EliasMooseblaster

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1381441747' post='2239332'] I think you can do bass solo if you play to the strengths of the instrument (which really should be a big part of the point of taking a solo): making a really big sound, rather than all the doodly doodly stuff. also like this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx1RccwlF5g[/media] [/quote] Now that was lovely. See also http://music.stevelawson.net/album/believe-in-peace

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1381418212' post='2238831'] Victor seems like a lovely bloke, and I really admire his committment to music education and travelling the globe showing people how he does what he does, but his playing has never been to my taste. He has got some incredible skills, but he has never found a proper outlet for those talents, in my opinion , and once you strip away the flash , what is really left? His playing leaves me cold, I'm sorry to say, but the thousands of bad imitators he has inspired drive me crazy! A generation of young bass players have grown up thinking that the point of playing the bass is to try and find any excuse to try and execute a kind of palm-muted double thump classical extravaganza. Badly. [/quote] You can't pin that phenomenon entirely on poor old Victor though, can you? His playing isn't my kind of thing either, but I'm sure plenty of other bass virtuosos have inspired a number of poor imitations. After all, how many blues jams over the last 40-odd years have been dogged by guitarists who thought their guitar solo was an opportunity to rehash Hendrix's rendition of [i]The Star-Spangled Banner[/i] into a couple of 12-bar turnarounds? (You might have a point though...I did, not so long ago, see a guy who thought it would be incredibly clever to play a slap bass solo over a slow 12-bar. It wasn't.)

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1381414784' post='2238742'] Couldn't get past the smug nodding myself... [/quote] This. I really wish bass players wouldn't do that. Yes, he is technically incredibly adept and playing things I could never play, but does he have to look so damn pleased with himself?

He would have been 69 yesterday. Probably the single most inspirational player I've ever heard.

If you're anywhere near London, you might want to get down to Westside on Denmark St - I think they're the only dedicated Schecter dealers in the area. I know they used to have at least one Model T in sunburst, because I tried it out about a year ago and bought the blonde one instead!

So it's hardly news that Thom Yorke has a less-than flattering view of Spotify. Apparently this is his most recent outburst on the subject: [url="http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/10/spotify-is-last-desperate-fart-of-a-dying-corpse-says-thom-yorke.html#"]http://www.hypebot.c...hom-yorke.html#[/url]! Just interested to know what people reckon on here.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1381316027' post='2237367'] [url="http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html"]http://www.status-gr...index_home.html[/url] And a thing of beauty it is too. I love my vintage Fenders, but the graphite neck on this Status gives the classic P-bass sound some real punch. [/quote] Yeah, I've heard good things about them - does the cavity make much difference to the sound, or just look awesome?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1381310964' post='2237230'] Fender are way behind the curve ... [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/Status%20Graphite%20Vintage%20PJ4%202010%20CURRENT/DSCF3877.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] Now who is this semi-hollow beauty made by? I do like the look of that.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1381245746' post='2236348'] It's neither here or there now because the safety bods push for molded prewired plugs. [/quote] Do you think they ever stopped to consider how much electrical stuff would go to waste simply because people couldn't get in to change the molded-in fuse? (I think I just get exasperated that nowadays I usually have to buy an entire replacement plug rather than just a new fuse!)

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1381244230' post='2236310'] Don't agree that wiring a plug is a binary thing - I can see a difference between a plug I wired and one done by my electrician neighbour, and he is quicker at it [/quote] Couldn't you make the same comparison with a bassline? Your neighbour might be able to fumble out the bass hook to "Another One Bites the Dust" if you showed him how, but you'd do it better and faster. Both of you would get better at either task with more practice.

Not a '59 Reissue, though on the band's last album I did record through an original early '60s Bassman. (Now correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the original Bassmans (Bassmen?) designed for bass? Don't know about the later reissues.) This old Bassman, into its original 2x12, sounded wonderful - delightfully dirty. Probably wouldn't have had enough bottom end for louder, more modern setups, but I would have thought your Orange, running clean, would take care of that bit. Like I say, don't know how the '59 RI would cope in comparison, but perhaps 6v6 has the right idea.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1381237207' post='2236176'] There's set ups and set ups. I don't see the point in taking an instrument just to have the truss rod tweaked, and the action adjusted. But sometimes you need more than that. Frets occasionally have to be dressed, that's definitely not something I'd attempt myself. [/quote] ^ This is the crux of it, I'd say - certain jobs require specific tools, and a certain level of confidence. I took my acoustic guitar in for a setup and the guy did a lovely job. He made up a new nut and saddle from bone blanks, which I wouldn't have been comfortable doing myself. But then he looked at one of my basses and explained that lowering the action was a fairly easy job if you had a set of nut slotting files. I invested in a set, and they weren't cheap, but I've used them on three different basses now, which, if I'd paid for him to set them up, would have cost more than the files (and this guy is very reasonable)! I think most people are inhibited by a fear of fubaring their instrument through not knowing the best methods, which, to be fair, is probably a sensible reason!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1381230782' post='2236025'] Well, there you go. It is a well known fact that sunburst basses sound different to blonde ones. [/quote] As any fule kno!

