowel sounds, so it would make more sense if the Japanese pronounced it the Spanish way... though this doesn't appear to be the case.

[quote name='cetera' post='208732' date='May 29 2008, 12:01 PM']Yep, I do.... amongst other things. More 'classic rock' these days..... ....and I've been playing 'Gene Simmons' in Europe's #1 KISS Tribute Band "Dressed To Kill" for 18 years.... [/quote] That would explain all the Gene Simmons models in your signature Seriously, that's such a cool gig - in terms of costumes, do you cover the full range of eras? Gene's Destroyer and Dynasty outfits looked pretty difficult to play in! Do you do the full fire/blood thing as well?

[quote name='dood' post='208762' date='May 29 2008, 12:27 PM']I never put 2 and 2 together !!! I have chatted very briefly with Julie and your guitarist from To-Mera! Awesome band. I know you guys recently changed your keyboard player and a good friend of mine applied for the position. I must admit, I hadn't been keeping up with recent news, other than the MySpace updates. Excellent band! excellent! I was meant to come down to London last year to see you guys and Linear Shere together.. couldn't make it at the time.. Grrr!![/quote] Glad to hear you like the music, but I can't really take any credit as I've only been in the band since the start of the year after the previous bass player resigned. Done a few gigs with them so far and all seems to be going fairly well... I have to say that I'm having a lot of fun playing with these guys - they're all stellar musicians and the music is suitably challenging. We're playing the Underworld on July 24th (another shameless plug) with Anchorhead (featuring Charlie from Linear Sphere) and Tesseract, who are probably going to out-prog everyone. Hopefully you'll be able to make it along to that one.

Ee-ba-nyeth would be correct if you were pronouncing it as a Spanish word (which it appears to be). Though I don't think it's incorrect to say Aye-ban-ez, since it's an internationally recognised brand. Here's the same discussion on a guitarist forum: - [url="http://www.vai.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=46561&sid=89afe5c6f6c82418e49521f714306e6d"]The Ibanez Question[/url] I'd be interested to know how the Japanese say it...

Another true metal heart right here! I play in a progressive metal band ([url="http://www.myspace.com/tomeraband"]To-Mera[/url]) an extreme metal band ([url="http://www.myspace.com/thedemagogue"]Demagogue[/url]) and a traditional metal band ([url="http://www.myspace.com/thelostlegion"]Lost Legion[/url]). There's a few shameless plugs for you all...

[quote name='andy67' post='207896' date='May 28 2008, 10:59 AM']would have to ask: can the drummer keep time/beat in the first place??[/quote] Better still, once you've decapitated your drummer, attach one of these to the stump and you've killed two birds with one stone: - [url="http://www.turnkey.co.uk/product/boss-dr880-32-voice-patternbased-drum-machine/"]Replacement Head[/url]

I've often fantasised about doing this but three things have stopped me: - 1) The prospect of injuring myself 2) The prospect of injuring my beloved bass 3) The prospect of looking an utter tit when it all goes wrong But respect to you sir, for daring the risks and having some (albeit short-lived) success. Unfortunately, I don't have enough faith in either strap locks, or my ability to not knock myself unconcious.

My Streamer LX has always had the "Oh yes!" factor. My recently acquired Ibanez also has that, but that's as much a feel thing as it is sound. Though since I've finally mastered the EQ setting on my Trace head, pretty much any instrument I play through my rig gets an "Oh yes!".

These look pretty comfy. Anyone have any experience with them? [url="http://www.overwater.co.uk/bass_guitar_straps.htm"]Overwater Bass Straps[/url]

[quote name='Bassmurf' post='204768' date='May 23 2008, 09:09 AM']Agree with all the previous comments - friendly, great advice on gear etc - only trouble is my GAS has gone thru the roof looking at what everyone else plays! [/quote] This. I didn't know what GAS was until I joined this forum. Now it consumes my every waking moment... well, not quite, but nearly...

[quote name='peteb' post='204475' date='May 22 2008, 06:19 PM']Kryptonite might work??[/quote] Unless I play any gigs on Krypton, in which case I'd kill most of the crowd.

Big up the basschat love! I totally agree. It's so refreshing to find an online community that isn't full of people bitching at each other or going out of their way to bait other posters. There's none of this 'anti-noob' culture, where longer standing members go out of their way to exclude newer members and be as cliquey as possible. That really seems to be the flavour of most forums, regardless of their theme. Basschat seems to be all about friendliness, courtesy and support - things that the wider world often appears to be lacking.

[quote name='OldGit' post='204666' date='May 22 2008, 11:27 PM'] Geiller is that what you do with your two straps?[/quote] Pretty much, yes. It looks kind of weird, but definitely spreads the weight out. I was looking at getting a dare strap, but a lot of people advised that they weren't great quality so I tried experimenting with a couple of Comfort Straps. The other advantage for me is that the strap on the right shoulder pulls the neck up a bit, which, with the way my two Ibanez basses are balanced, means the bass sits in a more upright position, which suits my playing style. I'm still experiementing with how to attach the two straps together at the back, but it's been great not having my shoulder aching after rehearsals.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='204431' date='May 22 2008, 05:15 PM']Yeah mine's a mess of wire too. But there would be room in there if I tidied it up. I'm trying to think how to maximise the weight/space ratio - lead would be best I suppose. Being an aquarist, I use lengths of lead ribbon to weight the plants in my tanks, perhaps you could get a hold of enough and mould it into the available space. A bunch of solder would work too I suppose. [b]edit :[/b] Ooh what about that lead they use for stained glass windows? It's quite ply-able. Hardware store/craft shop. Gotcha. Mine is quite low slung and I'm pretty energetic when I play and nod the neck (mine and the guitar's ) in time with the music so I'm gripping the neck all the time. Technique doesn't come into it. [/quote] Lead's a great idea - though I've no idea where I'd get hold of any. Guess I'll have to look online. I move about quite a bit on stage too and have been known to swing the neck about a bit. I recently joined a band whose music is far more technical and complex, so I'm having to adapt my style a bit. And years of bad posture etc are now taking their toll on my frail frame, so I need to try and preserve what technique I have left...

I use comfort straps (two at once in fact!) and have found them to be, as their name suggests, very comfortable. One thing to be aware of, particularly if it's your shoulder that is sensitive, is that, while the big stretchy foam pad is very kind to an achey back, depending on the size you get and the angle at which you hang your bass, you can end up with the foam bad on your back, but the non-elastic, un-padded part of the strap sitting right on your shoulder. In my case, I pretty much have the plastic buckle that connects the two parts of the strap sitting right on the top of my trapezius muscle. This has given me some problems, hence why I now use two straps, so as to balance the load across both shoulders. If you get the shortest strap (which is VERY short) or have your bass slung much lower, so that the padded part sits on your shoulder, then you shouldn't have any problems. I'd recommend seeing if you can try one out first, to make sure that it won't agitate your shoulder. Aside from that I notice that Sadowsky do all-neoprene straps, that can be ordered direct from their website - might be worth a look: - [url="https://secure.sadowsky.com/store/index.php?cPath=29&osCsid=9402b431043daa3206a22575fc9f45a5"]Sadowsky NeoStrap[/url]