louisthebass

This guy's a great teacher: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg4ZW4VOtkI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg4ZW4VOtkI[/url] This might be a staep in the right direction?

I've got a set of these - great earplugs (use mine at both rehearsals & on gigs). Hope this link helps? [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alpine-Music-Safe-Filter-Plugs/dp/B000VO8PR0"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alpine-Music-Safe-Filter-Plugs/dp/B000VO8PR0[/url]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1321452657' post='1439309'] Happy to say these are good covers and the company is very easy to deal with, IME. Quick delivery time as well [/quote] +1 to that

Welcome to the Overwater owners club - Chris May was very helpful when I was having my J5 built nearly 8 years ago. We spent about 30-40 mins on the phone discussing woods, hardware & so on, & when I made the trip to Carlisle to collect, I spent another couple of hours chatting to both Chris & Laurence about all things bass! Top people to deal with, you won't be disappointed

I've lost both my parents (within 10 years of each other) in the time I've been playing bass & to be honest, the instrument didn't get touched for months afterwards. After those months had passed, I realised that life has to go on, so I went back to playing again, because neither of them would have wanted me to stop.

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' timestamp='1323180152' post='1460172'] I bought some of these 18 months ago and have been very happy with them. They attenuate the damaging frequencies but without losing clarity, and I can still hear the bass. [b][url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alpine-Music-Safe-Filter-Plugs/dp/B000VO8PR0"][color=#000000][size=3][font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]Alpine MusicSafe Pro Earplugs[/font][/size][/color][/url][/b] [/quote] I've got a set of these - they're good plugs. Have been wearing plugs for nearly two years & have found them a godsend... No more ringing ears after gigs - makes me wonder why I didn't wear them before.

I remember first starting out and not being happy with my playing for years, but as a lot of the previous posters have said, it's all about improving a little bit every day. I feel a lot better about my playing now than I ever have done, but there's always room for inprovement. I suppose when I look back at all the bands I've played with over the years, I've never been kicked out of any of 'em. Nobody has ever come up to me after a gig and said "you're a cr*p bass player" so I guess I must be doing something right....

Did a pub gig in Chertsey last night which went fine apart from yours truly going completely blank on "I Wish" - have played it loads of times over the years but the "shutters came down" & had to blag it the best way I could Thank god the keyboard player in the band plays it in unison with me. ....

John Mayer's most recent bassist is a guy called Sean Hurley, who has been playing on the Boston Blues circuit for a number of years. He's a pretty good player and there's some film of him playing alongside Mayer on YT.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1322773111' post='1455822'] I had one on mine. Oodles of room. [/quote] I REALLY like that bass - it looks so cool!

I don't normally chip in on these threads as IMO any bass that each individual uses as their main bass is the instrument that "does it" for them. There are a lot of really good quality basses which are factory made out there which are more than capable of covering most things. I've got what would be classed as a high end bass which was made for me, and I'm fully aware that it's resale value is not even half of what I paid for it. However, I absolutely love it and would be absolutely gutted if I had to sell it. It doesn''t make me a better player than anyone else, but every time I pick it up and play it, the instrument [i]inspires[/i] me to be a better player.

Not sure if this ones been added yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNPbYUcLL-M Really love the groove laid down by John Blackwell, Rhonda Smith, & Sheila E on this one!

I'm liking this a lot - video was great (music was pretty good too).

I agree with what VW says in the video from YT. My opinion, but if the bass player is taking a solo, it needs to be musical & not "check out how bad my chops are". I saw a bass player at a pub gig 7/8 years ago take a solo which started off quite musical, but then it descended into a flurry of slapping & two handed tapping at which point I started thinking "bored now". Which was a shame because he & the band were really very good.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1321997377' post='1445382'] Thanks, thats basically what I'm trying to do. What do you do with your ring finger and pinky? Mine keep getting in the way! [/quote] I keep mine sort of " curled up" into my hand, but not tight as the last thing you need in your plucking hand is a lot of tension. The only digits in use are my thumb (anchoring & muting) & 1st & 2nd fingers. Let us know how you get on.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1321991138' post='1445283'] Thanks for the tip. I kind of do that already. The problem is muting the E and (especially) the low B string on my 5er whilst playing the D and G strings. I'm good at muting the string immediately below the one I'm playing but not all of them at once! [/quote] No worries - when I'm playing the D & G strings, I place the tip of my thumb on the A string & use the flesh on the side of my thumb to mute the B & E strings. It sort of borrows from floating thumb... Hope it helps?

Check out Scott Devine or Adam Nitti's tutorials on YT (not very good at embedding these on here) regarding this very subject. I find the "moveable anchor" the most useful - thumb on pickup when playing the thickest string and then dropping the thumb down onto the string above (as you're looking down) the one you're playing and so forth and doing the same thing in reverse coming back up (hope this makes sense?).

I'm really crap with a plectrum - can anyone recommend a good YT video for getting started with one?

I'm a Bass Clef master on Studybass, but can't do any better

Rage Against the Machine

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1321307792' post='1437715'] I don't think theres any real tricks to learning it. It's just a matter of putting the time in. Recognising notes on the fretboard should be one of the first things any player should learn. If you learn the C major scale on the fret board, starting from the lowest note (E) up and down the next, saying the note names as you do you'll start recognising intervals on the neck and how the notes look together. Once you have this down, its just connecting the dots in-between. This will then go hand in hand with reading sheet music, you'll never be able to sight read if you can't translate whats on the page to your fretboard. [/quote] What the man said above.

There's an interesting video on Youtube by Victor Wooten called "Why People Don't Like Bass Solos". The main point he puts across is that any solo the bass player plays has to groove in order to maintain people's attention on a gig. I love listening to a good bass solo, but I prefer holding it (the groove) down all the time with the drummer

[quote name='TransistorBassMan' timestamp='1320679037' post='1429827'] Level 42 - A Physical Presence [/quote] Gotta go with this one - great album!

Have to agree with Mike's comment above - went to see Maynard Ferguson's Big Band at Ronnie Scott's in the mid to late 1990's & it's probably the best Jazz gig I've ever been to. The only other time I've seen Jazz gigs in Central London were Lee Ritenour, The Yellowjackets, The Chick Corea Elektric Band, & Bill Bruford's Earthworks at the RFH & it wasn't as good a venue as Ronnie's..

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1320657414' post='1429354'] This is indeed sad news. He is surely one of the greats. Get well soon Chuck !! [/quote] +1 an absolute legend - his bass books got me started in the late 1980's.