Beer of the Bass

Well, I got through it and it wasn't too bad! Only three of the four songs got recorded due to time constraints. Conveniently, the one that got dropped was the one where I was really struggling with the score, so that issue didn't come up. I'd got the wrong end of the stick about them wanting to record the whole string section live - We laid down double bass, organ/piano and guide vocals live, with good separation, so we could drop things in for minor errors. I'd say I'm happy with my playing on the first two we did. The third track was a rush job in the last half hour of the session and will require some editing to get a good complete take, but there wasn't time to do more. The parts are actually not too complicated, but have some weird timing going on due to following a singer with loose, folky delivery.
So, lessons learned are as follows:
- I should have a bit more confidence in my playing. I did a decent job and didn't hold things up particularly.
- It wouldn't hurt to do some work on my reading. I think i was mostly bricking it as I'm not used to having to get material laid down straight from notation in a short time. Any suggestions of good ways to develop my reading are welcomed.
- Handwritten scores can be a nightmare! I think I should be prodding my friend to use Sibelius or similar.

[quote name='lowdown' post='1337597' date='Aug 12 2011, 01:30 PM']To be honest from reading your posts, little thought has gone onto the charts, IE - like you say above and notes out of range, unclear directions etc.
Well in my experience that always leads to one thing -[b] All [/b]the band charts will be like that, and time will be wasted sorting it all out on the job,
And that includes the other Musicians.
Oh and dont worry about string players being 'On it' they will be even more confused than you if it is not written out correctly....
You will all be in the same boat, so just enjoy it.


Garry[/quote]

You may be right. I've spent most of today playing through the parts, so I feel like I'm doing what I can. I think 2 of the 4 songs will be OK, one is marginal and one will need some rehearsal to work at all. It's an odd band dynamic - they're sort of folk-rock with proggy leanings, the drummer sings and writes most of the songs, and has ambitiuous ideas of what he wants to do with the music, but he doesn't read or write music, so the keyboard player/vocalist runs around frantically sorting out arrangements etc. I think the drummer/songwriter can sometimes fail to appreciate how much effort other people are putting in to making his music happen, or that time is needed for this.

I mean four and a half beats in a bar of 4/4, but only in the bass part, not in the other lines! It's an obvious cock up in the part writing. There are a few other things like that too.

Well, I'm spending a few hours today reading through the parts, there's nothing there that I couldn't play, it's just the thought of getting all of that down in one day without rehearsal. I think they're recording all of the string instruments live, so there may be limited opportunities to drop in and re-do parts. I think they're getting a bit too ambitious for the studio time and budget they have, and the scores haven't been prepared very well - it's often unclear which section of songs is being referred to, and some parts just don't make sense (like 4 1/2 beats in a bar of 4/4). I've called them and explained my worries, but the studio is booked and they wouldn't be willing/able to pay for some top flight classical dude anyway. I'll let you know how it went...

For the last couple of years, my friend's band, who are doing fairly well, have had me in to do double bass overdubs on their recordings. It's generally been just an intro or two, or the occasional ballad. I've played in bands with several of the members for a long time, so I thought they'd know where I'm at musically. My reading skills are quite rudimentary (and they know that), but I can usually learn lines OK if I get them in advance of the session.
I'm recording with them again tomorrow, they sent me the scores last week, and I have no idea how we're going to get through it all in one session with no rehearsal. The scores consist of 7 pages of really hard to follow scrawled notation for one song, with notes outside my range, lots of meter changes, and there are four songs to get through. They're attempting to put down live string section recordings for four songs in one day, unrehearsed. I'm doing everything I can to learn the parts, but I have a horrible feeling I'm going to crash and burn tomorrow. I've tried to speak to them about this, but they seem to think we'll muddle through. I think they should have called someone with classical training, and paid them accordingly. They're old friends of mine and I think this is going to lead to a really awkward situation between us. Not sure why I'm posting this really, just wanted to vent...

