risingson

Yes, a late 80's Musicman in White/Black pickguard. The best Musicman I've ever played, period, and all for under 700. I was totally stupid not to buy it.

Great electric and upright player, he did an album with ?uestlove and Uri Caine called the Philadelphia Experiment, it was superb, check it out if you can!

[quote name='chris_b' post='1279472' date='Jun 23 2011, 11:02 AM']Just love that drummer.[/quote] John Blackwell! Amazing player, solid groove.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1279294' date='Jun 23 2011, 02:05 AM']While Anthony Jackson was being slagged off in another thread, I found this. [/quote] I leant this one a while back, it's a stunning bass line. If you get a chance Chris you check out another tune from the same album called Heed the Warning, if you listen to the end then there are some of the most ridiculous fills I've ever heard on record, playing clean over the barlines and still managing to sound musical.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1279132' date='Jun 22 2011, 10:11 PM']I think she's a far better player than Tal,anyway. Her playing on the Prince DVD 'Live at the Aladdin' is great. Her solo albums are pretty cool too.[/quote] I don't think 'better' is right, different certainly. Tal seems to get a lot of criticism, I can never figure out why.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1279098' date='Jun 22 2011, 09:46 PM']Give Aretha's "Rock Steady" a go. Such a good groove in the verses, and some lovely fingerstyle funk in the choruses.[/quote] Ahh that was Chuck Rainey! Great shout Roland, thanks

I've not been gigging nearly as regularly recently and have found myself at a bit of a loose end bass playing wise. This is all set to change in a week or so when I'm going away to play for a week or two but in the meanwhile I've had the opportunity of being able to woodshed a bit, just me and my bass! Anyway, I need a few tunes to learn just to keep me preoccupied! Open to suggestions here, one or two killer bass lines. Jazz, funk, rock, R&B, anything really I'm easy. I'd be happy of a few suggestions.

I think Rhonda is a good player, but the solo seemed like the kind of solo 'expected' from the bass player of Jeff Beck and a little contrived. It's like the bass solo I've heard a thousand times before from a thousand different bass players, not particularly unique IMO I will always love her playing with Prince though, particularly stuff like this [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vITKFi2W_o"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vITKFi2W_o[/url]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1278685' date='Jun 22 2011, 04:29 PM']Ah, the Kubicki. The last resort when the 1980's can't escape the player. [/quote] Fixed !!

I missed having 24 frets when I moved to Fender style instruments but not enough to merit me going back to them. I can definitely live without the extra 3 or 4 notes.

[quote name='ras52' post='1278662' date='Jun 22 2011, 04:05 PM']Don't just PM, go public with linky please! This is an area I'm working on having recently switched from thumb-anchoring on the E or p/u. If I'm playing on the upper strings I try to rest my RH little/ring fingers on the lower strings... I'm interested to see/hear what others do.[/quote] Here's the link + the explanation I gave FSF on the video. I would add that this is the way I like to play, some people will differ. This is merely an example of some scale exercises that will get you thinking about how clean you can get your technique. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLxQpZ_u8Es&feature=channel_video_title"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLxQpZ_u8Es...nel_video_title[/url] The first example is an F major scale, notice I anchor my thumb on the E string the whole time, it doesn't move. The second example is an F scale moving up in groups of 4, the second example is moving up a 3rd interval at a time, again, my thumb is firmly anchored. All three exercises don't make use of the E string at all, and no sympathetic vibration from the low E either. The next lot of scales is in the key of C major, the same left hand positioning but dropped a string (perfect 4th below). Notice now that I have to use my E string to fret the relevant notes of the scale, I have my thumb anchored on the pickup (or sometimes no where at all depending on what I'm playing) and then drop it accordingly. Again, I repeat a similar pattern of moving up and down the scale 4 notes at a time in the next example. Breaking up scales in this way is useful as it stops the practice becoming boring and also breaks the cycle of getting too used to playing the standard scale. it also helps out your left and right hands to work together. It takes a bit of patience to play scales as for a while it can feel lie a real chore, but if you sit in front of the TV and play you'll soon find you'll get used to it. I would also strongly advise playing with a metronome as well as this will help you get your timing together. Start slowly and work your way up from there. Liam

I'll PM you the link in a sec!

