dlloyd

It can be quite a complicated subject, but basically "consonance", when two notes sound good together, comes from the harmonic overtone series. Rest your finger at the 12th fret of the A string (exactly half the length of the string), pluck the string and remove your finger... you get a note that is higher (a harmonic) than the note you would normally get on an open string... without going too far into the mechanics of it, that higher note is twice the frequency of the open note... or what we call an octave. Do it again at the 7th fret (exactly third the length of the string)... same story, but even higher... you get a note that is 3 times the frequency of the open note... or what we call a perfect 12th... or a perfect fifth above the original harmonic. It's also a bit quieter than the original octave harmonic. And so it goes on, getting higher and higher and quieter and quieter. If you keep doing this, you find that the harmonics that end up being the loudest form the intervals that sound the best when played together because they complement each others' overtones. The most widely used scale in western music is the major scale... it's formed from combinations of low order harmonics and produces nice, consonant melodies and harmonies. Without explaining the maths behind it (which aren't complicated), you get a scale comprised of the following intervals: 1: 1/1 2: 9/8 3: 5/4 4: 4/3 5: 3/2 6: 5/3 7: 15/8 8: 2/1 So if you wanted to create a major scale from A (55Hz), you'd get: A = 55.00 Hz B = 61.88 Hz (= 9/8 x 55) C# = 68.75 Hz D = 73.33 Hz E = 82.50 Hz F# = 91.67 Hz G# = 103.13 Hz A = 110.00 Hz Sounds lovely, but what if I want to play in B major? Let's assume we're filling out a piano keyboard... we're starting from the B we got from the A=55Hz scale we've already built: B = 61.88 Hz C# = 69.61 Hz D# = 77.34 Hz E = 82.50 Hz F# = 92.81 Hz G# = 103.13 Hz A# = 116.02 Hz B = 123.75 Hz Some of the notes we don't have, so we can add extra notes (black keys or whatever), and some of the existing notes are okay, like the B, E and G#, but look: C#, 5/4 x A 55Hz = 68.75 Hz C#, 9/8 x B 61.88 Hz = 69.61 Hz F#, 5/3 x A 55 Hz = 91.67 Hz F#, 3/2 x B 61.88 Hz = 92.81 Hz If we use the existing C# and F# from the A major scale, B major will sound terrible! In fact, every major scale except for A major will sound terrible. We get past this by reducing the consonance of the A major scale to make it sound just "quite good" instead of lovely so that every other key sounds "quite good" instead of terrible. We do this by making all semitones equal. It's a log2 scale, so we use a formula reflecting that 1: 2^(0/12) 2: 2^(2/12) 3: 2^(4/12) 4: 2^(5/12) 5: 2^(7/12) 6: 2^(9/12) 7: 2^(11/12) 8: 2^(12/12) The 2 comes from the doubling of frequency per octave. The denominator, 12 comes from the number of subdivisions we want (like frets, semitones) and the numerator is the number of frets/semitones above the reference note. All semitone intervals sound equal now so we call it 12 tone equal temperament.

I can honestly say that the only Stingray I've played that was a disappointment was a pre-EB MM. And I've played a lot of Stingrays.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1374266672' post='2147127']Of the few bits I've heard, I found his general playing pretty ordinary and nothing to get particularly excited about. [/quote] What do you think of this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mZErvdXVM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mZErvdXVM[/url]

I can think of one major plus point for relics: less worries about dings affecting resale value.

Excellent! Well done!

