risingson

I've played with a guy in the past who has players come in and out of his band, depending on their availability and who's around at the timeetc. He usually offers solos to his bass players during tunes, but I always hated it because he caught me so off guard whenever I was playing with him! I ended up doing a crazy solo over 'Senorita' by Justin Timberlake one time (quite why we were playing it I can't remember, it was just in the set I was given) and I just didn't see it coming, nor was I offered much choice as to whether I could say no! Soloing is fine, but it's not my thing at all, I much prefer sitting on the groove.

I've been messing around with foam under the bridge of my bass all week in the studio trying to replicate Carol Kaye's tic-tac bass sound on Pet Sounds for one of or tracks (even though she placed a piece of felt over her strings as opposed to under the bridge). I regularly palm mute and use a piece of foam under the strings for recording and live, but I wanted to try it out with a pick. I ended up recording through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp and wth the spring reverb cranked, it sounded fantastic!

Great choice on the Donnie Hathaway tune. Slow songs? This springs to mind, don't know why. It's one of my all time favourite Radiohead tunes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKQPqs-cqc And so does this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN9n1bAahg4

I know Victor comes up a lot on bass forums and I think the guy is technically amazing, if not my cup of tea. I tend to turn off when he starts talking about God too, again nothing personal, just not a practicing Christian. But more impressive than any of his technique I always find is his outlook on music is incredibly inspirational. Rightly so should he revered as a bit of a legend.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1320695223' post='1430238'] If you want something I consider a cool riff then Chris White's line in The Zombies [i]She's Not There[/i]. I only say that one really because I was playing it yesterday. [/quote] I love that bass part, it's just so... 60's. It's like a line that Carol Kaye would cut. The Zombies are completely underrated, their vocal harmonies were always so good too.

sh*t, not good at all, literally one of the all time greatest studio bass players a big inspiration to me!

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1320685496' post='1429998'] You get bored with one, you can get refreshed by playing another. One with flats, one rounds. One with frets, one without. One tuned EADG, one BEAD (or your favourite metal-friendly/horn-friendly variant) One black one, one white one... ...and one with a bit of shyte on. [/quote] +1, all these things. I've (stupidly) only got one bass at the moment after I got rid of my P-Bass earlier in the year and I'm already starting to be wound up by it as I'm in the throes of recording a new album and some songs just demand a P-Bass sound.

My year has been great. My band have released our debut album, of which we have sold nearly 1000 hard copies and as yet an undetermined amount on iTunes and on other online outlets, and we've just finished the meat of the tracks for our second album which we intend to release on the 1st January 2012. We've gigged the songs up and down the country and over in Sweden, with great reception from many people and have garnered some attention, hopefully with this next album we'll have a bit more, fingers crossed. Life is very good for me right now and I'm tremendously grateful!

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1320170638' post='1423309'] Apologies to the mods if this should be in a different section, but my band has a gap in our gigging schedule and will be around Liverpool on Friday 11th November. We'll be available to do some stripped back acoustic Americana show. Not massively bothered about any fees, just so long as we can pass a hat around AND we're not just playing to just the bar staff. We're up playing a big Americana festival the next day before going on to Leicester so will be at a loose end. If not Liverpool, anywhere nearby would be better than not playing Can anyone help? Either with support slots, venues to try or any pointers. Cheers in advance [/quote] Hi burritobass, you're best looking for your gigs down the Mathew Street side of town, either at the new Erics bar, Rubber Soul, The Cavern Pub or indeed the Cavern itself although it may be a little short notice for some of the promotors. Get in contact via email, you never know.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1320183952' post='1423601'] Here's a seriously good live version of that track which sounds a lot like Pino to my ears. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2-ZvLg93ek[/quote] I reckon that will be Anthony Jackson still, he stayed on bass duties for a number of years after 'What Cha Gonna Do For Me' the album was recorded. The original bassline on the record is honestly life changing, it literally blew my mind!

A number of things might have been happening: off the top of my head, sometimes live bass isn't judged in the same way by your ears as what the bass player might be appearing to play. The joys of psychoacoustics! The other thing and I think incredibly likely answer is that the band will have been playing to tracks, hence the not so correct duplication of Alice's bass player's bass playing (quite a tongue twister!).

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1320096833' post='1422406'] Massive Attack - Safe From Harm [/quote] Great choice, also I'd choose the Massive Attack tune that is my forum name for phattest bass parts of all time. My favourites: For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder (James Jamerson) Something - The Beatles (Macca) Heed the Warning - Chaka Khan (Anthony Jackson) Good Love Is On the Way (Live) - John Mayer (Pino Palladino) Back In the Day - Erykah Badu (Braylon Lacy) Is It the Way - Jill Scott (Adam Blackstone) Diamonds On the Soles Of Her Shoes (Bakithi Kumalo) All basslines (and bass players) I consider really standout and totally brilliant.

I'd take the '64 with little hesitation if cash was no object. It would go well with my drummer's Gretsch kit which is in pretty much the exact same colour.

