Jebo1

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='115142' date='Jan 7 2008, 12:41 AM']I have to totally agree with Dave Marks on this, no matter how good you think you are, there's always something that you can learn, and these colleges give you that chance, you are there to focus on your playing for however many years. If you want to be a professional musician then you need to be able to cover any gig, it's no use being offered a country and western gig and turning it down saying "hey I'm a funk player", that gig might just pay that weeks rent. Courses like this open doors to you to all genres of music, which is perhaps something you wouldn't otherwise get. And don't forget all the useful contacts that you make while on the course.[/quote] In an ideal world, this woud be what the courses would all be about. In the real world, they aren't. Sad but true. And often they are run by people without a clue. I looked on the BIMM site, and I don't really need lessons from some guy who was in Pitchshifter or 'The Jeevas' and I certainly wouldn't give up 3 years of my life, and untold thousands of pounds to do so. I used to teach one of these courses and it was so frustrating, so much talent but for some no aptitude for others, just not enough time to explore it!

From my perspective, the courses never focus enough on the real life aspects of the music business (the gigs, sight reading, teaching skills). They focus on the 'glory' stuff, and I don't think a lot of it is relevant because less than 1% of the students that qualify will ever sign record contracts and the rest of it. I also think that anything on the courses is easy to learn yourself if you have the right attitude. Sight reading, the principles of music (chords/scales/harmony/melody) are all concepts you can teach yourself. When I was teaching a lot, I was always so frustrated with the fact that the students would never go home and practice at all. When I was a kid I wore out 3 tape recorders transcribing bass parts to tracks. And there is no real session scene any more. I watched the drummer from Portishead earn £25 doing a jazz gig today. If someone of that calibre is reduced to doing that, then there ain't enough work! (I'm sure he likes jazz, but if it was a case of touring the world with a band, I'm sure he'd be doing the latter rather than the former) If you want to earn money, take up double bass and play jazz or join a functions band! Great fun, good money and you sometimes get to shag the odd bird at a wedding party! Much better than an early night then a full day at ATM.

It's also based on a 'feel' which is hard to replicate. When it was played to Bonzo he refused to play it. Jimmy told him to play 4/4 throughout and that it would all be ok. And it was, it's one of their best tracks! Play it with some feeling, and try to let the parts 'breath'. Watch Zepp live, this is what they did (or still do I spose!)

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='114574' date='Jan 6 2008, 10:51 AM']Or, if you can, why not buy it for both reasons? I can't comment on pre-CBS stuff, 'cos I'm not rich. Had things been different, however.... Anyway - the key phrase here is 'buy wisely'. All on my early 70s basses have been bought for very competetive prices - marginally more than the new equivalents, in fact. I just don't like the look of new Fenders (or any new bass, in fact). I don't like their shiny 'Please don't ding me!' bodies, their pale white necks, and their dull headstock logos. While many of them undoubtedly play as well as mine, they just don't do it for me. I might as well buy something earlier that I like the feel, sound and look of. As an aside, they'll hold their value really well, too. Bonus![/quote] You do have a really nice collection there. Some choice pieces, and as a collection nothing that will lose value I'm sure. I was a little bit 'vintage-d out' yesterday. I had some guys come over to try some vintage guitars, and they were sooooooooooooo boring. It's true though that the bottom could fall out of the market (the top end more likely) if we have a recession. Hopefully we won't as it would be horrible to see people losing their houses, high unemployment and all the social issues that go with it. Hopefully we'll be ok. BTW the best Precision I've seen for a long time is the one sold by Thunderthumbs. £800 for a 76 isn't too bad and should keep its value. If it plays as well as it looks, you're on to a winner! Black on black is always in demand (chuch a mirrored scratchplate on, chime up 'Chinatown' and rock like Big Phil Lynott!) If you want to build your own, I have loads of 70s parts (no bodies and necks anymore but everything else you might need). Do you have anything to trade against?

I was a bit p1ssed when I wrote my reply. On reflection, I have only owned 43 P basses. I just checked. And the best one to be honest was a 65 refin with a jazz pickup installed at the bridge. That was a lovely bass! Then second comes the one I use now :-) I need a paracetamol and quickly!

I've owned and played about 50 or 60 P basses (sadly this is true, and I have pictures of most of them - welcome to my world). Some of the best P basses I have ever played have been the Japanese 62 reissues. I did a gig once with some 'Classic Rock' bands, and I played a 59, 62 and 64 and my 62 reissue smash about bass was the best of all of them. Sad, but true. A £200 bass was messing it with £5,000 instruments. As for 'special years' to be honest, all of that is absolute crap. I've played awful early 60's basses, and amazing late 70's ones. For a factory tooled instrument, they're all different. Don't buy a guitar that you want to use for re-sale value, buy it because you love it. I've had hundreds of guitars, but I only ever play 3 basses - because I love them! To be honest, buy a guitar because you like it. You may play 30 vintage P basses, and hate every one. Me, well, I use Beedster's old 62 reissue Salmon Pink P bass. It plays better than ever pre CBS bass I have ever played, and sounds like a million bucks. And I've played and owned lots of them. Don't be conned by the retro thing. Make up your mind objectively! When there's a recession the first thing to be devalued will be vintage guitars. If you're losing your house, the last thing you want is a pre-CBS Precision! You mark my words. The sellers market will soon turn to a buyers one. Give it some time...

