funkle

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1380447036' post='2225242'] That Liebman article is gold dust. [/quote] So true. Whenever you ask someone what they do when they transcribe, you get a huge variety of answers, and there's Dave Liebman laying down some serious gospel.

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1380467333' post='2225687'] Yeah I think that's exactly it, that's how I've started working this week and it's much harder which means it must be more beneficial, right?! [/quote] Takes ages....It feels a lot more satisfying though! I'm still trying to nail every single note absolutely perfectly of Skate U by Snarky Puppy - I think I've been working in it off and on for a month now! But it is really satisfying. The solo is pretty straightforward too, but just soon tasty and well phrased. I'm definitely learning some nice language for minor chords, though I'd say strictly speaking it's more big band funk than jazz. But it's what I wanted to do.

I'm going to stick the link to the Dave Liebman article here too - just for ease. http://www.daveliebman.com/earticles2.php?DOC_INST=13

My most recent epiphany was realizing that when transcribing, I was putting the horse before the cart - writing it out on paper before I had learned how to play it by ear first. Once I have reversed the process, I feel like I have been making more progress, though it is still slow! (That particular bit of advice came from a sax player, Bob Reynolds, BTW.) I usually end up playing a bar or two from the tune, working at getting it right, then move along to the next bar, but running the bar or two from before that into it. You end up doing a lot of repetition as you learn the solo/bassline that way, and really internalise it. Repeat until whole section/song done. Then I kind of go a bit along with the Dave Liebman article - wow that is a good article, and way more detail/depth than what I have tended to do.... I think tunes should probably be all learned by ear also, rather than from chord chart first. Time consuming though! Doesn't the classic quote go 'The answers to all your questions are in your record collection'?

I have a Big Baby 2 on order. Can't wait!

It might be that something like a Yamaha BB425 might suit? http://m.uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical-instruments/guitars-basses/el-basses/bb/bb425/ Pete

I have modded a lot of basses in my time. If you're not going to sell it, do as you wish. If there's the slightest chance of selling it, your mods may not add value if the next buyer does not want another pickup. I have modded basses with different pickups, piezos, bridges, preamps, tuners, the lot. In my general experience, mods add little to value though many are aesthetically pleasing and fun. As an aside, most basses sound the way they are going to sound and modding it to change that is generally expensive and awkward. I'd probably find a Fender PJ bass that fits your needs and buy it. It's probably easier than paying a pro to mod your current bass and if it turns out you don't like the PJ setup (and I have never found it that useful) you can sell on easily.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379529775' post='2213835'] Bone of contention..I am lugging a sub...and I don't yet go through it FFS..!!!! having said that.. I am loving my bass monitor rig anyway, so anywhere we use this P.A ... small halls, the bass backline can reach anyway [/quote] [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379530046' post='2213840'] As a general point, I embarked on my bass monitor some time ago when I used Turbosound stage monitors..and SWR started the Bass monitor concept with their SM amps and Goliath cabs...way back when. The thing about only hearing very clean is that it isn't very forgiving...so you need to be up to that...or rather want to hear that coming back at you. [/quote] Big +1 to this. I got my first Acme cab (B2) 5-6 years ago and was astounded by the low end but also by how much I needed to pay attention to technique. There's stuff I see bassists doing on Youtube where I sometimes wonder how they would sound through 'honest' amplification. I'm not all boutique...I do enjoy typical bass amplification. I did a jazz jam session last week playing through another bassist's Minimark - http://www.markbass.it/product_detail.php?id=86 - thought it sounded pretty good and decent enough volume. But the geek in me wondered about off-axis dspersion, etc...

[quote name='DanEly' timestamp='1379529765' post='2213834'] I tried the 4 Stringer MIM in GAK, they had a new different models of the 5er. I'm not really so hot on the Marcus basses but one of them had some lovely gold/brass frets and the one I tried out was diffidently a MIM - 1 peice pick guard etc I wasn't sure about it because it just felt a bit bland. Nothing was jumping out at me. In passive I wasn't a fan at all. It might have been the amp I was going in to. Not a huge fan of orange. It just didn't seem the same as the jap one on tried a few moths before. The build quality was nice though. Tried out the fender Japan JB66j and that blew it out of the water! [/quote] Good to get feedback. Negative is as useful as positive! If I have to order over t'internet I'll make sure I have plenty of time to return it...

