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BottomEndian

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Everything posted by BottomEndian

  1. BottomEndian
    [quote name='Kirky' post='589668' date='Sep 4 2009, 01:53 PM']An aside - what was the logic of Fender and other manufacturers putting thumb rests [i]beneath[/i] the strings?[/quote] IIRC, it's from back in the day when nobody was sure how the new-fangled electric bass guitar was going to be played. A lot of early players plucked with their thumb (or a thumb-pick) -- the thing below the strings was a [b]finger[/b] rest.
  2. BottomEndian
    [quote name='silddx' post='589675' date='Sep 4 2009, 01:59 PM']Playing fretless is all about feeling and hearing so just set it up properly and stay that way so your brain gets used to the finger spacings and motion required. All in all, you're probably best off taking playing and intonating tips from classical players like string bassists and cellists.[/quote] Absolutely. I played the violin for years as a kid, so my intonation's pretty instinctive and I don't find fretless too much of a headf***. After all, violin's a 12.8-inch-scale fretless instrument, so there's very little room for bad finger placement. It's really a question of whether I'll shoot myself in the foot by setting it up to be behind the line, in terms of occasional use of other people's instruments (hey! why do I sound flat?) or the transition to unlined.
  3. BottomEndian
    So, all you lined fretless players: where do you put your fingers? I've been quite enamoured with [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/intonation3.html"]the Gary Willis method of setting up intonation[/url] so you're in tune if your finger is just behind the line (roughly the same position you'd put your finger on a fretted board), and that's how I've set up my fretlesses. It means your muscle memory doesn't need to change when you switch from fretted to fretless. However, it's pretty obvious that basses aren't generally [b]designed [/b]to be set up like that -- I'm quite often right at the end of the screw travel for the saddles. Also, if I were to get an unlined fretless (and I'd like to, just for the look of it ), it'd be harder to set up the intonation in the same way, and I think you'd naturally aim to be bang on the side dots. So I might switch back to being bang on the line. So I'm just wondering what everyone else does, and what your general thoughts are on the subject. And if there are any crazy people who set it up to be in tune [b]above[/b] the line... well, why? Tell all...
  4. BottomEndian
    [quote name='thedonutman' post='587965' date='Sep 2 2009, 09:02 PM']... it may be partly down to shop setup (They were all completely out of tune, slightly high action etc)...[/quote] [quote name='thedonutman' post='587965' date='Sep 2 2009, 09:02 PM']Warwick FNA Jazzman 5 (used) - This was also a serious disappointment. It was used but if anything that says even more about the construction. The 3 piece Ovangkol neck seemed to be coming apart slightly - perhaps due to differences in humidity or something? I could feel the unevenness between the 3 pieces of wood when playing.[/quote] I think there might be a nasty environmental problem (heat/humidity/whatever) with that shop. I'm pretty sure it doesn't help the Sadowskys to be hanging in the window all the time, where they'll get a nice burst of strong, hot sun every morning. And I played that FNA a few weeks ago. I mentioned the neck problem in another thread, and the original owner PMd me. He'd never had a problem with the neck, so it may well have arisen while it's been in GuitarGuitar. Are they still looking for £700 for it (reduced from £800!)? I'd say that's pretty optimistic for a used Warwick with a problem. As for Sadowskys in general, I had a noodle on one a few weeks back (not in GuitarGuitar, though). It felt awesome to play, and really light with it. Then I plugged it in, and realised the sound's just not me at all. Horses for courses. I'm with you on the SR5 thing. Mmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmm.
  5. BottomEndian
    Bump! Surely someone wants this? It's a corking bass -- I just don't have room in my life (well... my house) for two 5-strings.
  6. BottomEndian
    Bump for added pictures!
