chris_b

Ours wasn't a particularly musical household. I started with Uncle Mac on the Light Program and the Billy Cotton Band Show on BBC. Then moved on to Ready Steady Go and Top of the Pops. Then I discovered clubs and switched to the likes of John Mayall, Geno Washington etc. I didn't grow up on any particular band, label or style of music, it was a melting pot of everything.

Go for it. Fretless bass sounds great. I'd stick with 5 string. Face one change and one learning curve at a time.

Just play them.

If you want to be heard in the mix get a better cab. . . . get 2 of them. Get an amp with good definition and enough headroom.

+1 for a good used Barefaced cab. The extra money will be well spent.

I'd suggest the matching Ashdown extension cab.

Maple frerboards are usually sealed, so you can't oil them.

The bass hasn't worn away. If the bass is kept in a dry atmosphere the wood can contract, so frets can "sprout" at the edges of the fretboard. If it really is a problem a good luthier can file the fret ends.

Good news.

Only if you're not releasing the pressure between positions. If you are trying to slide your hand/thumb under pressure then maybe you'll stick. If you're doing it properly you won't.

Start with scales, chords and modes.

Anything by Bob Marley. Aston Barrett was the genius behind so many of those songs.

Mozart and Salieri Bach and Marchand

I haven't played a German or Chinese model yet, but so far the best Sadowsky I've played has been my Japanese Metro RV5 Jazz. For tone, it beats other Sadowsky's I've played, even an NYC, and the Fender Jazz I briefly owned. It plays beautifully and the sound is huge.

Music and being a musician is definitely competitive. What's an audition but a competition. Look at the competitive atmosphere in every department and at every level in Motown. The competitive environment for the song writers in the Brill Building. The record charts. Back in the day, trying to get signed to management and labels. Getting gigs. There is one local gig where they have 200 bands in contact with the promoter vying for 24 gigs for the year. That's competition. Trying to find great players, then trying to keep them. The guys who make our gear are in competition with each other for our money. There is competition in everything we do as musicians.

I'm here to play bass. I want to gig with the best guys I can find and play songs that make the band work. Good songs are a bonus but as long as the set is successful then I'm not hating anything.

This is par for the course with singers and guitarists. I just treat as a learning opportunity and extra homework on my technique.

Rubin is talking about McCartney being a unique songwriting talent and a great singer. It's a bit of a stretch to include the title, best bass player! IMO the number one, the most significant bass player of all time, is the guy who changed the way that bass lines were created and changed bass playing for everyone. The guy who didn't just open the door for the rest of us, but knocked it clean off it's hinges. The guy whose bass lines were unique and ranged from the simplest, Higher and Higher and My Girl to the most complicated, For Once In My Life and Darling Dear . . . James Jamerson.

My guess is that even bass players will only have a passing interest in your rig. Your bass gear is for making you happy. That will make you play better, which will make the band happy. That will make the band play better which will make the audience happy. Which is the purpose of the gig.

If you are tearing up your fingers and getting blisters when playing bass, you're doing it wrong and wasting a lot of energy in the process. Don't hit, pull or dig in. You need a firm touch but need to play with some finesse and you won't have any problems.

Many years ago I managed to cut the knuckle of my left hand index finger to the bone. I was DIYing and the Stanley knife slipped! This was one a Saturday afternoon. I dropped into A&E on the way to the gig, but they had a 2 hour wait, so I gaffer taped my finger straight and did the gig with the three remaining fingers, middle, ring and pinky. I had to rearrange the bass lines on the fly, but got through it.

There is some great music being made these days, Marcus Miller, Keb Mo, Cory Wong, Vulfpeck, Vintage Trouble, Scary Pockets, Gary Clarke Jr, Jon Cleary. . . . . etc etc

I bought a Mike Lull Jazz bass that was the best bass I'd played. A few weeks later I bought a Sadowsky Jazz and sold the Lull. One in one out. Now the Sadowsky is too heavy for me to gig and the Lull would have been perfect at just over 8lbs. Ho Hum!

I saw Reggie McBride with Keb Mo at the Jazz Cafe and he seems to play with a very light feel. It's all in the technique. Probably a low action and stroking the strings.

More Reggie. . . .