louisthebass

[quote name='funkyspuke' timestamp='1327999733' post='1519963'] good point made ... there have been many occasions where I have found bass amps cranked up to full when I have started my rehearsal session. Yes, this is the fault of the musician using the amp .. but then the studio should also shoulder some blame for supplying bass amps that are just not up to it! I understand tight budgets .. however I don't understand spending as little money as possible on an amp that won't cut it, just to have to fork out on repairs or new amps after a few months when they have been overloaded. maybe a larger amount of investment initially and then 5 minutes tuition from the studio on how to use the amp effectively would save on money down the line. I don't get lifts to studios and the next problem I have is collecting it when I have a gig many a problem haha. A studio within a 5/10 minute walk of a train station would be magic [/quote] Hi Luke, Agree with your comments above - if a piece of kit doesn't work, then the studio should pull it out of use once it's been reported. In respect of people in the studio advising people on how to use the equipment in place, I've found that the studios usually have one person in place who has a basic idea of how the PA works & that's about the extent of their knowledge. In resepct of getting your gear to gigs.... Being a car owner & being able to drive is pretty much a necessity, although running a car is expensive enough as it is without taking lessons & the theory test. Makes me envious of Saxaphone players from time to time....

Hi Luke, I've been in shedloads of rehearsal studios over the years & have rarely found any decent bass rigs. 99% of the time, the ones that are available have been completely s****ed by some idiot who's turned everything up to 11 one too many times so it's not necessarily the studio's fault all the time. Rehearsal studios are run to very tight budgets so they're not going to invest in really good equipment unless something breaks (and guitar / bass / drum kit bits are probably well down the chain as PA is the main thing in these places. The only bit of advice I can give is that if you're getting lifts to rehearsal rooms would be to take your own gear (if there's room in the car).

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1327969303' post='1519836'] There's 100 places to play notes on a 4 string, 24 fretted bass guitar. Why would you pay £88 for a book when you can use time, effort & memory? [/quote] Big +1 on Jakes quote. What about doing this?: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0sS0hhfezQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0sS0hhfezQ[/url]

Warwick or Protection Racket gig bag?

If you can hear the bass part on the track & learn the vast majority of it then you're 3/4 of the way there. Where the other 1/4 is concerned, just put your own interpretation in to cover the bits you can't hear or master. I do this, and nobody's ever come up to me after a gig & said "you played that bass part wrong". I think where the vast majority of punters are concerned (99.9%) they're either too bladdered, or having too much of a good time to care if the bass part is 100% correct (unless you're playing solely to musicians all the time).

Good beginners website, could do with some photos in there to show beginners how to hold & play the bass (technique section would benefit from that as well), Theory section could do with a bit on sightreading, but apart from that, good job well done!

I used to be one of these people that had been told open strings weren't the done thing, & that all the notes had to be fretted. Not any more.... My take is that the notes on the open strings are just as valid as the fretted ones, & in some cases using open strings can make some passages easier to play than fretting them.

In my last originals band, our lead vocalist was dating Page 3 model Ruth Gordon, & he was also good mates with Martin Degueville (Sigue Sigue Sputnik). The pair of them were at our gig at The Rock Garden in Covent Garden in 1991 (which ended up being our last gig, not that we knew it at the time....).