  7. BottomEndian
    [quote name='YouMa' post='585398' date='Aug 30 2009, 09:17 PM']Anyone know where its been lifted from?[/quote]
  8. BottomEndian
    [quote name='alexclaber' post='583977' date='Aug 28 2009, 08:02 PM']I think we might start recording the first full-length album that we'd been meaning to do, can certainly get the bass/drums/guitar down live and then start overdubbing sax and backing vocals, whilst we wait to find the right person.[/quote] I'd be really wary of doing that. A change of vocalist can change the feel of a song slightly. It might just be the odd push or pull here and there, but it could result in you having to re-record the bass/drums/guitar and [i]especially[/i] the backing vocals -- if they follow the phrasings of the lead vocal line (i.e. it's not just sustained "aaah"s and "oooh"s), I wouldn't even bother thinking about them until you've got your vocalist sorted.
  9. BottomEndian
    Yeah, love them Stringbusters. Got a 5-string set of TI flats from them (ordered Tuesday, arrived Wednesday). The G-string windings bizarrely unravelled around the tuning post as I brought it up to tension, so I rang them today and they're sending me out a replacement, due to be with me tomorrow. Simples. Top-class service and prices.
  10. BottomEndian
    Bumpity. I honestly will get some pictures up soon, once the craziness has settled down a bit here... :wacko:
  11. BottomEndian
    [quote name='Dr.Dave' post='581606' date='Aug 26 2009, 04:53 PM']...getting 2nd 'fret' bang on , bloody big gap from nut to 3rd.[/quote] +1 When I eventually get a custom-job made (ACG hopefully in the pipeline), I'm definitely having a side-dot at the 1st fret position. Headache over.
  12. BottomEndian
    Oh, and the other weird thing I do when I hear stuff or come up with a bassline is to immediately visualise how it would be played on a piano (or, even more bizarrely, the euphonium... don't ask), and then transfer [b]that[/b] to the fretboard. I'm working on eliminating that intermediate stage at the moment, so I can musically react more quickly. In fact, sometimes my process even goes: hearing -> visualise staff notation -> visualise playing on piano -> play the damn bass. Definitely work needed. I mean, it's a split-second thing, but it still slows me down.
  13. BottomEndian
    [quote name='51m0n' post='581563' date='Aug 26 2009, 04:19 PM']Its all thoroughly mathematical though, you just learn the intervalic pattern of different scales (tone, tone, half tone, tone, tone, tone, half tone, being major). The expand your knowledge by getting a really good grasp of the scalar intervals that make up different types of chord (minor third, major third, minor third stacked for a minor 7th say ) Then learning all the diatonic harmony from there. (I ii iii IV V vi viio etc) Then you can easily go down the modal theory route by use of intervals, even easier since you are oconstantly comaring to major or minor scales (Dorian is minor witha major 6th for instance, lydian is major with an augmented 4th) You can cover all sorts of theory without naming a single note in effect. Thats how I got through college without even realising it. Applying it to bass is easy since the tuning is in stright fourths.[/quote] Ah, gotcha. I mean, it wouldn't work for me, because (to use an already over-used cliché) I speak a different language musically. It's like the way that English poetry works better for me than German poetry. It's not that German poetry's rubbish -- I just don't know very much German. The other problem is that years of singing and playing violin have left me with perfect pitch (or near as dammit, anyway). If I hear a note, I immediately hear it as a C#, or F or whatever. I don't think in intervals -- I think in notes, and I know the intervals between them.
  14. BottomEndian
    [quote name='alexclaber' post='581538' date='Aug 26 2009, 04:06 PM']I would like to point out that you can have a good grasp of theory but not be able to read standard notation![/quote] How does that work, then? I'm genuinely interested, cos I've been able to read notation since I was 6, so anything else is pretty alien to me.