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1373109780' post='2133796'] So are you interested in trades? [/quote]

The thread I posted last night was apparently misunderstood by a moderator and I got a ticking off for trying to subvert marketplace rules (to be fair, the wording in my original post could easily have been misinterpreted).... So, to clarify: This is not my bass, but I think it is a rather wonderful thing (fairly uncommon too, as I understand). [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Special-Bass/141006872332?_trksid=p2047675.m1986&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29%26meid%3D8867556196637000007%26pid%3D100013%26prg%3D1013%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D181161325286%26"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Special-Bass/141006872332?_trksid=p2047675.m1986&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29%26meid%3D8867556196637000007%26pid%3D100013%26prg%3D1013%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D181161325286%26[/url] If I wasn't trying to buy a house at the moment I would be buying it as it appears to be a bargain. As it is, I cannot afford to act on such a whim, so I'm bringing it to the attention of fellow bc'ers. (Again, for the moderation team's benefit, I do not own this bass, I am not trying to sell it, I have never seen one of these in the flesh and I have no association whatsoever with the seller!)

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Special-Bass/141006872332?_trksid=p2047675.m1986&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29%26meid%3D8867556196637000007%26pid%3D100013%26prg%3D1013%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D181161325286%26"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Special-Bass/141006872332?_trksid=p2047675.m1986&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D29%26meid%3D8867556196637000007%26pid%3D100013%26prg%3D1013%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D181161325286%26[/url] If I wasn't trying to buy a house at the moment, I wouldn't be posting this.... £220????

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1372928457' post='2131640'] But they're not though. Since the Mumfords have been around I've been to plenty of small folk gigs (from legends like Martin Carthy & June Tabor to up & coming acts like Emily Portman) where there have beens loads of beardy adolescents at the start, only for them to start leaving after 15 minutes or so because it's not "jump-up-and-down-with-your-friends"-y enough for them. [/quote] But do some of them stay?

[quote name='1970' timestamp='1372918184' post='2131537'] Can someone explain what the tremolo lock is? [/quote] A little button that locks the tremolo in place, stopping it from moving.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oyOQY7KGtY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oyOQY7KGtY[/url]

Wow... I was thinking, "Nice beginner bass" ..then I saw the price...

I'll be getting one of these. Great news.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1372878554' post='2131129'] Why do I like them then? It's just this or it's just that - These aren't reasons to like or dislike something. Face it, of you liked them, you wouldn't be saying stupid things like "they are just written to appeal to students". Bollocks! No band is going to pigeonhole themselves like that. [/quote] No, I do like them. I was trying (badly) to use a different term to indie pop. Pop that appeals to a music-buying audience that aren't kids. Nothing wrong with being a student, by the way... I did four different degrees.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1372871877' post='2131031'] Indie Rock/Pop? I thought they were English Folk/Rock! I'm confused! [/quote] It's just pop songs written to appeal to students, played on acoustic instruments.

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1372833004' post='2130370'] That's great, but I was hoping for a bit more than that. [/quote] I don't really see the need to analyse it, but it's simple, well-crafted, danceable Indie Rock/Pop songs with banjos. Some people won't like it because they don't like Indie Rock. Some people won't like it because they don't like banjos. Some people won't like it because it's popular. Some people won't like it because they're folk fans, they see it being proclaimed as folk and don't see it as authentic enough.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1372772612' post='2129727'] Poor "Tracy" she sounds like one mixed up *****. [/quote] I'm assuming you're talking about the tune Sam posted rather than the real person. It's not the best version of PoT that's out there... here's the original version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsZ_1mPOuyk (which I think is quite a pretty tune) There's an article about the real Tracy here in which she talks about the tune: [url="http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/continuum/Content?oid=1190028"]http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/continuum/Content?oid=1190028[/url]

I quite like them and was a little surprised by the reaction some have to them. I quite like Bellowhead too... they look like they're having fun on stage, which is often sadly lacking in folk music. Are they genuine folk artists? I really don't care... I find the concept of folk authenticity embarrassing. I'm curious as to what people think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7eRrTKmYO0