[quote name='fatboyslimfast' post='1278574' date='Jun 22 2011, 02:39 PM']I have been using the left hand more yes - maybe that's the issue. I'll have a play around and see if I can work out a way to mute the E - it's not so much when I'm playing an open A (as I tend to try playing A on the E string), but more when I'm playing things on either the A, D or G strings (normally the top two, as my fingers come to rest on the E when playing on the A) that the E seems to start singing along muddying everything. Should I be using the side of my hand (i.e. nearest the little finger) to do this? Whilst I can see how the hairband would work, I would prefer to sort me rather than the J if at all possible [/quote] Ahh so the problem is that your E is ringing out sympathetically when you play on the other strings. Most bass players I know including myself anchor their thumbs on their E and A strings, occasionally their pickup as well. This largely helps to eliminate the problem you describe, however, even players that don't anchor their thumbs and and a floating thumb technique instead should be able to play fluently without having to worry about excess vibrations from the strings that they're not playing. Whichever technique applies to you I would recommend practicing scales to get both your hands working together to stop excess noise. I can upload a few examples to my Youtube account if it would help at all

Are you using your left hand to mute open strings? If so try and get used to using your right hand instead. Remember that if using your open E and A strings in quick succession is causing you difficulty then you have a perfectly usable A at your 5th fret on your E. Using open strings is effective in some situations but other times it is much easier to fret notes. Being adept at both is the key. I would personally recommend looking closer at your technique before taking more practical solutions up such as the hair band idea, this is no offense to dc2009 but if the problem is fixable with technique then you should sort your technique out as opposed to compensating for it

Nothing to discuss! Nothing beds a track like a P, and they work in every context imaginable. They are the working musician's choice, they are the pro's choice, they account for thousands of successful recordings that we hear every day. Get one!!!

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1277441' date='Jun 21 2011, 06:11 PM']I couldn't give a rat's ar*e; the point is that the audience for both is similar so neither can be called self indulgent. Unless 2m watched the JT video and one person watched the wooten video 2m times? It could happen![/quote] I wasn't passing judgement on either audience. Let people listen to what they want, everyone has a choice etc.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1277432' date='Jun 21 2011, 06:07 PM']one is a kettle of fish the other is a fettle of kitsch[/quote] Had to do a bit of research for this one fet·tle/ˈfetl/ Verb: Trim or clean the rough edges of (a metal casting or a piece of pottery) before firing. Noun: Condition, esp. physical; trim. I'm baffled, I knew i shouldn't have gotten involved [quote]Someone once teased Bilbo for liking clever music[/quote] There's nothing clever about moping around in your trilby and pants at home late at night listening to modal jazz at full crank! (I joke of course, horses for courses!)

[quote name='Doddy' post='1277411' date='Jun 21 2011, 05:56 PM']Going off the Wooten and James Taylor videos,which are both great-is there anything more self indulgent than sitting alone with an acoustic guitar? It's not a bad thing,far from it,but it is still very self indulgent-possibly even more than someone like Victor improvising a solo as a guest at a Dave Matthews Band gig. Yet,I'm sure that more people would say it about Wooten than they would of Taylor.[/quote] The intimacy and appeal of an acoustic guitar and a voice like James Taylor's isn't comparable to a Victor Wooten video, or any bass solo video. They are two totally different kettles of fish!

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1277389' date='Jun 21 2011, 05:40 PM']Some, super elite, hyper, mega, self indulgent SELFINDULGANTISM for you. Notice the complete lack of melody, shape, form, poise, groove, beauty (abstract or otherwise) in it....! Yes folks it's COMPLETELY IMPROVISED.[/quote] This is a classic case of me judging a book by its cover. I saw Keith Jarrett and was a little weary, but that whole thing was really quite brilliant, poignant and moving.

Is music just about enjoying yourself, or is it about entertaining an audience? Is it both? If something strikes me as being 'self-indulgent' and a bit ego-ridden I won't listen to it, but if you have an audience then I try and remember it's as much about them as it is about me.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1276461' date='Jun 20 2011, 10:17 PM']It comes down to this for me: What can YOU do to make ensure that YOU can play that gig. As a bassist, I can take my own amp. That way, my bass won't be the problem. I usually take 2 basses, 2 cabs and ideally 2 heads (only one atm but I'm planning on getting another ASAP), enough cables and spares. I like to think I'm covered for any eventuality, including if the PA isn't substantial enough to support bass at gig volumes.[/quote] Agreed, totally, I subscribe to this mentality.

Wow, Lakland are getting slammed! I agree if you're paying upwards of a grand for a bass you should be getting a much better level of QC but I really can't fault mine. In fact it killed my Fender Jazz stone dead in terms of playability and sound, so much so I sold the Fender recently.

Having my Eden rig behind me gives me all the monitoring I need, although I try not to saturate the stage with it (which is easy to do). I D.I out to the desk for the FOH and my drummer's in ears. I haven't really found another viable means for me to monitor on stage and for me to be happy with my level, although I'd like to try in ears in the future. My rig is big so most of the time it lives in our Mercedes Sprinter. Easy.