BottomEndian

[quote name='alexclaber' post='504725' date='Jun 3 2009, 02:54 PM']The TC review is akin to testing a downhill mountain bike by cycling to the corner shop for a packet of fags.[/quote] At least with that one they had some testimony from a couple of guys who'd used the stuff in a live situation. That's a huge improvement over other recent BGM reviews where it sounds like they tried some stuff out in a shop for 5 minutes.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='504675' date='Jun 3 2009, 01:53 PM']Re: Sound in the toilet - If anything moves in the room – the sound source, the listener or any reflecting surface – then the Doppler effect comes into play. The Doppler effect is best demonstrated by the siren of a passing fire engine, which appears to drop in pitch as it goes past. Sound can’t travel faster than its natural velocity in any given medium (in this case, air), so if the sound source moves, then velocity of the source converts to a rising in pitch for an approaching source, a lowering of pitch for a source that is moving away. In most contexts where acoustics are important, neither the source nor listener will be moving significantly, nor will the reflecting surfaces. If, however, you move several tens of metres away and listen to the original sound through three brick walls, each covered in tiles, plaster, wallpaper etc stuff that is in tune 'onstage' will appear not to be.[/quote] I'm confused as to how the Doppler effect comes into play here. I'm aware of the phenomenon of perceived tuning issues when you muffle the sound source, but I've always guessed it was down to the human ear's (and brain's) limited ability to receive and process pitch information at high sound pressure level. Once you get into the toilets and the SPL drops, you can hear tuning problems more easily. Just to clarify, I have no basis for this assumption. I don't know a great deal about the ear/brain at high SPL. It's just a guess. There's still nothing moving significantly when you're standing in the toilet, and any Doppler effect you ever experience should affect all frequencies in the spectrum to a proportionally equal extent. The singer surely won't suddenly appear to be out of tune due to the Doppler effect. If everyone on stage is in tune with each other, they'll still sound in tune with each other when you experience a Doppler shift. (And if they're out of tune, they should sound equally out of tune regardless of the Doppler effect.) Feel free to correct me. I may be a physics graduate, but I concentrated on quantum mechanics and general relativity, so my knowledge of acoustics and wave motion is a little shaky! [size=1]Edited for idiotic phrasing[/size]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='504628' date='Jun 3 2009, 01:05 PM']...If you play it exclusively then you'll find bass guitars will start to feel awkward because of the lumpy frets getting in the way, etc.[/quote] Yeah, I actually find my fretless easier to play, at least in terms of the physical action of the left hand. My Ibanez is pretty fussy about where you put your fingers. I guess it's something to do with the profile of the frets or something. Unless you're [b][i]directly[/i][/b] behind the fret (and I would say there's less than 1 mm of leeway), it can buzz like a wasp in a copper tube. On a fretless, wherever you put your finger, it'll sound a note. If you're a little bit out of tune, just wiggle it into tune!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='504515' date='Jun 3 2009, 10:42 AM']It's a good idea to make your choice of fretless bass as close as possible to the fretted one you use so that the only difference is.....you guessed it![/quote] +1. I'm in the unenviable situation of frequently swapping between my Ibanez (35" scale, 5-string, wide flat neck) and my Squier fretless (34" scale, 4-string, narrow neck). It can get quite frustrating when I overreach on the fretless after an hour or two on the Ibanez. And when I go for that imaginary B-string. [quote name='The Bass Doc' post='504515' date='Jun 3 2009, 10:42 AM']I would advocate an unlined board with the occasional side dots - when I tried a lined version I was drawn to what looked like a fret and was inclined to play in behind it. Just my experience mind - we're all different.[/quote] Gary Willis recommends setting up the intonation so you're playing behind the line as you would with frets: see [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/intonation3.html"]his site on bass setup[/url]. It means you have less cognitive dissonance when you swap between fretted and fretless. Just play exactly as you would with frets. It does generally mean, however, that you'll have to finger roughly [i]on[/i] the lines at the low end, and noticeably [i]behind[/i] the lines as you drift further up, unless the bass has been specifically lined for the technique of playing behind the lines. As ever, YMMV. [size=1]Edited to complete a sentence I left dangling. [/size]

