TrevorR

[quote name='christofloffer' timestamp='1451996136' post='2945277'] ...i have a grasp of the fundamentals and i can play well enough for my needs... ...can play scales fine (not my favourite thing on guitar but i can do it) but i have no idea as to what key i am in until it sounds like a match. to find my place when playing along with someone i have to work my way up the neck until i find the right spot. if you ask me to fret an F for example on a given string i would look at you like a puppy who p****d the bed. what i do learn well is patterns, movement and sound. so i can memorise a scale by ignoring the notes and learning the pattern. then i can associate that with a style, so i have a bluesy pattern, or a spanish pattern. i can also learn little tricks with relative ease as a movement. i can learn some things, but they dont relate to the guitars, for example i know that the root, 3rd and 5th are good harmonics, but i dont know how that matches to a guitar... i ...so now i am at a musical wall that seems insurmountable. all i can do is learn tabs, and write and record my own stuff. playing in bands never works as everyone else gets along so much faster than me or talks about things i dont understand. the friend i am playing with at the moment is being patient but its a big issue as i cannot follow a change unless we have agreed before hand as to when, where and how to do it... i have been told that it sounds like a fairly autistic way of thinking, which does make sense but it doesnt really help. [/quote] Been thinking about the things you've said - and highlighted a few above. A few thoughts occur. First is, don't make a big thing about not being 100% on top of music theory - few of us are. Music theory is kinda like the rules of grammar for the language of music. I'm British, therefore like many, my theoretical knowledge of some of the deeper theory of grammar is a mystery to me. What's the pluperfect tense? Or a gerund? Or whatever. However, I can still communicate fluently and have learned enough of the grammar which suits my purposes. Some of it by learning and applying principles, some of it by working on memorising stuff (like spellings) and some is just subconscious. Look at music theory in that manner, work out what you want to use it for and them break up the little bits that help you do that into bite sized chunks and try to find a learning method that works for you. So what matters (to you)? Dots and sight reading? Forget it. Certainly at this stage. Not what's going to get you going in playing with others, jamming around a tune etc. The first basic would be having a better knowledge of the notes on the neck - for the first 7 frets - as others have said. Those will be the basic building blocks for a lot of things. Try different ways to get them to sink in... just going up each string fret by fret until it sticks... E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, next string A, Bb, C, C#, D, Eb, E, next string D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, next string G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#, D... over and over and over. Try flash card games... Write each note on a card and shuffle them. Flip a card and find the note and play it. Make it a game, see how long it takes to go through the pack. Flip a card and find all of that note on the first 7 frets... it all helps. Knowing (or even knowing most of) those notes will be an immeasurable step up. Find simple songs and download chord sheets - play the root notes along to the track - to give you more confidence... If someone says, "Right lets start a jam. Four chords. G, C, D and A minor." Then at least you can play those notes while you try to work out some more interesting runs and riffs to play between them. You're building on a building block. Next you could look at scales and invervals... You say you can play scales by shapes. Briliant! That's what most of us do most of the time (it's music theory in disguise). The two to focus on first are the major and minor scale shapes. By ear you'll already know the note that it sounds right to start and finish the scale on - that's the "root" note. If you are playing the major scale and the start/root note on your bass happens to be G - you are playing the G major scale (E string 3rd fret). Simple as that. Move it up a fret to the Ab note (E string 4th note) and you're playing the Ab major scale. Up another fret... A major. Start on C note and that's the C major... Then you cal look at the shapes in the scale that are the intervals. Play the 8 notes in the scale and give each a number starting with 1 up to 8 and you've just named the intervals! Or look at the shapes on the fret board... 3rd - up a string down a fret, 4th up a string, 5th up a string up two frets... etc Then look at how you can internalise those? Repetition and flash card games might be a good way. If you had a go at learining those bits little by little, one at a time you'd probably have as much music theory as a large majority or players, feel more confident and equipped to play with others and to follow songs and song sheets. You will have a really strong foundation and you will be playing. Any theory you happen to pick up over and on top of that is an absolute bonus! Hope those ideas help.

It was a really interesting listen. Though they never used the obvious populist example of what compression can do as quoted by mums, dads and grandparents up and down the land... "Why are the adverts so much bl**dy louder than the rest of the TV programmes...? Gives me a flippin' 'eadache!" Made me think back to the first time I listened to Rush's Vapour Trails album. Now there was a tiring album to listen to. The remixed and remastered version didn't completely undo the damage but it was a much better listen and showed what a mixing and mastering dog's breakfast the original was...

