musicbassman

Well, boo hoo for the guitar dealers and mass manufacturers – decent guitars (and basses) aren’t an ever evolving product with a limited life - like a family car that is worn out and obsolete after 10 years. You’re selling musical instruments, not refrigerators. Decent guitars, with a few exceptions, usually play just as well (or better) at 20 or 30 years old than when new. Unless they are physically damaged or subject to extremes of heat or humidity they still play perfectly and any minor electrical or fret problems can be quite easily fixed. So there is not just an ever decreasing customer base amongst the young, as the article explains, but most older players already have several guitars, and unless they have chronic GAS maybe rather wish they had a few less. Mass manufacturers can’t keep on churning out millions of guitars a year into an already saturated market, no matter how cheap and well made they are, so maybe their days are numbered.

Yes, there's a lot more to it than root and 5th - and it's also very much about feel - for the C&W feel you'll be playing well behind the beat and not on top of the beat, and lock yourself in really tight with the drums - sounds obvious, but some bass players think it's all a bit of a giggle when they get a dep job playing C&W and make a complete hash of it!

Thanks. I should have looked at Wikipedia first - which (if correct) says that Intelligent Design was on their 2nd album from 2007, and that all the tracks on that album were composed by Michael League. What a talented guy. If Zappa's 'Intelligent Design' has no music, then what is it? Spoken word?

Thanks for that, it's certainly obscure. I've never heard the original, but the Pup's arrangement is certainly sublime.

I'm trying to trace the origins of a Snarky Puppy track called 'Intelligent Design' I've been told it was originally a Zappa composition, but I can't trace it. Anybody know about this? If you'd like to listen to it on YouTube, the best recording is the one done on the John Lennon mobile studio, which unfortunately has a really dodgy piece of student's video project to go with it. Any information gratefully received! Thanks.

I expect many of you already know this, but increases in perceived loudness to the listener (Db) only increase on a logarithmic scale compared to multiples of amplifier wattage. So, a 300 watt amp will not be 10 times louder than a 30 watt amp, only about twice as loud. Plenty of info on the web about this, Google is your friend.

I’m 64. I first started playing bass in 1969 – first bass was a [b]Danelectro Longhorn[/b]! I moved to London and worked professionally from 1973 – 1978. No one famous, just played in numerous different bands of all styles to pay the rent. I bought a [b]’62 Jazz Bass[/b] in 1974 and a [b]’63 Precision [/b]in 1975 – they could be had for about £150 at the time. Later I moved onto playing top end functions and similar – earnt good money from this over the years. Had a [b]Musicman 5 string[/b] by then. Finally stopped gigging in 2001 – I’d had enough of the late nights and dragging equipment around. I seriously reckon I must have done well over a thousand gigs in my 30 years of regular working. Now after a 16 year break and retired from my regular day job I’m taking up playing again just for pleasure – so looking for a rehearsal band or similar in West Sussex, arranging material to a high standard. I think I've kept up to date musically over the years and I'm a big fan of current favourites such as Michael League and Tim Lefebvre. I bought a new [b]JV Precision in 1982[/b] – one of the very first - these had a Fender logo – and I’ve kept this tucked away all these years so this will now be my main instrument. Best wishes to all.