EssentialTension

Jack, with the TIs you can try (1) playing very near the bridge where there is less elasticity to dig into or (2) playing right over the end of the fingerboard where less is less space to dig into. I do (2) with TIs.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1450468489' post='2933210'] Great example here of how what in theory should be dead simple can become quite demanding: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwws6XPZ1JM[/media] [/quote] Fantastic.

Peter Guralnick, [i]Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom[/i] ... [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweet-Soul-Music-Southern-Freedom/dp/1841952400/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweet-Soul-Music-Southern-Freedom/dp/1841952400/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8[/url]

I have never used 760FX but my guess would be that they will feel looser than the 760FL but not as loose as the TIJFs. The TIs are highly compliant or elastic under the fingers in part because of their construction and not merely because of their gauge.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1450891025' post='2936792'] I remember seeing Roscoe Beck with Robben Ford at the Jazz Cafe´ many years ago. He had 2 identical looking signature basses (custom shop 4 and 5 string) and they sounded quite different. I preferred the sound of the 4 string ('tighter' IIRC), but neither were shabby in any way. [/quote] They can have sounded different for a wide range of reasons unrelated to 4/5 string necks ... and like you say 'neither were shabby in any way.

Even the same model bass is made of different bits of wood, and the pickup may be wound slightly differently, etc. So, even if you could hear a difference, you couldn't know it was because of the 4/5 difference.

[quote name='Bloc Riff Nut' timestamp='1450887845' post='2936755'] muscle shoals? [/quote] ... or all three ... and several others.

[i]Haram[/i] = forbidden (the opposite of [i]halal[/i]) [i]Harem[/i] = forbidden place

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1450779179' post='2935713'] Based on my limited experience of being in a band the only one I'd add to the many great contributions here is: Thanks for sending the 368 pages of stuff for me to print and learn, but before I learn the bass parts, can I expect to be playing what is recognised as the bass part, or is that already covered by the keyboard player's left hand? Maybe this is more easily covered by the question, "do you have a keys player?" "Yes." "No, thanks then. Bye" [/quote] [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1450779888' post='2935728'] This is the one question I always ask. I'm sure there must be really good keys players out there, but in forty years I've not had the good fortune ever to meet one of them. [/quote] I play with a pianist who was originally a bassist - so thought is given to how his left hand and myself work together. Sometimes unison lines, sometimes harmonised, sometimes no left hand bass on the piano at all.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1450789158' post='2935868'] IME there are very few hollow-body basses with a 34" scale length. Off the top of my head I can only think of the Warwick Star Bass (but not the Rockbass version as that's only 32") and the Epiphone Jack Cassidy Bass. [/quote] You're correct they are usually short-scale but there are some long scale. Gretsch do one, Duesenberg too.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1450738568' post='2935454'] Good evening everyone. My question; has anyone ever tried replacing the neck on a short scale bass with a 'normal' standard scale neck? Please excuse me if this is a stupid question but would it work? The reason for asking is that I love the sound and look of the Fender Modern Player Starcaster but I just don't get on with short scale basses. So I thought why not get a Starcaster body (plenty on eBay) and bolt on a P Bass neck? Is there something in the physicality of scale that might make this unfeasible? Thanks in advance. [/quote] The general answer is no as already pointed out; but it's not totally unfeasible as long as the new neck when attached has the second fret where the nut was on the old neck when it was attached. On a 34" scale bass with a capo at the second fret, in effect you have a 30.3" scale bass. That might be close enough if there was plenty of adjustment available at the bridge saddles.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1450778139' post='2935685'] Same here, unless it was The Mission, who I guess should be allowed to have a mission statement. Having said that I very much doubt if The Mission have a mission statement. [/quote] ... and, of course, if The Blues Brothers were putting the band back together and were on a mission from God. ... and talking of The Mission, I did a private party gig last spring and the drummer from The Mission, Mike Kelly, joined us on percussion for the last couple of songs.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1450740592' post='2935482'] Any context that will make your decision easier. I might ask for mire detail on the bands mission statement and if they feel the mission is realistic? Blue [/quote] I would never join a band with a mission statement.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1450699240' post='2934912'] unfortunately though, a lifetime is not long enough for most of us to learn and improve that skill. Most successful songwriters have an innate ability that the majority do not have. [/quote] I wouldn't object at all to the idea that some people have some inborn abilities of one kind or another - call it innate or genetic or from a previous life or whatever - but people can still practice and learn and get better. Some people may not make much progress but some will make lots of progress even if there are others more talented (and/or more practiced) than them. Conversely, some talented people may not make full use of their talents. People's abilities in songwriting, as in most things, are not rigidly fixed at birth and nor do people's latent talents always become actually realised. That some people may be 'gifted' (for want of a better word) doesn't mean that others cannot improve. Although, and of course, many others never will.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1450695785' post='2934876'] The vast majority of the music buying / gig going audience are non musicians... They don't care how difficult something is to play, or how cleverly arranged it is, a large percentage aren't even that bothered about what it sounds like... For alot of people (especially the younger generation).The music people like (and just as importantly the music they want others to see them liking) is a fashion / lifestyle choice and the style is definitely more important than the substance. [/quote] Sometimes non-muso people don't care what genre something falls into and they are quite capable of liking The Sex Pistols and The Bee Gees etc. Sometimes that is even true for musos.