Oh, and fretless opens up a world outside equal temperament! As a hangover from my violin days and years of choral singing, if I'm playing a note that leads up to another by a semitone (e.g. major scale 3-4 or 7-octave), I'll deliberately play the leading note a touch sharp. It somehow sweetens the cadence.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='504498' date='Jun 3 2009, 10:27 AM']I think some people take to it fairly easily, while others struggle for a while. I was quite lucky - gigged mine the day I got it and haven't looked back. But then... I'm not trying to be Jaco, and I don't play up the dusty end too much. I suspect my weaknesses would shine if that were the case..![/quote] Same here. I've had my VMJ fretless for a couple of weeks now, and I feel pretty comfortable on it. My intonation's by no means perfect, but it's generally "good enough", especially lower down the board. There's a lot of wiggle-room down where the frets are well-spaced, so you can be... ahem... "good enough for jazz" without too much trouble. Actually, "good enough for metal" might be more accurate. Depending on what the rest of the band's doing, it might not be that noticeable if you're a bit off. All that's said with a lined board, of course. It might be a different story for me without. Having said that, I used to play the violin pretty well, and that's an unlined fretless with a 12.8" scale length. It just takes a lot of practice, and the ability to make tiny adjustments very quickly on the hoof.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='504422' date='Jun 3 2009, 07:40 AM']Bootsy[/quote] No celebrity endorsement on Earth could convince me to buy this thing: I mean, I like the idea of 5 pickups and 3 preamps, but... well, I just don't have that much funk in me. But seriously, how many of these can they seriously expect to sell? List price is US$2850...

[quote name='obbm' post='503639' date='Jun 2 2009, 11:47 AM']If you go to the store you will see that the owner/first poster also writes tuition/transcription books so it's probably a marketing exercise for him to sell his wares.[/quote] He is the well-respected Jon Liebman (also a registered member on here under the name... Jon Liebman!), so it has the potential to blossom into something useful. The site is, however, ugly as sin.

[quote name='SoundsLive' post='502991' date='Jun 1 2009, 03:15 PM']... we are even in the process of launching a brand new website to run along our existing site, which can be found at [url="http://www.soundsliveshop.com"]www.soundsliveshop.com[/url]![/quote] On first glances, a vast improvement! Good move!

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='502517' date='May 31 2009, 08:00 PM']Have you ever had problems with the pedals coming off the velcro on the board in transit?[/quote] I have with mine, when I was using the velcro that came with the Pedaltrain. I had to store it upright (rather than lying flat), and something had usually come unglued when I'd next open it up. Usually something heavy, like an Akai G-Drive... I now use [url="http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_catalogId_10151_storeId_10001_partNumber_256271_langId_-1"]Heavy Duty Velcro[/url], which has a stronger adhesive backing and a stronger hook-and-loop adherence. It's amazing. I can pick up the whole board (must be about 10kg or more) just by lifting up my Bass Big Muff. Downside: it's [i]really[/i] brutal on your fingers if you scrape against the hooks. I have bled on many occasions.

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='502875' date='Jun 1 2009, 12:14 PM']The problem I see is that without the weight of a bass behind it the whole thing would move when you tried to pluck it, especially when, as in the picture, trying to play it while it's swinging on a piece of string.[/quote] Yeah, it relies on you parking your thumb on top, as you might park it on a pickup. If you use a floating thumb, that thing'll be bobbin' around like Virgil Tracy.

Nice bassline too. Looking around, I think it's played by DeLisle Harper. Anyone know anything else he crops up on?

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='502857' date='Jun 1 2009, 11:49 AM']Don't think the Last FM link worked properly.[/quote] Worked for me!

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='502835' date='Jun 1 2009, 11:28 AM']"18 With A Bullet" - Lewis Taylor and Carleen Anderson version? [url="http://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/Lewis%2BTaylor%2B%2526%2BCarleen%2BAnderso"]Last FM[/url] [url="http://brokencurve.tv/video.aspx?id=2253"]Video[/url][/quote] AHA! Got it! Thanks.Except it was the [url="http://www.last.fm/music/Pete+Wingfield/_/18+With+A+Bullet"]Pete Wingfield original[/url]. I think I must have imagined the modern production and the warbly vocal, unless there's a backing singer who kicks in at the end. Could have been heatstroke...

