Hector

I really enjoy divergent study! Often when I'm struggling to solo over a set of changes, I'll play them into a loop pedal and then just try and solo/think my way through them. I'll also try to sing a nice little melody or two, and play them back. It's all about building my mind's ear, and strengthening the relationship between it and my instrumental technique.

I use a D'Addario Zyex for a G string (stop sniggering at the back). Nice alternative with a tone in same ballpark. It's quite gut-like in sound and feel, but is very low maintenance with respect to climate. Settles in fairly quickly, after about a 3-7 days depending on how you play. They're quite cheap, so could be worth giving one a try, or having one as a backup? A full set runs £130, so I can't imagine singles would be too dear, certainly less than Olivs.

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1383987931' post='2271504'] +1 thats what I use. It means that you have to hold the bass in its bag ( which is a good thing !!) but that the wheel gives you portability and takes the weight. I haven't tried a bass buggy in fairness so I am not dismissing it just that I have always found my wheel excellent I am also wary of bass buggies after Hectors recent post about putting a huge hole in his bass "Im having a bad day" thread ....! [/quote] I would actually still unreservedly recommend the bass buggie, great bit of kit. It was just me being a clumsy idiot (not forgiving myself for that in a hurry), and the blame lies squarely on my shoulders rather than on the buggie. EDIT - Although I would stress that you should be very very careful about letting the bass stand freely, as the buggie site advertises you can do. Easy to knock it over.

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1383064822' post='2259760'] I can't do it guys ! It's tearing my brain into pieces. Why on earth do I keep levitating to the root !!! [/quote] Here's a quick one - go through the progression and sing one note out of each chord. It can be any note, [u]except the root[/u]. You can play them on your instrument at first to get it going, but the target is to hear it well enough to sing it without an instrument to hand.

From a jazz point of view: My Funny Valentine: Cmin | Cminmaj7 | Cmin7 Cmin6 | (although I much prefer C min | G7 | Cmin7 | F7 | or the Miles Davis version Cmin | Ab7 G7 | Cmin7 | F7#11) In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning: Cmaj7 C7 |Fmaj7 Bb7 | for the first two bars, but could be rewritten as Cmaj7 C7 | C6 C+ |

This is a really great tool I use to slow down and loop portions of songs for transcription purposes: [url="http://www.seventhstring.com/"]http://www.seventhstring.com/[/url] First 30 days is free, so you could give it a try and see how you get on. You could always slow the groove right down and work on getting it solid - you'd be surprised how much easier a fast groove becomes if you learn to play it perfectly at a slow tempo first.

Sat in with a friend's funk/soul band a while back, just for one gig. We got asked for an encore, but had no more material so we settled on a bit of a jam on Red Clay. Video got thrown up on facebook recently and thought you guys might dig it. There's a little bass solo towards the 5 minute mark but the clip gets cut off whilst I'm mid-stride - the cheek! [url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151575880614707"]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151575880614707[/url]

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1382719420' post='2255956'] Try this Get a 2b pencil and mark the first three frets on the fingerboard. Now try and hit those notes one fret per finger without moving your hand ! YOu may just be able to get your 1st finger on first "fret", 2nd finger on second "fret" and 4th finger on 3rd "fret". The third finger is in limbo between 2nd and 4th finger. This highlights the problem of moving around and intonation . However theres a more sinister problem of risking getting an RSI type injury if you overstretch the 3rd finger which is very easy to do particularly in the low positions - it has much weaker muscle structure than the other fingers. [/quote] This time a million. Get a solid foundation in Simandl technique first. Some, me included, will use 1-2-3-4 in the neck break area (pretty rarely), but even then it's not the same as EB fingering. It's not really about pressing down with a semitone distance between each finger, with each finger always pressing on the string. It's more about rolling the hand to transfer pressure from finger to finger.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1382379762' post='2251517'] Hmmm, Laurence is very talented (he did some great work for me on the neck of a bass) but he is a one-man outfit and at least when I visited he seemed to have quite a lot on. Also his workshop is tucked away in a corner of Clapham which is would be pretty hard to get to without a car (and very pricey with a taxi from central London). Aren't the much more convenient bigger outfit the Martins a better option in your circumstances? [/quote] I've flitted about between different options but have actually ended up arranging to take her down to Malcolm Healey. I had heard that Malcolm wasn't doing any more work (I think crossed wire perhaps related to him closing up his shop), but he would've been my natural first choice: I bought my bass from him back in 2008, and Jane Healey was my first teacher, so I'm much more comfortable taking my bass to someone I have a personal connection with. I'm heading over next Friday, managed to organise a lift from a kind soul. For the meantime, she's in her case laying down on the floor with all the string tension off. Glad there's light at the end of the tunnel, but it's going to be a long week's wait before Malcolm can see more than photos and give a proper diagnosis.