  15. BottomEndian
    [quote name='Higgie' post='581403' date='Aug 26 2009, 02:09 PM']There is a Steve Bailey fretless instructional video that's split into parts on youtube[/quote] Thanks for the heads-up. Here's the first chunk: And the following chunks link from the end of the video. That's one for me to check out later. This thread's of real interest to me too. So far, I've just been muddling through and gleaning the odd useful bit from Chris Kringel's [i]Fretless Bass[/i] (not a book I really recommend: not enough on techniques -- loads of song transcriptions though -- and it's got a bit of a "throw you in the deep end" learning curve, not to mention the numerous mistakes in the transcriptions). Having said that, I feel like fretless is the "voice" I've been looking for on bass. Smooth and fluid. Just need to learn to play the bugger in tune now...
  16. BottomEndian
    Bought Rob's fretless MM SR5. Lovely fella, lovely bass, well packaged, arrived in a flash. And he was very amenable to me twisting his arm into selling it to me. Cheers! Owain
  17. BottomEndian
    Oh, definitely not me, by the way. I may be tasty, but my playing ain't.
  18. BottomEndian
    Hi Dave. Maybe if you gave us an idea of stuff on the setlist, it might help narrow it down, especially if it's unusual. Obviously, "Mustang Sally" ain't gonna help -- but if they did a medley of "Iron Man" running into "Teen Town" segueing into the Spice Girls' "Wannabe", well... that's pretty specific.
  19. BottomEndian
    Now I've got Shockwave's MM Stingray 5, I can let this Ibanez go. I got it new from GuitarGuitar about six months ago, and it's never been gigged (my bands are on hiatus at the moment). In fact, it's in pretty much as-new condition, so it looks like the stock image from the Ibanez website: But here are some pictures of the actual bass in question: [attachment=32066:BTB_1.jpg][attachment=32067:BTB_2.jpg] [attachment=32068:BTB_3.jpg][attachment=32069:BTB_4.jpg] [attachment=32070:BTB_5.jpg][attachment=32071:BTB_6.jpg] [attachment=32072:BTB_7.jpg][attachment=32073:BTB_8.jpg] You can see all the tech specs here: [url="http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-BTB775PB"]http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-BTB775PB[/url] The key things to note are: [list] [*]35" scale [*]Bartolini pups and 18V Bartolini preamp (loudest output I've ever heard from a bass, and check out the frequency response chart -- it's not a shy EQ!) [*]19mm string spacing [*]Lovely, lovely neck -- wide, but slim (front to back) [*]Can do pretty much any tone you want it to, from deep, thudding bottom to rasping tops [/list] It's currently strung with D'Addario Chromes, but I'd also include the Elixirs that came with it. They're fine; I just don't like rounds any more. [s]£450[/s] [b]£400 delivered[/b] (these go for around £600 new), or make me an interesting offer. Would be interested in trades for lightweight heads... or even heavy heads if they sound good . [s]I'll put up some images of the real thing later on.[/s] Pics added 2/9/09.
  20. BottomEndian
    [quote name='Alien' post='579754' date='Aug 25 2009, 12:40 AM']The alternative blues name game: 1. Think of an affliction 2. Think of a fruit 3. Think of a US president eg. Blind Lemon Jefferson, or possibly Squinting Mango Nixon[/quote] Surely the ultimate blues player would thus be Dead Elderberry Bush?
  21. BottomEndian
    [quote name='wateroftyne' post='578103' date='Aug 23 2009, 10:53 AM']Where did I get 73 from??[/quote] Didn't Fender leave necks lying around for a bit sometimes, and match them up with bodies made later? Does the serial number suggest finished construction in 73?
  22. BottomEndian
    Breeders - [i]Cannonball[/i] At least, until I got my SUB. Then I had that tone without trying. Pure Stingray.
  23. BottomEndian
    And... SOLD. Ah, Basschat. :wub:
  24. BottomEndian
    On hold.
  25. BottomEndian
    [quote name='beerdragon' post='577449' date='Aug 22 2009, 11:18 AM']the seller said he would send me some more pics so hopefully i might know a bit more about the bass.[/quote] The heel of the neck might be most illuminating...
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