Sibob

My band is kinda techy, not to much, but enough to be fun and still flow well! I play on a 4 string no problem, but because its heavier music (as is most 'prog') we tune down to C. Most of the techy part of it is different time signatures, sometimes changing every bar etc, lots of unison lines. I do a tiny bit of tapping, in like two songs for 1 verse or something, but because my band has 2 guitars, then theres not much room for stuff like that, so i try and keep my playing supportive and musical (the tapping parts i wrote are when the singer's guitar drops out anyway). We've never done any reading with this band, we learn and write stuff together by jamming, although theres a fair amount of counting while we're getting new passages learnt. Go have a listen at www.myspace.com/firstsignsoffrost Every band is different, just practice the stuff you like and if when you get to uni and find a band whose songs speak to you, then it'll be easy! Si

[quote name='lee4' post='52514' date='Aug 29 2007, 09:17 PM']Glad to see I'm not the only one who plays like this.[/quote] I'm sure 99% of finger players play like this Heres pictures of the 4 string and the 5 string pickups side by side: [url="http://imageshack.us"][/url] [url="http://imageshack.us"][/url] You're right in that the pickups look the same size on the 4 and 5, but my point is that because theres more space on the 4 string (ie one less string) the overal distance between the top of the pickup where you might anchor your thumb at the E string is quite large. I played an Ibanez Ergodyne a few years ago that had the same problem, felt really weird and basically unplayable to me cos i'm used to the Jazz distance between Pickup and E. Having said that, if you just play with a Pick, u can ignore all that! Si

Played with Sikth, Enter Shikari a loada times, Devil Sold His Soul, toured with Exit Ten all with FSOF, again, not top flight stuff, but i've barely started Played with the Bluetones with my old band Tin Soldier. I'm playing on the TV program 'Jimmys Farm' in October, i'll be sure to let you know when it airs lol. Its something to do with Jamie Oliver apparently. A good bass player friend of mine plays for Steve Harley and has just come back off their European tour where they supported the Rolling Stones on two of the gigs. He said Daryl and the guys are really nice! Si

Also...whats the difference between normal sized pots and mini pots?? *edit* Apart from the size!! Cheers Si

Perfec! Si

The only flats i've tried in anger were Roto's, they were pretty nice! Another one to think about! Also i gotta put in a word for Newtone strings, as i do any chance i get . They don't have flats listed on their site, but because everything is handmade/custom made, i'm sure they could make some for you. Their roundwound sets (ANY guage/tension/scale length you want) can be had for around £20 delivered for a 4 string set. [url="http://www.newtonestrings.com/"]http://www.newtonestrings.com/[/url] Si

Looks nice, a guy i knew a few years ago had one of Tunes lower passive models, that was pretty good for the dosh! The problem i'd have with this particular bass i think is the size of the pickups, or length rather. Because i anchor my thumb on the pickup to play my E, on this the pickup looks a long way from the E string compared to my jazz, or any other bass i've seen tbh Let us know what its like! Si

Looks like a cool project! Looking forward to seeing it progress. I've got a similar project going at the mo, but dunno whether to just post everything when its done, then people won't have to wait for the outcome haha! Si

RSH, you're the first guy i know who has said they can't get a decent sounding E from a 350watt 2x10 Ampeg combo Si

+1 for Mike Walsh Si

Bod, thats interesting what you said about a 500k resistance affecting where the variation occurred compared to a 250k pot Well like i said, i purchased two linear pots, my dad said he has a few 250k Log pots hanging around so once i've sanded enough rout away to fit them in, i'll try them both, maybe make some sound clips, see what people think Oh and the bass is my old Encore P-Bass, mid nineties when they were actually ok basses lol. Nice Solid & weighty (not heavy) feeling body, same size and shape as a standard P (have laid a Fender P on top of it), not like the scaled down light-as-a-feather p1$$ Encore make now. Will have an Allparts maple Jazz neck fitted soon. I'll post before, during and after pics of the project in the 'Build' forum soon Cheers Si

So the old pots have "A500k" then the ohm sign after it, so obviously its two 500k pots (overkill for a passive bass?), dunno what the 'A' prefix means. They looked kinda small, but i didn't think anything of it! Just been to Allparts and picked up two 250k linear pots, got them back and tryed placing them in the bass, and they're too wide for the routing!! Cool.... lol So i it looks like the originals were 'mini' pots?! I think i'll just try sanding some of the rout away so the full size pots fit in! Si

