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I'm pretty conservative in my bass-taste but I don't think they look too bad. What puts me off a bit is the way that the 'upper bout' (i.e. the horns) is wider than the section where the bridge is. But I can honestly say that they're far less offensive to my eyes than some of those giant woody 6 strings with curly horns that look like they were designed by/for elves.

The first one is pronounced something like "vrots-woff" according to a Polish bloke I know. I don't know how he pronounces bass manufacturers though...

Sounds like you're bored of the material - might be worth speaking to the others (apart from drummer), suggesting a completely new set list and seeing who wants to join you.

That's a nice bassline, very reminiscent of a reggae "one drop" line.

Good point. To elaborate a bit more, there's a 'system' that I read somewhere that helps me remember which notes become sharpened / flattened using the circle of fifths. To move round the flats, first flatten the 7th degree of the current scale and then move down a fifth (or up a fourth). e.g. starting in C, first flatten the B and then move down a fifth to F, so F major has one flat, Bb. Going again, flatten the 7th degree of F major (the E natural) and then move down a fifth to Bb. So Bb has two flats - Bb and Eb. To move in the 'sharps' direction, move down a fourth (or up a fifth) and then sharpen the 7th degree of the scale. So starting again at C, move down a fourth to G, and then sharpen the F to F# - so G major has one sharp, the F#. The next move is again down a fourth to D and then sharpen the 7th (the C) to C#. So D major has F# and C#. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a lot less confusing when you actually do it on the bass since the movement is always up or down strings.

It's probably an unpopular choice, but the sound of rock guitars playing a melody (as opposed to rhythm or soloing) always sounds a bit suspect to me, especially if there are more than one of them at the same time. It always sounds a bit thin and weak for some reason, although I'm sure that as soon as I post this I'll immediately think of counter examples....

This is just based on my personal experience and I'm in no way disparaging EUBs, but unless you absolutely don't have the space, I'd go straight for a DB. EUBs definitely have their place and you might get one at a later date if you need the portability, but the satisfaction of getting a sound out of a big acoustic instrument is hard to beat.

I bought a Westbury from gear4music and I really like it. It has wheels so it's slightly bulkier than one without but it still folds in half.

+1 . On the other hand, if you want to keep the whole acoustic look-and-feel and you decide that you can live with amplification after all, you could always get a Ukulele bass. I tried one of these out recently and I really liked it - https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Laka-VUB60EA-Electro-Acoustic-Bass-Ukulele-Mahogany/1LLY For portability you could match it with one of these https://www.roland.com/us/products/micro_cube_bass_rx/ and then you'd have a setup that you can take anywhere and even busk if it takes your fancy.

Some of the previous suggestions would make my list, but here are three that I never get tired of listening to: - Bill Evans - Live at the Village Vanguard - Miles Davis - Miles Smiles (any of the other "second quintet" albums would do instead) - Velvet Underground and Nico

@NickA, unfortunately I can't really claim the ability to transcribe by ear, I had a couple of great apps on my phone to help me - the first to slow down and loop the track and the second to enter the score (Audipo and Chaconne respectively). So it was "by ear" in the sense of not having a bass with me, but I needed to be able to loop a few times before I could get it. The tune itself is a standard Bb jazz blues so you should be able to play the melody over the one that's in iRealPro I think. TheJim Stinnett book looks great but it is pricey alright... Maybe a nice Xmas pressie to myself...

@pfretrock, @The Jaywalker - I must get Bob Magnusson book, I hadn't heard of it before. I have more technique books than I can use, but I figure that even if I just get a couple of tips from each one it's money well spent. And a lot cheaper than instrument-related GAS....

@petebassist - arpeggios are pretty fundamental to walking lines so your approach isn't wrong. However, apart from outlining the chords, one of the other 'jobs' of a walking bassline is to provide a sense of forward motion, so using diatonic / chromatic tones to lead smoothly to the next chord can transforms it into something more musical. I'm not saying that I can do this consistently of course, but it's one of my goals

Thanks @geoffbassist - it was just a quick job that I did while I was in the car waiting around for one of the kids. I'd like to try and transcribe a few choruses of the walking bass line next so I'll post that up if I get round to it...

