Cato

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1490470226' post='3265394'] Billie Holiday for me. She had a very narrow vocal range but her delivery and feel can make me cry. I am sorry but Whitney Huston's yodeling just makes me cringe. I can admire the skill involved but you are not required to put every vocal chop you know into every song. Less really is more, sometimes one note at the end of a word will do. Apologies but I had to get that off my chest. [/quote] I dom't mind a bit of Whitney, but between her and Aretha they definitely inspired the over singing vocal acrobatics thing which ruins a lot of otherwise decent modern songs.

For me it's between Otis Redding and Curtis Mayfield. Although last year I had the very great pleasure of seeing Patrice Quinn sing with Kamasi Washington and she has to be right up there with the very best, from any era. This takes a while to get going but once the vocal starts properly it's well worth the wait. http://youtu.be/KUattnTY9Rg

I think they're cetainly a lot prettier than the current range. Don't get me wrong, I recently came within an inch of buying a 1024x because despite my reservations about the aesthetics it was a wonderful thing to play. If they play as well and sound as good as their predecessors then they could be a very special range indeed. Also very much liking the maple board on the 434M. Are they still using rosewood on the dark boards? I thought companies would be moving away from that now after the latest CITES rules.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1490370605' post='3264704'] Tell me more about these GSP Basses please?! [/quote] +1. I'm intrigued but I can't find a website.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1490303458' post='3264219'] I contend I sound the same regardless of what bass I'm playing. Blue [/quote] Fair enough.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1490296275' post='3264115'] I have and gig with several basses. 2 are MIJ Fender Ps. I sound the same on both. Blue [/quote] Aren't yours the 50s stlye ones with the non-split pickup though? Do they sound the same as a split pickup P?

Cheers mate. Looks like one of the fatalities was a US citizen, so my thoughts are with you too.

There's a couple on early ac/dc albums, but this is probably the stand out. http://youtu.be/_W-fIn2QZgg

I've always though this BC Rich 8 string has quite an elegant solution for the Octave strings, which could possibly translate into a headed headless bass. The bass, note tuners at bottom of body. https://goo.gl/images/cW3GFw The headstock string holder thingy. https://goo.gl/images/71pq3h

While he didn't invent the electric guitar solo, he's certainly the guy who brought it to the masses. Everyone who's ever played in a guitar band, from whatever genre, should be doffing their cap today.

Sandwich before, curry after.

I generally aim for something like this. http://youtu.be/MVTkbCCl3-I As someone who started out with mainly metal, then indie influences, Stuart Zender's work with Jamiroquai really made rethink the instrument and how it could be played. I still think he has one of the best tones ever.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1489702331' post='3259157'] Is this the clip that you saw? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRusbYIyRNI [/quote] I'm going to be careful here, because that technique obviously works superbly well for her, but personally I'd try to keep the thumb parallel with the strings, rather than pointing downwards. If I tried to copy that technique I'd be hitting strings I don't want to hit with the upper part of my thumb.

http://youtu.be/tGilCW0_Jf0 I can't recommend this series of tutorials strongly enough. The most important slap lesson, which comes later in the series concerns muted percussive strikes (ghost notes). Slap bass is all about the ghost notes.

How are you balancing the pickups on the SR300? For a 'classic' slap tone I'd probably start with both pickups on full, if you decide you need more bass roll off the bridge pickup slightly, if you want more treble roll off the neck pickup. Might be worth turning down the mids a tad at the amp, whilst boosting the bass and treble, if that's an option for you.

The only thing that's a deal beaker when it comes to whether you can slap on a bass is pickup placement. If there is a pickup right up against the end of the fretboard or very close to it as you get with some basses, then it's probably going to obstruct your popping technique. Other than that the world is your mollusc The Yamaha is a brilliant all round bass, I came within a whisker if buying a 1024x a couple of months ago.

