AustinArto

I don't really like his playing and don't think I could take him seriously as a spiritual guru either. I can imagine he's very inspiring to a lot of players though so more power to him.

The Pitch Fork is really good but I think the smoothest, most natural-sounding digital pedal pitch shifter is the one in the Line 6 M-series pedals. It tracks fast too, it's really an amazing algorithm and it works brilliantly on bass. I've got a Pitch Fork and an Eventide H9 on my board and I still miss the Whammy effect on my old M9, it was better than either of them.

Yeah I split my signal. One channel only has an OC-2 in it, the other has the potentially less bass-friendly stuff in it (synths, dirt, sample rate reduction), and the two are combined in a 2-channel mixer with separate level controls and a stomp switch to activate/bypass each channel (but both switches are close enough to be easily switched simultaneously with one stomp) provided by Max at SFX. The OC-2 channel is basically my get-out-of-jail-free channel, because whatever is going on in the other channel, I can blend it either with the OC-2 out with clean bass, so the other channel can get as wild as it likes and the low end will still be there.

Good slap bass is about clean technique with the slapping hand and very nuanced technique with the fretting hand. I think the fretting hand is much more responsible for making it sound tasteful and funky to be honest. Getting it pumping right is all about getting the notes the right length, mute notes, voicing with hammering/pulling/glissing and so on. And you just have to be rhythmically creative, like an MC or a DJ. It's like developing a whole new vocabulary on the bass really, and bear in mind you'll be spending all that time developing a skill you'll very rarely use, so it had better be something you're happy to do just as a personal passion. I guess it's a bit like learning Japanese.

The Future Impact has 4 oscillators, LFOs, PWM, so yes. Not cheap but it's a synth, it sounds like a synth.

I think only really gain-related pedals have to be specifically designed to work well for a bass guitar signal. So dirt pedals and compressors. Everything else should work fine on both. Obviously you have to watch what kind of filters your using if you use filters but that should be obvious.

Main thing: Try not to run power cables alongside audio cables. It can cause noise problems even with well-shielded cables and unless you've thought about it you might not realise.

Oh yeah, modern bass players. I've no idea what that means. I guess bands are doing more DIY recording now so maybe it would follow that modern players are playing more instruments rather than concentrating on learning chops on the bass they'll never use. I hope so anyway.

I don't see why a contributor's age is important. I guess to some people it helps to convey their perspective, particularly for people who feel they belong to a certain era, but I don't feel older people are necessarily wiser than their younger counterparts. I'm 41, for the record. But I still get excited about young bands making new sounds. And I do feel that younger musicians are typically more interesting to listen to. Youth is interesting, and the young are usually cash poor and time rich, so they have more opportunity and more incentive to be creative.

Haha! Wish I'd known that.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1455483261' post='2979541'] Had he not taken up fretless playing, would he have been the icon he became? Would his sound have fit any other genre of music? The Ian Hunter track is really interesting, and I only heard that the other day for the first time. I can't imagine him fitting into a heavy metal band for instance! Did the genre he played afford him the opportunity to do waht he did? He plays very bluesy old school lines which wouldn't have fit a lot of other styles (like metal for instance). [/quote] I don't really get this remark. Admittedly there's a lot of recorded Jaco that features repeated licks and it makes him sound a bit one-dimensional if that's all you've heard, but he was a very, very accomplished jazz musician. I don't see the point of comparing him with, as in your example, someone famous for playing in a metal band. Jaco at his peak could run rings around anybody, sure technically he was amazing but judging him by his athleticism on the instrument is to disregard his mastery of the role of a Jazz bassist and indeed his mastery as a composer. At first glance he comes across as a flashy player with some neat licks but he's a big deal because that's not the whole story.

I've been meaning to try one of those Squier VM P5s, very curious now. My new missus hates valentines so I had to sneak to her house yesterday, leave a dozen calla lilies, knock and literally run away!

Didn't most of the old jazz greats relocate to join a scene though? Same with other art movements. Suppose sometimes you just have to get on your bike.

I've a soft spot for Big Muffs. I haven't had one for years and I've no use for one but I love the sound.

Every bass I've ever had has had a dead spot somewhere on the G. Usually around the D or Eb. I've got a graphite-necked Jazz at the moment which still has a dead spot on the G but a bit further up (I forget where exactly, haven't played it for a few months). If you use octavers you'll notice them a lot more.

Excuse to buy a cocktail kit?

Only Rhythm Stick is really tricky, there's loads of easy bass parts in their other tunes. Inbetweenies? Mash It Up Harry?

Ted Nugent bought my whole band and hangers-on a round of drinks once, there were probably about 30 of us, but he was after our pianist's girlfriend. She was classy, she spurned Ted Nugent. She married our pianist in the end, they're still together, he's a great guy and a great pianist. And a way better musician than f***ing Ted Nugent. More positively Mike D (Beastie Boys) offered us all sorts of help. We had the same management at the time and he'd heard our demo and faxed our manager offering use of their studio while they were on tour, loans of their gear, whatever we needed. We never took him up on it because we'd just done a big cycle of recording but he was super decent despite having never met us. Didn't offer to sign us to Grand Royal though, that rat bastard.

I don't really listen to cheesy music to be honest. Probably the most marmite thing I listen to at the moment is Everything Everything. They've had a couple of desperate-sounding attempts at pop hits lately but mostly they're still just a clever pop band with a vocalist nobody likes.

I used to have one of those early '90s 22-fret Jazz basses. And funnily enough I de-fretted it! I loved that old bass, gave it to a friend when I moved overseas. I love the feel he gets with that thumb/forefinger picking technique, very cool.

Ibanez definitely have super-skinny necks. I've never got on with them but definitely go try them out, they tend to be in stock all over the place.

It's a Helicon isn't it? Their drummer is brilliant.

The last tune my band recorded I sequenced most of the bass, so there isn't even all that much bass guitar in my own music!

I remember being mesmerised by his flatland stuff. He was like the Rodney Mullen of BMX. Really remarkable talent and such a creative guy, such a shame.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1454364111' post='2969090']Regarding The Stones,most people who don't like them usually have little knowledge of their catalog and base their dislike on "Satisfaction". Which is usually the only Stones song they have ever listened to. [/quote] You're making quite a broad assumption about why someone wouldn't like The Stones. I've heard more of their tunes than Satisfaction and I've never understood their appeal either. I like Under My Thumb and that's about it. [quote name='blue' timestamp='1454364111' post='2969090']Question, do English people have any appreciation for any of your legendary bands that in terms of pop music put England on the map?[/quote] Of course. Just not that interested in white blues bands. Cream were interesting though.