Lets not get into all this again! Whenever anyone takes umbrage with my views, I just shrug it off. This forum should be respectful, but lets not dress everyone in cotton wool. If you disagree, fair enough, and it's great you can say it! I've been on other forums where everyone is so boringly respectful, just completely consensus driven, you end up with the most boring forum in the world. But I've been on others where there's anarchy and people being insulted and all sorts! A comfortable middle ground should be sought. Which is pretty much what Paul McCartney's last album was! Boom Boom :-)

Firstly, by isolating the bass only, you're going to lose a load of the richness in overtones, but I think the guy has done a fair job. Listening to it, that's the sound of the 60's. Guys in studios i know spend hundreds trying to recreate 'that' sound! In fact, I've tried for years. When mixed with other instruments, that is how a bass should sound! I thin Paul is a legend and I can only respect the way he goes about making music. His choice in musical accompaniests is also amazing, what a band!

Just talking about me here, but it would take about 30 minutes to an hour to get one of those songs nailed and either transcribed (as in the notes) or Tabbed properly (i.e with repeats etc). Internet Tab sucks, and is almost always innaccurate. I'd settle on the ones you wanna do and crack on. Black Dog is a great one to do I have to say, one of my faves. Transcribing that one time signature wise would be a good bit off fun I reckon, it's such an odd track! When you can figure out basslines by ear, you're well on your way as a player. You can then teach them properly (from 'inside' the song, rather than 'outside' it). It's more work this way, but the rewards are a lot greater. Oh, and have some fun with the tracks as well. I appreaciate someone who can stick to the rules, but I'm more likely to fall in love with someone who breaks them :-)

I think people take this whole forum business far too seriously. I'm not a member of any other forums or whatever, and I very rarely ventured up the 'dusty end' to the discussion topics. I'd wander around the theory place, check out the double bass section (when some chin stroking was needed) and the for sale section satiated my need for wood based guiatr shaped instruments. Everything down there was fine. When I've come up here, people are ever so serious about what is essentially a place where a disparate group of geographically dispersed individuals can share their views on a subject (bass guitar and bass related shenanigans) which are difficult to share in public. The idea of a forum like this is to share knowledge, discuss issues in an informed way (my missus, or rather ex, had no idea why the bass player in Jamiroquai had changed - you guys did!) stuff that I couldn't go to the pub and chat with my mates about, as I'd bore them to tears! when it comes to the 'I hate' topics, and the negative ones, well, so what? What really is the issue? Again, I've not been part of a forum before so I can't comment on how they might evolve, but a discussion board where people are more likely to share their honest opinions rather than towing the assumed and agreed upon line is somewhere I'd like to be rather than somewhere where we all have to agree, or we'll get EDITED! Argh, perish the thought :-) (Obviously if someone is being libellous, then they need to be edited, this is no issue). If I come here and all I get is patronised, or told my opinions are irrelevent or people are treated negatively (just saw this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6258)"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6258)[/url] then shan't bother clicking up here, and will dwell in my depths, alone....

As someone who (in a very cottage industry way) deals in vintage guitars (not basses, the basses I have I play, the guitars I look at :-), I'd say that I'm really GAS-ing for the late 50's Danelectros. They sell well. Unappreciated 60s Fenders (the Coronado, Villager, Shenandoah and the like) are all good ones, and money makers, as are the less in demand Gibsons (Melody Makers etc). If I could GAS for one thing, it would be that the guitar shaped gap in my life was filled and that I wasn't constantly looking for more guitars, basses, effects and amps to buy. Thing is, I have only used 2 basses for the past 4 years, and 2 amps. All this stuff is flight cased, is the stuff I call on day in and day out, and is the only stuff I will ever use (until it breaks/gets stolen). I know this but I still can't help clicking bids on Alembics, Ampegs, Hiwatts, Gibsons and many more items that just sit around the house and do sweet f""k all until they get sold on again (admittedly for a profit). Is this just me? I did once tot up all the guitars I had owned and it came to over 300. That's frightening. Especially as I only started buying and selling in about 2000. That works out at nearly a guitar a week. I currently waiting for 4. There is an issue here.

When Hendrix was around, a guy who I know said he saw him live and he's the only guy who ever 'played' his amp. He could do anything with it. That mastery is something I aspire too, I just never get enough solid time to get my sound perfect (unless we're out on tour and then it's fine...)

Bit of a big head ole Stu', Fender seem to be doing ok :-) You wouldn't see me putting a sticker on my pre CBS Fender logo!

I assumed it was because Sturat is still a fender endorsee. You see the same thing happen in cricket, with batsmen taking the stickers off their bats!

Well, at the moment, I've got a wierd situation. A guy on Basschat put £100 into my account, and we agreed that he would put a further £300 in yesterday when he was paid, and then I'd send the bass off. Thing is, I haven't heard anything from him since then, and I've phoned a few times... Wierd. The bass is here and ready to go!