[b]The closest I will ever get to performing this experiment scientifically was the afternoon when I bought my Schecter.[/b] The shop had two Model Ts, one with a maple board and one with rosewood. The only other difference that I was aware of was the colour of the finish - the maple-neck had a sunburst finish, the rosewood one was blonde. And, of course, I don't know how long the strings had been on either bass, nor how many people had previously tried each one. The strings were Elixirs, however, which as we all know last forever. The first and most obvious difference was the feel, not the sound. Rosewood is often said to feel "faster," and in this case it certainly did. Both basses were a delight to play, but there was a definite difference in feel. The difference in sound was more subtle, but I could definitely hear something. Soloing one pickup at trying the tone at '0' and '10' with both of them, to be absolutely sure, there was more 'twang' with the maple neck. Like a bass version of the tone one might associate with a Telecaster. The rosewood, like a lot of people have suggested, certainly sounded 'darker.' I would guess the maple emphasises certain treble frequencies that the rosewood doesn't. All that said, with a turn of the tone control, I could quite easily have made one sound like the other. I don't know if I could have got the same twang out of the rosewood board, and I don't know if I could have got quite as sultry a growl out of the maple, but the difference was not so big that they sounded like different instruments. Both were lovely basses, and I would have been happy with either. I bought the rosewood one.

I quite enjoyed that, very catchy chorus! I've only listened to it on a pair of earphones on my work computer, but through those at least, that sounded very professional for a home mix - I certainly wish I could get my home recordings to sound that good! The bass tone certainly has plenty of "oomph" to it, a very pleasing low grunt (are you using a pick, quite close to the bridge, or is that just the way it's been compressed?) You do get a little bit buried during the choruses, when the distorted guitars are going full steam ahead, but then I guess that is the lot in life of a rock bassist! I guess that's up to you: people will probably still feel the bass, even if they don't quite hear it. If you wanted to be more audible you could try putting a bit more treble on the bass track and sit in the frequency spaces where the guitars would sound too scratchy. I realise I'm being quite vague; I'm mostly going on what I've watched far more experienced engineers doing, so all my advice should be served with a generous handful of salt!

Just a thought...and this obviously depends on why and how people would prefer to use these threads, but I guess if they were left unpinned, the more recently active bands would get bumped up to the top so people could keep abreast of the latest uploads, and be guaranteed the freshest sets of photos. On the other hand, this would lead to them getting jumbled up with other gig threads, which I can see becoming confusing. And having them pinned in one place would make it easier for anyone looking for an archive of a particular band. If you knew they were going to be there, I guess you'd know to scroll past them for other gig posts. I think I've reached the point of "thinking out loud" now, so I'll probably just come to the conclusion that I don't know!

Yeah, I rather like this idea - anything to massage my bloated ego further! We've got a gig coming up this time next week, so I'll look into starting a thread for Cherry White if any good photos appear.

Cheers, Skol, glad you like it!

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1381120212' post='2234515'] Having said that, if there's going to be a new bass 'god' (which I personally doubt), then IMHO that will come from the hip-hop genre. The music in hip-hop is slowly becoming less and less important, and in my opinion boring. I think that creates an opportunity for someone to come along and add the musicality back in, and therefore create a significant advance. In the same way that The Beatles revolutionised popular music, partially through adding back some of the musical complexity that had been present in pre-rock popular music. [/quote] You might be onto something here - I'll be honest, I know bugger all about hip-hop, but a few years ago, in my short and highly unsuccessful stint as a session player, I played on a recording session for a hip-hop album. Sadly, I don't know whether the finished product ever surfaced, but it was very interesting to listen to the conversation between the guy whose album it was, and the recording engineer. This guy had the idea that a large proportion of hip-hop and its various subgenres were becoming "lazy," because it was too easy for an aspiring young rapper to pull a sample out of an old soul record, loop it, and then put their words over the top. Hence he was getting in some session players to play live bass, drum, keyboard parts, etc. in the hope of making something a bit more "authentic." So perhaps there is a growing desire among some artists to put some quality musicianship into the genre...but as I say, I know bugger all about hip-hop!

Would he be after a Strat-style configuration, or is he after something a bit different? Personally I'm a fan of SG-style guitars, and they do boast a nice, light, slender body. The Epiphone SGs go for a very reasonable rate; I own a JHS-Vintage VS6 which is surprisingly nice to play, and probably a little cheaper still. NB - he will have to learn to cope with neck dive! (See here: http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html#vs6 for the Vintage copy)

https://soundcloud.com/white_elephant/still-sea-deep-breaths Here we go...thought I'd give this competition lark a bash for the first time. Hope y'all like it!

Not myself, but I did help my friend set up [i]Lost Johnny [/i]by Hawkwind for his ringtone. Only trouble is the little speaker struggles to reproduce Lemmy's thick, heavy bass tone so he never hears the bloody thing ringing!

It chimes in with my general outlook on life: I call it "The optimistic approach to pessimism." Which is to say, if you always expect something to be a bit crap, it's no surprise when it turns out, in fact, to actually be crap. But then! When something turns out to be really good, it's twice as satisfying, because you never expected it to be any good!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1380793927' post='2230553'] PPS I wrote it and recorded it in less than 30 minutes. I am a bad man [/quote] See, when you can turn out a performance like that in < 30 minutes, you can probably understand why most of us thought it was you playing that cello on last month's entry!

This looks only slightly less ridiculous the kind of tat that used to end up on Regretsy.