Richard R

You absolutely must get a matching short scale bass...

Thanks for that. I'll have to catch up later in the week.

Is this why some bassists refer to their collection as "The Herd"? Also does it mean that you selectively breed your basses, selecting for low end rumble, big upper horns, or milk yield?

I unashamedly admit that I find that tacky and hilarious in equal measure and I would wholeheartedly approve. Life is to short to be sensible.

We were discussing electric cars at home. If I did buy a Mustang it would absolutley require a poncey number plate ending 54LLY. This is a point against the car. The bass is nicknamed "Queen Elizabeth' as it weighs as much as the aircraft carrier and the fretboard is wide enough to land an F35 on.

Various exercises, arpeggios and broken scales. I have a problem (which is almost resolved) in that I tend to leave my thumb still and stretch for notes. No problem for my little finger, but when I go back towards the headstock I mis-fret with the index. So I am practicing a lot of arpeggios etc and trying to move my hand more while being fluid. And I am not consistent on quick fills either, the timing is out. It is repetitive, but not boring as I can see the (slow) improvement. The goal is to be able to smoothly play and improvise whatever comes into my head given a chord chart, and for me at this stage- that is all down to having good enough technique.

Very nice, as are all Jabba basses. Did you collect this one at the bash in Nottingham?

Today was fun. I was on FOH sound, for a band comprising 4 vox, keys, acoustic rhythm guitar, violin and drums. At the practice on Friday the WL asked if I could play bass on Oceans, as it needed depth (his pun!). Two options, play from the back, or set up on stage and take the iPad to do the mix from there. Our services are now quite free-flowing, so I opted to stay at the desk where I could see and hear everything. Come the song, the first line was just the vocals then I came in on the second line with the low B, C#, D. Which sounded great, but confused at least some of the congregation who wondered where the bass was coming from. 😁 Happy Pentecost Sunday everyone!

The same height when sitting or standing. That was the advice I got when I first started to play, and it seems to be right for me.

One day I hope to own a bass with swifts on the fretboard.

Welcome aboard! Glad you're getting back into it. Whereabouts in Oz are you? Are you looking to find a band and gig again?

Welcome aboard!

Basses, or housewives? "Fretless spouse" sounds like a perfect marriage to me 🙂

Thanks @BigRedX. I wasn't planning to put the hex pickup where the bridge pickup would be, but the recommended 15mm away. The reason for removing the bridge pickup would be entirely cosmetic and removal of surplus knobs on the guitar body. 🙂 I've never heard of the Graphite Ghost, so off to the internet I go!

Hi all, I fancy building a bass, and want it to be something quite different to what I have. I'm toying with the idea of a kit bass but installing a 13-pin MIDI Pickup. Something like this https://kitbuiltguitars.co.uk/guitar-kits/5-string-bass-sr-style-diy-build-your-own-bass-guitar-kit-kbg-5sr-a/, but with the bridge pickup removed and the Roland divided pickup installed permanently. https://www.roland.com/uk/products/gk-kit-bg3/ Obviously this won't make any noise without a guitar or bass synth attached, and this is where I need some advice. Use case: I play in church, so I don't need anything more than the very capable bass I have. But I would like to be able to change the bass sound (fretless, DB etc) for some songs, play synth bass lines occasionally, and have some sampled instruments and other stuff available for special occasions. And being completely honest, I want to building a bass that is definitely something different, but it does then need to be usable and get used. I love the idea of being able to play realistic MIDI sampled sounds from my bass (bagpipes!) , which leads me to something like a Roland MIDI synth (GR-55K, or a GR-30 ? The latter appeals, mainly as it's cheaper 2nd hand, but the former has (apparently) much better sounds and tracking. Are these sensible options? Everyone says that the latency for MIDI on notes below about A is too long. Physics says that the open E 44.1Hz gives a cycle time of 22ms, so if you need two cycles to ensure accurate triggering then that implies 44ms, which I can imagine is a bit long. I play 5 string, so I accept that the low-B is out for MIDI. What have people found to be the lowest notes that play acceptably? COSM - if I understand this correctly this is digitally augmented analogue synth, so doesn't have triggering issues and so can work on low strings. Because it's modelling, not sampled, then the modelled basses and sounds will be pretty good and playable, as will anything "synthy". But trying to make an emulation of something real (horns) might be hard and will probably still sound synthetic compared to a MIDI sample. More Synthy things would be the V-Bass series., but they seem to be very complex. Any opinions of these things? Does anyone have any experience of any of the Roland/Boss synth range and can give me some pointers? I'm very happy to purchase older kit, and to take advice on how to get the best out of these sorts of things. I'm not completely committed to this build yet, but as the synth will be a significant part of the cost I want to have a good idea of what would suit my (ill-defined) needs. Many thanks!

Well that's a long way from Marvin Gaye! 😳

I know nothing about K-pop, other than a half-remembered Sound On Sound article about producers working in the genre. It does sound like extremely competitive hard work!

Welcome aboard! Sounds like you always were a bass player, you were just "diverted" by K-pop. Groove on!

Following!

The red 5 string Brawley on the left, the only bass I play. The 4 string was the first bass I owned, now on permanent loan to my son since I bought the 5. The 5 is nicknamed "Queen Elizabeth ", as it has a fretboard like an aircraft carrier, and weighs about the same. (Actually only 3.8kg, but a lot more than the 4). They are both 35" and the same size, but I only had one stand when I took this.

Nice additions to any collection. 👍

Fortan was pretty damn' impressive back in '77, and was still in use in 1990 for academic work when I had to do some analysis with it. Quite glad to have left it behind. This low-level stuff is super-impressive though.

Bryan Beller's double prog album. Fabulous.

Finally saw Satriani last night, three years and a pandemic later than planned. Excellent concert, but I spent most of it watching the mighty Bryan Beller. Could my playing be improved by hair extensions and a different playing stance?

Welcome aboard!