ambient

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1389565834' post='2335679'] Now this, I would contradict. If you mean by 'career in music', pop star, roaming the world in a jet, you may well be right, but I would maintain that there are far more healthy, satisfying and viable careers to be had in music than that. Teaching, orchestral pit work, studio sessions, sound engineers, producers... The list is long. Pop stars are only a tiny, highly visible, tip of the iceberg. [/quote] In the absence of a like button . The first day at uni we were told that we were actually sitting beside the most important person. Classmates and fellow musicians, networking. I did 4 evenings and a matinee at Birmingham rep four years ago through a drummer friend, and I did 2 months on a cruse ship around the med thanks to a guy at a music shop, who recommended me to a fellow bass player, who recommended me to the bandleader. Through that I got gigs from the 2 keys players that I played with on the ship. It goes on like that, spreading. I gave up on the idea of being a pop star when I was about 20.

Like we're taught at uni, there's more to a career in music than just playing. You have to have a portfolio approach to it, earning money from teaching, writing/composing, journalism, production work, arranging, live sound, studio engineering, organising gigs or open mic's or jam nights, as well as playing live and doing sessions. You have to be versatile at what you do, and treat things like sight reading and harmony knowledge as a skill, not as the work of the devil. The internet has actually made things easier. I did some sessions on bass, and recorded synths for a band in Bristol before Christmas, without leaving the house. You can teach students via the internet too. Ultimately though, it's all music .

One of my tutors said the other week, and it's something I agree wholeheartedly with. Being a musician isn't just 'something I do'. It's me, it's it's being me. I'd rather be a poor musician, but be a musician than do a real job where money is the incentive rather than music. Modern life is almost entirely money and consumerism focussed, and it's not something I aspire to. Sit on a tube train or a bus, or just walk down the street and you're bombarded with adverts by companies wanting you to spend money, or save money (by spending money with them), there's this new gotta have gadget or that gotta have holiday. I earn sufficient from what few gigs I do (I'm a full time student and used to do more, but have had to cut back), and I get a full student loan and grant. After uni I intend to teach music, and do more gigs.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1389550822' post='2335435'] I presume then that you didn't declare it or weren't stopped at customs. It has nothing to do with what i wrote. People are stopped at customs all the time at British airports when entering from EU countries. Customs are also well aware that although you may have come from an EU airport they will know the route you have taken to get there from outside the EU. People bring items into the country all the time undeclared but i was stating what happens if customs search your luggage. As i said they are not stupid people but just too busy to stop everyone. [/quote] It has because it's a way that I circumvented the workings and avoided VAT and import duty. I didn't declare it, there were no customs people there, and I wasn't gonna go searching for one to declare it to. I also avoided paying tax in the USA by paying for it before I went over . If you have an instrument booked onto the flight as luggage, I doubt (but I'm probably wrong) that customs will bother interrogating you to check that the one you've come back with is the same one you went out with. You could also insure the new one several weeks before you go, that way you'd have some paper work. I don't have receipts for any of my basses, they were all bought 2nd hand. By your logic if I flew to the USA with one them, I'd end up paying tax and VAT on my return for a bass that I already owned.

I met a guy a few years ago, he was an American living over here. He sent his brother the money for a beautiful Smith bass, and paid for his flight over as a holiday, his brother bought the bass over with him. So another option is for the other guy to come over here. It all depends on the values of the instruments, and the costs involved in shipping etc.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1389548380' post='2335387'] Because it's up to the person bringing it into the country to prove they didn't buy it outside the UK and are not trying to bring something into the country without paying duty on it. If you don't have a receipt that you bought it in the UK or proof you have already paid duty on it they can charge you duty on it. They people who work in customs are not stupid. [/quote] I bought a bass from New York 5 or 6 years ago, can't remember the name of the shop, it was in Brooklyn. I paid for it before I went over and collected it. The cheapest flight was via CDG in Paris, so flying back my flight into the UK was from CDG, no customs no VAT, just me very happy . Just remembered, it was the Groove shop.

If it's a very expensive instrument, it may be cheaper to fly and pick it up ? Maybe split the flight costs 50/50 ? You're taking a bass out and bringing one back, who's to know it's different one ?

