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Everything posted by TKenrick
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Upgraded Ibanez GWB35 (Aguilar pre, Nordstrand pickup) - *SOLD*
TKenrick replied to TKenrick's topic in Basses For Sale
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This bass has been through a few BCers, I've owned it since 2017 and have only played it a handful of times, hence the need for it to go to a new home where someone gives it plenty of attention. It's had quite a bit done to it, most notably the Spinal Tap finish has been stripped by a previous owner; the natural wood finish has picked up a few small dings along the way and there's one fairly large knot on the upper horn (pictured). The fingerboard has some light wear that attempted to photograph. Since it's been with me I've had Andrew at Richmond Guitar Workshop do the following: • new nut • nordstrand Big Blade pickup • aguilar OBP-2 preamp (stacked bass/treble boost/cut) I'm looking for £450 plus whatever delivery/collection options are required, I have a few gig bags that the bass can be shipped with depending on buyer's preference.
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Welcome, Steve! (I'm an ex-Worcestershire dweller, born in Evesham, seems we're all coming out of the woodwork now...)
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Anyone else use “classical” posture?
TKenrick replied to TeatroLirico's topic in Theory and Technique
Another vote for the classical posture here 👍 -
I've had similarly disappointing experiences at the Bass Gallery, and at Charlie Chandler's too (pickups wired in the wrong way round and the bass came back covered in sweaty finger marks after the teen behind the counter told me that it 'played really nicely'...). I use Andrew at Richmond Guitar Workshop; he's done cavity shielding, pickup and preamp installs and setups on various basses and the work has always been top notch (he used to work at Charlie Chandler's in Kew before it closed).
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A couple of charts that were requested by students: Big Mountain - 'Baby, I Love Your Way' Roy Orbison - 'Oh, Pretty Woman'
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Voice leading is hugely important for bass players to understand, because it's one of the main things that separates good players from great players; if you can find the path of least resistance through a chord progression using inversions then all sorts of interesting things can happen in your basslines. This is great to hear. There's a certain mindset out there that makes people think that learning theory* will destroy all creativity, but I think the reverse is true; I'm endlessly fascinated by pulling apart the music that I love to find out how it works. There's a great monologue by the late scientist Richard Feynman from an interview called The Pleasure of Finding Things Out that says it much better than I ever could. *FWIW, I dislike the word theory, it's a dead thing that belongs in dusty libraries. Harmony - the living, breathing, application of the rules of music - is much more preferable.
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Devil's advocate suggestion... unless they're moving a song down from E to Eb and you really want the lowest possible octave* then just save your money and use your brain. Transposing a song down a semitone shouldn't be that much of a headache once you've tried it a couple of times. *assuming you're playing a 4-string bass in standard tuning, that is.
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Even though I transcribe a lot of music I always feel like my ears aren't as good as I want them to be. These are the best ways that I've found to get them in shape without spending any money:
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Exactly. A lot of people parrot the very tired 'music is a language' analogy but then don't make any real effort to actually learn the language in a meaningful way. No point learning fancy words if you don't know what they mean or understand when to use them.
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This might not seem like the answer that you want, but... A lot of people, bass players in particular, struggle to understand harmony because they don't have a solid understanding of intervals (how two notes relate to each other) and basic triads first. It's going to be hard to get your head around 7th chord harmony and the devices that Marcus Miller is talking about if you skip over the much less exciting foundation work. A good starting point is to look up the intervals of the major scale (major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, major 7th) and understand how those intervals are constructed (the musical spelling and grammar, if you like), how they're played on the bass, and how each one sounds. You don't necessarily need a resource that's aimed at bassists, and it can be helpful to work on some of this stuff at a piano/keyboard as it can provide an easier way to visualise certain things compared to the fretboard.
