risingson

Alex Al played synth bass as well as regular bass on the 'This Is It' tour with Michael Jackson (or was supposed to at least) but it was Greg Phillinganes that played on all the original records. Him and Stevie Wonder are without a doubt the best synth bass players I've ever heard. Most R&B and Hip-Hop players double on both, you'll always see Mary J Blige's bassist do it, for example. Nathan Watts with Stevie was meant to have set the pace doing this before anyone else.

Meh, as a once massive fan of Jamiroquai, this is pretty tame and nothing massively interesting to hear. Paul Turner is a hella bass player though.

It's very much the same with Aphex Twin, both guys are vastly talented but they both write music that challenges people's perceptions of what's right and wrong. Check this out also: For what's it's worth, I'm not a massive fan of Squarepusher's bass playing but I absolutely love his music, and a lot of other stuff of Warp Records.

Even before the gig started tonight we had some drunk guy who was asking the usual questions... 'you do this full time?' and 'I love music. You do any Kings of Leon?'. I've learnt to just get on with it!

Don't like going into regular guitar shops much because most places don't stock much I'd be very interested in, although I still do it from time to time. I love Fender's, particularly older ones now so I'll always gravitate a little towards them but like I say, incredibly specific kinds of a certain age.

[quote name='lowlandtrees' post='940112' date='Aug 30 2010, 05:10 PM']Yes you are absolutely correct. I went through a few mallets and a few strings before I found a light rubber mallet. I feel slightly embarrassed about it among a bunch of pro slappers (although whatsisname who plays with Peter Gabriel does so on occasion). I really like the tone that comes from the mallet. It is also easier if you have to record for 2 days solid every couple of months. Unfortunately it requires hauzers on the instrument. I thought maybe a short scale bass may help. Looking into the Yam RGX A2. Would like a Stingray but not sure if it is too light.[/quote] Those RGX's aren't the most aesthetically pleasing of instruments and I do reckon you might be better off with one of the older BB models but what ever floats your boat. Even the Squier 70's style Jazz might be up your street. Let us know how you get on anyhow.

I'd love to get my hands on an Alleva but I'd sooner have the 72 P-Bass Clarky! I wouldn't even care if it wasn't as easy for me to play, to me that's almost half the fun of playing it.

I would kill to play in Prince's band. Absolutely sick funk.

I judge each case on it's merits, I don't think I care as much about what gear they play as it seems a little elitist. I remember seeing a band play a while ago, the bass player had a nice Spector, but it sounded dire, and his playing was pretty rough. After they were finished, the next band came up to play, the guy plugged this Tanglewood bass into the same rig and it just sounded massive, plus the guy was a monster player as well. Gear isn't indicative of how good you are, and I've often found that people with majorly expensive gear are sometimes only compensating for bad musicianship.

[quote]I have developed a technique that requires the heaviest strings possible on a bass[/quote] I'd like to see this technique demonstrated as it sounds to me increasingly like you intend to play your bass with a mallet £500 can get you a lot, I'd look into buying a second hand Lakland Joe Osborn Jazz or one of the newer Fender Jazz's, I think from personal experience they offer you a wide range of tones and will cater for all styles. I also happen to like Yamaha gear, for the price the older BB series with the active electronics in them will give you a decent sound. Check in the for sale section of this site, there's always a bargain you can grab there.

I love guitar gear being a guitarist also, but I'm only really interested in Fenders, Ricks, Gibsons and that's about it. PRS I don't like at all, way too modern. Like someone said, the Warwick of guitars. Couple a good Strat with a Fender Twin or some Two Rock gear and I'd be set I reckon.

