EssentialTension

[quote name='Jigster' post='1147400' date='Mar 2 2011, 05:40 PM']been impressing this on my son who has learnt an amazing amount of covers by tabs with his band - they sound great, but i worry what he understands about keys and chords etc.. i'm no theorist but i have forced myself to appreciate and understand as much as poss the science of music because otherwise you'll end up in a situ where someone wants to jam stuff out and you're clueless..[/quote] My son has overtaken me on theory now. Not long ago I was explaining it to him but now he's putting me right - after I confused E9 and Emaj9. Have you ever felt pride and embarrassment at the same time?

I can't see the problem. I mean, why speak words when waving my arms and pulling a face works just as well. Actually this kind of thing annoys me not so much when someone doesn't know it's a F major or F minor - fair enough we've all got things to learn - but more when they are dismissive and make no effort to pick up the lingo. I can't understand why anyone would not want to know the language of music.

[quote name='Rich' post='1147023' date='Mar 2 2011, 12:51 PM']One of these days, i will give up bands for good. It will be either a} when my hands become too arthritic to play, or b} when i become too old and frail to lift a bass, or c} when they screw the lid down.[/quote] Let's hope c} doesn't happen before a} and b}.

I'd get a roadie.

[quote name='jimbaby' post='1145501' date='Mar 1 2011, 10:40 AM']Hi I was listening to "I was made to love her", by Stevie Wonder on Spotify and was staggered how good the bass was. Would this be JJ playing, certainly sounds fantastic any way. Regards Jim[/quote] It's Jamerson - although there has been some dispute that it was Carol Kaye but let's not get into that. It's Jamerson.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1145289' date='Mar 1 2011, 12:10 AM']The bass on Je T'aime was played by Russ Stableford.[/quote] Yeah we did that one in another thread only recently didn't we?

[quote name='redstriper' post='1145192' date='Feb 28 2011, 10:54 PM']Yes, I take your point - I've been silly haven't I................ and in public too [/quote] I'm with you Steve. The shocking thing really is that despite the fact that many shops don't stock flats at all or if they do it's probably a single packet of Roto Jazz, and despite the fact that you can hardly ever get to try out a bass with flats fitted in a shop, and because they don't stock flats anyway you can't get a free packet unless they are probably Roto Jazz which I don't like anyway, and despite the wonderful very limited freedom of choice offered by monopoly capitalism ... despite all this almost a quarter of respondents to your poll say they prefer flats and I presume are actually using them.

I found that slightly scary.

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='1145142' date='Feb 28 2011, 10:19 PM']Just ordered my first set of flats to try on my "Ric". Theoretically not the obvious string choice, but I did jam with a trad rock n roll band a few months ago and loved the sound and feel of them as a punter and guest player. I figure I can always use the bridge pup on the ric and/or tweek the tweeters on my berg AE12's if I need some more zing. Looking forward to having a dabble[/quote] Even Rickenbackers had flats originally. McCartney had flats on his Rick.

[quote name='Sawtooth' post='1145140' date='Feb 28 2011, 10:18 PM']The 760 FL's are a lighter guage than the '54's then? I really play fingerstyle blues more than anything and that led me to '54's and the golds. I probably got a bit carried away on the wave of this thread! Edit: thanks for your advice![/quote] The 760FL will be very fine for fingerstyle blues.

[quote name='Sawtooth' post='1145108' date='Feb 28 2011, 10:01 PM']Cool! I must check out some more of his work. I was just debating which flatwounds to buy after reading Basschat posts most of the weekend when I spotted this topic, talk about fate. I have whittled it down to Labellas 1954 or Pyramid Golds. Or Ti's Choices, choices ... Edit :Which would work with fingerstyle and a pick best for this sort of sound? (sorry to hijack the thread)[/quote] The flatwounds being used in the 1960s are likely to have been La Bellas or Pyramids (or possibly one or two other makes but similar). I don't think TIs were available then and they are rather different to the La Bellas and the Pyramids. La Bellas (especially the 54 set) and the Pyramids are higher tension whereas the TIs are very low tension. The La Bellas and especially the Pyramids can sound dead straight out of the packet whereas the TIs are relatively bright and middy. For that 1960s with a pick sound I'd go for the La Bella 760FL (not the 54s) or the Pyramids or also worth a try are the GHS Precision flats. But that's not to say anything against the TIs which are fantastic strings.

Wikipedia, Discogs, Beat Patrol and several others all say Odgers. Beat Patrol says: [quote]Even the recording details have a strong, mysterious allure of their own (until recently, the identities of Gainsbourg’s English session musicians, now known to be Vic Flick, Brian Odgers, Big Jim Sullivan, and Dougie Wright, were uncommon knowledge).[/quote] Wikipedia says: [quote]Alan Parker - guitar; Brian Odgers - bass; Douglas Wright - drums; Alan Hawkshaw - piano; Jean-Claude Vannier - arrangements, Orchestra Director; Jane Birkin - vocal parts (and posed for front cover art)[/quote] So, who knows?

[quote name='Spoombung' post='1145047' date='Feb 28 2011, 09:30 PM']Ah, one of my favourite bass sounds of all. There's been a few threads about this. Look at this: It's a Burns Bison, palm muted and played with a pick - and likely to be Odgers not Flowers[/quote] Excellent.

[quote name='Sawtooth' post='1144955' date='Feb 28 2011, 08:52 PM']I've read this also and I believe he's mentioned somewhere in the liner notes, I'm looking now but it's all in french and rather long. Maybe both played on the sessions?[/quote] I've just been checking too since I saw your post. Wikipedia and several other sites say Odgers and so far I've not found a mention of Flowers at all. I had a vinyl of [i]L'Histoire de Melody Nelson[/i] a long time ago and Odgers was retrieved from my memory because I also knew him from John McLaughlin's [i]Extrapolation[/i] album. However my memory is often imperfect.

Sold Simon my Squier Classic Vibe Jazz. Great communication and a tidy meet at Pease Pottage services. Highly recommended.

I think the bassist will be Brian Odgers. I don't have the track to listen to though.

My Lakland Decade came with flats but only because I asked Lakland for them when I ordered.

The fretless version of the Epiphone Zenith has stock La Bella black nylon flats. I'm waiting for GAK to get one in, although I wasn't very impressed with the fretted roundwound version.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1144789' date='Feb 28 2011, 06:50 PM']And the '62 AVs are supposed to be replicas of basses that were produced before rounds were even invented - this can't be right......... can it?[/quote] No it can't be right. Not right historically, not right sonically.

[quote name='KiOgon' post='1144782' date='Feb 28 2011, 06:47 PM']Yeah OK - in a way 'nice', plays nice - but I'll never understand this 'relicing' lark - not for me, it just looks like a bass that's never been looked after - who wants to pay A LOT for that?[/quote] I agree on the relicing but I still liked how it played.