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1450617251' post='2934303'] ... However for me, talking about Zeppelin and the Pistols in the same breath is like doing the same with Chopin and Bobby Crush (sorry Bobby) - an outrage ... [/quote] Jimmy Page liked The Pistols, and The Damned ... [url="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimmy-page-sex-pistols/"]http://ultimateclass...ge-sex-pistols/[/url]

I've had a few basses with built in tuners but never really used them except at home. At a gig it's always TU2.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1450685574' post='2934767'] It's easy to come up with original song names, but only if they are long and/or unusual/humourous. E.g. I don't think anyone has ever written a song called "You Leave those Galapagos Tortoises Alone", "My Baby Puts Saffron in her Custard", or "Stegasaurus Reggae Stomp". [/quote] They sound like unreleased Zappa tunes, or maybe Beefheart.

[quote name='ians' timestamp='1450466131' post='2933182'] Good song writings not a skill u can learn it's a gifted ability which some have but most of us don't have, believe me if I had it I probably would'nt be sat here clicking away on a basschat forum. [/quote] Songwriting is most definitely a skill that can be learned and improved upon.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1450379102' post='2932271'] Ah...Ok. It's staggering the amount of talent that went through Capitol back then. [/quote] And still available ... [url="http://www.capitolstudios.com/"]http://www.capitolstudios.com/[/url]

Who is the band leader? Even if it's only in a loose sense?

If I had a bass with a maxed out truss rod then I wouldn't put even higher tension strings on it. I'd would get the trusss rod fixed.

[quote name='Lo-E' timestamp='1450417673' post='2932546'] I certainly have as well - and still do from time to time, as does most everyone. Even consummate musicians blow a clam every now and then. Perhaps this means bassists can flap as well? Having some reasonable guitar skills, but being a bassist primarily, I tend to admire guitarists who play extremely rhythmic styles. The first person who springs to mind is Nile Rogers. I don't know if I've ever heard him play a sloppy part. Ever. And he's just one example. Musicianship is something posessed by musicians, not instruments, and I don't think any hypothesis that suggests the players of certain instruments have it easier than the players of others can hold much water. To play any instrument extremely well, one has to put in a lot of work even if that instrument is a tambourine. [/quote] Agreed.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1450386036' post='2932364'] I agree with that , but in the spirit of the thread, playing bass is like being a centre back, you don't have to do anything flashy but you have to be solid and consistent, a guitarist can like a forward , blow hot and cold, take risks and still come out on top [/quote] I understood the spirit of the thread to be that guitarists have it easy and aren't really as good as bassists - bass is a more exact science while guitarists can flap. I don't agree with that.