Here's a quick reference sheet from Bert Ligon that summarises some of the most important aspects of walking bass lines in one page - it's obviously no substitute for everything discussed above, but it's handy all the same. Bert_Ligon_Fundamental_Bass_Lines.pdf I got it from here - there are a few more bass-specific downloads as well: http://nationaljazzworkshop.org/freestuff.php

You're correct that it isn't actually a 0 and 1 travelling over the wire in a digital cable, and that it is something like a square wave. But the circuitry / protocols used to send the data will convert these to digital data and eliminate any differences. As long as the cable itself is capable of reliably transmitting a signal, it will work, and all digital cables meet this requirement unless they're actually broken. Once this "bare minimum" requirement is met for a digital cable, it is impossible for it to make any difference to sound quality. It's the same if you download a track from iTunes, it's been read from a disk in a data centre somewhere, transmitted internally over a bunch of bog-standard ethernet cables and optical cables, broken up and bounced between various servers around the world, and then maybe down a phone line to your router and finally wirelessly to your phone. At the lowest level, all of these 'hops' involve some kind of analogue signal and can consist of crappy cabling or a dodgy connection, but the protocols that are used make sure that you get either an exact copy of what was sent, or nothing at all (if something is seriously wrong). What doesn't happen is that you get a better- or worse-sounding file depending on the quality of all these components. One slight caveat here is that many digital services like Netflix and Skype use a technique called 'adaptation' which deliberately modifies the quality of what is being sent to you if your connectivity is poor. But this is deliberately engineered to happen and it would be pointless in an audio system since all cables are more than capable of handling the bandwidth required.

Hi all - I was working through @geoffbassist's lesson on playing Chamber Mates with the bow - I found the rhythm a bit tricky so I had a go at transcribing the head. Here's the transcription if anyone's interested and please let me know if there are any mistakes as I'm no expert when it comes to dots. I posted this to the Theory forum as well but I took the liberty of posting here as it's a good example of something to play with the bow. Cheers Chamber Mates.pdf

I was looking at Geoff Chalmers's lesson on playing Chamber Mates by Paul Chambers. I found the rhythm of the melody a bit tricky so I had a go at transcribing it. I'm no expert at transcribing but I think it's about right - if anyone has any corrections I'd be glad to hear them - cheers Chamber Mates.pdf

[quote name='No. 8 Wire' timestamp='1510326163' post='3405647'] It's more complicated than that though isn't it? A whole load of overlapping definitions and identities; geographical, political, historical...as you say, best left well alone. I think the only definitive thing you can say is if you hold a UK passport you are British... even though you may also be something else too. [/quote] Yep, and I think the term British Isles is still (just about) valid if used in a purely geographic context because apparently the convention for archipelagos is to name them after the biggest island.....But like you say, given the history it's probably best to steer clear Anyway, arguing about whether bands are rock bands or not and then whether they deserve a place in a list is more fun anyway

[quote name='Jimothey' timestamp='1510325111' post='3405632'] That was the point I was making is the fact that the band was formed somewhere in the British Isles make them British or Is the fact the members of the band were born somewhere in the British Isles make the band British??? [/quote] The reason why the term "The British Isles" is not used much these days is precisely because most of the people who live on one of the islands are definitely not British.

[url="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maurobattisti.drumgenius&hl=en"]DrumGenius[/url] is great - a library of high quality loops. You can't create your own but you can change the tempo of the loops within a certain range. There's a lot of emphasis on jazz loops but there are plenty of others as well.

Another vote for the J-Tone. There are without doubt more natural-sounding pickups out there but the J-Tone gives me a usable, consistent gigging sound every time I use it with virtually no feedback.

I saw a covers band in a pub near me a while ago and the bass player played slap lines on a large part of the set, regardless of genre. On paper, this would normally ring all sorts of alarm bells for me but he (and the band) really made it work, injecting a bit of life into the set and getting everyone dancing. So I guess this would indicate that you're better off arranging the songs in an interesting way and playing to your strengths rather than worrying too much about replicating the tone from specific recordings.

Thanks @Beer - the Headway looks like the right tool alright but I agree about the price - the Allen and Heath sounds like a good alternative. I'm reluctant to spend too much money just because the mic setup could be fiddly, prone to feedback and generally not that usable in a gig, but I guess I'll always be able to sell any gear on again if it doesn't work out for me.