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1327148838' post='1506966'] OK, so this is going to be a bit open to abuse and personel opinion but it could be interesting to hear peoples thoughts on this. Fender invented the Jazz bass and in theory is the benchmark of what a Jazz bass should be all about. If you wanted the Jazz bass of Jazz basses, then you would buy a Fender right? I mean, if you wanted a Ferrari F40, you wouldn't go and buy an MR2. However, yesterday, i was talking to a very well known and respected bass retailer who gave me the impression that he was not overly impressed with Fender's especially the quality of the pickups. He then went on to explain that other brands make better. I can't help but think that other brands would just be a copy and unless it sounds exactly like a Fender Jazz then its not really a true representation of a Jazz bass. An example is the Bartolini pickups in my Jazz sound fantastic but are much smoother and darker than stock Fender Jazz pickups so in reality don't give that true Jazz tone. Unless that is, if Fender have gone astray and their current take of their Fender Jazz is nothing like the original concept of a Fender Jazz and these other brands are closer to what an original Fender Jazz was all about. I see a lot of people talk about Sadowsky, Lakland, Sandberg etc making great Jazz basses but what makes them better or is it just perception? Ok, craftmanship I can understand as Fender does/have had some QA issue but unless these other brands are using the Fender Jazz pickups then surely if it sounds different then its not a true representation of a Jazz bass. So, I would be interested in hearing the interpritation of what the Fender Jazz is tonally and its relation to other brands take on the Jazz bass especially in regards to the pickups and tone a Jazz should have. I also want to add that in no way am I being Pro Fender or anti any other brand. I am just interested in where we started with the Jazz bass and where we are now. Has it developed into just a famous shape with two pickups, one in the bridge and one in the neck position and thats enough to call it a Jazz bass and the original Fender tone, if there was an intentional one has become second to just the look and features. I hope that makes sense [/quote] I went to see my old band do a gig last night & the bass player had (what I assume was) a Fender USA Deluxe Jazz 5. The bass definitely had a lively & "darker" tone to it than a regular "old style" Fender Jazz. I really liked the tone the bass player had last night, which leads me to think that with the advent of Sadowskys (to name but one) version of the Jazz being one of the holy grails (for some) of Jazz Basses, that Fender are now aiming for that market. I think the classic Fender Jazz tone is the one in the Guy Pratt video on YT. No High Mass bridge, 5 bolt neckplate, lighter tuners or active electronics on that one. It really depends on what the individual likes in terms of tone. It's been well documented that some of Fender's QC hasn't been that great over the decades - I bought a Fender Jazz in the mid 80's & got shot of it within months as it wasn't for me. It's horses for courses where Jazz Bass copies / imitations are concerned & that argument has been done to death 100's of times in forums. I'm happy with my custom Jazz 5, but if that Fender Jazz I heard last night was anything to by, then maybe Fender are getting their act together again - I'd buy one.

[quote name='skampino' timestamp='1327111706' post='1506692'] I've looked at youtube vids but can't seem to get the slapping technique. Most don't tell you where you should rest your arm and whether the hand should hover or rest on the body. It seems everyone plays slightly different with some teaching you to directly hit the string and others saying you should hit the bottom part of the string and end up with thumb on next string down. then there's those who say your thumb should be pointing upwards and others saying it should be perpendicular. It confused me as whatever method I tried either my fingers hit the body or my palm touched the strings. I decided to have lessons so a tutor could tell me what I'm missing or doing wrong. Last thing I want is to develop bad habits. It's harder to unlearn something than learn from scratch. I doubt I will play slap much but I'd like to have the option of doing so and welcome a new challenge. [/quote] If you're really into learning the slap thing, get the DVD by Alexis Sklarevski called "The Slap Bass Programme". Out of all the slap bass videos that came out in the 1980's / early 90's this (IMO) is far & away the best of them all. It takes you from basics through to advanced, & all the advice the guy comes out with on the DVD is worth it's weight in Gold.

Gotta say I'm impressed with this - I'd forgotten how good a player Nathan East is, & the guy playing the drum machine is something else

This is my favourite Jimmy Haslip moment with The Yellowjackets: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAxVYJf7Dhg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAxVYJf7Dhg[/url] Russell Ferrante initially plays the bass part while the sax player plays the "head" and Jimmy then takes over playing the bass part seamlessly. I love the way this track swings big time! Had the good fortune to see them in 1991 when they played the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of Capital Radio's Jazz Festival (Lee Ritenour was the other act on the bill with Brian Bromberg on bass - he's no slouch on the instrument either).

[quote name='spencer.b' timestamp='1326765384' post='1501767'] no idea who's on bass but The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping caught my ear in the supermarket this christmas [/quote] Bassist on that record was Tracy Wormworth, who went on to replace Daryl Jones in Sting's jazz band in the late 1980's / early 1990's.