[quote name='Zach' post='502829' date='Jun 1 2009, 11:23 AM']what kind of tempo are we talking about here? cant work out what it is, but i might be playing it far too slowly[/quote] Somewhere around 75 BPM (beat = dotted crotchet!)

Yeah, it fits, but it's not the song. I'd have recognised that one straight off! I guess that's the beauty of such a simple bassline. It'll fit a lot of stuff.

I walked into Borders yesterday, and I heard the last 30 seconds or so of a track with this bassline (quick transcription on Noteflight -- the key might not be right, but I'm pretty sure the line's right): [attachment=26337:Bassline.jpg] It was a sort of Motown-y medium-tempo ballad number, with quite a Jamerson feel to the line, and it's really familiar, but I can't put my finger on what song it was. To confuse matters further, I think it was a much more recent cover version. The production felt far too clean to be an original Motown recording, and there was a more modern, warbly Beyonce feel to the vocal. Anybody know the tune?

[quote name='Stickman' post='501884' date='May 30 2009, 08:19 PM']Of course it would feel different, but what we are looking at is a compromise for where it is not possible to practice with your full-scale bass. I gave the situation of being on a tour bus - I have been known to get some practice in by visuallising a fretboard on my seatbelt! I can't speak for the intentions of the designers of this particular practice tool but for my own ends I would not be looking to make the string move, after all I'd not be trying to elicit any sound from the device but merely work on the coordination of my fingers with string skipping exercises etc. I know what you are saying and I would want the string as taut as possible to try and minimse the difference in tension along its length. However, I don't think this would be the right tool to use to work on evenness of touch as you can only do that by listening to and comparing the tone that you are producing with each finger - that is only something you can acheive with the real instrument.[/quote] I'm with ya now. I guess different people have different needs from their practice tools. I'm currently working on... you guessed it: evenness of touch between my fingers. So naturally, that's the first thing I thought of. Now you've mentioned it, I think it [i]would[/i] be a useful tool for string-skipping exercises. Still too many pennies though.

[quote name='JackLondon' post='501616' date='May 30 2009, 01:58 PM']Very nice feature in BGM magazine about Barefaced Cabs. Well done Alex [/quote] Yeah, it's nice to see Barefaced get the same column space as people like ESP and Peavey.

[quote name='Stickman' post='501787' date='May 30 2009, 05:32 PM']Actually I've thought on numerous occasions about making something like this; would be useful when you're out on tour to get some practice time in on the bus.[/quote] I think it's a nice idea in principle, but surely it wouldn't really be anything like plucking a real, full-scale bass string? The string will move completely differently. I mean, take a look at our French synthy friend above -- imagine if he used a four-finger right-hand technique. His little finger's almost over the fixed point at the end of the string, so it's going to be virtually impossible to make the string move with that finger. He's just going to lose skin trying. If you're using two fingers on a full-scale bass, the difference in string-feel between the two points at which your fingers make contact is going to be minimal. To a first approximation, they're essentially at the same place on the string, compared to the string's vibrating length, so it's simple to achieve evenness of touch between the two fingers. On the Pocket Picker, your two fingers are spaced apart by about 10% of the string's total length. The string will feel very different at those two points. If you use the Pocket Picker to achieve evenness of touch, you'll have re-trained your fingers to cope with the miniature scale, so you're going to be boned when you pick up your bass. I could be wrong. I'd like to try one of these things, just to see what it's really like.

[quote name='Jase' post='501731' date='May 30 2009, 04:06 PM']That's the Guy from Star Trek innit?[/quote] KHAAAAANNN! WHERE'S MY SH-101?

[quote name='The Funk' post='501597' date='May 30 2009, 01:36 PM']Thank you for that term. I'm no longer going to take a slash or have a piss - I'm going to experience a funk-leak instead.[/quote] Doesn't "leak" imply a lack of control? Roll on incontinence...

This just makes it look like a dodgy French synth-pop player got ripped off on eBay: "Zut alors! Où est mon SH-101?"

Jase and I did a swap: my Wesley 5-string for his Hartke Bass Attack pedal. Nice guy, good communications, and the pedal turned up in its original box, with manual. Not even a broken-down car and two days of explosive ass-splatter could stop this trade. Awesome! (Jase's car, my ass.)

Or a funk-leak