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What has a professional bassist got, that I have not
TKenrick replied to bass_dinger's topic in General Discussion
Those three strands of professional bassist all require slightly different skill sets (FWIW most full time musicians that I know have to take lots of different sorts of work to survive). If you want to do theatre work/cruise ship stuff etc then being a decent reader is a must, some sessions require reading but many require fast ears and a broad knowledge of what to play in different styles. TAB does not exist in the professional world. Covers band work is probably the most easy to get into, but you need to memorise a lot of tunes (50-100ish to begin with) and be able to transpose them into different keys at short notice if you want to be able to dep with different bands. Being able to do backing vocals makes you way more employable. In general, professional players across the board tend to have a great sense of rhythm, decent ears, and have learned enough tunes over the years to be able to improvise a suitable bassline when asked to do so. You don't need tons of technical proficiency or slap bass pyrotechnics to get plenty of gigs and as long as your gear works well it doesn't matter how much it costs. It's true that a lot of work comes from your network, but it's not all down to being a people person; knowing the right people gets you the gig, knowing the right stuff means you keep getting called for that gig (and people think of you when they need a bassist for something else...). -
Fatback Band - "Do the bus stop" transcription
TKenrick replied to bloke_zero's topic in Theory and Technique
If you've got two consecutive open strings descending then the left hand has to mute the higher one - in this case the D gets muted at the exact split second that you pluck the open A. This is a hard thing to get used to at first but it's hugely important. In general, the right hand takes care of all the strings below the one you're playing, the left hand mutes anything above the string being played. -
All prices include tracked postage to UK mainland addresses. Discounts for multiple purchases. Subdecay Noise Box Absolutely bonkers pedal in perfect working disorder. £75 Boss DD-6 Delay Couple of scratches to the finish but otherwise vgc, £50 Boss TU-2 This has seen plenty of action but still works perfectly well, velcro on the bottom £20
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Mantic Density Hulk *now £120 posted* - *SOLD*
TKenrick replied to TKenrick's topic in Effects For Sale
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Mantic Density Hulk *now £120 posted* - *SOLD*
TKenrick replied to TKenrick's topic in Effects For Sale
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It appears that I was incredibly optimistic about the price when I first listed this, so it's now been reduced to something more reasonable 😬 Mantic Density Hulk sub pedal in excellent condition. This is the regular version without the expression pedal input. Sounds hefty even at low volumes, I've owned an original DOD Meatbox and find the Density Hulk vastly preferable in every way. £120 securely packed and tracked to mainland UK addresses, discount if you want to pick it up.
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Novation Bass Station keyboard from the 90s (not the recent Bass station II update!) Owned by me since 2009 and serviced by Novation in 2013, I've hardly used it since buying so it needs to go to someone who'll play it. Plugged it in this morning and everything works well, a great sounding and fun synth to play. Good cosmetic condition given its age, I've tried to capture the more obvious bits of damage in the photos, notably the pitting on the last key and the dent to the casing underneath the mod wheels. Includes Novation power supply. £130 £100 securely packed and tracked to mainland UK addresses (if you'd rather collect from me in Egham TW20 then we can knock some money off)
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Having dabbled in (and subsequently rejected) the E-C thing I got a lot out of working through parts of The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick; there's a couple of chapters that have some really heavy exercises on voice leading and some different ways of voicing chords (drop-2, etc) that might open up some new avenues for you - I found that working on spread triad voicings gave me a lot of useful material that could be applied even in a non-jazz situation.
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3Leaf Wonderlove Deluxe Envelope Filter - *SOLD*
TKenrick replied to TKenrick's topic in Effects For Sale
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3Leaf Audio Wonderlove Deluxe for sale, owned for a long time but rarely used outside of the practice room. Excellent condition with very little in the way of scratches or chips to the paintwork, comes with original box and manual. Has velcro on the bottom that can be removed at buyer's request. £220 packed and tracked within the UK. Poor lighting makes the paint job look more blue than it really is, the pedal is a lovely deep purple colour.
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The Functional Ear Trainer app is the best thing I've found for getting the hang of how intervals sound (and, more importantly, feel) within the context of a key, which is what you need if you're trying to work out songs on the fly. Having been playing for 20+ years this is the one thing I'd go back and do every day if I had the chance.