Grimalkin

I don't ever remember thinking or claiming Jaco was a godlike genius. Innovator, yes.

Ok.

Try it and find out...

I use a movable anchor, if I have to anchor the thumb on the E string say, the thumb mutes the E and the upper side surface of the thumb mutes the B string above. I don't anchor my thumb on the B constantly, I move up when playing the higher strings, keeping the picking pattern over three strings. That's the grid I like. Picking the G string with your thumb anchored on the B, is too far away for me.

I suppose it depends on what you are playing. Jaco spent 9 years on the head for Donna Lee, he spent more time trying to mute it that actually playing the line. On a four string.

You're going to play all the tunes on the B string? I do prefer the sound of an open E rather that the fretted version. More ring, a different timbre. In fact, though you can use it, I'm not too fond of the B string response past the 6th or 7th fret. The string was designed to reproduce low notes, too far up the neck and you start to hear the overtones.

The most use I have for fretted fives is having two octaves in one hand position, that is handy for pit work, transposing songs or synth lines below the range of a four. Playing standard lines I like to have all the inflections, slides etc. plus the different timbre you get playing up the neck, more fill on the thinner strings and no extra string to mute. I would consider the high C on a six the preserve of chords or soloing/solo pieces... One advantage I've found is fretless. Lower notes played up the board equals shorter scale, easier intonation than the very bottom end of the neck. I'm more likely to go for the right timbre rather than convenience though, even if it means a bit more work.

"Slick Nick stole a reindeer from the zoo Fell down my chimney with a keg of brew..."

"Tell me baby, do you recognize me? Well, it's been eleven years, it doesn't surprise me..."

It's a bit of a pain swapping basses at smaller gigs too. I've detuned the E to D on a four string for a few tunes in the past, they obviously have to be played with a different fingering. Still not great because of the string tension, I use lighter strings so it feels a little slack.

Extra string, extra muting. Even if you only use it twice in a gig you still have to concentrate on muting it throughout.

They wrote great melodies, lots of them. Two great writers competing, that was the chemistry of it.

The bass has never been a fix-ay-shon In its rel-ay-shon Lars won't allow emancip-ay-shon Due to his Anatidaephobia.

At least he didn't have to use 'con-stip-ay-shon' or 'in-flay-shon' when out of words with rhyming phonetics... The track sounds like a load of bits put together, especially the intro, nothing sticks. Not a cause for e-lation.

Pluck over the fretboard.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” Aldous Huxley - Music at Night and Other Essays. Indeed, but with such a limited selection, I feel familiarity would breed contempt eventually. I'll take the silence, and what I have inside my skull.

What if 'There's No One Quite Like Grandma' by St Winifred's School Choir just happened to be playing on the radio in the background instead... Would it have the same endearing quality?

It never fails to amaze me how bland a lot of the choices are on Desert Island Discs. Some lists are so cloying that I'd rather be eaten by a shark before even reaching the island. The rest of your days stuck with The Lighthouse Family... 'tis true, there are fates worse than death.

That's probably why it needs a setup. Things change.

"I am the War Pig Goo goo g'joob..."

Thicker strings have a wider vibration pattern, when you are talking fractions of a millimetre it could be that the A is slightly lower. Fret the first fret on the E string (F) then with the elbow of your right arm rest it on the very last fret of the E string, then with your index of your right hand, feel the gap between the string and the fretboard around the ninth fret, there should be a gap, ideally of around a millimetre +/-. If the neck is too flat, there isn't enough clearance. A slight movement due to temp will be noticeable.

I don't think it's a string thing at all personally, it's to do with the setup.

I was wondering what effect temp would have on carbon fibre too, but this is what it does apparently: "Carbon fiber is a fantastic material with a variety of applications. However, one potential downside of carbon fiber is its negative coefficient of thermal expansion. This property means that when the material is heated, it will actually shrink. This property can be problematic in certain applications where temperature changes are expected." https://www.tencom.com/blog/understanding-carbon-fiber-thermal-properties