maldy

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1375363796' post='2160311'] Have now had chance for a good listen and it's a really superb album! I still can't say I like Billy's bass sound as it's not really bass, more upper mids, it leaves the whole band sound a bit short of bottom end...great songs and playing from all 3! [/quote] Haven't bought the album yet, but will do. If it is anywhere as good as Richie's solo albums I think it will be excellent. I think I agree with you about Billy's sound. Personally I prefer a more traditional bass sound. I'm not into that distortion kind of sound. I don't mind a bit of it, but just not all the time. All that said there is no doubt that Billy can really play.

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1375362574' post='2160276'] a All my gear is now for sale. I give up.... [/quote] I felt the same! And it is not even his first instrument!!! It is almost as if he has done a guitar solo on the bass. It doesn't sound like the usual bass solo, a bassist would do. I like it and think it is interesting. And it is nice that he thinks the bass is important enough to warrant a bass solo. :-)

Richie Kotzen is awesome. He has the chops and has the musicality. He always mixes it up and makes things interesting. Check out his bass solo below! [url="http://vimeo.com/14511614"]http://vimeo.com/14511614[/url]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1374179577' post='2146251'] Well , the thing is that Jaco and the other artists you mention were radical departures within their given discipline , and changed their medium forever . It is possible for all kinds of fancy Dan bass players to come along with amazing chops and technique , but so far most have struggled to make the impact that Jaco did . I wouldn't put Jaco in the same bracket as Mozart or Shakespear for various reasons ( I could explain why , if you like ) , but in his own modest way he was a genius of sorts , but not because of his technique . His gift was that he thought about and interpreted music differently to other people , and happened to do so via the medium of the bass guitar . Like just about every genius you can think of , Jaco was unconventional , a radical , and unlike anything that had come before him on the bass guitar . He wasn't alone in that by any means - there were other fantastically gifted players of that era - but at his best he was brilliant in his own right . He was versatile too , despite having such a distinctive signature style . He was a World- class jazz bassist and accomplished soloist , but his work as an accompanist in various genres is equally accomplished and shows great maturity and sensitivity to the overall musical picture rather than just his own role in it . Regardless of your own personal taste ( which you are fully entitled to , I hasten to add) Jaco was the real deal , the complete package . I am not one of Jaco's slavish followers by any means , and I couldn't even say he was the player I myself have enjoyed or or directly tried to emulate the most , but his stature on the instrument is undeniable . [/quote] So eloquently put. I also like the post where someone also mentions Jamerson. Surely, much of his work has been copied, re-copied and re-interpreted to form the foundation of a lot of bass playing today. He's probably influenced many people second hand without them even knowing it. I think Jaco is special, for all the reasons quoted above and I don't think I could say it better. I must admit when I first checked out Jaco when I was younger after hearing so much about him, I was initially disappointed. I think when you first dip into someone's music (who is new to you) it can be hit or miss. For instance, you are listening out of historical context and you might just choose a track that isn't particularly good, or to your tastes. I didn't like or understand some of his stuff back then. However, I kept an open mind and my tastes and appreciations have changed over the years. I think historical contexts of when he did all this was important. It is almost easy to dismiss him if you don't know the history as there as so many bassist doing amazing licks and chops on YouTube these days. This stuff wasn't happening so much back then. Love him, or hate him, one think is for sure he was definitely an innovator.

Many thanks Badgad - that is awesome. Your help is appreciated :-)

[quote name='All thumbs' timestamp='1374416265' post='2148463'] Thanks! :-) [/quote] Scott, where can you get one of these earth straps that you mention in your video. I've done some google searching, but must not be using good search words because I can't seem to find any. Any help appreciated. BTW just been watching your slap lessons and they are great. :-)

Great video and very helpful. I will definitely be employing the 'jack in the sock' trick!

I always thought that I didn't like Bruno Mars - think some of his lyrics are a bit crap. However, keeping an open mind, I hear some of his tunes and think they are really catchy (with some cool bass). And I've seen a couple of his live performances on tv and he and his band were smokin'! Fair play, it is nice to see a musician respecting the live scene and doing it justice. So maybe I actually like him after all!

Yes, definitely not one of his finer moments!

