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I found learning to slap can take ages. I gave up tonnes of times & had been playing bass for a good 6 years or so before I started to get anything that resembled a 1/2 decent slap sound (a bit of higher ground). I'm still no great slapper & only have a couple of songs that involve any, but I do enjoy it when I do. My advice, as Lylodile say's, start with a thumb, then a finger, then get your deads, then bring in another finger & in 10 years time you might be as good as me!

I don't see how slap can be described as cool or uncool, is picking cool or uncool? To me it's a way to get the sound from the bass that suits the song, whether that be picking, slapping, tapping or fingering (I do like a spot of fingering :brow: ) or whatever else needs be. I am partial to a bit of overdriven slap with an envelope played at a slow to moderate tempo. Some might call that uncool

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='535702' date='Jul 8 2009, 02:19 PM']I just start with the roots and some really easy transition passes. After that, I'm not really competent or interested enough to plan a bass line. Once I'm playing the song with a band, I just sort of turn my brain off and think about other things, like "What's for tea?" or "Are we going to get canned off?". At that point, more interesting stuff just kind of emerges by accident. Trouble is, this means I rarely play any song exactly the same way twice.[/quote] Are you sure you're not really a gu*tarist that bought a bass by accident? The Gu*tarist in my band is just like that, comes up with some fantastic stuff but we could play the same song 20 times & to him it would be 20 different songs!!!

I find myself writing basslines for new songs that take me ages to get right & then when I play them to the band we re-write everything & give it a different chord structure, so bits of the bassline remain but lots of it is different. A bit of a pain when you spend a few evenings getting the tricky stuff perfected! Infact, one song that we have been working on (for the past 6 months or so) has only about the first 10 notes from what it started life as & each time we pick it up we change a chord here or there which buggers up most of what I'd done prior.

If I count my Vox thing that hasn't seen daylight for at least 10 years then you can make the total = 1541

I haven't tried the aggi combo you mention (didn't know they did one) but I've tried aggi gear & although I would agree the cabs sounded great, did not have a big difference from my combo for clarity. My combo still amazes me at gigs.

Love Tina's bass playing (one of my influences), but I always find myself skipping past this song whenever I listen to Stop Making Sense (too cheesy for my liking). +1 on Tina's playing & her voice.

[quote]You'd also need a tap-tempo tremolo to get the pulsing effect in time with the beat.[/quote] Moogerfooger Bass murf with the tap tempo would do your job for fuzz & tremolo. There's a s/h MF105b on here & any non latching footswitch would suffice. I use mine as an overdrive for loads of stuff.

Why not have a wee ask about just now & see who's available (provisionally) then get back to her & ask what her plans are there & that you know a wedding band that she can have a listen to (hopefully on tinterweb) that can play? Gets you prepared early with a yes/no rather than coming back not finding anyone after saying you'll look for her.

Would Basschat not be a good place to try & find her a wedding band? It would give her an option if she hasn't found/got time to find a replacement & would show that you care.

[quote]I like Garageband but I don't think it exports mixes very well.[/quote] That's the only problem I have with GB. However, you can do all the work in GB & export each track individually (which appears to export fine for some reason) & then pop em all into reaper to mix & polish. I've been doing this & find it a much better result (& I'm deaf!).

I was wanting a compressor for yonks as I thought it would help my sound. I got a couple to try (borrowed) & was VERY disappointed. I had the same probs with it raising my noise floor up so when I didn't play, you got all the buzzes & things. If I put it before my Moogers it either had no effect (not even a phattening one) or it meant NO dynamics & things sounded pants. BTW, I get a brilliant Phat dub sound with the moogers & the exp pedal can be used to great effect, not a bad sound for a rock band

I recently joined another forum (Audi) & they have it so you have to make 5 posts before you can PM or sell. Might be an idea for keeping spam down.

From reading the first couple of posts it sounded like you're a dirty sweaty girl! Just my type (damn I'm getting married) Try spraying your strings with WD40 & wiping them down, it smells good too... P.S. I don't sweat, I glow like Sellafield

It sounds like a good pedal but it would only mask your problem, not resolve it. I'd see if anyone on here has any spare strings (even a D string) to see if it is the strings. Pop a post in the wanteds or look in recycles. Unfortunately I have none spare (the last ones snapped). Another thought I just had but don't know if it would have any effect... Could it be the P/U under the D & G strings has been put in backwards or that the P/U is faulty? I don't know a great deal about P/Us other than the basics.

My rock band Frigorifico are playing @ Mucky Mulligans in Perth on Friday 22nd May from 9:30 pm.

[quote]dear god things happen in Kinbuck....things happen near Dunblane![/quote] Yup, just once a year tho! Got more details for it. Beerfest starts at @ 3pm & we're on at @ 5pm for most of the evening.

[quote]What's the setting like on your amp?[/quote] [quote]Pickup height? Tried raising the D/G pup up?[/quote] These would be the 1st 2 things I try (in that order) followed by trying a different brand of strings (I don't like the DR Highbeams cause they're too zingy & bright, but some love this). Failing that, change your bass .

I'll add another +1 I got my MB combo from Darren & got excellent service. Hope to do business again with him (maybe new bass soon???).

[quote]I find it a lot easier to learn things when playing in a band - because they're almost immediately useful and applicable.[/quote] +1 here. I find playing at home is good & productive, but when playing with the rest of the band (even jamming), so much more comes out of me from the inspiration they give.

I've never used a compressor in a live situation. I tried my guitarists Boss CS2 & all I found it doing was making the background noise that couldn't be heard, audiable. Putting it before my Moog LPF meant I had no control over the dynamics to control the CV Envelope out & when I put it at the end of the chain it just increased any noise tenfold. I would like to try a different compressor just to see if it's any better but after thinking about what compressor to get & then trying the CS2, it's put me off.

All day beerfest & music by my altdot band, BigRoom. Will put more details up soon.

If the singer already plays an instrument then I would get the drummer to get some pads to use as triggers. Much easier than fekkin about with pedals.

Apart from Tenor horn, I'm self taught. Unless you count learning & giving ideas with your best friend as a kid as lessons! Started bass with a book that I think was called "Teach yourself Rock Bass" (Vol 3 I think) & also got the Jazz version too. Then just bought loads of transcribed music books & bought Guitarist every month as it had a few pages dedicated to bass. Still been thinking about getting lessons tho to learn some different techniques. Never did keep up with the Tenor horn AM, you're not alone. Ive spent the past 1 1/2 hours playing about with my bass too, only stopped to go on basschat

[quote]How can you possibly call a Rickenbacker a "total mess"...???[/quote] All down to taste really. I personally would never have a fender (hate the body shape) but do love the sound they have. Wouldn't have a Ricky either for the same reason.