DanOwens

Yeah, I do, but most bandleaders only care about the sound, not the label, it's the other band members that get territorial and who can blame them. If they go out and spend £1k on an instrument, they'll be livid when your £300 home-job sounds better!! Dan

How about the fact that I would like an SX or a Squier but don't want to show up to a gig or session and be faced with the snobbery of other musicians. My Darkstar Precision is a parts bass, and I took the work 'Fender' off the decal and left 'Precision' as I don't really want to claim it is what it isn't but some of my fellow bassplayers and some of my students have said things like "I'd never play a Squier/parts bass ... but yours is excellent." So am I the snob too because I don't want to be face with other's snobbery? Should I bite the proverbial bullet and smack 'em in the face if they slag off my bit of wood? Dan

WHY??

Yeah, actually you can. I just googled it. You have to turn true bypass off but its not much of a tone-sucker (with my limited testing capabilities .. read 'ears'). Once off itmakes the delays much more pleasent to use, as the lack of trails makes it a bit unnatural. Try the line 6 forums. Dan

Music Ground, just up the road from the Sound Control on Oxford Road, although I recommend going to the Salford SC first, it's much bigger. Dan

BB - What K&K did you use? And did you install it yourself? Also, do you mean you put the TI Jazz flats (as in electric bass strings) on? SR - I have tried foam with my DSP but there are some moments in this band that I use my Wooly Mammoth for a full-on wall-of-sound bass tone - totally not possible with a wedge of foam killing sustain. Thanks guys!! I'm at a loss what to do with it, if anything at all! Dan

They sound like a good idea Rev. I'm after something with a bit of sustain and maybe [i]some[/i] top-end. I know that I want the sound of the Trubass strings but not all of the time, which makes me think about flats. I also palm-mute a lot of the time. I was thinking of fitting a bass-mute (like the ones Ped has) but since I'm using a piezo in the bridge I thought maybe it would kill the level. Any thoughts my fellow chatters. Also, my threads only seem to get one or two replies. Am I that boring?? Dan

Hey guys, I've been playing about with my acoustic Ibanez bass in my Nick Cave/Tom Waits-esque band along with the DarkStar Precision. The Precision's got nickel strings on at the mo, so it's a bit too bright and lively so I was considering a few mods and maybe buying a fretless neck for it but in the meantime I've been playing the acoustic. Thing is, I ran the idea of new purchases by the band and they all said that the acoustic looks great in the context and sounds good too. Problem is, I'm dialling out ALL the mid and treble from the onboard-pre coz the sound is even brighter than the P. So you acoustic users, what you using to get 'your' sound? I have a set of Trubass 88s but there are some times when I need a long sustain, I just don't need all the top-end. Are you using electric strings? I also rarely play it unplugged other than in my room, so volume isn't necessarily important. Thanks!!! Dan

Regret saying yes to that singer-songwriter my mate asked me to do. It was Paulo Nutini. I'm 23 and I've turned down Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, Paulo Nutini and Echo and The Bunnymen. (None deliberately though!!!) I'm a bloody idiot. Dan

[quote name='The Funk' post='166030' date='Mar 29 2008, 07:47 PM']Exactly. I find my lack of reading skills a hindrance rather than a help. How could anyone find being able to read a hindrance? That doesn't make any sense.[/quote] I'm an idiot. We share similar values, and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding..... Trying to get my students to read and to learn the theory is difficult, so I mainly work from pieces of music. Like a minor funk in E with a C#-to-D thing going on. Once they've got the riff, We look at embellishing it and to do that you need to know the Dorian mode. Every one of them has eventually took it on board (except the 11 year-old beginner whom I'm taking it slowly with). Dan

[quote name='The Funk' post='165178' date='Mar 28 2008, 12:34 PM']EDIT: I don't read music (notation or tab). It's a hindrance rather than a help.[/quote] Is that not rather contradictory? Dan

Hey Bomber. I totally agree with you .. some of the best players from the best groups don't understand theory. It does not mean, however, that they don't know it. Music theory is just a load of labels put on things that our EAR has already decided. The best way to learn for some people (and I do this with some of my students who aren't interested in learning the 'rules' of theory) is to play one note, and play another with it. Listen to the way it sounds. Remember that gap so if you want to create the same feeling, you can use that gap and you'll be like 'oh yeah!!!'. This is how I learned Klezmer theory. Droned the D string and played the G string up and down. Once I'd decided on the sounds I liked and wanted to reproduce I tried it in a new key on a new open string. Once I'd exhausted the open strings I tried it in G or C or something. I learned theory by ear for about two years before I started to really practice, just by hearing one note over the other!!! Dan

For this I would be really focusing on the modes. For the major chords you could be playing Ionian, Lydian or Mixolydian (E Maj7, EMaj7#11, E7) and for the minor you could explore Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian and Locrian (Em, Em13, Emb9, Emin11b5). Knowing how these are composed (there are LOADS of resources online) can really open up some new sounds to your ears and get those all-important cadences and counter-melodies going (God I don't sound like a bassist sometimes). Dan

Simply, get a GOOD teacher or find a friend who does know this stuff. Some of my students have said they've been trying for years to get their heads round theory and I have opened up their brains to the whole complex, yet simple (should that read, simple yet complex??? :s) concept. The key thing with it is not to learn it as a mathematical or geometrical principle, but to use these as the path to letting yours ears hear and understand what is being heard. It's very hard to explain on a message board, and much easier in person. So (if you can afford it - I couldn't when I was a beginner) get a good teacher!! Good luck!!! Dan

I should add that only the audio signal cuts out (the digital effect led stays lit), bookended by a very slight clicking sound, not unlike a switch!!!! Dan