urb

While I still have a soft spot for Sheehan - he is great in his own long-haired, finger-tapping way - this looks like a nightmare for bass players - looking at the list of exhibitors there's almost sod all for bass players - looks like even good old Bernie Goodfellow and his usually great EBS stand won't be there - so that leaves Warwick...mmm, great. Seriously it looks like a guitarist heaven and bass hell, it's a damn shame there isn't something better in the UK - I know the Musik Messe is in Germany but it does have a brilliant range of stuff and loads of great bass gear - why the f*** can't the UK get its act together and do something along those lines?

FYI she's in a Level 42 tribute band in Holland too - she's definitely got a lot of talent - I like her vibe, not too showbiz or in your face - tasteful bass playing too. M

I'll say this once again - this an invaluable, very well written thread for anyone and everyone (and great for BC Google search results too = more traffic) could a kindly fellow mod please 'pin' it - I think it's a great resource. Thanks Mike

no takers for the funk...? Ok

I have an SKB Bass Safe case - you stick you bass inside, inside a gig bag - I flew to Thailand and back, 6 flights in total and the bass was sound as a pound. FYI I DID lock it - but even tho they managed to open it and check it - despite it being padlocked the baggage handlers - to my surprise - treated the thing with respect, no damage done. Re the cold of the hold the bass will get cold but not THAT cold - a short while left in the case when you get to your destination should be fine - I did two long haul flights and my bass was fine - I didn't slacken the strings. A two hour flight to Spain your bass will be fine - try and find a Bass Safe case - they have rolly wheels too so it's even easier to drag along with your other bags. M

Hello BCers I just the myspace page sorted out for this funk band I've just joined - it's pretty cool, the recording was done totally live in the studio with no overdubs - I'm using my Thumb bass (the Sei wasn't completed at the time)let me know what you reckon - and thanks for listening - we'll be gigging soon so I'll let you know when and where... Cheers Mike Listen here: [url="http://www.groovedigger.co.uk/"]http://www.groovedigger.co.uk/[/url]

I read this piece in BP (in Borders, cos I'm a cheapskate!) and I really liked the comments Vic's Bailey and Wooten, and Will Lee made, it's nice to hear them say that the bass had certain qualities, that while Jaco played it the way he did, the bass itself had a very specific feel and sound too. I'm pleased it's been found anyway. M

Police 'Walking On The Moon' Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime' Rappers Delight/Chic Goodtimes

[quote name='Alun' post='173149' date='Apr 9 2008, 02:38 PM']Yeah, I was taught to use it when I first started many thousands of years ago so have stuck with it. Either 1 finger per fret or 124 for some lower fret things. Cheers Alun[/quote] +1 dude M

In a nutshell that's what I've been doing for years now - for all the various influences I have - when it comes to playing in the moment with various bands etc my 'style' is bascially what comes out of my fingers when I switch my brain 'off' and my ears 'on'. I add that you should ultimately try to please yourself first and the audience (and others expectations) second - not to be misinterpreted by that I mean - play what makes you happy and let the other stuff come second. If you don't like slapping, tapping, shredding etc - then don't bother with it. there are no rules to this stuff - aside from the odd musical one, like play in time and tune up! I play like I play because I love that style and that's that - if people like it then great - if not - no worries. Mike

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' post='173397' date='Apr 9 2008, 07:35 PM']I've just thrown my bass away. Seriously difficult stuff carried off with aplomb. I can't get my [i]brain[/i] to go that fast never mind the soddin' fingers. Sing Your own Anthem has a bit of everything in the mix, Jaco, Frank Zappa (the musical feel, not the bass obviously), Stanley Clarke...[/quote] Thanks man - it's appreciated - I feel the same way most days honest - I'm going to be doing a load more but with lots of variety, this was a fast thing just because I haven't recoded a lot of uptempo stuff, mainly mid-tempo groove things - anyway thanks again and please go and retrieve your bass immediately...practice makes perfect etc Cheers Mike

Er... I love jazz too Mike

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='173290' date='Apr 9 2008, 04:47 PM']Sunless Saturday (Reality of My Surroundings)[/quote] +1000 - this is still one of the most incredible funk-rock anthems ever - Norwood's playing on this tune is immense - it's of my fave songs from the 90s - turn you speakers up and check this: M

+1 to all the other suggestions - here's a couple more... One of my absolute faves is my good friend [b]Franc O'Shea[/b] - he's based in Brighton and is one of the best fretless players around: [url="http://www.myspace.com/francosheamusic"]http://www.myspace.com/francosheamusic[/url] [b]Laurence Cottle[/b] made pretty spectacular fretless recordings in the late 1980s - you can download a load of his tunes for FREE from his website - really inspiring stuff: [url="http://laurencecottle.com/listen/"]http://laurencecottle.com/listen/[/url] Gary Willis is my absolute favourite fretless player at the moment - I've been known to dabble a (lot) with fretless too - see the ole Myspace line below. Cheers Mike

[quote name='Mike' post='172818' date='Apr 9 2008, 08:06 AM']Thank you everyone who has contributed to this thread, it's been extremely interesting and helpful. I found there was more people against the 33" than I thought. However, after reading reviews of people with 33" 5's and 6's I think I'm going to go for it. Please keep the comments coming if you have any more![/quote] Cool Mike - I think you'll dig the feel of it - like I said above it's all down to what suits you and your style - there are so many variables i.e. choice of woods, electronics - graphite - these all play a part in creating a good tone and feel - but the 33 scale a cheeky little twist in the design that just makes it feel great to play. Go for it M