I was in Guitar Guitar in Glasgow. They had Alto, Mackie, Samson, Yamaha, and QSC PA gear. I think the QSC was kind of the top of the line of what try had. I asked about RCF (the HD10a has some very interesting specs) but they didnae have it. JTUK, didn't see the wooden QSC KW12 though I'd like to give it a go at some point, alongside the K12. You're using the KW12 in your band PA rig aren't you? Mmm, Meyer gear. How much money do you have? And roadies... I have a sense though that bass guitar amplification has evolved naturally to fill the niche that most people require. I guess most players like bass cabs with significant mid colouration and that push goodly amounts energy at 80-160 Hz, with a small amount of energy in the 40-80Hz area. An SVT stack rolls off pretty heavily below 80hz, I think...and is perennially popular.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1379507831' post='2213465'] And futhermore there is no ambiguity about whether you are going up or down - you don't have to learn to hear the gap between 2 notes as both a 5th and a 4th depending on inversion, its just a single "key-function" that you are listening for. [/quote] Again, I agree. Are you my long lost brother?

[quote name='DanEly' timestamp='1379507752' post='2213464'] Have you tried good old GAK? I tried a MIM out a week ago in the shop. Mind you I wasn't [i]that [/i]impressed [/quote] Thanks man. I think from the website the GAK ones may be MIJ? Or at least the photo is MIJ; perhaps the specs refer to the newer MIM? ([url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-marcus-miller-jazz-bass-natural-maple/15834"]http://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-marcus-miller-jazz-bass-natural-maple/15834[/url]) Whilst searching for the Marcus MIller, I tried an ash/maple Fender USA Deluxe today. A very well made and crispy sounding bass. Fender have really upped their game in the last few years. Another USA Precision I tried sounded really great too, very resonant. Both had great feeling necks. What didn't you like about the Marcus Miller, Dan? Pete

As a bit of feedback, I went and tried out some QSC K Series powered PA cabinets today. Took along my Squier CV 60's Jazz and my Zoom MS-60b to use as a preamp (it works for the Bergantino IP112ER, so I thought I'd try it out the same way.) The K8 (specs at [url="http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/K_series_K8.php"]http://www.qscaudio....K_series_K8.php[/url]) low end only sounded so-so without the deep switch engaged. The mids and top end sounded very pleasant and 'honest'/faithful in their reproduction. With the deep switch engaged, it had *just* enough bass (less than I like to hear as an Acme fan), but this lowered the overall volume possible. Did not deal with slapping well, not that I do much, but it gives an idea of how a cabinet deals with transients. Overall, my Acme B1 covers this area for me better, though of course it doesn't have huge max volume either and also doesn't put up well with big spikes from slapping. I note -10db point for the K8 given as 61 Hz. The K10 (specs at [url="http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/K_series_K10.php"]http://www.qscaudio...._series_K10.php[/url]) seemed like a winner for low-moderate volume jazz stuff. Even without the 'deep' switch engaged, it had a pleasant low end and a very honest mid and upper end. With the 'deep' switch on it really beefed up. Again, though, the max volume out of the cabinet was not as much as I had thought it could have been. The specs say -10db at 56Hz. Not dissimilar to the Audiokinesis Thunderchild 112, which has a similar -10db point ([url="http://www.audiokinesis.com/product_ak_thunderchild112.html"]http://www.audiokine...erchild112.html[/url]). I didn't have time to test the K12 though I will probably go back and do so at some point. I suspect the K12 will be where it's at in terms of bass guitar reproduction/low end. On the whole I really liked the mids and top end of the K8/K10. Very honest, I thought, and in some ways more flattering than my Acme cabinets. I assume it's the quality of the compression driver they use. Perhaps the Zoom pedal wasn't pushing enough voltage to drive the K series, though it seems to be fine for various power amps according to Talkbass users and IMO also drives the Bergantino IP112ER just fine. Perhaps I'll try putting the bass through a mixer first, or take along my Aguilar TH DI box for the next run. For now, for me, the Bergantino IP remains top of the heap in terms of volume and serious low end for a small size of cabinet. My Acme B2 has been supplanted by the Berg and it is just about on its way out the door to a happy buyer. I do have a Barefaced on order which I think will be very exciting. I'll post back here with results after a trial/gigs. Pete

Anyone know who has stock of these? I've checked the usual suspects (Dawsons, Guitar Guitar, Google!) but not a lot of MIM models are coming up...