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1452186788' post='2947440'] I've tried felt picks before, didn't really like them if I'm honest but I'll maybe give it another go. [/quote] I would guess that for now you are in experiment mode, checking out as many different pick and fingerstyle options and variations until: [list=1] [*]You find a tone that you think, "Love that tone for the occasional country song!" [*]You decide, "Hmmm, not a tone I personally love but I can live with it and it really works for those occasional country songs so I'll go with it anyway." [*]You decide, "Stuff it. Fingerstyle, felt picks and palm muting... none of that's working for me. Back to playing with a pick, but maybe I'll just roll off the tone control on the bass a touch for that tune, maybe that will mellow it down enough." or, [*]You decide, "Stuff it. Fingerstyle, felt picks and palm muting... none of that's working for me. Back to playing with a pick as normal, full stop!" [/list] Main thing is have fun experimenting with something new and having a chance to braoden your sonic horizons...

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1452165043' post='2947108'] No, you're right. If I wanted exactly the same sound then I wouldn't bother changing. I like my pick sound. I don't really like my finger style sound if I switch without changing anything. I'm looking for some simple tips. [/quote] I read the initial Felt Pick comment as... plastic pick for most songs as usual, felt pick for the country song for a different/softer but still more picky tone than just the fingers. Which should fit your criteria for the song? The fingerstyle will sound less inherently attacky than a pick (just because of the different hardness of the substances involved). Things which might help when you are finger picking is changing your plucking position. I mostly play fingerstyle but get a lot of variation from swapping from picking over the end of the next, over the neck pick up and over the bridge pickup. Playing more towards the bridge should help add more treble and attack into your sound. Also think about how you attack the string with your fingers. You'll get a very different tone from gently stroking the string from really digging in and plucking harder. Similarly angling your fingertips with respect to the string or plucking with your thumb will change the tone produced a surprising amount. Experiment and see if you can find a plucked tone which works for your ears and for the song. Or as others have suggested, experiment with using a regular pick and palm muting? There are lots of options to try without resorting to EQ changes or effects.

I have a total of six basses, of which my main basses are my [b]1985 Wal Mk 1 Custom [/b]and my [b]1979 Wal Pro IIE[/b]. When I was in a covers band I would tend to take both to each gig. I almost always took two basses to a gig as a redundancy/insurance policy – not that I ever had a bass fail mid gig but given that both are more than a quarter of a century old I thought “Better safe than sorry”. Having two lovely basses at the gig I would then use both – divvying them up between sections of the set depending on which songs we were doing. Pure indulgence on my part and I’m sure no one else noticed the difference. However, whilst either bass could more than adequately cover all the set, I enjoyed using whichever bass particularly suited certain tunes. For example, It Must Be Love, Roxanne, Babylon, Long Train Running and Lady Marmalade just felt and sounded particularly good to me on the Mk 1 Custom. Similarly, A Town Called Malice, Hey Jude, Sweet Caroline, Get It On and any Oasis numbers seemed to particularly suit the Pro Bass (or the Frankenjazz). Maybe no-one else could tell the difference but I could and it made my smile. I also tended to take good care of them when playing live so wear and tear wasn't such a big concern... The other basses are [b]"Signature" Frankenjazz [/b]from BuildABass off eBay which I bought as a project bass and because I fancied having a souped up Jazz. When my Pro IIE was in need to some TLC and temporarily retired from gigging pending some work this accompanied my Mk 1 Wal to gigs. It also gave me the option for a more era-appropriate looking bass when the band as doing “60s” events. Currently that bass is on long term loan to a chum. Then there is an [b]Aria SB700 [/b](my first ever bass, hardly used but kept for sentimental reasons), a [b]custom built Tony Revell acoustic bass [/b](which is acoustic only and too precious/fragile to take out of the house) and a [b]Faith Neptune Titan acoustic bass [/b]which gets used occasionally for acoustic sessions and for practice around the house.

Can't believe he been gone three decades. What a great bassist, writer, singer, rock star!

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1451867100' post='2944237'] Is this them ? https://web.archive.org/web/20040603043937/http://bossa-usa.com/index.shtml [/quote] That's it. Real Bossa Design, Osaka, Japan. Seems Nathan Watts plays them too... https://www.facebook.com/Real-Bossa-Design-110853389062755/

Glad to hear that you're loving the Wal. Let's have a full run down once you've lived with it a bit. Hope bro is doing better too... But it is a great story!

