Cato

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491856358' post='3275972'] Definitely talented and I guess he's an example of the direction bass playing is going. Me, I'm an older guy. I'm taking a pass on Thundercat and staying with my friends like Rocco Prestia and Chuck Rainey. Blue [/quote] I think he's pretty unique, he's more a jazz guitarist who plays a bass than your standard bass player. I really enjoy his stuff, but I couldn't emulate it if I tried. I'm guessing not many of us could.

I've got the same VM70s bass. I've modded mine a bit, but even with the stock pickups it was easy to get what I think of as a classic Jazz tone. I swapped out the original electrics for a K1agon loom and put in some Aguilar 70s Jazz pickups on mine and it now sounds fantastic. I wonder if there might be a fault with the electrics on yours?

I was suprised that most of the new Yamaha BB range have rosewood boards. I expect every manufacturer with an export market will stop using rosewood over the next 12 months.

Cheers for posting that up. I found Scott's Slap Bassics series incredibly useful and I'm sure I'll enjoy working my way through these just as much.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1491680824' post='3274800'] What's the Moog circuitry all about - this is new to me? [/quote] I think it was a souped up tone sculpting circuit, like a graphic equaliser on steroids. A lot of people took the circuit out although I can't remember whether it's because they were unpopular in themselves or whether it was a reliability issue. I seem to remember that Krist Novaselic played an original RD Artist on Nevermind.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1491604908' post='3274324'] A burka would cover a multitude of sins. :-) [/quote] 😂

I'd settle for some trousers.

I'm on an adroid tablet and the clips work fine for me. I did have an experience with my old Kindle Fire last year when one day it just stopped 'seeing' the YouTube links. Never got to the bottom of that.

I thought this thread would be about these guys. http://youtu.be/eVH1Y15omgE

The noiseless pickups on the deluxe jazz apparently weren't very noiseless. The elite has the next generation of the noisless pickups which are supposed to be a big improvement.

Listened, loved it, but can't vote as I'm not on faceboook. It has a kind of indie vibe to it as well as the disco. It reminded me a bit of Two Door Cinema Club's latest album, which is a very good thing.

😉

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1491161429' post='3270952'] You mean he wont listen to what anyone else says, about anything???? [/quote] All part of what makes him a legend.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1491160783' post='3270948'] She doesn't half talk bollocks, that Vera Lynn. I was down at The White Cliffs today. Lovely sunshine, not an f-ing bluebird in sight! :-) [/quote] Bluebirds are not a native species in the UK. On the other hand, 'There'll be pigeons over the white cliffs of Dover' doesn't have quite the same poetry.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491079892' post='3270412'] I'm cool, Always dig the YouTube clips he posts. Blue [/quote] Group hug.

Nice. Remimds me of the soundtrack to an 80s buddy cop action movie. Possibly played while the maverick one is downing several bourbons after a tough day.

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1490996593' post='3269808'] Yes, it's just variations on a theme though isn't it? Getting the left/right/front/back to shout as loud as they can - the Firehouse blurb - the Love Gun blurb etc etc I shouldn't complain, I've had tons of enjoyment out of them over the years. The original reason for the post was the line [b][color=#ff0000][font=Arial, sans-serif]"The band have released 44 albums"[/font][/color][/b] [/quote] My best guess is that they're counting special editions from various countries, I believe there may be a few Japanese editions of various albums for example?

We all have bad days mate. Blue's a decent guy, I'm sure he won't hold it against you

I've had to sell amps and cabs before now, but fortunately I never needed to sell a bass. Have you thought about maybe getting a Harley Benton, or something budget, and a zoom b1on and headphones ?

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1490806689' post='3268230'] Have you tried simply buying a 5 string and trying? You might find you don't have a problem as you cannot put your thumb over the top, unless you have massive hands. [/quote] The biggest problem is that the thumb over the top is actually a big part of my muting technique on the E and A strings, switching to always playing with it on the back of the neck is going to require a bit of rethink of other aspects of my playing. I think, eventually I will just go for a cheap 5 or 6 and try to work it out as I go along.

I'm entirely self taught in the pre youtube days. As a result of which I have a fair few bad habits, the worst of which is playing with the thumb of my fretting hand over the neck. I'm trying to break the habit as at some point I'd like to have serious crack at moving up to 5 or 6 strings, but after 25 odd years, it's coming very slowly. Even just a couple of formal lessons, right at the start might have seen me avoid the issue.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1490805757' post='3268219'] Cool, enjoy. Some of those are a bit much for me (the full on gangsta stuff is a bit out of my comfort zone) but the majority of those would appear in most "best of the genre" lists which is why I suggested them. My personal favourite out of that lot is probably the Gang Starr stuff. The MC is a guy called Guru who also released a record called Jazzmatazz which I think you'd like - it's basically a live jazz band with hip hop production and rapping. [/quote] I tried to post some stuff from the seminal first Jazzmatazz album but it's one of those that seems to have been blocked from Youtube. Some of the later volumes are still available on there, but IMO they don't quite have the impact of the first.

Try Flying Lotus, he and Thundercat collaborate a fair bit, Lotus produces a lot of Thundercat's stuff and Thundercat plays and sings on quite a lot of Flying Lotus stuff. It's difficult to describe Flying Lotus' music but it's sort of electronic/ dance/ hip hop/ jazz. http://youtu.be/2lXD0vv-ds8 http://youtu.be/2uCyv05SG1g

[quote name='ribbetingfrog' timestamp='1490734853' post='3267586'] I play in an indie covers band. I often think to myself "why would anyone play in a jazz band?" I bet that would be an interesting thread to start! [/quote] I've played guitar in an (unsigned, if that's not a contradiction) originals indie band, I would have played bass, but I can't sing and play bass at the same time. It was immensely enjoyable. I'd love to play bass in a jazz band, These days jazz and funk are much more my thing, the reason I don't is because I just don't think I'm good enough.

As long as the action isn't super high it shouldn't really affect your ability to slap. The sound is all in the technique ( well some of it us in the pickup balance and the amp eq but most of it is technique). As said above slapping is all about the ghost notes and the muting, once you crack that it's just a matter of practising to build up speed and stamina.