MrDaveTheBass

90s trio, The Ben Folds Five!

I always check my intonation every time I change strings.

I once played with a guitarist whose tuning was driving me nuts. I made him stop and tune up using his electronic tuner. "Look!" He said, "All the lights are green." He still sounded dreadful, really clashing with my bass and the other guitar. I took his tuner from him and put my bass through it. It was then that I realised that he'd accidentally set the tuner to A = 445Hz!

I play fretted bass with a covers band and fretless with an originals band. One week I took my fretted bass to the original's band practice by mistake and the intonation sounded dreadful. The guitarist uses lots of different alternative tunings, and I hadn't realised how much I compensated with the fretless - playing some songs sharp and others flat.

I've always used both. Some songs sound better with fingers, others sound better with a pick. I like to think that I choose how I play based on the tone that I want to create. The truth however, is that some songs are impossible for me to play fast enough with my fingers, so I have to use a pick instead.

A couple of years ago I bought a second-hand EBMM Sterling Fretless. When I arrived at the house to pick it up, the guy who opened the door turned out to be a grieving guitarist, whose best mate and bass player had recently died, and he was selling his off gear for the bassist's family. The bass was (and still is) amazing - it's the perfect instrument for me, but was absolutely filthy, and I took a long time cleaning the previous owner's DNA off it. The weirdest part was that the guy obviously had very acidic sweat, and his thumb print was etched into the tuning pegs. A tube of metal polish and a new scratchplate later though, and the bass finally started to feel like my own. Although I never met the guy (or even know his name or saw a picture of him) when I play this bass I quite often think about its previous owner.

I was expecting this:

Haha! Should've had a search on here before! I've only just seen it. The band will be pleased when we get back together again.

Thanks guys! I've been bluffing this bit of the line for over a year!

Down at the doctors (Dr Feelgood)

If you do decide to defret, consider lowering the nut slots by the height of the (removed) frets. You'll find that you can get a much lower action and the bass should be much more playable at the end of the neck. Having two identical basses (one fretted, one fretless) should help loads with your intonation. For a while I had two differently shaped basses (a fretted EB MM Sterling , and an unlined Westone Thunder 1A Fretless), and my intonation was dodgy to say the least. As soon as I got hold of a fretless Sterling (also unlined), my intonation improved overnight. Spend time listening to yourself playing over recorded tracks through headphones, but don't over think it. After a while you should find that your fingers automatically start to find the right places on the neck. Have fun!

I recently discovered this lot. Absolutely sublime:

I've read that she was the only Bangle not to be overdubbed by session musicians on their recordings.

I'd always been a little ashamed to admit that Dire Straits - Dire Straits is one of my all time favourite albums. The songwriting is just superb - intimate, personal or well-observed, and every song is a gem. "In The Gallery" on first listen is an unusual song, but is one of my favourites. I only discovered recently that it's about Harry Phillips, a personal friend of Knopfler's: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/dire-straits/in-the-gallery

Dan Hartman's self-designed $5000 1974 silver “Bass Suit” had controls on the sleeve. I found this on the Vintage Weird FB group. Does anybody here know any more about Dan Hartman and his wearable 4-string?

I would expect a short-scale to be harder to intonate, as the tighter note spacing will demand spot on accuracy. (This is the same reason why my fretless playing is tolerable towards the headstock end of the neck, but induces audience grimaces as I wander towards the body-end of the neck).

Is that Howard Moon from the Mighty Boosh on keys? 😉

Think you've got to be Derek Smalls to pull this one off!

Thanks for the heads up Krispn! This is just the job to convince MrsDaveTheBass to brush up her digital piano skills. 😊

Me too! I learnt this last week. Great fun to play - I learnt it on fretted - just transferring over to fretless now.

Surely the definitive Boogie?

Hi, I haven't compared the Two10 directly with a supercompact or TC cab. I'm not much of a slapper either. However, my Two10 sounds great with clean tones - I don't use any distortion or drive with my fretless, just the pristine tone of a Markbass LM3. It's not a 'hifi' cab though - it's got a prominent hump in the low mids, and a roll-off in the treble. I f slap's your thing, you might want something with a tweeter (ughhh) 😝

Interesting 30min listen on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00082dr It's all about times when your ears play tricks on you, and how you can apply them to music.

Thanks for the topic Nicko, I was pondering this question only yesterday. On the two outings that our new backdrop has made so far, we've used string and duct-tape. The first time we were able to tape the backdrop to the front of a wide-screen TV. The second, we strung it from light fittings and security cameras. Neither method was ideal. I'm thinking about getting some black bootlaces and using them instead. I'm also considering sticking a hammer and a pack of nails into the gig bag, but I'm not sure how this will go down with every landlord... BTW, I used this lot, and I was very impressed with the quality and the price: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Banners-DESIGN-outdoor-printed-advertising-display/dp/B00Y6V1PAI?ref_=ast_bbp_dp