Hey guys - yes my Sei is 33" scale and I really love it. It is all a matter of personal taste and what sort of music you play and so I guess for a jazzy, funky type of style like mine it's all good - for me it's about comfort and flexibility as much as tone - I've played some long gigs in the recent past were I've had to sit on the low end for ages and it's a killer on the old left arm - I've played for years and years and there's no getting used to it IMO - it's down to pure stamina. Maybe I;m just a total wuss... you decide - anyway - the 33 scale makes the whole bass feel compact - everything just feels easier to reach. As for tone it is ture you won't get a HUGE sound from my low B but I can live with that - as long as the string competes with the others for tone and clarity I don't mind - I can use heavier strings if it becomes an issue. On the short bit of recording I've done recently with the bass I noticed that when I varied the plucking style - i.e. went between pizzicato to a more open sustained note - and let that ring the string + note seemed to bloom - a whole load of other overtones suddenly appeared - and it sounded rich and full. So that's my take on it - I've played 34 scale for years with my Thumb's long neck giving me more and more agro - plus added neck dive and general weight of the bass - I'm basically a happy bunny right now. I've tried playing longer scales - and 6 strings - and longer scale 6 strings and I've found they just aren't for me - I have nothing against them - I just can't play them I like to play. I say try it - you might like it Mike

apologies in advance fr the bump - just completely reworked the dance-ish tune 'Sing Your Own Anthem' - it's fast and hectic and believe me I can't to record something with more space and less speed - but you know what it's like when you get recording a tune an you just have to see it through - it's a learning curve is all I can say. I'm definitely discovering loads more about Logic 8 just by using it - it's the only way innit!? The 'song' now has an added bassline and slappy solo breakdown... [url="http://www.myspace.com/flynnbass"]http://www.myspace.com/flynnbass[/url] Cheers chaps M

Hey guys Just wanted to share little experience I had yesterday with home recording set up - sorry for the less than coherent title of this thread but I thought as I had use some lateral thinking to get the results I did - that it would be good share any 'discoveries' you've made while working stuff out for yourself...! My thing was that I plugged my lovely new bass into my Mackie Onyx base station firewire interface a week ago and found I had an incredibly weak signal from the bass - my old Thumb bass has a Schack 3-band EQ in and puts out a red hot signal - so this was a bit of a shock to me - that my lovely Sei doesn't blast out bass frequencies in quite the same way. So I thought sh*t - I'm gonna have to shell out for a Sansamp or similar thing to boost me bass before going into the audio interface - then I thought of my lovely little Baby Baby Blue amp - and the fact that it's basically a "studio reference" amp (i.e. people in studios like them I guess) and that you can turn off the speaker on it and take a line out from the back of the head. It's also a real tube amp - albeit a single tube - so the signal is both crystal clear and warm as well. Anyway it worked a treat - just be adjusting the Gain I got the level I wanted and with a bit of additional 'am modeling' in Logic I got the tone I wanted and the signal level too. So I save myself some cash and got a great sound as well - thank f***! Markbass are about to launch a new software plug in that will do the same thing and I know Ameg already do one as well - I just really pleasantly surprised by the quality and lack of noise with the SWR - it's such a great little amp - not as powerful as some of the combos out there but still a really quality little amp - I've used mine loads and love it. I know this stuff isn't rocket science but there's so much to recording that you discover by trial and error - mainly error - so I realise I may sound like a total doofus going on about this but if any of you have any other money/time saving tips then please post away - I'm off to finish my tune. Cheers Mike

Cool dude - this is the one I use - it's very good: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-iPOD-TUNETALK-STEREO-BLACK/dp/B000IZTCQA/ref=pd_sbs_ce_img_1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-iPOD-TUNETA...pd_sbs_ce_img_1[/url] Really good value too M

Hey man - I use a little Belkin mic thatb you can plug into you iPod - it has to be one of the bigger iPods like a 30 or 80gb one - but it's a stereo digital mic so as long as the music isn't ear-bleedingly loud - i.e. sounds good and clear in the room - this little mic picks it all up in crystal clear stereo. The really neat part is when you plug it back into you PC or Mac is that you can then take the file out of iTunes - once its transfered over when you sync the pooter with the iPod - and then you can edit and mix the highlights of your session. There are loads of other ways you can do this but I think for convenience, ease of use and speed this is one of the best I think. You just need to make sure you place the mic+iPod somewhere central in the room so you get a good balance of sound not too much bass Alternatively you can always plug the entire band into the PA and take a line out to a laptop but this is a lot more complicated ad teim consuming - on precious rehearsal time and money - so unless you want to make a demo or a rough mix recording - personally I think the mini-disk or iPod way is better. Hope that helps. M

Vic and his bros getting silly live... M

Cool man - thanks again, M

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='169845' date='Apr 4 2008, 02:46 PM']I'm too scared to talk about it any further, I might get threatened with physical violence again.[/quote] What Steve, you mean you DON'T want to hear 'Jerry Was A F***ing Race Car Driver' again...? REALLY LOUD.... Oh sorry - I'll stop shouting - it's over isn't it...isn't it....isn't it.... Loved your Celinder tho man....no slapping on that little beauty.

Not only the way a groove [i]should[/i] be played - but just full of joy and energy - when you hit the funk like that with a great drummer - nothing else matters... end of. This - as they say - is the sh!t. The big smiles everyone is wearing says it all. Love it. Mike

Thanks for all this - it's a little OTT - though I agree with everything you've said - in future you can just say yeah 'that was good' or 'that sucked' in future - I am my own worst critic believe me! I just wanted to share the lovely sound of my Sei bass doing what it does best. Thanks for the effort and feedback - it's appreciated. Cheers Mike