Quite often, especially on budget basses, sunburst an natural finishes are more expensive because they use nicer looking bits of wood,whereas with a solid finish they don't need nicely grained wood. Why in this case the white is more expensive than the sunburst I have no idea, unless the wood top is a veneer or even photoflame and the white paint is expensive.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1489519319' post='3257646'] I've obviously uninterested Johnny's guitar playing abilities great clip though [/quote] Probably not. There was quite a lot of lead work on their later stuff,mostly short little twiddly bits on intros etc. which were apparently nearly all played by producer Daniel del Rey. Johnny certainly didn't play those parts live on the one occasion I was privileged enough to see them.

Bit of a rarity. http://youtu.be/H18AMREUUnk Definitely inspired by classic rock n roll.

It might work in the the US, but internationally? There's plenty of countries that don't really recognise international copyright or intellectual property rights.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1489351213' post='3256302'] [b]The Pilot[/b], Bowerhill, Melksham SN12 6TA. Avoid like the plague. My band played there last night, not the first time but certainly the last. I'm out of action bass-wise at the moment but went along to provide BVs (and moral support for my dep, who did a superb job). We played the usual 2x45mins, as on the other occasions we've played there, playing to a virtually empty pub apart from a couple of scuzzy pissheads and a group of cackling superannuated chavettes. Every song met with total indifference. Started packing up and the landlady (I use the term 'lady' in its loosest possible sense) threw a total wobbler. She said that we were supposed to be playing till midnight and said that if we didn't do so, she would not pay us a bean. So we set up again and carried on playing till witching hour. When our drummer went to see about cash after we'd cleared up, she tore into him again. She said that we had agreed to play from 9:30 to 12:00 with a ½ hour break (utter bollocks #1). She claimed that we had played that long last time we were there (utter bollocks #2) and that was their normal terms (not when we've played there before, it wasn't). She then said that even our first set was only 35 minutes (utter bollocks #3), and she was not prepared to pay us the full amount, and shorted us by 50 quid. She also cancelled our future bookings, which is fine because after that lot we'd have done it anyway. And to put the old tin lid on it, as our drummer was leaving some arsehole in the other bar piped up and told him to “f*** off out the pub”. So there you go. The Pilot in Melksham. The ideal place to play if you like being ignored by chavs and abused by bolshy jumped-up barmaids & pissed-up wifebeaters. Personally, I hope the f***ing place burns to the ground. [/quote] Sounds like a 'character building' experience.

Definitely Ritter. Some of his stuff wouldn't look out of place in an art gallery and I can imagine a time when even non bassists may wish to collect his work, purely in the context of its aesthetic appeal.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1489261172' post='3255611'] Hope the link works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skVMVtnBE7Y I'm posting it to give an example of what I mean by US Midwest Bar Band. We are not a pro band by any means. We are an amateur band (11 years and going strong) that just happens to work a lot. Good people, gigging , making money and most of all having fun. Blue [/quote] Enjoyed that, cheers for sharing. There's actually a few Maple Road vids in the links on youtube beneath the clip, including an 18 minute demo reel which at one point has you up front and centre playing what looks like a rather snazzy T bird style bass on All Along the Watch Tower, not an invisible bear in sight.

Apparently Mr Sheeran now has 16 songs in the UK top 20. He's basically broken the charts.

[quote name='kristo' timestamp='1489094327' post='3254410'] I'm quite lucky in that Ed is very good friends with my wife's brother, so I've got to see him a lot. He used to play party's at the in-laws place where he would basically play hip hop covers with just an acoustic and a loop pedal. Even then (he was probably 15) he had something a bit special. Whilst not liking all the stuff he does now I think he's very talented and a nice fella with it. [/quote] There's no doubting the guy's talent. And I would have loved to have seen one of those early hip hop sets, I honestly think that's the stuff that puts him head and shoulders above all the other 'sensitive guys with acoustic guitars' who seem so popular at the moment.