sh*t happens man! Bit frustrating as not being taken to repair for another week and it kills me seeing her lying on the floor in her case - like having a loved one in a coma. Still, I've got someone very qualified on the case and I suspect she'll be fine in the long run. Gives me a good chance to brush up on my electric bass playing, and do lots of transcription. I'm actually getting a great deal of pleasure from seeing your new bass, and hearing how happy you are to have found an instrument that suits you

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1382653070' post='2255200'] I dont think Andrews has your recent mod! [/quote] And I hope it never does! [quote name='SevenSeas' timestamp='1382654779' post='2255224'] Nice, Akos makes beautiful basses but most of all, when I plucked the first couple of notes it was exactly what I wanted. The sound was perfect! [/quote] Nice choice, looks lovely. Very similar to my experience! I've yet to have someone play it without commenting on the sound. I [b]really [/b]hope she still has it when she's well again.

[quote name='SevenSeas' timestamp='1382651148' post='2255165'] Same model, different bass. (obviously) [url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2774.htm"]http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2774.htm[/url] [/quote] Oooooh, I think our basses are related!

Thanks for the kind words everyone, it really means a lot to me in these dark days. Especially, Jake's gobsmackingly kind offer of a loaner bass for the time being would you believe it! Anyway, focusing on the practical, ignoring the financial: I've asked about, and the most insistent recommendations have been for Laurence Dixon down in Clapham area. I'm planning to make a visit, but have a question to ask. I don't have a car, so is it worth me trying to take it on the train from Oxford? Not sure how fragile the bass is now (string tension is now fully off as per ubassman's advice, so soundpost is no longer in place) and would hate to make mattters worse. I could wait 10 days and get a lift (possibly) sooner from a friend, but am not sure how important it would be to fix this sort of damage asap?

Oh right. Great info thanks! I'm in the dark a bit. Do you mean take the tension right off the strings or just tune down a few tones on each string?

Yeah, it's probably worth it, but it stings. I haven't loosened off the strings - should I? Also, I can still play it, but is that advisable?

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1382295472' post='2250325'] Yikes! Horrible to see your bass in this condition Hector. What happened?? You will need a new rib make and unfortunately this is not going to be a cheap job. The top needs to come off and you will need a luthier who has rib bending irons who is able to match the curves and profile of the existing. They will make up a template and will also need to source some similar flamed maple and blend the tone and sheen of the finish to blend in with the existing varnish. All do-able but labour intensive. Are you covered with insurance? [/quote] I was just clumsy - I use a bass buggie ([url="http://www.kcstrings.com/bass-buggie"]http://www.kcstrings.com/bass-buggie[/url]), which allows the bass to stand freely whilst you open doors etc. Obviously, I would never leave it unattended like that, but it can be very briefly freestanding for using both hands for opening a door or similar. I managed to knock it over whilst opening my front door and it landed on the clasp that sits on the shoulder, which made the hole. Sods law my insurance has just expired and I hadn't got around to renewing it yet. Got a quote from George Martin at around £1000 for the work, so that's an expensive lesson in being organised. It's just money after all, and I'm sure she can be made good as new, but 1/7 of my yearly disposable income is steep. EDIT - Have renewed with Allianz. This cannot happen again.

