thisnameistaken

Love Your Money - Daisy Chainsaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaZWCGs7tFw I think it's just an overdriven tube head, but it sounds ace.

There are some great people around here and Clarky is one of them.

OK, but even if I did learn all the scales and modes I doubt I would be in the position to busk jazz tunes by guessing the changes. Would I? Sure I can usually find my way through a pop song without rehearsal so my ears are working OK for simple harmony but I can't imagine ever being able to busk changes in a jazz tune based on hearing a recording where the pianist has done everything in his power to obfuscate them.

I only really know a couple of scales and don't understand modes at all despite attempting to understand them a few times. I know what different intervals sound like and I base most of what I do on that. What would the benefits be of learning modes and more scales? Presumably I'd also need to memorise the context within which to use them, and then wait for that to become automatic, it seems like a lot of information to have to retain and I can't really appreciate from my current position what the benefits would be?

Tip while you're taking your first baby steps: Play the tonics and fifths on the first and/or third beats of the bar and put your experimentation in between. So long as you resolve to one of those notes it will still work and any mistakes or unintended harmonisations you make won't be song-ruiningly obvious.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1348487260' post='1814113'] Older RBXs (late 80's - early 90's) were ply AFAIK (or some of them at least). [/quote] I had an RBX-550M that was made around 1990 and it had a solid body, could've been alder or basswood I guess.

Yeah I stopped buying ADF records when Deeder Zaman left, I think he was playing Hohner B basses back then, tuned BEAD. Doesn't surprise me he's using Status basses now though.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1348427767' post='1813532'] Bryan Beller does it for the most part too. [/quote] I've never listened to him but I imagine he's much better than me. I didn't think I could get much better with my weird technique so well done to him!

Nice. I like Dr Das.

In the '90s I played only fretless and got along fine, can't remember ever wishing I had a fretted bass for anything. I got tired of the sound in the end and went back to fretted basses.

Have you got a bow? I've got a spare cheap French bow you can have if you want one, I'd be happy to send it to you in return for a donation to BC.

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1348245641' post='1811406'] cuddling a wardrobe[/quote] Nice.

I can play what I imagine on days when I don't feel I'm being imaginative enough.

My first bass was exactly like that (plywood, sunburst-tort-rosewood-blocks), but had 'Satellite' on the headstock. Same tuners, same knobs, etc. I paid £50 for it in McGranes (no longer there) in Leeds in 1989. I think it was just about worth £50. I wouldn't pay £180 for one now, given the quality of Squiers you can get for that money.

That is sweet! I'd love one of these.

Ordered it on CD but hasn't arrived yet. :/

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348161850' post='1810266'] I believe the dead spot to occur on basses with necks made from a single piece of wood (like a Fender) and can be reduced/expunged by a laminated, or sandwich neck where the different size and often type of wood resonate differently cancelling out any major resonance.[/quote] My Thumb bass (5-piece (I think? Or seven, whatever!) wenge/bubinga laminate) has a dead spot on that same D#. It's not as bad as the dead spot on my Jazz but it is there, and it's a note I have to avoid when using effects.

[quote name='dougal' timestamp='1348218071' post='1810893'] No London dates? WTF? [/quote] Found them on another site - two nights at the Brixton Academy, 4th and 5th of December: http://www.aloud.com/tickets/ben-folds-five

I've always preferred to fix any noise problem at the source rather than gate it later. Can I ask why you're thinking about getting a gate?

I've been in their showroom (it's only a mile or so from my house) to try these basses and they are basically unplayable. You would need to get a luthier to set it up properly for you and put some decent strings on it at least, so expect to add a minimum of £150 on to that price. I would just avoid them altogether if I were you and look at Thomann's budget basses instead. Or used stuff on this here forum.

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1348158672' post='1810206']1. How delicate is this thing? Is there a right way of lifting / carrying it? It came in a canvas bag, I'm thinking I should probably get something that'll protect it a bit better.[/quote] If it's a ply bass it's probably sturdier than it looks and the neck joint will be the weakest spot - avoid smacking the pegbox on anything and don't let it fall over. If it's a carved bass then avoid smacking [i]anything[/i] on anything because they chip and split with a lot less effort! [quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1348158672' post='1810206']will I damage it if I play too hard?[/quote] No. Slapping can wear the fingerboard eventually, especially if you use steel strings, but no, don't worry about that. [quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1348158672' post='1810206']3. I've had a look at some teachers and some Youtube vids that seem to advocate the use of a bow, partly to help improve intonation. Is this really necessary?[/quote] It's a good idea but it's a bit of a Catch-22, the bow. If you bow your bass it will be way, way louder than if you pluck it, and when you first start bowing you will sound considerably worse than you do when you pluck, so there's going to be a period of playing horribly - AND LOUDLY - to get over. I can't help the feeling that my neighbours can hear it, so I hardly ever get the bow out. Shame because I do like the sound (when it works).

The graphite neck might not fix it either. A dead spot is present at that position on most (all?) basses. Some are worse than others but it's usually present, it's most obvious if you try to use pitch-tracking effects like a Boss OC-2 - you'll notice you can't get any useable sound from that note. The second most common dead spot - mostly found on Fenders and Stingrays IME - is Ab at the fourth fret on the E. Not as obvious as the 6th fret G area one, but quite common and still irritating.

Jennifer have you gone all Blue Peter with rigging the thing up semi-permanently or do you just tack the mic on to your bass when you've got recording to do?

[quote name='geoffbassist' timestamp='1348146238' post='1809981']If I was using one I would much prefer a shorter cable than supplied and a female plug but wouldn't want to do it myself. If it was a bit more straight forward I'm sure more people would try them.[/quote] Yeah it's not the easiest thing to rig up, really. I've decided that rather than mess with re-soldering the cable, I'm going to attach a female-to-female jack coupler to my tailpiece (just using a velcro tie for now) so I can leave the Ehrlund's male jack in one end and plug in the preamp (which I'll be removing from the bass) when I need it using a regular male-male jack cable. It's a shame I have to remove the pre because it's small and light enough to mount on the bass easily I just can't find a way to do it without inadvertently damping one or more strings. :/ Still, it's more important that I get a good sound and I've got plenty of little pockets for storing a small preamp. It's way lighter than the FIshman I take everywhere anyway.