chris_b

As I say, if you can carry it off fine. James Jamerson was busier than most and what he played was spot on. Less is more always comes with the caveat that it doesn't apply to great playing.

Good call. I forgot JJ and Norbert. The Hodges brothers were the session guys for Willie Mitchell's Hi Studios. They were on Al Green, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson etc etc records.

If you can carry off a busy bass playing style then good for you. There are players who can do that and styles where busy can fit, but most busy players seems to be of the "look at me and my clever playing" school. "Less is more" is a way of dropping a gentle hint that someone's "incredible" playing is really a pile of shite, the bass equivalent of verbal diarrhoea, and that their busy and inappropriate lines aren't making it.

Have a listen to the other bass players working in the various studios in the southern states; Tommy Cogbill at Fame, Mike Leech at American, David Hood at Muscle Shoals and Vernie Robbins and George Allen at Malaco, and all the other guys. They were fantastic exponents of the "less is more" school of bass playing.

When I was at school I could get the bus to right outside Macari's shop in Wembley. The brothers probably split their time between there and the other shops, but I remember the same one being there most times I went to visit. I don't recall them having anything particularly interesting on the wall, mostly middle and low cost starter basses, but at the time any bass looked good to me.

There are always limits to everything. My solution when using 1 SC and finding it running out of steam is to always run 2 SC's. More volume, more tone and the same carry weight.

If you strip away the various levels of my bass playing that have been laid down over the last 50 years or so, you'll find Duck Dunn at the bottom, the foundation to everything I play. Sadly I never got to see him live.

He seems to have taken every feature I didn't like from the cheap beginner basses that were around in the 60's and put them all into one bass. I know this is not a beginner bass but I can't look at it without that dislike kicking in.

For the last couple of years I've been using D'Addario NYXL's on my active Jazz. I know they are nickel, but I like them a lot. Before that, for 15 years or more, I used DR Lo-Riders and Hi-Beams. Great long lasting strings but a tad more expensive than the NYXL's.

The amount of air moved by a driver is dependant on the size of the driver and the excursion distance of the cone. A 10" driver that moves 6mm will be moving more air than a 12" driver only moving 3mm.

Maybe the analogy has a few chinks in it, but I agree 100% with the thrust of what the guy is saying. . . . . until he starts rambling right after the soup analogy. Just don't sound bad and your gear has done it's job. The remaining 90% of being a good bassist is how and what you play.

Build one of each.

I agree, but I thought he should have stopped at the soup analogy. After that he starts to ramble and loses the impact of the message.

I was in a club in Brussels and they played this non stop for 30 mins. No one left the dance floor.

You need the cash. . . . don't love the bass. . . . it's a pretty easy solution. Make a rule that you will only keep basses you like. Sell it.

I found that the sympathetic vibrations are usually much quieter. But, yes, two handed muting is the best solution to aim for. If a 5er doesn't meet your requirements then, of course, go back to a 4. I'd have given the change over from 6 months to a year so your muscle memory can really settle in. I was particularly bad at hitting the wrong string when I switched!

Nice

Well you've got me just saying and wondering why anyone else gives a flying flip how many strings are on my basses!!

For "proper" amps, look at the Classifieds on Basschat. You'll find better gear and better prices.

The story I heard. . . . . . the 4/4 section in Money was put in because Dave Gilmour couldn't solo in 7/4.

I liked that. What fantastic musicianship. I've not heard a bad Scary Pockets line up yet.

Excellent. Love Louis Cole and Sam Wilkes.

I've not heard Vanderkley but every review I read says they are a class act. I am sceptical, who needs a 3D bass sound? The drummer doesn't and most will probably not hear anything extra that 3D brings. Bergs are fantastic cabs. My last was a CN212. It has a great sound across all frequencies, not just the mids. I used a Thunderfunk and TH500 with the Bergs. I still use the Thunderfunk but, these days, my main amp is an AG700 with Barefaced SC, SM and BB2 cabs. The best sound I've had so far.

A custom bass would be no good for me. I'd want to play a bass before I decided to buy it. My Sadowsky is a Metro, made in Japan. I think it's a good one. I've played several other Sadowsky's including 2 NYC's (supposedly the pinnacle of Sadowsky bass building) and 2 more Metros. . . . and I didn't like any of them. Even if I didn't have my Metro for comparison I wouldn't have bought any of those basses. I'm usually not a picky guy, but none of those basses felt "right". So ordering a custom bass would be too much of a gamble for me.

Check out Nordstrand pickups.