TrevorR

Easy answer... immense levels of processing power that would make the guys at Cray feel ashamed. All crammed into a compact mobile housing with a range of hugely sensitive sensors built in. Amazing thing the brain.

It's an unashamedly populist explanation and I'm sure that academic types could poke many holes in the details of the explanation but as a layman's guide to how scales and temperament work this is a good watch. The whole of the Howard Goodall's Big Bangs series was hugely informative, watchable and entertaining.

What do you mean "in all likelihood"...? I was there too! I didn't spot one of the 15 basses correctly!

This looks like a bit of a bargain... same model as mine with the preamp on the upper bout... https://rguitars.co.uk/collections/faith-guitars-uk-specialist/products/faith-ftne

I’ve got one of these. I think it’s the old model, not seen the mag you’re referring to. It’s no Otter but it plays nicely and sounds very pleasant both acoustically and amped. It’s got a simple Shadow preamp with a single tone control which is actually quite clever as it seems to be a preset smile curve that varies in depth or something.

That would be brilliant! We can work out logistics somehow...

OK... you asked for it... so the results were... all different types of basses basically sound like bass guitars and even we couldn't tell the difference (and usually couldn't even identify our own bass), valve amps don't particularly sound any better or have any more "heft" than Class D transistor amps, they all sound perfectly fine. It was all very depressing! LOL! 🙄😁

Let's not talk about the results of the blind bass test or the valve vs class D amp heft test at the SE Bass Bash... it was quite the revelation. Quite the depressing revelation...

Don’t you mean “...my memories of highly desirable premium price point vintage 70s Fenders leave me reminiscing about what amazing instruments they were...” It makes me laugh/weep when I see late 70s early 80s Fenders described in these terms in ads these days. Like you I’ve been around long enough to remember what we really thought of them at the time and through the 80s and 90s. And before anyone gets all flamey... yes I know that your 70s Fender is the best built, best playing and best sounding bass in the history of the brand but 90+% really, really weren’t.

Well let’s see... I bought my No 1 bass in 1993 and my No 2 bass in 2001. And my amp rig in about 2006. Never been slightly tempted to change either since then so they must be doing something right for my ears and for my fingers.. 😉😁

I’d forgotten about BBM. Gary’s Scars album has some great bass from Cass Lewis too. Must dig that out!

Can’t recall if I said how much I enjoyed being a part of the last one. Bo was so easy to chat to so it made for a very easy Skype recording. He also has a great voice for radio... both live and listening to the ‘cast. Iwonder, like @ped said whether we should compile a list of hot/perennial topics to cover or discuss in the podcast? Such as... what's the best bass for metal? Lol! What is the role of the bassist and how has that changed whats the real value of gear above the mid-range price. Does it actually make a difference to anyone/the audience? reading - damaging to creativity, broadly irrelevant, useful but optional skill or essential? ....I’m sure more will occur to me

Well, that’s better than chucking strumpet after strumpet into the audience for them to take home as a souvenir.

Yes, see other posts. The bendy frets in the vid aren’t really proper key specific tempering, just a tuning sweetening thing. My comment you quoted was specifically in relation to the question “Why call it temperament and not intonation?”

I have a nasty habit of fiddling with my strumpet between songs while the lead singer is doing the intro for the next one.

A “strumpet”?

Big, big plus 1 for Neil Murray's playing on the early Whitesnake albums - especially Trouble, Ready and Come and Get it. So souful and funky but yet still driving and perfect for the bluesy heavy rock sound the band had at the time. One of my favourite bass players.

Inspired me to listen again to the Drama album and in fact, there is some amazing bass playing across that album despite being one of Yes' less well known ones. And while we're at it has anyone recommended listening to anything with Bernard Edwards of Chic playing on it? Those early Chic albums and the Chic produced Sister Sledge stuff has some great bass playing on them. And Tony Levin does some fantastic bass and Chapman Stick playing all across Peter Gabriel's So album.

I love the album Tribes Vibes and Scribes by Incognito. Wonderful funky, soulful bass on every track. The Yes Album has great playing by Chris Squire (and check out Tempus Fugit from their Drama album - best bass line ever).

Funny enough, in Waterloo Station at the mo there’s a big display of iconic album covers to celebrate “National Album Day” and this one features in the display!

Because “tempering” a scale means very slightly moving the frequency of each note in the scale... which is what their bendy frets does. So the “even tempered scale” we use in western music assigns a standard, fixed frequency of each note in the chromatic scale slightly to create a compromise that kinda sounds good and more or less in tune when playing any natural major or minor scale.

She’ll be coming all the way from NYC to tell you off and give you her “Don’t Do This At The Gig” face!

Yes and no. Most ears probably wouldn’t hear it but there are frequency differences between thre notes in the even tempered scale (a harmonic compromise popularised around the time of Bach*) and the strict temperament scales. The best of classical musicians on string and brass instruments will compensate automatically. In fact with real true temperament (as opposed to True TemperamentTM - which is just a tuning “sweetening” system) you’d strictly need a differently intonated guitar for each key you might want to play in. Of course, in the real world it barely makes a gnat’s crotchet of a difference. But, hey, it’s just (yikes, “just”!) the next step on from the Buzz Lightyear tuning system some folks have on their guitars, or the type of sweetening that players like James Taylor use on standard guitars. If it floats his boat... *Hence his two books of piano studies written for “The Well-Tempered Klavier”

You’re confusing the dragons with Boris Johnson! 😂

I’m completely easy with when and for how long. Would like to have at least a week so I can, at least, take it to a rehearsal and then try through the church PA in a service... so practicality and logistics first. Let’s make it as convenient for as many folks as poss.