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1372750119' post='2129353'] Don't be! Most of zappa's, if not all his solos were spliced from live recordings. Pitch raised to get it in the right key in the studio. Doesn't mean either of them can't play. Dan [/quote] Not quite what I meant. A few years back Jaco's first wife, Tracy, posted about it on the JacoPastorius.com forum (which has long gone). She said he used to drive her nuts with that tune... I find slightly it hard to believe it wasn't a completed tune when he went into the studio. To the OP... Portrait of Tracy isn't that difficult to play. You just need to break it into manageable sections. I spent a few weeks working on it and pretty much nailed it, and if I can do it, anyone can. The only part I can't do is the stretched artificial harmonic D# (second fret B with the sixth fret harmonic). I just can't reach that far. I use my thumb at the neck pickup instead.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1372725058' post='2129275'] Oddly enough, his touch is pretty poor in that vid. It is NOT the Portait of Tracy version he recorded. Then again, that was many spliced sections. [/quote] Was it? I'd be surprised and a little disappointed if that was the case.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1372428040' post='2125660'] Hmm. Not sure. I think I had the impression that Black was slightly more, simply as it works for more people. Could be wrong - as I said, just a personal impression! [/quote] Black and Natural Stingrays are very common and easy to find, so they're usually cheaper

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1372420686' post='2125528'] I've just found some Precision Select EMG model SEP pickups at home I've had for quite a long time. Does anybody know if they are any good? Thanks... [/quote] They were EMG's budget range. The only bass I've had them in was a Hohner Jack, which sounded okay.

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1372362490' post='2124944'] I don't [i]know[/i] that 100%; do you know otherwise?? However, the general consenus is that it was stolen, not long after it got banjaxed by a taxi-cab and then repaired, or something to that effect. [/quote] What we do know is that during this period Jaco was suffering from extreme hypomanic/manic episodes that were more pronounced than those he had suffered previously. He'd lost/rejected his family, his home, his career and was living rough. It's a horrible illness and makes people prone to patterns of behaviour, particularly impulsiveness, that most people find impossible to relate to. It might be difficult to believe that someone would lose a bass of that calibre through anything other than theft, but he'd already thrown another favoured pre-CBS jazz into Hiroshima bay (after shaving his head and painting his face black) and he'd already smashed "the Bass of Doom" into 10 pieces by throwing it down a concrete stairwell during an argument... or was it a girlfriend who threw it out a taxi? There's a couple of different stories as to how the bass got smashed, and this underlines another feature of bipolar disorder... it causes sufferers to distort the truth. Have a read of this: [url="http://www.bipolarcentral.com/articles/articles-107-1-The-Three-Worst-Things-That-Bipolar-Disorder-Causes.html"]http://www.bipolarce...der-Causes.html[/url] Okay, Jaco said his bass was stolen, but he wasn't the most reliable witness. If it was genuinely stolen, it should have been a simple matter for the family to get it back, surely? This is what Mary Pastorius wrote about him: [quote][size=4][color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The truth is that my father was mentally ill. He was suffering from a severe chemical imbalance, manic depressive illness. He didn't do anything to catch it or cause it, although he definitely aggravated it with many things. His warped perceptions of reality and all of the bizarre behaviors that went along with them can be attributed to manic episodes that sometimes reached psychotic heights. Some people can't or don't want to believe this. Some people have put him on a pedestal and can't accept him being "flawed". Some people, on the other hand, think my father was a f***up who couldn't get his s**t together, thus birthing the manic-depressive "excuse" to tidy up some messy memories.[/quote][/font][/color][/size]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1372325143' post='2124233'] For me, the thing is still stolen property but, as many of us who have spotted our nicked gear in a hock-shop, the dealer will undoubtedly say to the cops that he 'bought it in good faith'![/quote] How do you know it was stolen?

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1372108055' post='2121811'] The way I question I always have about it all is this: It's widely known and accepted that Jaco's bass of doom was stolen from him. When it surfaced again all those years later it is still stolen property isn't it? [/quote] Depends whether it was stolen or whether it was sold/given away/pawned/left on a park bench by a homeless person on a bipolar hypomanic/manic episode.