Probably my favourite female vocalist, and my current favourite bassist. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2POePj3-s4&feature=youtu.be"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2POePj3-s4&feature=youtu.be[/url]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1389539042' post='2335234'] Did you have to replace the nut so that the slots were the right width? [/quote] You can sometimes just fill a bit of the existing nut with a tiny spot of superglue, that what I've done in the past.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1389533853' post='2335144'] Having just imported a Zon Sonus from a seller in NY, and had the bass shipped (hardcase/fully insured) for $240, your figure seems high. [/quote] That's the figure I was told, but it was from LA, so that's a few thousand miles more . It was with UPS.

I'm puzzled when people say they don't use the low B. The low B opens the bass up, you can play all the low notes normally on the E string, F, F sharp, G etc on the B string from the 6th fret up. Making playing in higher positions on the other strings easier, 'cos you don't need to move about so much, I tend to do most of my playing around the 5th fret, playing a low F, 6th fret B string with my first finger I can easily reach a high A at the 9th fret on the C string. Don't buy a 5 string or a 6 string and then play it the same way you would a 4 string, you're totally missing the point of it, 'cos it's not just about the extra notes .

Shipping costs have soared recently, I was gonna buy an Ibanez GWB1 from a guy on talk bass, the shipping (no insurance) was $450.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1389171081' post='2330755'] Not sure about this. Yes, there are a few dyed-in-the-wool Fender fans, but I think that for most people a Fender is a known quantity. They know what to expect from the sound, look and playability (or at least they [i]think[/i] they do!). In tough times when money is short, maybe buyers are less likely to take a punt on a lesser-known instrument? That said, there do seem to be an inordinate number of Fenders in the basses for sale section... [/quote] I think you're totally right. If someone turns up for a gig or a session and they're carrying a P bass or a Strat, then the MD/band/producer knows what to expect. If you're looking for a certain type of gig, then you kind of know what instrument you'll need, or will be better suited to it, 9 times out of 10 some sort of Fender will do the job.

Bass direct have one, maybe a bit overpriced though ? [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Yamaha_John_Myung_6.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Yamaha_John_Myung_6.html[/url]

Status have truss rods, and Modulus. Zons don't. My Modulus just stays the way it is, I never have to adjust it. I can leave home on a frosty morning, stick it on the luggage rack on the train to London, back into the cold, onto the tube, back into the cold and finally to uni. So it gets bumped and cold, the warm, then cold. Really amazing

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1389260218' post='2331929'] They weren't hugely costly to begin with, and they are more associated with the more intermediate price bracket, and the RBX 774/775 range which is why the body contouring is like them. String spacing on them isn't too tight, it's around the 17mm mark, Much larger than whatever he uses now, 14/15mm I'd imagine, since he uses 5 string bass necks on his Bongos! A guy in Aberdeen has an RBX JM2 and uses two TRB1006s, so Yamaha are doing something right. Would love a Yammy (an RBXJM or a JM2, or a TRB1006! Love them all haha) to compliment my Ibby and Attitude... (Also, first post of 2014! Happy New Year! ) [/quote] 6 strings on a 5 string neck ? Wow, that must be tight !

His last album is quite good, nothing like that, mostly a mix of jazz and funk.

Thanks for the links

I don't think so, might get into trouble .

Following on from my string quartet piece the other week. My other Christmas project is this. We're given a short clip of film, approximately 58 seconds long, with 4 sections to it. We have to compose an orchestral soundtrack to it. This is mine, it's also my first attempt at this sort of thing. The main part was done one night, I'm at my most creative at that time. I started about 2am and finished about 3 hours later . Bits have been added, and other bits taken away since then, but anyway opinions please. [url="https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/film-score"]https://soundcloud.com/ambientbassist/film-score[/url]

Does anyone know where I can download a really nice legato violin sample ? Logic's is a bit

I've seen people like Steve Lawson and Michael Manring play dead notes, or other percussive sounds into the looper, then use them as a kind of drum track.

Don't know what your budget is, but there's a really beautiful JP model on ebay [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111253046034?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111253046034?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649[/url]

[quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1389179561' post='2330868'] looks like he has moved the bridge, i bet the intonation is wonderful ;^) [/quote] Yeah, there's something very odd about the bridge position.

It's kinda like the end of the headstock was hacked off by someone wielding a sword or something. Surely if you were gonna reshape something, you'd make a mould to cut around, not just start cutting and see what happens . [i]Who[/i], is gonna pay £50 for that ? What would you do with it ?