chris_b

The number of notes is irrelevant. How you play the line is equally important and how you lock in with the drummer. Play that one note right and you can make the band fly. Play it with no interest and they'll sound like they are limping through treacle.

What make? If it's a cheap bass replace the pickup with a better one. A good set of flatwounds always improves the tone. A lump of foam under the strings works wonders.

More fabulous bass lines from Wilton Felder.

In that case you are counting the first note as the 1. It isn't, it's the 4&. I assure you the whole song is straight 4 in the bar. No half bars or complicated time signatures. The intro chords are anticipated, ie on the 4& not the 1.

Which live version are you talking about?

...

Only if the amp can handle 2.67 ohms or 2 ohms. Otherwise, no.

I don't get why this is a problem. It's a straight 4 count. The chords in the intro are just anticipated.

More gigs. . . . better gigs.

On a pub gig, last week end, I used a 700 watt amp and 2 very good 112 cabs. It wasn't a particularly loud gig so the amp wasn't turned up high, but I want a clean sound so headroom is important. Watts are cheap. You can always turn down but you have wasted your money if you find your amp isn't loud enough. I haven't done a gig with less than a 500 watt amp in 25 years. 180 watts wouldn't cut it for me. 2 112 cabs gives you the option of taking 1 or both, depending on the gig.

I've been playing since the 60's and the three things that made the biggest difference to my playing was solid practice (including high standards), gigging with people who were better than me and good gear.

Connect an amp into each cab and run an instrument cable from the Send on one to the Return of the other. Job done. The preamp on the first (Send) amp will drive the power sections in both amps. Only the Master will work on the second (Return) amp.

Maybe you would need fewer weights if they were on the edge of the bass, just below the strap button.

You go to audition for a pub rock band and play them a Charlie Parker tune!!! And the they said no thanks. Not a surprising outcome at all.

This. In fact if a beginner plays a good bass rather than a "beginner" model they might find they learn faster and easier.

I saw Stanley Clark at Hammersmith Odeon and he had a bass player in the band, for that very reason.

You're doing that old thing. . . . discovering a solution that suits you and thinking you've found the answer for everyone else. Amps are not obsolete. Last year I did gigs with 20 different bands. From fully pro to rank amateur and from festivals to the Dog and Duck. This appears to be my new normal. If I want any consistency in my stage sound I have to provide my own backline. You're suggestion does not even come close to being a solution for me.

Jerry Scheff, Elvis's bassist, played a bum note on a song and they didn't have enough time to play the song again, so the offending note went out on the record. Jerry said he was driving, many years later, when a cover of the song came on the radio and the bass payer played the bum note! Jerry nearly drove off the road laughing! If you have to play the original line, and there is an obvious mistake, play the right notes. But then I'd say in many songs the original line is only a guide. Play your line.

We mature.

My thoughts. . . . music is all about rules. The "no rules" thing is describing when someone puts together a new set of rules. Even Archie Shepp and Sun Ra had rules. IMO overplaying is an easy way to make bass playing sound bad, but to some people bad sounds good.

I've watched this video a hundred times. Love that bass playing.

I've been using NYXL's on my 5 string Jazz for 5+ years. They really work well on a Jazz bass.

I love every note that Chuck Rainey has ever played. He's not perfect but he's so musical and that's what matters. A couple of weeks ago I had to play one of his lines in Aretha's Rock Steady. The simplest of parts, but I sweated over that line the most. I can play the notes, but grooving like Chuck. That was the difficult part.

Play it where you can easily reach the notes. I can't be bothered with the stretch up to the 19th fret so I play it an octave lower. No one has ever commented.