[quote name='mybass' timestamp='1451323161' post='2939565'] The smaller 'Traveller' 2x10 is rear vented, not as 'tall' so hasn't quite the same bottom end ( to be heard front end). The larger cab also has a better tweeter. The pairing of large and smaller 2x10 cabs works well, even better if just the larger two cabs are used together. The 15" cabs come as a manageable 'Traveller' size or full size 15". The traveller 15" with (either) 2x10 is very good. It fits well size wise with the 2x10 Traveller but I also use it with the large 2x10. [/quote] My rig is the Traveler versions here to give you an idea of the size... As above, the main difference is the size/volume of the cabs around the speakers. If you look at the 2x10 there is no clearance between the speakers and cab housing. The normal versions have a larger baffle and the front port. These were mostly used for a party/covers band where the bass didn't go through the PA and they worked admirably with the LM2 head with lots of headroom. Smaller gigs, acoustic stuff, church and rehearsals tended to be with just the 2x10 and again that was more than enough with plenty left to spare. The full cabs would have had more headroom I guess, plus the cab volume and different porting will have had some effect but I'm no speaker expert so... Their real advantage for me was portability and versatility while still giving a strong, deep, punchy tone. Hope that helps.

They are great guitars. Much better guitar than the pounds you spend really ought to get you. My wife has a Norman (another Godin brand which is really just a Seagull by another name with a different shaped headstock) and it is a cracking little guitar!

I love my EHX Stereo Pulsar. At £50 not the very cheapest but great sounds and lots of versatility with the different waveform options. Great pedal.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1451732828' post='2942827'] There were two MC924's talked about in someones collection (possibly a Guitar and Bass mag article) the other year, the "lightweight" fretted one weighed in at 15lbs the fretless was slightly heavier at.....yes 22lbs....you could probably get a piano round your neck that would weigh less! I have always liked the look of the MC bass but you probably can't get one that weighs under 10lbs [/quote] I had to read that post three times to check the numbers... My Wal shall henceforth be known as a lightweight bass, practically made out of balsa wood and only fit for 7 stone weaklings!

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1451684943' post='2942530'] I would like to extend to you an invitation to come and play my 1984 Precision. It is a wonderful bass. You could then compare it with all the other 80s Fenders you have played which has allowed you to form your OPINION. My OPINION is that I would not wish to own an Ibanez Musician as I find them too complicated, heavy, and not pleasing to look at. Mind you this is only my OPINION. [/quote] To be fair on DrTS, back in the mid 80s (it is well documented that ) even Fender thought that on the whole late 70s and early 80s Fenders were a bit rubbish and just not up to snuff. Hence the introduction of Japanese production to try to beat the (much much better quality) Japanese copyists in their home market and take the pressure off while they bought up a few vintage Fenders to see what a Strat, Tele, Jazz and P-Bass were supposed to look like, retooled the whole factory and revamped the range. Great to know that you have managed to acquire of the peaches that were mixed in among the lemons. But most would agree (and the literature confirms) that there we a lot of lemons coming out of the Fender factory around then.

Horrible transfer but this track is a cracker! http://youtu.be/XauOTo-BKSY

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1451831007' post='2943751'] Anyone else have problems with people in bands who insist on wearing ear plugs? As a result of doing so, they can't hear subtleties or how loud they are relative to everyone else, so they crank the volume and the whole thing descends into chaos. When you suggest it would be better to take them out and for everyone to play at a sensible level, they bleat about damaging their hearing (they don't seem able to grasp that wearing plugs is only going to increase the problem, for others if not for them). Mad. [/quote] The problem here isn't with wearing ear plugs, the problem here is with band mates being unwilling to compromise in an intelligent way and being all uppity about it. [quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1451832019' post='2943767'] I can see the logic here, I always set mine and the bands volume without ear plugs then put them in, it certainly tempting to fiddle with the eq and volume with ear plugs in. but just take them out for a second and hear the difference, and yes I have got custom ear plugs at £125 [/quote] Paul's comment is by far the right way to go. I've also played with (guitarists) who are similarly self centred and unteachable. The band should set their levels at an acceptable gig level which balances well across the band in the sound check and the need to increase volume after that should be seen as the exception not the rule. All too often it becomes a volume bidding war. As others have said, if you need to tweak do it after popping out a plug to hear your real volume. Also, proper plugs are an investment - whether you're taking £20 Alpines or £200 custom moulded jobs - and frankly, as others have said, the foam ones are only good for deadening sound and not for listening to or playing music at all!

