louisthebass

I really liked the early L42 albums - World Machine was a good album, but it's noticable that the bottom end had started to be filled out with synth bass. That was pretty much a taster for what was to come, and from my ears, MK's bass playing started to get lost in the mix.I'm not a big fan of his tone using either the Alembic or his Kingbass - he should have stayed with using the Jaydee.

As has been discussed in previous threads about the guy, his fingerstyle playing has always been overlooked in favour of his slap technique. "True Believers" is still my all time favourite L42 track where he's playing fingerstyle for the bulk of the song - I wish mine was that good.

MK is always going to divide opinion on here - my take is that he's done a lot for the bass guitar in the UK, and people I know who have met him have always said he's a top bloke, which is always a good thing.

Not sure what level you're at, but if you're looking at good bass books, Ed Friedland's are very good indeed. His electric bass complete vols 1-3 is a very good book for getting your head around the basics and getting up to an intermediate standard. His walking bass books are very good too if you like jazz.

If you're beyond the beginner standard - Scott Devine has a series of video lessons that comprise lessons for beginners to advanced [url="http://www.scottsbasslessons.com"]www.scottsbasslessons.com[/url], and Joe Hubbard [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com"]www.joehubbardbass.com[/url] is also starting his own series of video lessons in April (possibly for a subscription fee). These guys are top notch.

Hope this helps?

Hope you manage to get a response from one of your compadres - I'd like to know if anyone from my 10 week Intermediate Course at the Bass Institute in Acton between September and December 1987 is on here? Tony Muschamp was the class teacher.

I've got an iGig bass gigbag - provides great protection for your bass and comes with a metal hanger . Can't go wrong with one of those!

Pubs are closing down because of the recession, and as many supermarkets can sell booze cheaper than pubs, more people are staying at home and doing their drinking in their own homes. The smoking ban has probably had a negative effect on pubs as well, but I don't miss the days of doing a pub gig and smelling of second hand tobacco afterwards.

Agree with JTUK's post as well.

[quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1360872449' post='1977799']
playing with; a new scale length, new string gauge, an extra string, extra frets shouldn't be difficult. As long as you practice the right things on it (Ie scales/ patterns across 5 strings ect.), and put time into it, then you'll soon get used to it. Apart from learning to string mute correctly which is essential on a 5. That could take a few weeks to get used to if you don't already.
[/quote]

Good advice here too .

The best thing you can do is play your 5 string constantly without going back to your 4. It took me about a month to get used to it (got my first 5 in 1996) and have never looked back.

Having the extra string also means you can give your fretting hand a bit of a rest by playing things in the middle of the neck, as opposed to playing it up by the nut (i.e. if you're playing in C or D).

The main thing to remember about the extra low range is using it sparingly.

Enjoy!

[quote name='JPS' timestamp='1360688938' post='1974748']
Thanks guys for all the great suggestions. Transcribing it is then! Never consciously done it before, obviously copied and absorbed things over the years but never sat down and studied licks in this sense.

Love Pino's playing, however, not so familiar with his stuff with John Mayer. Any particular recommendations?

Thanks again.
[/quote]

The Battle Studies album - "Perfectly Lonely" - Pino masterclass in tasteful bass playing .

Played a short set at my wedding in 2006 - I got a friend's band to play the main part of the wedding, and all the band members from my band were at the wedding too - we had already pre-arranged to use the main band's backline for a 30 minute set and it all went swimmingly .

Not such a fan of the poppy early Beatles stuff but everything from Rubber Soul & Revolver onwards is really good. They're a band that you either love or hate - not mediocre by any stretch of the imagination...

A lot of sense in this article:

[url="http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2013/02/07/setting-yourself-up-for-success-in-the-practice-shed-part-1/#.URQRXEZxjO0.twitter"]http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2013/02/07/setting-yourself-up-for-success-in-the-practice-shed-part-1/#.URQRXEZxjO0.twitter[/url]

The only one who instantly springs to mind for me is Paul Weller... Out of all his "solo" material, the albums I think still cut it are his 1st 4 albums, and "As Is Now" - a lot of his other material in between has been very patchy.

Joel posted an apology in this thread (post 288):

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/180696-bass-guitar-magazine-editor/page__st__280"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/180696-bass-guitar-magazine-editor/page__st__280[/url]

All credit to him for holding his hands up - took a lot of bottle to do that after all the flak that was dished out. Haven't got this month's yet, but hoepfully everything is where it should be....

[quote name='2wheeler' timestamp='1359320301' post='1953108']
1. Scott Devine
2. Dave Marks
[/quote]

Agree with this - these two guys do a great job from the teaching side of things, great info which does a lot for the bass community (IMO).

This is a classic:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQsSQRWMhOs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQsSQRWMhOs[/url]

Anyone mentioned Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen & the E St. Band)?

[quote name='Stance' timestamp='1359323871' post='1953169']
Who´s the guy that played on Wham records? Last night I heard (again) "wake me up before you go-go".

I love the tone and the bassline itself!
[/quote]

Deon Estes played on most of the Wham stuff, although I think it might be Jo Dworniak who played bass on "Club Tropicana"?

It's a lovely looking and sounding bass, especially in the hands of Gary Grainger. I would imagine the tonal possibilities are quite wide on that bass.

Comfort Strapp - Bass Direct do them. I've got one of the original Mike Tobias ones, and always find it comfortable if you've got a heavy bass.

I've had three Yammy's and apart from a dodgy jack socket on one (which was quickly resolved), their QC is second to none.

[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1358719918' post='1944130']
No tab? No cd? That's me bolloxed unless you do a notation for dummies book too
[/quote]

Try this website - should get you started:

[url="http://www.studybass.com/"]http://www.studybass.com/[/url]

Hi Joe,
Quick question - is there any chance of your "Pop Basslines" book being republished?

I can only comment on the original TE gear (pre sale to Gibson and then Peavey), but AFAIK the original cabs had Trace's own designed speakers in them. Great quality builds that could take a hammering.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1358633977' post='1942713']
Anyone looking for a 1st five string should consider this yamaha. They're great sounding and playing basses for a ridiculously low price.
[/quote]

+1 - I had one of these for my first 5 string. Later had a minor upgrade (EMG BTC circuit & pots) by Chris at the Bass Centre when they were still in Wapping. Can't go wrong with this at all. A steal at this price.

Mike Visceglia (Suzanne Vega)
Ewan Vernal (Deacon Blue, Capercaillie)
Kevin McCormick (Melissa Etheridge, Jackson Browne)