[quote name='garethfriend' post='939733' date='Aug 30 2010, 01:43 AM']So I guess the jokes on him really, all things considered night went pretty well and was easily the most fun I've had on stage.[/quote] Sounds like the joke is indeed quite literally on him, having left a band of clearly enthusiastic musicians who are willing to put aside the twattishness of a band member and get on with the gig regardless. Sounds like a great turnaround, good on you! I must say there's been a few gigs I've not looked forward to, this Friday night for instance we played a bar in a fairly choice area, known for being a bit rough. We weren't going on till 12 either which got to me a bit, but as it turned out the crowd were awesome and absolutely loved us, and I ended up having a cracking night. There's always light at the end of the tunnel eh.

[quote name='blamelouis' post='938727' date='Aug 28 2010, 12:50 PM']Is that "wheres the book " Townsend ?[/quote] Eek, that was some fairly unpleasant business wasn't it. Still, he manages to get along with it not getting brought up much.

[quote name='peteb' post='938099' date='Aug 27 2010, 02:08 PM']Re. the Sting / Jaco comparisons I'm sure that Sting would be the first to be embarrassed to be compared to Jaco as a bass player – different stratosphere mate! Jaco composed some nice pieces of music (Portrait of Tracy, etc) but there is no doubt that Sting is a far better pop/rock songwriter – the Police were one of THE great singles bands……[/quote] +1 [quote]To get to Sting's bass playing you have to get past his silly, high-pitched voice and cod - Jamaican accent ...and I'm not prepred to do that, I'm afraid.[/quote] Pete Townshend said a similar thing. I reckon he's got one of the best voices in popular music though.

I've used DR Hi-Beams on my Jazz although I prefer D'Addario XLs sonically, and I've also used La Bella flats on my P-Bass but it's currently strung with D'Addario Chome flats. Strings matter but not as much as other things I think, I know what I like and what I don't but I don't put as much emphasis on them as other things.

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='937385' date='Aug 26 2010, 06:16 PM']I love the way Chet Baker's trumpet playing and vocals are just so similar - phrasing and tone. His version of My Funny Valentine is sublime.[/quote] Yeh, the subtlety of his vocal is always echoed when he starts playing trumpet. I absolutely love how breezy and west coast it sounds. [quote]For pleasure: Midnight Juggernauts, Joanna Newsome, The Knife, Devo, Oh No Ono, Lights, Tunng, Johnny Foreigner, When A Train Hits A Truck.[/quote] Nice, seen the Midnight Juggernauts plenty before and The Knife are so so good.

No. I love Sadowskys, F-Basses, MTD's and such but realistically a lot of them trend as flavour of the week a lot of the time and I can't see them being a wise investment. A Fender is a good investment due to it's timeless design and the likelihood that a good Fender from the early 50's to the very late 70's will never stop going up in price. Most boutique basses depreciate massively in value very quickly, just like a new Aston Martin or the newer Ferrari's.

Currently listening to stuff from the Warp label, particularly the Boards of Canada. Django Reinhardt and Chet Baker still get a lot of playing, as have The Beatles of late. Don't really listen to much for bass players much anymore, like listening for the music first!

[quote name='silddx' post='936656' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:36 AM']Agreed, but we're not talking about Shergar here [/quote] Well quite, although I hear Sting likes to keep a pocketful of sugarcubes in the off chance he or Trudy get peckish

I love Phil Lynott's bass but I reckon it would just be easier getting a black P and whipping a mirror pickguard on it! Job done!

[quote name='silddx' post='936642' date='Aug 26 2010, 12:14 AM']I'm afraid that Jaco number you posted was pretty much proof to me that Jaco was nowhere near being a songwriter in the artistic sense of the word, and nowhere near Sting in terms of songwriting. For Jaco, it was all about the bass. Sorry mate, not disrespecting you or anything.[/quote] It's still horses for courses, I find it hard pitting two great musicians with differing levels of technical ability and completely different target demographics against each other. I prefer to listen to Sting but maybe someone else might prefer listening to the director's cut of 'Donna Lee' (should it exist... I reckon it does). It's all a bit irrelevant if you ask me, I'm sure if you asked Sting I reckon he'd say the same thing.