I've been very impressed with Picato's stainless steel round wounds. £15.99 from Strings Direct... http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/stainless-steel-sets-c238/picato-4-string-stainless-steel-roundwound-45-105-long-scale-bass-guitar-strings-p1085 Been using them for the last four or five years and would still be doing so had I not been tempted to dabble in the dark (flat) side over the last couple of months. I found them to be consistent and long lasting (tho I suspect my playing style isn't as punishing as punk with a pick). I thought they had a good top end/upper mid presence without being overly zingy or pingy, esp when they'd had a couple of uses to play in. If flats don't work out for me in the long run it will e them I will be heading back to.

Well that was different... Not bad different, just different. In fact, I rather liked it. Hmmmmm... So, I put on CamdenRob's La Bella Flats on the Mk 1 and tried them out in the service at church this morning. The set up was the same as usual... DI into the PA via a VT Bass DI pedal and monitored through UE in ears. What a difference to my previous round wound strings. I've always thought that the thing I love about the bass sound was the zinginess of the strings, the growl from selectively swooping up and down the frets and the lower middly punch you can get from rounds. Most of that was missing from the flats, of course, or significantly lessened. So that's a downer, you might think. On the contrary. What replaced them was a stronger, more definite fundamental tone with a deep, rounded sound around it. And that tone was so great that, actually, I really didn't miss the characteristics that were missing. In fact, the whole bass sounded more together, more focused and stronger across the strings and across the neck. That I like! Lots. I had worried that the loss of zing would make the bass more indistinct and difficult to hear in the mix - though the in ears naturally solve a lot of those problems, they're so lovely and transparent. Nope, the bass was still really transparent and present in the mix, even with the reduced top end zing. It also gave a much stronger performance on the bridge pickup than the round wounds had. That I really like! Previously the bridge pickup has seemed to be lacking a bit in "body" compared to the neck pickup or a pickup blend. Not bad, not overly trebly but rather just a bit light or insubstantial. With the flats it was somehow gutlsier than before and more rewarding to play solo'd. That I really really like! So, as Rumblefish had suggested way back in September, a bit of a revelation. But there is still more to explore. I didn't change the tone settings I was using on the VT DI at all - treble at 12 o'clock, mid at 12 and low at about 3 o'clock. The character is set at about 10:30 and the drive set low. I wonder how it would react to a little more mid and treble? Would that restore a bit more of the desirable characteristics that went with the string change? Well, I'm playing again next Sunday so there's a chance to experiment again woth the settings... Hmmm, watch this space but, as Rumblefish said I would, I think I'm sold. Now, to get a set of flats to try out on my Pro series Wal too. What to get? Maybe some GHS or some Status or Chromes?

Never really been a effects user but this last year I started using a few more for textures when playing at church and put together a small pedal board. The workhorse star has been my Tech 21 VT Bass DI which is a cracking pedal. However, I'll nominate the only pedal I bought thiis year, an EHX Pulsar tremolo which is great for some progtastic effects and textures. Honourable mention goes to my 20 something year old Boss CE2-B which I also pulled out of retirement.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yessity, YES!

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1451516822' post='2941246'] Just say noted..... [/quote] ...and then completely ignore his pearls of wisdom.. What's the betting if you saw him live you'd think, "Ooh, I don't like that bass tone." Pretty high, I'd reckon. Used a Markbass for many years with no effects other than a tuner and always loved the sound whichever bass I was using. Horses, courses...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731'] I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now... [/quote] I'm with Chris too. Every one on that list is a punter pleaser and I played the vast majority in the covers band I used to play with - and even if they weren't my favourite songs to listen to I enjoyed playing them for the reaction they got every single gig. There is a certain joy about playing to a full dance floor of folks really enjoying themselves or waving pint glasses over their heads and singing along at the top of their drunk voices...

Apologies, for the thread resurrection but... finally found a chance to restring my Wal with the La Bellas that CamdenRob sent me. Various family stuff has meant that the basses haven't come out of their cases since mid November but now that we're back on more of an even keel I'll be playing again at church on Sunday morning. Fascinated to see how they sound and feel compared the the rounds I've played since I started playing bass so many moons ago...

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1451400796' post='2940156'] Is that a big enough subject to fill a book ? [/quote] You'd be surprised. There is context about the state that Fender was in in the late 70s, the rise of the Japanese makers, the new team brought into Fender and then stuff on all the different models... Plus Tony Bacon always hits a nice balance between readability and geeky detail!

Not strictly a pressie but at £2.50 in the Works you can't say fairer!

The will never be another Lemmy! Rest (very loudly) in peace.