Having finished it about a fortnight ago, i've just got around to taking some pictures. I opted for a black control plate in the end, as it goes with the dots and pickup covers. It's wired in typical Jazz fashion, except for a push/pull series/parallel switch. The finish is Tru-oil, using their sealer but no grain filler.
I'm well pleased with the results. It weighs about 9 1/2 lbs and sounds pretty much like a good passive jazz, with no troublesome dead spots and a decent sounding B string. This is my first 5-string, and I'm finding I hardly use the low notes but love the lack of shifting when playing higher up the neck.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1329670' date='Aug 6 2011, 10:29 AM']if he would have snapped out of his drinking habit and finally "man upped" or matured, he would probably be a great band conductor, arranger and would be owning 1000's of different basses, however sadly in his last year of life he was so thrashed that he found it difficult to hold on to that one bass he had left (The bass of doom as it is known) because it was regularly left in pawn shops for him to pay his "filthy habits" Just like Charlie Parker used to do with his Saxophone.[/quote]

To be fair, and slightly off topic, he did appear to be bipolar and not seeking treatment for most of his life. That's not really something you can "man up" out of - it requires treatment and the right meds. I have a couple of friends with the condition who manage things quite well. Then again, if you count seeking treatment as "manning up" then fair enough...

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1329449' date='Aug 6 2011, 12:47 AM']Yeah I prefer Jaco's playing too but Jaco repeats himself quite a lot, and a lot of his stuff is fairly basic really. I'm not knocking Jaco there are performances where he shows that he can boss it effortlessly but for the most part he plays licks that audiences are going to be comfortable with.[/quote]

I would agree with this. Judged beside some of the great jazz musicians (on all instruments), I don't think Jaco's greatest strengths were as an improvising soloist - he relied on a lot of stock licks and showboating much of the time. But he did have great rythmic feel and did a hell of a lot of innovative stuff on his instrument. I can see why he stuck with the Jazz, as it had become such a trademark sound. The boutique instruments often sound different, but who is to decide what counts as better? From a listeners point of view, I think his tone was in no way inferior to Stanley Clarke with his Alembic, as an example.

Also, a couple of musicians I've played with recommend Jimmy Gillan, who works out of his flat in the west end. I don't know if he's got an internet presence, but I can PM you his number if necessary.

Erm, in the poll, which one is "basswood" and which one is "basswood"?

I used to have a Bassix EUB, and ended up replacing the original piezo and preamp, as the original setup was barely workable IMO. Mine had a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup at the end of the fingerboard, which was blended passively (which didn't really work) with a piezo disc inside the body, before going to a generic Artec preamp. I kept the magnetic pickup, and blended it with a K&K piezo on the bridge using a Fishman Powerchip preamp. I always suspected that the electronics side of things were not his strong point, but the bass sounded good once I'd changed things around.
When I bought mine there were no NS WAVs, Stagg EUBs etc on the market, so the choice of EUBs was very limited. I hope his current models have ironed out the electronics issues I had with mine.

I think it's sound advice, if you're going to work the way MM works and have similar goals tonally. The kind of sound he goes for isn't really going to happen without a preamp voiced a particular way. There's more than one way to skin a cat, but that doesn't make the advice bad as such. Other equally respected players might say something quite different, and they're probably all worth hearing out.

My brother is a classical guitar maker who is trying to offer sustainable woods wherever possible, so it's something we've chatted about before. While it's harder to find quality examples of the traditional hardwoods like rosewood etc, there are any number of alternative, more sustainable woods which would do the job equally well [i]if customers can be persuaded to accept them[/i]. The area where it is more worrying is with softwoods like spruce for acoustic intruments. Quality spruce and cedar pretty much have to come from old-growth forests in high altitude or northern areas as the slower growth and shorter growing season gives them the required tight grain. Plantation grown softwoods have much wider grain and are not as suitable, apparently. The sustainable solution would be for musicians to maximise the lifespan of instruments by choosing used instruments and repairing rather than replacing them, but this is probably not too palatable to the big guitar companies.