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1366829474' post='2057868'] I once saw a programme where Prince was slapping. He is a massive fan of Larry Graham. And like most of the earlier American players, uses a thumb-heavy style rather than the percussive Mark King style. Alphabet Street is mainly thumbed. [/quote] You are right, he is a massive fan of Larry Graham. So much so Larry even became a part of the band for a while. Must be great to have one of your childhood heroes become a member of your band.

Here's the full link for anyone interested, or not chronically doing something else!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01XVlGccr-s&sns=em

I can totally understand why many people would not like prince musically, his image and his attitude. Despite being a fan, I can see the other side. I don't think he helps himself sometimes, but I try to look past that. I've seen him live a few time and have always been blown away by how tight his band are (although I was not fond of the O2 shows). I think he is a phenomenal guitarist and definitely has a style unique to him. Like most musicians he has probably borrowed and been influenced by others. Nothing wrong with that. I think there is Hendrix there, but that is definitely not all he is. His funk guitar playing is totally non Hendrix. I love the 'chicken grease'! I've also seen him play some mean bass. I've always respected him because most of his albums have intersting bass parts. I like somebody who goes beyond root notes (although there is a time and a place). Just nice that someone recognises the bass as a versatile instrument and is willing to showcase it occasionally. Like others have said, I suspect that the bass line was not pro tooled. I think it is great, a little behind the mix, not to appear as bass masturbation ;-)

The clip still works for me. Maybe it is because I posted a 'mobile' link. I'll try and get the full URL.

For a long time I have thought the bass line to Prince's Alphabet Street is super super funky. It sits a little quiet in the mix, but bubbles in the background beautifully. To me it sounds very unique and inventive. I've always wondered what is going on (aside from a lot of ghost notes) but for the life of me i have no idea how to work it out. I'm usually pretty good at transcribing and can persevere with some hard stuff, but this gives me total mental block. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to know (I realise this a long shot). If not I would still recommend anyone who is not a prince fan to check out a seriously good bass line. http://youtu.be/01XVlGccr-s

Like I said to you in a mail, I started off really not liking the red, but now I think it would be my colour of choice! I really can't explain what my mind has done here! Really wanted your bass, but didn't quite have the finance at the time. I appreciated all your help and glad it eventually worked out for everyone. Hope you are going to treat yourself to something nice with the money from the sale :-D

I had this exact same problem yesterday, but with my RW Jazz. Unfortunately, I didn't spot this very useful post until after I solved the problem! I think this would have saved me a lot of time! I got to the solution via the following which might be useful to some: http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html And http://www.fender.com/support/articles/bass-guitar-setup-guide/ Was wondering if there were any stickies for these probably quite common set up problems? I know it is all the Internet somewhere, but sometimes you have to discard a load of rubbish before you get to the right solution. Also, is this a common feature of Jazz necks? Is the truss rod really at its max, or is just fighting a lot of tension and stress? Previously, I had my bass set up for me. But it seems to have changed recently (maybe the weather ?). I decided that a change of strings and a tweak of the set up was needed. I felt I had enough knowledge to do this myself and I feel it is a good thing to be able to do (and save money!). Don't get me wrong, I'm not ready for fret levelling and stuff like that, but relief, action and intonation, I at least understand the basic principles. Anyway, great and useful post.

Not been here long, but have had some very helpful interactions with people. I have tried to write some reviews, as a small way of giving back. Basschat is great. There is one very bad aspect to basschat tho..... It has got me way too interested in loads of second hand gear at great prices!! My wallet is not happy, but my GAS is!!!! (By the way I didn't know what GAS was before I came here. Glad I've discovered a legitimate medical condition to why I need to keep buying!)

