thepurpleblob

I know this is contentious but I really don't believe there is such a thing as talent (what's the genetic imperative for being able to play a stringed instrument?). So, that just leaves hard work and dedication. The willingness to do that is environmental, one part of which is your cultural influences. So, yes, I'm sure culture has an effect but how much is debatable.

I've been round the houses from a variety of Yamaha basses through to some high-end stuff and have spiralled back to anything made by MusicMan. I can't find anything I like better regardless of cost. All four of my basses are MMs now. I always fancied myself as a five string player (and started out on 5 string) but really only play four now.

I've been playing for coming up ten years (I'm 47 now). The high point is a bit general.... playing has given me the opportunity to meet lots of new and different people who I would never otherwise have met. It's been much more of a valuable education that just playing the bass. The low points - let's just say that I have met one or two people who have not treated me in the manner in which I think I deserve or - I would like to think - how I treated them.

In a pub that's already full of people? I play a few random notes up and down the instrument - mostly looking for horrible resonances in the room. If all is well, push the mute button and shut up. Call me grumpy (!) but it really annoys me players noodling away "sound checking" - you know who you are

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1298426' date='Jul 9 2011, 06:30 PM']I bought some Tannoy Mercury bookshelves today and they are just the ticket. Everything seems to have suddenly become crystal clear... even stuff streamed via YouTube. Happy, happy happy! Just got work through these 50 odd tracks now...[/quote] Another happy customer Similar bargains to be had with the likes of Kef Coda speakers. A proper speaker manufacturer at all costs basically.

Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead playing Sweet Child Of Mine, or anything by Guns n Roses for that matter. Bloody awful band (IMO, of course). There's a lot more things you can screw up doing covers before the subtle nuances of open or fretted notes start to come into I think we'll find

Apple iMac + Transcribe! + Teac Amp + Tannoy Mercury Bookshelf speakers. The decent speakers made by far the biggest (sound) difference. Think they were about fifty quid used off the Bay. If I'm going through headphones I use a Line6 Bass Pod with the usb connection and headphones. They're just run of the mill Sennheisers.

[quote name='Maverick' post='1297762' date='Jul 8 2011, 10:41 PM']If a song uses open strings, particularly the bottom string (SCOM does), you pretty much have to match the original tuning if you want to play it accurately in that key. There are ways around it I suppose, but won't sound so good.[/quote] I can think of one or two songs that would be hard to play without using open strings (technically I mean) but to say you HAVE to use open strings is a bit of stretch. It's a bit like saying you have to use a pick or you have to play a Fender

There's more to playing the bass than technique... there must be or I would never get a gig. This is what I tell fifteen year old kids who have way better technique than me - "I'm a better bass player than you because I have a car!!!"

I don't know if anybody else said this (too lazy to read whole thread)... but those bits of rotting foam underneath pickups when they should have proper big springs. It can't be that hard to make a pickup that actually comes up when you undo the screws!!

The key of the song is the key of the song and that's that - regardless of tuning. If a song is in Eb "on the record" then I would expect to learn it in that key unless the band have told me it is in some other key. After that, how I tune my bass to actually play the thing is completely up to me. The problem comes when some idiot tells you the key they "finger" it in (if you see what I mean) but the "real" key is something else because they have tuned their instrument away from standard tuning. If that's what happened then it's them that's stupid, not you. They should tell you the actual key of the song - instrument tuning is mostly irrelevant, especially for a bass. To recover from this, you really need to be able to transpose up or down "on the fly". This is a bit of a skill in itself. Sometimes you can get away with just moving everything up or down a fret but if you have open strings or run out of frets then you have to do some quick thinking. It's a skill worth having

[quote name='Grant' post='1291792' date='Jul 4 2011, 08:53 AM']FOR SALE CAR FORD FOWCAS You wouldn't buy it either...[/quote] Yeh - people do it all the time. You see twenty-grand BMWs with illiterate descriptions all in capital letters. Too true - I wouldn't give them the time of day either

He will pay with paypal and then put in a claim saying that he never got it. Paypal will take the money back and that'll be that.

I don't know if you've heard of forstner bits? These are fancy drill bits that make a hole with a flat base. You can use these to get the most of the wood out and do the corners. If you have a drill press you are laughing. You will have the basic cavity all at the right depth. It's only left to chisel out the remainder and clean it up.

Hmmmm...... a router is about the most dangerous power tool there is, so make sure you find out how to use one properly. You need a decent one (1/4inch ones are almost useless - get a half inch) and buy decent bits. Even then, you still need to make or buy templates. You can buy some very nice chisels and waste a bit of wood practicing. I'm no wood working expert but if you aren't in a rush you can get excellent results with hand tools.

Dear me.... that takes me back

I love the sound of the fretless and didn't find it as hard as I expected. What I never did find the time for was getting "good enough" (in my case pretty much anything beyond the 7th fret). I think I've given up on that one now.....

There's a book called something like "Zen and the art of guitar mastery". It's for guitar but that doesn't matter. It's really about identifying the tension in your playing and achieving a state of relaxation. It's a bit touchy-feely but might help. What I took away was that you should aim never to play stuff wrong. Don't get too obsessed by metronomes. Play as slowly and unevenly as you need to get the notes under your fingers every time and do it until you aren't tense. Then work on the rhythm and then the right speed. Being relaxed is the key. Do as I say, not as I do (of course).

[quote name='gjones' post='1285624' date='Jun 28 2011, 07:56 PM']Met up with Howard and we traded basses - MIJ P for MM SUB halfway between Carluke and Edinburgh in a dodgy motorway service station. Good guy and good communication too. Bass as described and happy all round. Hope you like the SUB Howard.[/quote] My pleasure. Very pleased with the SUB although a "proper" scratch plate is on the cards I think

....and the Red SUB moves on again. Did a shady meet-up in a service station carpark somewhere in Scotland. Pleasant bloke to deal with and all as expected and agreed. Recommended

OK... band No. 1 All these things - Killers Bartender and the thief - stereophonics Beds are burning - Midnight Oil Who'se got a match - Biffy Clyro Buck Rodgers - Feeder Cigs and Alcohol - Oasis Comfortably Numb - Floyd Creep - Radiohead Dear Prudence - Siouxsie/Beatles Even fallen in love - Buzzcocks Fire - Kasabian Framed - Alex Harvey Gangsters - Specials Had Enough - The enemy Hard To Handle - Black Crowes I predict a riot - Kaiser Chiefs Jailbird - Primal Scream Tramps Vest - Stereophonics Moving to New York - Wombats Mystify - INXS Pretty Vacant - Sex Pistols Psycho Killer - Talking Heads Saints are coming - Skids Strange little girl - Stranglers Take me out - Franz Ferdinand Video killed the radio star - Buggles Phew! Band #2 to follow.....