thisnameistaken

I think most basses are good enough to do anything you want. The really valuable factor is whether a particular bass makes you want to pick it up, and that's usually a combination of it being (primarily) attractive and also comfortable.

I think some players realise the sound they're getting is good and so they spend their time playing music instead of tossing around with gear.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1362506707' post='2000401'] Lyrics are the hardest part I reckon. [/quote] Someone should compile a book of the most commercially prosperous rhymes. :-)

They're good for reggae. They're also good if you use pitch-tracking effects - you will typically get better performance from your pedals if you play flats. My last band had one tune that I literally couldn't play on a bass with roundwounds because my OC-2 wouldn't sustain long enough.

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1362180972' post='1997007']And I wouldn't bother with Nymans... Go for Kolstein all weather... about £15 at the most! For me I really like the grip it gives...[/quote] [quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1362249552' post='1997609']Kolstein all weather +1 buy now....[/quote] [quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1362500513' post='2000259']Lol kolstein! Works therefore buy it...[/quote] Is there a prize for getting Pete to buy the rosin we recommend? I suppose I could shout louder about Pops if there is. I'm pretty sure that Kolstein isn't the only rosin that works.

While I was giving blood this afternoon they were playing all the old 'power ballads' from the '80s. All gated snares and warbly white women with massive hair. And I noticed a lot of the hooks were actually really weak, a lot of the singers didn't get any power in the high notes, a lot of the choruses resolved really poorly, but I remembered all of those tunes charting. I came to conclusion that the most important aspect of a successful pop hit is the melodramatic lyrics that stupid and hopelessly single people can cry about.

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1362313379' post='1998173']paul mcartney above john myung.guy must be on crack[/quote] Paul McCartney deserves a high position. He's written better pop songs than most people in the history of the world and he's contributed great bass parts too. As far as I'm aware John Myung plays in a prog rock band? He's not going to set the world alight doing that is he.

Knowing how to play guitar can't hurt (it comes in handy when you need to teach chords to guitarists...) but I'd say piano would be more likely to give you a broader understanding of music.

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1362246888' post='1997553'] Yes, with cheap gear I'm not expecting too much, but as I'm just dabbling with upright bass really, I'm reluctant to spend much. I just want to make a loud thump while looking cool....[/quote] Oh no I meant even with expensive gear getting a good amplified sound with a double bass can be very difficult. Piezos have unpleasant dominant characteristics and there's no real killer design out there, they all have their good and bad points. If you can get a sound you like from a piezo + preamp setup (any piezo + preamp) then more power to you. I never managed it.

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1362237688' post='1997393'] I thought my probs would be solved by fresh pops. I keep reading that it's sticky and wondering what people are talking about. This is the second pot (from a different supplier) that's hard, barely sticky and seems to just dust the strings [/quote] Isn't that what rosin is supposed to do? My pops isn't sticky either (in normal weather) but the dust it leaves on my bow makes the hair sticky. It's not like you want an actual layer of toffee on your bow.

You might still find that things don't sound so great, welcome to the world of double bass amplification.

I don't know why but I'm a bit excited. I suppose because I remember the excitement when the massive gedo-musik carton arrived last year and I had to unpack the bass in the hallway (which was not at all easy!) because the 7x4x2' box wouldn't fit up the stairs to my flat.

I pick up a bass guitar whenever someone asks me to but I rarely 'practise'. Although I got the urge to play a little earlier this week and discovered I could play stuff that I couldn't play cleanly before, despite having hardly played the sodding thing for two years. Makes me think practising is a waste of time! I do try to play double bass every day though, even if it's just half an hour, just to stop my intonation getting awful. I don't really work on 'chops' or anything, mostly just noodling through changes trying to find new ways around, practising keys I don't use much just in case, and playing the melodies from tunes I know to try to figure out how good tunes work. Overall in a week I might play for five hours at home, but a lot less if I've been doing a lot of playing elsewhere.

He doesn't look very comfortable does he.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1361720394' post='1989763'] <2p> Save your money and buy some new strings - that will do more for your sound than any fx pedal. </2p> [/quote] Looking forward to hearing your fuzzed-up whammy dive effects you get from your new strings.

The buffer on the LS-2 is 'fine' but not great. Yeah I'd agree that you want a buffer in your signal path but I wouldn't want that one if I could help it. Still better than having all true bypass pedals though. By a mile.

I haven't had much call to do original music recently, sadly, but I went to a friend's house today for an acoustic jam and we decided to write a rocksteady album in 6 weeks. Just recording harmony vox now, and I may even attempt a trombone solo. I forgot how much fun this is.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1362078842' post='1995519'] Reading through the trajectory of this thread I can only conclude that if Lord Lucan had played the bass we would have found him , no problem at all . [/quote] LIKE.

[quote name='amnesia' timestamp='1362062870' post='1995196']I flatly refused to play Electric 6's Gaybar a few months ago. To be honest, if it had been pushed I think I would have walked.[/quote] That's the first decent cover I've heard of a cover band doing!

At least Kim Deal is above Jeff Berlin.

[quote name='Wil' timestamp='1362003022' post='1994443']Somewhat related factoid - the famous guitar "kachunk" in Creep by Radiohead was Johnny Greenwood's attempt to spoil the song because he thought it was sh*t.[/quote] Johnny Greenwood is so good that even when he deliberately tries to ruin a song he improves it?

Let's put a huge pickup right up against the end of the fingerboard to stop people from slapping.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1361911243' post='1993033']Safe From Harm - Massive Attack. I find the only way to get rid is to play the line, invert it in some way, then use it yourself. [/quote] That's the one where they sampled Billy Cobham. At around 3m05: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aw2rM0w-pc&t=3m5s

Guns Of Brixton is a sod for it too.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1361967883' post='1993701'] I am acutely aware of how over-promotion of one's band can piss people off, and the limits I feel I should impose on myself in doing so.[/quote] To be fair though you've got more interesting gigs than most of us. I would imagine more people would be interested in what you're doing than how the 10,000 identikit party bands are all somehow making Mark Ronson's cover of Valerie 'their own'.