I don't necessarily know if the really great bass players think that Fodera build a bass that's £6-7000 better than many other basses out there, and those that do are probably buying their instruments as status symbols as opposed to buying because they're genuinely in love with their instrument. I personally have only ever seen and never played one, so I couldn't comment too much but the brand name carries with it qualities that are clearly desirable to many of us, i.e. high quality craftsmanship, good playability, good sound, aesthetically pleasing looks (to some!). Whether you would want to pay nearly £10,000 is very much a personal choice, I wouldn't judge those who do though as I hear they play fantastically and are truly a custom build, even though they aren't really my thing at all.

I love Paul's playing a lot and have had the pleasure of meeting him and he really does know his stuff. But he is a bit faddy with gear, he's swapped and changed between a number of 5 strings (notably an F-Bass, Stingray 5's, AC's, a few others and now the Fodera). The point is that he sounds fantastic whatever he plays. I always love him most when he's on his 1966 Jazz. Also, I'd kill for his Aguilar setup!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1319741983' post='1418101'] Not until just now... sounds like a very, very big wasp. [/quote] Amazing! Yeh the OP's video was bad. It's not that people like that are giving bass players a bad name, just they certainly are fueling a stereotype that seems to wind a lot of us up... you know, the one that we're all frustrated guitar players

They look amazing! Not sure if I'll ever like the idea of playing a bass not made out of wood though. Nothing personal against other materials, I just knows what I likes.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1319545839' post='1415500'] No disrespect meant but if they want keyboards played why don't they employ a keyboard player?? - are they going to get horn players to play a synth that sounds like horns?? They devalue your talents as a bassplayer by asking you to play something else!! [/quote] It's another string to your bow. Also, if your keyboardist is occupied with playing something fairly intense on keys then it's going to be a great help if you're able to play synth.

Playing Synth Bass doesn't concern me at all, although I'll only play synth if its right for the song. I put some down today on a track we're recording. I much prefer to use a real synth than a pedal as well, much more control and much less faffing around etc.

[quote name='Kinder' timestamp='1318624618' post='1404645'] On a looooong train journey and listening to Fleetwood Mac. Made me think that The Chain is a pretty average song rescued by a fantastic bass break. Feel free to disagree but are there any other crap songs saved by great basslines? [/quote] The Chain is so very, very far from 'average'! I know it boils down to opinion and whatnot, but nothing that came off Rumours was average. In fact it was brilliant from start to finish.

[quote name='tonyclaret' timestamp='1318724184' post='1405657'] Thank god it ain't just me. Ive just got back from gigging tonight and probably had my worst gig ever. Second set just went totally pear shaped. Severe cramp in my fretting hand, pinky and middle finger totally locked together. Had this happen a couple of times previously but have always managed to shake it off pretty much immediately. Tonight was a different story, wanted the ground to swallow me up. Now I do have quite small hands and fingers and as a side thought wondering perhaps I need to change to a shorter neck, although ive been playing long scale for donkeys years. I don't know perhaps I need to go back to basics and re-evaluate my technique and kick out the bad habits. Any more advice is welcome. [/quote] Some advice to you is not alter your equipment in order to amend a problem that can be addressed with some very simple solutions. The neck or size of your bass is very unlikely to be the problem, I have small hands but never suffer from cramp on stage and I play regular scale basses with varied size necks. Before playing a gig: 1.) Don't eat salty foods in the few hours before a gig 2.) use potassium supplements or alternatively, try eating bananas 3.) invest in a powerball. A powerball is a weighted, rotating ball inside an outer shell that will aid the momentum in your wrist before gigs. They're very handy. 4) Most importantly, if you don't do anything else... warm up!! Scales, nothing too intense to begin with, then up the game a bit. Playing bass exerts a vast amount of pressure on your hands and wrists, and like any physical exercise it will require you to warm up your muscles if you want to perform to the best of your abilities!

I'm a bit guilty of loving this song as well as Pino's playing! He's my favourite player, but I'm a bit of a sucker for the overproduction on 80's tunes like this one. Mostly because of GTA Vice City.

I did a gig the other night with a Ray 5 (not mine) through a TC Electronics rig (also not mine), and was surprised at how much of a fundamental tone I got with it when I dialed in an appropriate EQ. Really nice is was. I like Rays but I've always had them down as too ballsey for what I usually play, however with a bit of EQ'ing this can soon be sorted out. I've heard Rays with flats on as well and they sound absolutely brilliant, really take the edge of their aggressiveness.

I'm all for posting up whatever really, no matter how many times its been covered, but the contentious issue of this subject tends to divide people into two camps: those who believe that the wood makes a difference, and those who think the difference is minimal. Me personally? If it sounds good, play it, if it doesn't, don't.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1318348382' post='1400967'] Edited to show a different perspective. [/quote] Edited to take my words out of context? Surely you've got something up your sleeve a bit better than that! We're not talking about cars here, although I suspect if you wanted a more apt car manufacturer you might have picked Ford.