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1326753152' post='1501659'] Is anyone aware of any interviews with Pino P.? [/quote] He's been featured a few times by BP over the years, and Guitarist Magazine interviewed him a couple of times in the mid to late 1980's.

I normally use Index (Root), third (5th) & fourth fingers (Octave) for R-5-Octave. Takes a little bit of work, but it's a lot easier (to me anyway) to play that pattern.

A couple of books I've been using to learn how to read are "Music Reading for Bass" by Wendi Hreovscik (MI Press), and a book that is long out of print called "The Complete Electric Bassist" by Leon White (Belwin-Mills 1981). No tab in either, but both books give different fretting options (the latter tends to use a Simandl type fingering). Hope this helps?

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1326457472' post='1497411'] Ah, oops! Sorry man! Apparently only Jordan Rudess completed the course, the others dropped out early on to spend more time on the band, they do have their stuff together though! [/quote] No worries - funny thing is that I remember reading one of Myung's first interviews in BP years ago where it stated he went to Berklee with the other guys in the band, and when he became a "Prog Metal" bass superstar (so to speak), I bought a few of their albums out of curiosity and enjoyed a fair amount of the music (not really crazy about where it all goes a bit widdly widdly from time to time, but I don't hate it).

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1326367553' post='1496027'] I'd strongly advise buying 'The Royal Scam' and 'Aja' by Steely Dan and listening to his playing on these albums. Aja is a classic anyway, everyone should own it! Loads of stuff with Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones and Leo Sayer too. [/quote] One of Chuck's standout tracks on "The Royal Scam": [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zmX6_ujBN0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zmX6_ujBN0[/url]

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1326449530' post='1497275'] Myung, no theory? Check out his tutorial vids on youtube, his theory knowledge and application is stratospheric! The short answer to this thread is...Yes! You need at least some theory to even know what a root note is if that's what you're going to hammer/pedal it in a punk manner... As has been said multiple times above, theory is musical grammar, helping you to shape phrases that will help you to express whatever you're trying to say. Even if you play solely by ear you're using theory (without necessarily knowing it!), if something sounds good, the reason it sounds good is that it conforms to some aspect of theoretical knowledge... I don't know loads of theory but I know enough to play relevant notes with respect to whatever chords are being used [/quote] Andy, I don't think you read my response post below (response is in Blue text): Posted Yesterday, 09:21 AM [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1495787"][/url]Conan, on 12 January 2012 - 08:49 AM, said: Isn't that slightly prejudiced? Are you implying that rock bassists need less theoretical knowledge than players of other styles of music? [color=#000080]I think you might have misinterpreted what I was saying - the more theory you know (IMO) the more tools you have at your disposal. John Myung (along with most or all of the members of Dream Theater) attended Berklee in Boston, and I wouldn't mind betting that he's got all his theory well & truly under his belt. The last line of my post might have implied that he didn't need to explore those scales, but if the OP wants to do it, more power to him. [/color]

Here's a couple for starters: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiXez2XNVtU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiXez2XNVtU[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0[/url] His bass books are pretty good too. Enjoy!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1326358169' post='1495787'] Isn't that slightly prejudiced? Are you implying that rock bassists need less theoretical knowledge than players of other styles of music? [/quote] I think you might have misinterpreted what I was saying - the more theory you know (IMO) the more tools you have at your disposal. John Myung (along with most or all of the members of Dream Theater) attended Berklee in Boston, and I wouldn't mind betting that he's got all his theory well & truly under his belt. The last line of my post might have implied that he didn't need to explore those scales, but if the OP wants to do it, more power to him.

Have been following this thread with interest - would have to agree with those who have endorsed learning theory. I'd say learn your Major, Minor, Pentatonic, Blues, and Modal scales (and related arpeggios) and leave it at that if you're playing in a rock band. Judging by the fact you like Myung & Harris, there wouldn't be a lot of point exploring things like Harmonic / Melodic Minor or Whole Tone scales unless you feel the need to..

I think this thread's been done to death

I had a look at both videos, the second one (IMO) shows how musical the guy really is - the flamenco style slap bit at the end doesn't detract from the piece at all. There's more to the guys playing than his slap technique.