joseb84

On 02/12/2021 at 10:27, bass_dinger said:

That's an unusual set up.  Is it because your predecessor was a bass-playing worship leader, and you inherited the role?

 

It seems to me that the guitarist is often looked to as the leader, regardless of whether they are qualified or willing to carry out that role. 

Apologies I missed this question...

So from what I can make out all of the worship leaders are guitarists, and the logic of having 'direction' from the bassist is essentially not to overload anyone else with too much responsibility. The drummer is responsible for the click track, the keys player for computer/pad set up and the leader for leading the congregation. So quite equitable in a way.

I also know that the Catalyst festival worship band have a similar set up as apparently the bassist is a phenomenal musician and sensitive to the worship dynamic, but absolutely not a 'front man' character. I don't claim either of these things for myself!

In reality it mostly involves counting in intros or any tricky line timings for the vocalists, and occasionally giving 'let's go around that bit again' instructions. Quite happy to do it.

On 15/11/2021 at 09:58, Bobo_08 said:

I found that when we practice, someone decides that we will repeat the chorus x2 or whatever in a certain part. So I make notes on my chord chart and then in the actual service... they change their mind and go straight to the next verse... 😆

I've discovered one of the quirks of my new church worship setup is that it's the bassist who is responsible for directing the band to repeat choruses etc. So the power is all mine mwhahahaha 😁

Presently waiting Rend Collective to come on stage in Newcastle!

On 18/10/2021 at 17:28, bass_dinger said:

 

How did it go? 

All good thanks 😊. I valued the process of committing my parts to memory ahead of Sunday. Only slight hiccup was forgetting to turn my IEM back on after a break and wondering where the click track had disappeared to!

1 hour ago, Bobo_08 said:

Sounds like they have a pretty Pro worship team of they are playing to clicks (needing IEM if guess) and preferring no sheet music or chord charts on stage. 

Yep from what I've seen so far big emphasis on quality (and yes IEMs)

Hello all, a while since I've posted on this thread as my family have been moving 200 miles north over the summer. Hence we are in a new church!

To my surprise I'm playing bass tomorrow morning. I met the worship pastor on Thursday evening for a catch up and trial, thinking I'd slowly be integrated into things over the next few months. But no, straight in!

A few things will be quite different what I'm used to:

* Playing to a click track

* Proper length rehearsal before the service

* Using the church's 34" bass, as all my kit including my short-scale are locked deep in a storage unit

* No music/chord charts allowed on stage (or, at least, heavily discouraged)

* Less 'open worship' space

Some of these things I'm very happy about, others will take a bit of getting used to. But overall just really looking forward to worshipping in church with bass playing again.

Joe

Playing in the church for the first time in about 6 months this morning, very excited! If fearing I may be a little rusty with the hiatus! 

Welcome Jolltax! I've been playing more or less for over 10 years and never taken a lesson so you'll probably excel past me in a month or so 🤣.

I've not been posting very long but I've found a lovely group of people here from complete novices to professionals, who never despair of sharing their wisdom and insights with generosity.

On 08/03/2021 at 16:47, scrumpymike said:

Finally got round to grabbing a pic of my recently acquired (off this FS forum) Cali s-s.  Jazz Flats fitted, just completed my usual super-low set-up by doing the intonation, and I think this is a keeper - even though my two Andy Rogers 30"-scale custom builds will always be my go-to gig basses.  I can honestly say I'm deeply impressed with my first Sandberg.  It's the best sub-£1500 'manufactured' s-s bass I've played.

http://

This is now my grail bass should I be able to splurge one day! Stunningly beautiful SS. Very happy with my Squier Jags at the moment and not playing enough to justify a new buy, but always nice to have an aspiration

When you say 'super-low' setup do you mean the amount of effort you put into set up or that you have it with dropped tuning?!

Predictions ahead of this afternoon's fixtures? Most games I see these days tend to end up 4-4 or 6-8

As no one has posted a whole team yet, here's my offering... a well balanced 433 with the flash guys up front, and a mix of experience and (relative) youth.

                             Hooky 

Bruce - Woostenhulme - Trewavas - Rourke

              Clarke  - Macca - Shulman

                Flea  - Entwhistle - Jaco

12 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

Just to clarify, as it hasn't been mentioned yet, we know there is a DI+ sim in the B3, right?

As jrixn1 says, there is less going on with an analogue pedal, so technically the signal is 'purer', although it is hard to really hear the differences, especially live. If you dig the DI+ sim, then the real deal will probably be higher quality.

Thanks @Jus Lukin. Yes - aware of the sim in the B3, it was whether there was a big 'analogue dividend' or not, and the simplicity of controlling that interested me. Consensus seems to be probably a small improvement in quality but only if the B3 is entirely removed from the set up (and thanks for clarifying @jrixn1 - I had assumed in bypass mode the signal wouldn't convert).

10 minutes ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/ehb1000s_1p_01.html

 

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/ehb1005sms_1p_01.html

The Most Comfortable instrument you will EVER play!

 

Wow, they are stunning! Although I wish the emerald green was available on the 4 (not so much a fan of the sea foam or pink)

Okay, so since my last post I've been playing my present 30" bass a lot (a Squier Jag) and remembered why I went for short scale in the first place. So, no need for something in the sub-£500 category, but do Ibanez offer anything 30" at the pricier end of the spectrum?