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1326466' date='Aug 4 2011, 08:30 AM']Sadly, I'm not awaiting delivery of a new bass, but I've also only ever played passives. May I add my own stupid questions?

1. Why an active bass at all?
2. What can an active do that can't be achieved with amp eq and/or pedals?
3. Is it worth all the battery hassles that are regularly posted here?[/quote]


On point 1 and 2, the major difference between a passive bass and one with a preamp installed is that the volume and tone controls on the passive bass place a load on the pickups which causes some treble to be lost. With passive pickups + on board preamp (like most active basses), the preamp usually has a very high impedance which doesn't load down the pickups like passive controls do, so there can be a bit more high frequency response. So even with a passive bass and outboard preamp, the sound will not be the same as running the pickups straight into the preamp. Having said that, I've always liked passive basses best.

I have a klotz bought in around 1995 which is still working fine. I thought that was pretty good going before I saw this thread. I've never actually had a lead go bad on me, but I've lost quite a few on dark, cluttered stages.

If you do try to glue the seam yourself, make sure you get hold of some hide glue, and read up on how to use it. Re-gluing top and back seams is not out of the scope of DIY, but clamping can be tricky. Gluing it with anything else causes all sorts of problems if the top ever has to be removed for repairs, and can actually increase the chance of cracks to the wood (as often when the wood moves, the hide glued seam will give way before the wood cracks).
If you're getting lots of open seams and cracks, the humidity in your house may be too low. It's worth getting a hygrometer to keep an eye on it, and humidifying if necessary.

I got mine from the local homebrew shop, but then I play a homebrew bass.

Certainly, I'd be interested to check out anything that is developed in that direction. I keep switching back and forth between the Spiros and Honeys as both have certain things I like, so something in between could be perfect. I feel like the Honey G string gives me exactly what I need for pizz, but there is a softness to the attack on the lower strings which isn't always what I'm after.

Regarding the sustain and growl potential of the Honeys, I've recently changed from Spiro Mittels to Honeys. At first I was a bit concerned by the softer attack, but the sustain is still very good, and I can get a gut-like snappiness to the attack on the G-string when i dig in, which is nice. With the bow, they're much warmer sounding and more controllable than the spiros, though occasionally i'll get a slightly dry, reedy tone from the upper strings, which is also a gut-like property, I guess. I've not found them to be easily slappable, but that's not a priority for me.
I wonder how much brighter sounding you could go with a synthetic core string while keeping their desirable properties? It strikes me that people looking for maximum growl, sustain and attack are already quite well served elsewhere and might not be the obvious market for Innovations.

I remember hearing an interview with Peter Hook where he talked about the back problems he now has as a result of his low slung bass. It hasn't stopped him doing it though!

Another vote for same height sitting as standing. I can understand why people might go higher for slap, or lower for a flex from the elbow pick style though.

Good question. Maybe a bit of card in the slot to "fix" a worn down nut? I've seen that a few times.

No-name P bass on Edinburgh Gumtree for 50 quid. Headstock looks a lot like some 70's Japanese P copies I've seen. It looks pretty good for the price...

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/bass-guitar/84725311#gallery-item-full-3"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/bass-gui...ery-item-full-3[/url]

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' post='1314788' date='Jul 24 2011, 02:43 PM']Good start, the first two answers are diametrically opposed. Maple is pretty tough stuff and I've stopped worrying. Try the Danish oil, but monitor it closely and see how it goes. I might have been lucky.[/quote]

That's entertaining! Mine feels like the top layer is wood plus oil, rather than there being a thick coating of finish, so I don't feel it's much tougher than the wood itself (which could still be pretty tough). It may be complicated by the fact that not all things sold as Danish oil are the same. I've read that some are just a blend of oils while some are more of an oil based varnish and dry a bit harder.

I've not used it on a fingerboard, but I've played a Danish oil finished bass for a few years now. It would offer little or no abrasion resistance on a fingerboard, as the thickness of the coating is negligible, even with quite a few coats. The best it would do is prevent it from absorbing too much dirt.