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Everything posted by Stub Mandrel
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Use it or lose it... goes for free speech and Bass Shows.
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What are you listening to right now?
Stub Mandrel replied to Sarah5string's topic in General Discussion
Unreconstructed, me 🙂 -
If it's favourite, not best, then Rush. It brings a bigger smile to my face than any of the 'sophisticated' albums. 🙂 If it has to be best, 2112. Every year it was a knock-down, drag-out fight between 2112, Freebird and Stairway to Heaven in the Friday Rock Show poll.
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I do (almost), at fourteen I could do with a couple more.... I even have a dedicated strap for each of my mandolins.
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My very pretty Chowny Elephant strap I won at the Midlands Bass Bash is very lovely and 2" wide, like all my straps. I have actually made a 4" wide 'spreader' for one of my Fender straps and I will probably make some more. My 'perfect' strap would be a 2" wide one with a padded 'spreader' about 16-18" long that fits on it. Stiffness is possibly more important than width, a wide flexible strap still digs in to your shoulder.
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I'll take a photo of my full rig when it comes back from load to Disaster Area 🙂
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No, they are mid-60s 🙂 Cloverleaf are right for early/late 60s 🙂
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Here's a simple experiment. Unplug your bass and pluck the a-string. Not very loud is it. Now press the headstock against the bony part of your head or even a tooth and pluck the a-string. That's at least four times louder, plenty more than 20db of attenuation. Bone conduction is very inefficient - as you might expect, otherwise we wouldn't need outer and middle ears... (Also... as you can use bone conduction to pick up sound from anywhere on your head, including your jaw, I don't see how ear defenders are going to stop it - you need your entire head in a sonically isolated bubble... ear defenders work by sealing better and attenuating more than earplugs, bone conduction has little to do with it.)
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Take one 2001 Squier Jazz Bass... Add proper knobs, red tortoisehell 4-ply scratchplate, bridge cover, tug bar, oil the fretboard. Interestingly a new scratchplate for my mid-70s Maya dropped straight on. The Squier one was slightly the wrong shape and I had to plug 8 out of ten screw holes to fit a 'proper' one. Still waiting for a pickup cover. Yes I've found and fitted the missing scratchplate screw! Pretty close to a '63/'64 Jazz now. I was born in '62 so tempted to add a stacked pot control plate...
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A Crucianelli branded one went recently sorry it was August 2015 not 2018!, on ebay, first time no bids, second time it went for £215, https://www.ebay.ie/itm/131570629247?ViewItem=&item=131570629247 Sorry if that's not what you want to hear...
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Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
Did you get away with a plated chain? -
I would definitely not modify it - if it worked when new, it will work now. Changing it will just spoil its period appeal.
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Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
The best question to ask! I've had a Hohner B2 since the late 80s and love it for its sound and playability. Last October i was very much on the cusp of deciding to really get back into playing music again. I went into Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh and they had a Jack Custom V for £130. It was an obvious buy for me just seeing it - I would then have both the top and bottom of the range versions of the Hohner headless range. Then I tried it and found it was dead easy to play and sounded great. After agreeing to buy I discovered it came with an old hard case, strap & dunlop straplocks and even a passable lead! So it was not quite an 'impulse buy' as fate... My rationale for buying it was also that it would be a new challenge to help motivate me into recapturing my skills, such as they are. In the real world, I've found it quite intimidating, it's the one bass I haven't had the courage to take to a band practice, although there are probably 3 or 4 songs where I could throw in a few low notes. I worry about 'getting lost' but also If I was playing the sort of music I would really like to play in a band, it would be sort of space rock with noodly but not particularly harmonically complex improvisation and I think this bass would be really suited to it. I really feel it's a very different instrument to a 4-string. It changes your technique and the extra notes aren't in my mental library so I can't 'think' a line using them before I play it. -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
I'm probably listening to the single which only has bass in about 40% of it... " The album version features bass guitar by Guy Pratt doubled by an analogue Minimoog bass synthesizer, while the 7" version has a different bass part played by Randy Jackson. " -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
I want to learn how people make use of the opportunities a 5-string offers. Seems they don't go much further than using a few extra low notes. My noodling turned up some possibilities in order of reducing practicality: Those low notes are great for creating a pulse or atmosphere, much as you might use an octaver for. Using the low B string for dropping down instead of going up. You can play a typical I IV V all at the same fret if it starts on the E string - problem is it doesn't generally sound as good so use with care... Two and a half octaves is a long way for riffs that use the whole of a position on the neck, hard to come up with something that sounds 'solid' but a call and response approach works. Lots more harmonics to play with - the low B gives some lovely strong ones right up to the second fret which have a sort of 'phased' character. One can (I won't put 'I can') use it as a sort of baby Chapman Stick. -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
I'll take your word for it - I looked at six different tabs and they were all for a 4-string. -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
I'll write my own five-string bassline and put it up for you folks to dissect :-) -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
<Sound of 5-string bass being cut into small pieces for firewood> -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
I am struggling a bit... We Didn't Start the Fire doesn't seem to go below E and 95% of Like prayer doesn't have bass in it (although what there is is simple and fun). -
Suggestions for Songs to learn for a 5-string
Stub Mandrel replied to Stub Mandrel's topic in General Discussion
Is it really that rare to find songs that actually use five strings, rather than just contriving a four-string song to fit? It's not very motivating to just change things I already play, or drop them down a few tones, and scales get really boring really fast... -
I want to improve my 5-string playing. Can anyone suggest some songs to play along to that are (1) fairly well known (2) make genuine use of a five string (not just ordinary songs with a dropped D, for example) and (3) are reasonably easy to learn. I suppose the ideal would be a nice walking line that takes you right across the fretboard and have an accurate tab available..
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I may well be interested, I'll be in Dunblane several times between late September-November.
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From the comments it appears to be original. I guess people were still experimenting with what was 'right' in those days. It's a perfectly sensible material to use... for many years I had this rough and ready repair (done in teh years before cheap pickguards became available on eBay!)
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Anodised pick guard in 1957!