Hi all. I'm fairly new to the world of bass pedals so would appreciate some wisdom! As I tend to play straight into a PA mix without an amp I'm tempted by some kind of enhanced DI box like this:

I like the simplicity of the EQ controls and the idea of having a high quality DI output. My present set up is to take a DI signal straight from my B3. So, would I be gaining anything in terms of signal quality or tone of I was to output from the B3 to an enhanced DI? Or do they essentially do the same job? 

Thanks

2 hours ago, Kevsy71 said:

That must have been fun @joseb84 ! Very lively, I wish we played more like that. Although it's the sort of song where you really don't want a last minute key change

Indeed! I would not have been amused

Funny video! This is the most complex bass I've ever played in church -

I had to practice for literal days to get that under my fingers

47 minutes ago, Richard R said:

I didn't know that. Songs in D should be easy to sing then?

For a number of songs yes, but it all depends on the top and (to a lesser extent in my view) the bottom notes. As while many songs the tonic will be the highest note in the melody (e.g. in Christ Alone), a great many others go to the third (e.g. Happy Day (Hughes)) or the fifth (e.g.great are you Lord - your breath), suggesting D, Bb and G as the respective optimal keys to avoid going beyond the top D (that said In Christ Alone is fine in the original key of Eb as the top note is a passing one, in contrast to happy day where you spend a lot of time at the top end in the chorus).

Blur - Parklive

R.E.M. - At the BBC

Transatlantic - Live in America

1 hour ago, xgsjx said:

I still don’t get why the Singists can’t just learn to sing in the original key to save all this bother?

Don’t the originals get written in a key that suits the congregation? 

In lots of cases, no. In a previous era I was responsible in a church for selecting songs, issuing the music and choosing the key. There are lots of factors that can make this difficult, including:

* Recording male worship artists usually have a much wider range than the average congregant, so write in keys that take the melody far too high for a Sunday. Contrary to popular belief this is even more of an issue for female congregants - 'high key good for female/low key good for male' is just not true.

* There is quite a small range of notes (approx Bb through an octave to D) that are comfortably in the range of both male and female voices. 

* Quite a few popular songs go beyond this range of an octave and a third

* The advent in the past decade of the 'octave leap' is a disaster for congregational singing as if the worship leader goes for it they will either be far too low to start with or not make the leap. The congregation have even less of change. Perhaps the greatest crime of Bethel music and Hillsong!

So, all in all I have sympathy with the need to change keys. What would be great is if it happened with good notice rather than on the morning, although the transpose features of SongSelect etc make even that more tolerable.

But I think the best strategy is to get on the front foot and advise the leader of the best key as soon as you can after they've sent round the songs - maximises practice time and they'll probably be grateful for your help!

5 hours ago, visog said:

Would still love to have a go on one though eh?

Yep, totally! But wouldn't invest unless much wiser counsel than myself were convinced its price matched the quality and not just the hype

I've never had a 'walk out in disgust' moment but a few incidents of this kind:

1- I feel asleep at an Eric Clapton gig in the early 90s. I was only a young kids at the time but really enjoyed his Cream and Dominoes stuff that my dad played me. Sadly he only played his acoustic solo stuff, which I promptly voted against with unconscioussness. Dad was raging (at Clapton) for a year afterwards! Thankfully this was atoned for by the Cream reunion gigs a decade later, where Clapton was the star of the show.

2. Also Dad-related incident, he stormed out of Buddy Guy gig the whole family went to, I think in 2000. After a cracking opening couple of songs he descended into a sea of self-indulgent nonsense and patter with the audience. I was still too young to recognise this and stuck it out, but in retrospect it was the correct response!

3. I should have left Morrissey's set at Glasto 2004 - he was as grumpy as anything but it was the first time I'd seen him so didn't want to miss any gems. This was made up for very quickly as I got to be at the front for his Reading show that summer which was electric.

4. I left in the middle of Hell is for Heroes at Shepherd's Bush. They weren't in any way bad but l had come with a bunch of other fans to see the support band (Kinesis), so was exhausted after giving it everything in their set. Also met James from the Manics at the gig that night so I was a little star struck to focus on HIFH after that.

Hi all. Has anyone successfully set up a 4-string short scale bass with BEAD tuning? Given the lower end is usually the challenge for producing a great sound on an SS I'm reluctant to try this without advice, but there are a number of songs I play requiring the low notes and I'd rather stick to an SS and not go through an octaver. 

If so, which brand and tension of strings? Did you have to make any other technical adjustments? Nb-  I play a standard Squire Jaguar SS.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, horrorshowbass said:

Theres a well used but perfectly playable sr1205 on gumtree at moment at £425. If I didn't live in Ireland and had the funds I'd be all over it. New it would be 2x the price. Depends on whether you want 4 or 5 string but used SR premium is the way to go. I have a SR600 and it's an awesome bass but the nordstrand big singles would take it to the next level

Thanks for highlighting this model, is it a 4 or 5? I'm after a 4, as a thin neck is a priority and I want to keep things simple until I've progressed in my playing. 

I'm glad they didn't - I don't think the song would have been as iconic with either part missing!