Have fired off an email to the Martins so will see what they say. Any other recommendations for luthiers in the Oxford area greatly appreciated, in the event that they are busy. Thanks for the kind wishes chaps, will let you know how she gets on. It's just quite tough to see something you love so much and have such a strong bond with damaged. There's an odd sort of symmetry in a way - about two years ago I had a nasty fall and badly broke my ankle. Like bass like owner it seems!

Anyone have any experience of this kind of damage? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Go nuts: [url="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL746CBE9FDA2E589B"]http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL746CBE9FDA2E589B[/url]

[url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BqHawf1YzZQ/UDVEbKOterI/AAAAAAAAHfU/KDQ2qqB4k_k/s1600/Youve-Got-Mail-Poster-3.jpg"]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BqHawf1YzZQ/UDVEbKOterI/AAAAAAAAHfU/KDQ2qqB4k_k/s1600/Youve-Got-Mail-Poster-3.jpg[/url]

Yeah man, you've got it. You're basically playing a secondary dominant of C7, so a G7 sound. But then a tritone sub for G7 is Db7. A useful scale for this tritone sub would be Db lydian dominant (mixolydian #4 aka lydian b7). Note that this is the same pitch collection as the scale G altered (or Ab melodic minor if you prefer to think of it that way). So it's kind of a G altered sound. These melodic minor modal (try saying that fast after a pint) sounds are dead useful and lovely. That F-7 Db7 C7 turnaround substitution for F-7 G7 C7 is there in tons of classic tunes (and if not you can put them in!). A good one that springs to mind is "Work Song" by Nat Adderly - there's an killer version on the Cannonball Adderly album "Them Dirty Blues", I took down Cannon's solo on it you want me to send you a copy?

How long do you have to prepare? Would be helpful to know - sometimes it takes a little while to get something you're practising into your playing. Firstly, a 'a blanket scale' approach like that can be a perfectly valid improvisational tool. If you want to make the changes, you need to hit focus on chord tones, and (as a rule of thumb) make sure to hit them on strong beats. Perhaps try soloing through each tune using only chord tones? This is a really solid foundation, and a fundamental tool. I can give you a few exercises for this if you're keen? Once you start to get used to that, you can try to focus on adding approaches to these chord tones (whether chromatically or from an appropriate chord-scale). There's a whole lot of rhythmic variation you can use to spice up these relatively simple ideas too. This will get you sounding harmonically accurate, and create a nice sounding solo without much need for any other flash business. Two very important ideas that you should practise are: 1) Don't be afraid to leave enough space - in fact, this is necessary for a decent sounding solo. 2) Make sure each idea relates to the previous one - except for your first one, that needs to come out of the ether... 3) try to give your solo a logical flow Another excellent thing you can do is to transcribe how the greats play over those tunes. Learn some of their lines and try to put them over any appropriate places in each tune. Make your own variations based on these lines, and learn them in all 12 keys. This process can take months to filter through into your playing though, so it depends how far away your audition is. I don't think you necessarily need to playing something vastly complex and burning - so long as you bear in mind harmonic accuracy (harnessed by practising your chord tones) and keep an eye (ear?) on how you space your ideas and how they relate to one another. Hope this helps, feel free to PM or ask on here if there's anything to ask about. Edit: Here's a decent example of chord tone soloing over AL [media]http://youtu.be/tSafDlc7d_g[/media]

I have used that exact stool in the past, particularly when I had a broken ankle. Stand exclusively now, motivated by walking/public transport to most of my gigs - too much stuff! I use the amp less and less for small group gigs as well. Anyway, back on topic, was practicing the other day and accidentally didn't extend my endpin far enough. Everything felt really uncomfortable, and my intonation was atrocious. It was only a few inches out, but putting it back up felt like home again.

[quote name='Rabbie' timestamp='1380447543' post='2225262'] Just the bit about being short of the full symphony. Bit below the belt, but I know you didn't mean it with any malice, sorry. [/quote] Edited regardless. Did not intend to sound quite so mean.....

[quote name='Rabbie' timestamp='1380444361' post='2225180'] Not nice [/quote] As in my posting that video? If so, apologies for any offense caused - only posted in the spirit of fun.