I would say that the way the Volume increases/decreases on my Passive USA Jazz and my P-Bass copy is completely different. The Jazz is a smooth transition and the P-bass is how i described above, to my ears the later is pretty unusable in a gig situation if looking for subtle changes. Cheers for quick replies btw! Si

I thought Log pots were the ones with all the variation at one end of the pot?? Now i'm confused lol The volume pot in the bass at the mo will have very little variation when turned, then will jump in volume, this to me is completley pointless! Si

Ah apologies, my bad, didn't read the spec properly. You should buy another 4 ohm cab as an extension! Running an 8ohm with a 4ohm won't blow the head as its obviously not running it under 2ohms, but i believe the common rule is that both cabs should be the same ohm rating!! So either sell/swap the ashdown for a 2 ohm cab, or i have heard of people modding their cabs to change the ohm rating! Si P.S. Get an Ampeg 410HLF for extension, that would be a monstrous rig!!

[quote name='rsh_bassist' post='51596' date='Aug 28 2007, 10:34 AM']I just wondered if anybody would be good enugh to answer me this. Im currently playing though an ampeg BA 500 combo with an ashdown deep 2x10 cb as an extention. By itself the ampeg puts out 350 watts, but i just wondered what im going to be putting out with the ashdown cab. Its an 8 ohm cab. Will it still be 350, or will it ioncrease at all? Please help, im really quite confused........ Tom.[/quote] The clue is in the name of your combo With an 8ohm extension speaker, which is what you've got, the head will be capable of 500watts Cheers Si

I'm going to replace the pots on my P-bass, because.....well.......they're knackered and before that.....they were rubbish! Ummm, what do i need? are there different quality pots? I'm a bit of an electronics r-tard so any info or suggestions is great! I'd be ordering from Allparts as their in the same town as me = no postage Cheers Si

No-ones fingers are ever to small, and those that have problems usually overcome them with in-genius technique inventions lol. [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0S1h9Q_Me8"] DEBRA KILLINGS[/url] doesn't seem to have a problem and look at the size of that neck I generally teach one finger per fret for things like scale runs etc etc, but for general groove playing and for muting purposes etc i use my index finger and pinky for most of the work, using my ring and middle to mute and obviously play notes when needing the extra stretch. The more you play, the more your hand will naturally stretch out Si p.s. i do kinda want us all to list our finger sizes now haha

The stock pickups in my passive US Jazz are fantastic IMO, ask silverfoxnik as i believe he liked them to! lol Again, the sweet spot for me 99% of the time is bridge: 100% and neck: 30-40% Good luck! Si

There are some that argue, and i agree in most circumstances, that a 'Performance' is more important then hitting every note completely perfectly. If the musician and crowd is having fun, why change anything! I'm not a big chili peppers fan by a long stretch of the imagination, but if you ask Jo 'non-musician' Public to name a bass player, i reckon the vast majority would come out with Flea, so he's gotta be doing something right! They've done their years of hard graft, they can basically do what they want, and fair play to them! Si

Haha, i just got the topic title, very funny, although in seriousness for some ladies i believe it is a physiological problem. My girlfriend plays guitar and makes the complaint often. Go check her (all girl) band btw [url="http://www.myspace.com/theshebeats"]THE SHEBEATS[/url]. Tal is a good player who will no doubt get better, but for me it does highlight the 'Who You Know' rule, not taking anything away from her, she's obviously worked hard, but probably more importantly she's made contacts!! From a female bassist perspective if you close your eyes it all sounds the same, sex goes out the window. Having said that, i could listen to this all day, [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aNGQor3dED8&mode=related&search="] GAIL ANN DORSEY [/url] Si p.s. I concur that a decent female bassist is a novelty to some degree, simply because comparatively there aren't many ladies that play bass, let alone at that level. Just like Eminem was a novelty as a Caucasian in a typically non Caucasian genre of music, no-one means to play the race or gender card, but sometimes its the easiest way of explaining an anomaly.

Lovely looking bass! I really don't like their headstocks though, to me they just look a bit........ 'special' lol And no i don't like headless either! Si