PatrickJ

I love Joe's playing but I've never been in love with his tone. To me he sounds much better on the latest Vulfpeck album, Hill Climber. Less nasally and harsh to my ears.

I'm sure some one will have a more authoritative response but from what I recall reading his Jazz bass is strung with old Rotosound steels, his P Basses with La Bella Flats and his new MM signature has Ernie Ball cobalt flatwounds. Amp wise I believe he uses a Markbass Little Mark Tube 800 through a 4x10 cabinet, though in some of the Vulfpeck YouTube videos he seems to play through an Ampeg Combo. I think the majority of his tone comes from his technique and EQ. I have a Markbass LMT, a 4x10 cabinet and a P Bass with Labella flats and I sound nothing like Joe, even when playing his lines.

I have a few things I want to sell. Obvioslusly I have listed them in the BC Marketplace but I also wanted to put them else where to improve the chances of a quick sell. What Facebook groups are recommended as good places to sell bass gear?

Two songs I'm currently working on are: Jamirioquai - Too Young Too Due Vulfpeck - Wait for the Moment I really like both of these bass lines. In addition to that I'm working on general jamming / improvising basslines on the fly skills.

I attempted to play earlier this afternoon, until my wife popped her head round the door and reminded me the sprouts needed to be put on. Haven't had a chance since then .. maybe tomorrow.

I got a neat little Fender Custom Shop tool kit, fits perfectly into the pocket my gig bag. Sadly I must have been on the naughty list as Santa didn't bring me the Hyper Luminal compressor I was hoping for 😭

^^ this

The Chromes for my 5 string Jabba arrived today. Just fitted them and first impression is really great.

OK I'm taking this challenge seriously; 2019 will be the year of practice not gear. To remove (GAS) temptation: I've unsubscribed from the BassDirect newsletter. Removed the Bass gallery from my Instagram feed Forum notifications turned off for the Marketplace. That should help, and since I just put flatwound strings on all my basses failing a breakage I shouldn't need strings either. My fingers are crossed that father Christmas brings me the compressor I want and I'm glad Mesa have priced the new WD800 head at over the £1k mark otherwise I'd have been in trouble.

This year I sold off and replaced almost all of my gear. Best purchase has to be my Sandberg VT4, I love everything about that bass, it's light weight, supremely playable and sounds awesome. Honourable mentions for the Markbass Little Mark Tube head, EB cobalt flat strings and the Way Huge Pork & Pickle OD/Fuzz pedal. Worst purchase was a Barefaced Super Compact 12" cabinet. Super lightweight, ridiculously loud but I just could not get a sound out of it I liked. a personal preference thing, I shouldn't have bought it without playing through it first.

This is quite an interesting article on flatwounds strings. At the bottom there is also a link to a review of the Ernie Ball Cobalt flats. https://www.bassplayer.com/gear/flat-world-a-roundup-of-flatwound-strings I'm running flats on both my PJ basses, Ernie Ball Cobalts on the Sandberg and La Bella 760FLs on the fender. The La Bella's give that old school sound, it's pretty cool. I love the EB Cobalt Flats though, feel great under the fingers, almost round like sounding in their brightness and 0 fret noise. I did have some EB Cobalt flats on my 5 string Jabba but had some problems with them. Think it was a bad set but will try some Chromes I think. I am a flat string convert for sure, don't think I will go back to roundwound anytime soon. Don't think you'll have any problems with your genre. Steve Harris uses flats with Maiden and Ben Kenney with Incubus also primarily uses them. You can most definitely rock with flats.

Finally had a chance to listen to the new album, Hill Climber, today on my drive to Oxford. I think it's probably my favourite :). Really liking Joe's tone on it, much more than some of the previous records. Does anyone know if he used his new MM signature for the recordings?

Impressive, most impressive.

Wise words from Mr. Miller! Convinced me that with the right setup I really don't need anything other than my Sandberg PJ. Wonder if I can squeeze a compressor in before 2019

With the band, rock. However, my personal love these days is Funk (just can't get the others on board with it)

I'm been thinking on this through the evening. This is the approach I think I'll take... Get super confident with the following scales / arpeggios: Ionian & Aeolian Modes – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions) Major, Minor and Dom7 Chord Tones – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions) Major, Minor Pentatonic Sclaes – (Master the 1st and 2nd finger positions) Get comfortable with common chord progressions Analyse common chord progressions in music similar to that we play in Jam sessions Source / create backing tracks with these chord progressions for Jam practice Transcribe and analyse existing music Transcribe 1-4 bar bass lines i find interesting / inspirational (limited to 4/4 time for now) Analyse transcriptions to understand their harmonic properties Transcribe fills I hear and like, create a personal lick library to build ideas from Practice Jamming Use aforementioned backing tracks and knowledge to jam with Would love to hear other ideas...

I've totally had similar experiences re: Rehearsal gear recently. For the past 18 months I've always brought my own gear to band rehearsals, a GK MB head and various 12" lightweight / portable cabinets (Hartke, Barefaced etc) but I've never really got a sound I was totally happy with. Since selling my 12" cabs and getting a new Markbass head I've not taken my gear to rehearsals, I've used what's in the studio's for ease and I was surprised that I got tones I was way more pleased with. One studio was equipped with a HK 15" combo and the other a 4x10 Marshall combo. Both beasts and not practical to move around but it's making me realise that 12's are just not the cabs for me and that I actually want a 1x15 and 2x10 rig to go with my new Markbass head.