chris_b

Firstly, I'd see a professional bass tutor and ask him to suggest right hand technique changes that might help you continue playing the Jazz. If you have a problem with long scale that a shorter scale would fix, sounds to me you're stretching to reach the notes. Your technique can change so that you move your hand and don't stretch. With such a change you might be able to stick with your Jazz. If that doesn't work, then you have to make the change. You can't think about preferring your old basses and the sound you used to have. You have to move on. There are great short scale basses out there, you've just got to find one that feels good to play and then learn to love the sound. There is always the option to change the pickups and/or pre-amp.

In an attempt to boost the rapidly dwindling number still qualifying for this project. . . . I'd suggest that if we buy 1 thing it can be offset by selling 2 things.

This. He's a great example of "good" slap playing.

At 1200 watts it will have a fan. I would put money on it being as silent as a fan could be. Jim Bergantino "road tests" al his gear before it is launched and a noisy fan would be picked up pretty quickly. Again at 1200 watts I would imagine this amp isn't intended to be played at home. Fan noise on a gig isn't an issue.

My thumb moves between the pickup, (B string), E string or A string. It moves automatically, and without any input from me, depending on the string I'm playing. I have only seen floating thumb being used on a gig (as opposed to a video lesson) once, by Alphonso Johnson. So far I have not seen any of the "greats" using floating thumb, so I don't see any benefit in trying to change my perfectly workable technique. I mute the strings positioned above (ie E when you're playing an A etc) the one I'm playing with my right thumb and the ones below with my left fingers. You will get problems with ringing strings if your accuracy when plucking the string isn't very precise. Try to only hit the intended string with your right hand.

This thing looks good!!!

Not so old. Little Feat have gone through several iterations and are still gigging. The early 70's when they were formed and led by Lowell George, the Dixie Chicken era. The reformation when they were fronted by Craig Fuller, Texas Twister, Let It Roll etc. Shaun Murphy took over from Fuller and now they are just a working unit fronted by Paul Barrere. IMO they are always on form and there are great songs and albums from all line-ups.

Judith Hill. Discovered 10 mins ago.

I can't slap and I regret that. I've tried but what came out had the grace of an elephant on his first day at tap dance school. Luckily I have never been in a band that asked me to. Still I wish I could. I'd like to be able to toss a few impressive licks into my bass solos. They definitely need to be rescuing by something. There's some good slap in the world and a lot of bad slap. Only hate the bad stuff. The techno slap, double thumb stuff is less interesting to me, but at the end of the day it's just another technique. If done well, and in the right context, then I'm all for it.

I'd check out some of the great examples of carefully owned high quality basses in the classifieds. You might even be able to afford two!

Oh dear. . . you're using that common sense thing again, aren't you!!

Never mind James Brown, just get a load of those opinionated bell-ends on that site!!

The other factor is that they don't usually present loud bands.

Do you have PLI? Gaffa is your friend. We had a gig in a small and crowded place and the audience kept backing into the band, so the next gig we put all the traps cases across the front of the stage area.

This.

It's a common sense thing, a don't waste your energy thing, a wisdom gained through the years thing. . . . so yes, it is.

Probably doing some of these guys a favour by calling them musicians. Taking short-cuts, CBA or just not being able to hear a song properly can be a problem with guys who are hobby players, just having fun, but I've also seen a few pro musicians with the same faults. There's a lot of laziness in all aspects of the band world. I agree it's even more irritating when you learn the set then find they have changed stuff, either by fault or design, and didn't bother to tell you! Even pro bands can do this. I know a guy who rearranges everything. His intention is to make the songs his, but after he's finished you find he's taken most of the interesting bits out and just turned the set into musical magnolia. I was playing with a very good band last night and the middle 8's and riffs of some of their songs were just wrong. They are an established band so I tried to play their versions with a nod to the original. So, keep your standards up, don't let the others drag you down. Keep playing, improving, making contacts being flexible and hopefully you'll find a band that does things your way.

It would fit on my Volvo's roof rack.

You probably were driving the One10 harder than you thought. The Two10's are either 4 ohms or 12 ohms. If you run the Two10 on 4 ohms and the the One10 at 8 ohms and your amp is good for 2.67 ohms then you have a balanced system. Run the Two10 at 12 ohms and the One10 is taking more than it's fair share of the power.

We can all buy stuff that we think is going to work and then find it doesn't. That's life. Just move on.

I understand the "tribute" thing and the need to get close to the original, but hurting your self to play exactly like another player is just silly and isn't required. Get as close as you can to the sound and feel but change the lines you can't play to ones you can. An audience isn't going to give a damn what frets you're playing on and how many notes you can play at once. If Sparks played those songs now would he play them exactly the same way? I don't believe he would. He'd probably change them, so you can to. Whose band is it? Ask this singer if he's going to have a fag on all the time like Lee Brilleaux. See, even in the best tribute bands some things are not the same as the original.

Go back and nail it! Whatever they play in tune up to it and practice like mad.

Sorry, can't say, I've never run the Two10 on its own. I use 2 of them in my very loud band and they can easily beat any band into submission. I use Aguilar amps and so far I haven't found a bad sound in any Barefaced cab. The 310 was an experiment with a smaller and lighter rig for the gigs I do at a normal volume. The sound of the 310 is very good, full and punchy, but the Two10 is still 28lbs! I just like the idea of multiple 15lb cabs.

Musicians at work. Great to see. Thanks for posting that. Klaus was perfect and Alan White's drumming still makes me smile.

Develop away. It's good that you are working up the band food chain and starting to see some recognition for your efforts. Excellent stuff, let us know how you got on.