ubassman

Definitely worth doing. Bowing is a great way to sharpen intonation and the discipline of Grades will take your playing to areas that perhaps you wouldn't normally explore. Good luck with it !

PM'd you !

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1375103348' post='2156686'] 64-62-60-62-64-64-64-62-62-62-64-67-67-64-62-60-62-64-64-64-62-62-64-62-60- [/quote] ( took me a few seconds ...but then the penny dropped!! )

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1374958533' post='2155328'] I like the strings on it too! Maybe I've got cheap tastes�� [/quote] ...you re in good company Donny ! +1

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1374954822' post='2155267'] Pete, if I can find the strings on ebay again, I'll send you a link. You appear to be one of the few that likes them. [/quote] ...a real pain though if you want a deep boomy sound ( aint gonna happen with these strings!! ) but super bright for that more funky groove kinda thang!

Love the way Lyle Mays and friends all know something special is going down after about 16.15 with the groove that kicks off at 13.15 - well worth listening on headphones ! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8UoV0xBsVI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8UoV0xBsVI[/url]

Little and often for me. Once I have figured out the changes I practice in a very specific way to commit to memory . Its a case of sitting down and simulating the gig in that were I want to get to is to hit every note right first time . I learnt this technique from a guy who used the analogy of the way golfers practice on a golf driving - you've got a bucket of balls to hit and it doesn't matter if you slice the first ball , hook the next, you've got plenty more in the bucket - whereas in a game of golf you have only one hit and you want it to be perfect. In short, you think and concentrate differently. So, if I mess up I stop playing and highlight the bit that clunked and just work on that. Then I go away for at least half hour and do something completely different. When I come back and then sit down and try and play it in 'gig mode' I usually get through the clunk first time. I discovered that its a learning process called 'reminiscence theory' where you remember by putting down layers with short quality concentration rather than lengthy repeated practice where you can drift off into a haze playing a passage over and over ...and it still doesn't sink in . It works for me anyway !

It always impresses me when our conductor deals out some new music to the 50 musicians in the orchestra everyone just sight reads and out comes this amazing sound. Figuring out the key and sight reading is a skill just like reading aloud from a book - when you get really good you can read like and tell a story like an Actor reading a script . When you start out reading it can be a bit clumsy at first but eventually reading becomes invisible. I always look at the key signature flats and sharps at the start - it tells me the key and where on the fingerboard I am going to place my hand so that the notes fall under my fingers. For example if it got 2 flats instant reaction without thinking is that the piece is probably in Bb Major and so I will be down at the equivalent of first fret ( A string) or if theres some high notes maybe pitch at the Bb at the 6th fret ( e string ). Of course without playing a note it could be G minor too and be centred around the 3rd fret but you can tell before you start if you have a standard ll,V,1 'turn around' at the start of the piece or can see a chord progression that you know are the modes of the root . Pretty much as soon as you get going you confirm the key in your head.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1374948078' post='2155160'] ..for me and the Toby Chennell Arco acoustic bass the most GAS-inducing [/quote] caught my eye too Clarky ...but thats probably my rose tinted DB specs at work!

...gotta love Bootsy's sense of flawless timing!

The Zoom products are pretty darn good - I have an H4n and am pretty impressed with the clarity of sound even better coming out of the back of a desk with a DI.

"....and here are the prizes you could have won." ...gone away with GAS !

Will be posting a photo of the bass here with Rhino Edwards signature of The Quo and also newly stickered up ( Milty have PM'd you my details ).

Great news Milty (although I have to say I really like the twang of the existing cheap as chips - great sound for slapping and popping ! ...so I will bundle them up and include them in the relay box!

There are good couple of Apps for iPhone where you have to read a note and then tap where you think it is on a virtual fingerboard, and a similar thing for compound rhythms where you read the music and have to tap out the rhythm. Do know of anything where software can hear and analyse ones playing for accuracy but would be a great bit of software if it exists!

To flow at speed for extended periods without stopping ...physically demanding , mentally demanding ...but [u]the[/u] place where ones mojo lives!

Still up here with me in the Peak District , Derbyshire ( only about 1 hours drive from Manchester, Sheffield, Derby or Nottingham) . I'll even throw in a cup of tea and a bit of freshly made victoria sponge ( * see note ) for anyone who wants to pick up the bass this weekend. Last chance saloon before Len picks it up on 9th August and it wends its way back down South ! I have had such a blast playing the bass and raising money - it was so, so easy to do. The format that worked for me was to have a whip round whilst the band played a number - we raised nearly £340 in 3 minutes - thats about £1 every half a second !! ( * ...while stocks last !)

You know what - absolutely fantastic!

....impressive by anyone standards !

....but why did you guys play it at such a sluggish tempo ! Congrats mate that is I guess our equivalent of running a 10k or a half marathon !

The maximum movement on big thick double bass and EUB strings is at the centre of its length ( at around the octave harmonic point - 12th fret on a bass guitar). The fingerboard is usually shaped hollow to allow the string to vibrate freely otherwise it tends to buzz against the fingerboard. Same for DB and EUBs.

You shouldn't really need to shift the saddle. Its more likely a poor tailpiece wire or that the end pin has been poorly fitted in the end block. A professional reaming tool can cost between £200 - £300 and sometimes replacement end pins are done by 'gifted' amateurs with a Black and Decker and plugs, wedges, packers,cork and allsorts to compensate for a poor fit! Extend the end pin and see if it looks perpendicular to the bass or angles off to the same side that the bridge has displaced. If its square then I would focus on getting your tail wire looked at. Good luck with it !

Hopefully a bit of bowing will be a good bit of physiotherapy ! ... ...ATB with the Op !

...are you leaving it outside in the sun to get some antiquing cracks done ? ! Nice looking instrument Pete ...hows your bowing coming along ?

...good luck - there I said it !