I have just bought a Road Worn Precision and felt a few words about it may be helpful to others. If you asked me a few months ago did I want a Precision bass, I would have answered with a resounding no! I had this idea that I didn’t like Precisions in sound, or feel. To be honest I’m not really sure where I got this opinion, but suspect it was something to do with once owning a Fender Precision Lyte. Not that it was a bad bass, but rather not the bass for me in terms of sound. From what I’ve read I don’t think a Presion Lyte is a fair comparison to a standard Precision, but maybe I was making the comparison nonetheless. So I definitely had no intention of buying a Precision. However, after ideally browsing the basses for sale on here, I noticed a few RW Precisions for sale. Being a very big convert to the whole RW thing I decided to look into these out of interest. I first saw the Fiesta red bass and really didn’t like it. I naturally gravitated to the look of the 2 tone burst bass. That’s just looks. So I started looking for people’s opinions about this bass – how it compared with other Precisions and even the RW Jazz. I then practically found every youtube video of it to try and gauge what it might sound like. I wasn’t overly impressed with the content out there and realised the recoding quality may not really do justice to the bass. However, there were a few video of decent quality that gave me hope it was a decent sounding bass. After looking at these basses for a while I really started to want one (even though finance wasn’t quite there). I came very close to buying a Fiesta red one and was disappointed that at the time I didn’t quite make the deal. By this point I had actually come to really liking the colour and bizarrely now think I prefer the red! Too much time staring at basses I think?! Considering the price of these new I thought there were some really good value second hand ones for sale. After finally getting a bit more money together I took the plunge and bought a 2 tone burst one of a fellow baschatter with a great reputation. A part of me was expecting not to really like the bass. I thought I would find fault in the neck and not really like the sound. I figured that if I really didn’t like it, I could sell it on without too much of a loss. Well it arrived yesterday and as soon as I got it out of the box it felt very right. Shockingly (to me) it felt better than my RW Jazz; which I was not expecting. I really really like the neck feel on this. I know this is a highly personal view and there is no right, or wrong, just whatever suits the individual. It is wider than the Jazz at the nut, not massively, but definitely noticeable. I think I have come to the conclusion that I quite like a wide neck (the classic stingray to my mind has a similar width, but I haven’t actually checked measurements). It felt kind of right for me. Importantly, for myself the neck wasn’t thick, or overly chunky. I was worried that it might be and this is something I don’t find comfortable when playing. The thickness in my opinion was just right. The neck felt kind of substantial (as opposed to the Jazz) but in no way over sized. The fretboard radius felt less curved that the jazz (again I haven’t checked the actual specs) and again felt very comfortable. After tuning it up I was very pleased again with the action and playability of the bass. Much much better than when I had my Jazz. I will in the future want to change the strings and maybe make a few minor adjustments, but for now the whole neck profile seems very good. The body has a lovely feel to it and again my initial reaction was that it was more comfortable physically than the rw Jazz. Like the Jazz it felt quite light and the nitro finish felt superb. So all in all I was very impressed by the feel, balance and how comfortable it was. I was kind of not expecting this at all. Now there is the whole road worn debate. Love it, or hate, I think this discussion has been done many times before and I won’t get into it too much. Needless to say I used to hate it, grew to accept it and now rather like it. I liked the feel and sound of these instruments so much that now I don’t really notice the relicing. For anyone who doesn’t like it (or the philosophy behind it) I can totally understand and would not really argue with you. I totally get why some people hate the look and the idea. However, I would also say keep an open mind and give one of these instruments a chance. And like I said before it feel so amazing not having to worry about that first ding you get! So how does it sound? Well one thing I can say for sure is that the majority of youTube video really don’t do the bass justice. To my mind it does sound like what I know a precision to sound like. I think overall it has a mellow vibe to it. Even when the tone is fully on, it doesn’t sound as clanky as some precision do. When the tone is fully off, there is a lovely mellow bassy sound. I’m guessing this is the vintage vibe that was intended. I think choice of strings may be a factor in this sound and I’m not really sure what is on the bass at the moment, but eventually I think I will use some flat wounds and see how that sounds. I’ve not had first hand experience how this compares to other precisions, but for me this is a great standard, and the made in Mexico thing is totally irrelevant to me as the build quality seems great. Once I have got to know this bass a little better I will add some more thoughts. However, my initial impressions are very favourable. I really like the feel of it and its old school sound. I must add that the jazz seems to have far more sound possibilities. Although I suspect most people knew that already. However, I have no other bass that sounds quite like this. Also, as I’m getting older I am preferring more and more simplicity. So the lack of bells and whistles is actually a positive thing for me these days. Maybe my next bass won’t even have a tone control, or volume!

Do it mate!