oldslapper

Dom, I think the full "scripture is thus:-" In the beginning there was a bass. It was a Fender, probably a Precision, but it could have been a Jazz - nobody knows. Anyway, it was very old... definitely pre-C.B.S. And God looked down upon it and saw that it was good. He saw that it was very good in fact, and couldn't be improved on at all (though men would later try.) And so He let it be and He created a man to play the bass. And lo the man looked upon the bass, which was a beautiful 'sunburst' red, and he loved it. He played upon the open E string and the note rang through the earth and reverberated throughout the firmaments (thus reverb came to be.) And it was good. And God heard that it was good and He smiled at his handiwork. Then in the course of time, the man came to slap upon the bass. And lo it was funky. And God heard this funkiness and He said, "Go man, go." And it was good. And more time passed, and, having little else to do, the man came to practice upon the bass. And lo, the man came to have upon him a great set of chops. And he did play faster and faster until the notes rippled like a breeze through the heavens. And God heard this sound which sounded something like the wind, which He had created earlier. It also sounded something like the movement of furniture, which He hadn't even created yet, and He was not so pleased. And He spoke to the man, saying "Don't do that!" Now the man heard the voice of God, but he was so excited about his new ability that he slapped upon the bass a blizzard of funky notes. And the heavens shook with the sound, and the Angels ran about in confusion. (Some of the Angels started to dance, but that's another story.) And God heard this - how could He miss it - and lo He became Bugged. And He spoke to the man, and He said, "Listen man, if I wanted Jimi Hendrix I would have created the guitar. Stick to the bass parts." And the man heard the voice of God, and he knew not to mess with it. But now he had upon him a passion for playing fast and high. The man took the frets off of the bass which God had created. And the man did slide his fingers upon the fretless fingerboard and play melodies high upon the neck. And, in his excitement, the man did forget the commandment of the Lord, and he played a frenzy of high melodies and blindingly fast licks. And the heavens rocked with the assault and the earth shook, rattled, and rolled. Now God's wrath was great. And His voice was thunder as He spoke to the man. And He said, "O.K. for you, pal. You have not heeded My word. Lo, I shall create a soprano saxophone and it shall play higher than you can even think of." "And from out of the chaos I shall bring forth the drums. And they shall play so many notes thine head shall ache, and I shall make you to always stand next to the drummer." "You think you're loud? I shall create a stack of Marshall guitar amps to make thine ears bleed. And I shall send down upon the earth other instruments, and lo, they shall all be able to play higher and faster than the bass." "And for all the days of man, your curse shall be this; that all the other musicians shall look to you, the bass player, for the low notes. And if you play too high or fast all the other musicians shall say "Wow" but really they shall hate it. And they shall tell you you're ready for your solo career, and find other bass players for their bands. And for all your days if you want to play your fancy licks you shall have to sneak them in like a thief in the night." "And if you finally do get to play a solo, everyone shall leave the bandstand and go to the bar for a drink." Yea, and it was so.

[quote name='Marvin' post='901453' date='Jul 21 2010, 11:21 PM']Hmmm, well I spent this evening putting in some practice, not all slap, and it sort comes in fits and bursts - sort of 4 notes followed by pregnant pause then f@ck up. I say 4 notes, but 2 are dead, bit like me, in fact most of the time all the 'notes' I think I deadened them. Sure is going to take some practice. [/quote] Keep going Marvin, small chunks at a time.......................................unless it's dairy milk...........then it's the whole lot in one go.

Marvin, you could also look at Alexis Sclarevski and Stu Hamm Slap bass DVD's (probably on you tube), if you want to just check out some (IMHO) of the 2 best instructional videos. There's no substitute for 1:1 with your tutor of course, but to supplement dipping your toe in the slap bass pond (often murky) you could do worse. John

Never really thought about "what strings", until I discovered DR Fatbeams 45-105. On my bog standard Fender Jazz, never use anything else. I feel like they give me control of tone, never thought strings could do that before...?

Thanks for the additional pics guys. Thanks to all for coming and making it a great afternoon. A nicer bunch of guys you could not meet, only bass players could do this!! John (who now wants an Alembic crossed with a Goodfellow that looks like a $$, has the Attitude of an ...Attitude and looks like a T-Bird, played through an EBS - Traynor hybrid valve amp and Barefaced cab)

[size=5]Some crap pics from me[/size]..........[size=5].better to follow from thestick[/size] [size=4]Some Alembic love from BassBod & Dom[/size] [size=4]The Rig of doom[/size] [size=4] BassBod's axes[/size] [size=4]Thestick setting up his gear[/size] [size=4]O'slapps EUB and rig[/size] [size=5] Some pipe/bass/drum (eventually) freeform jazz...........nice![/size] [size=6]Some Pre-ampynes[/size]s [size=5]Ian Aird doing weird & wonderful things on his old Shergold[/size]

Dorset Bass Bash successfully concluded. Thanks to all who made it, hope you enjoyed it as much as me. Soooo much bassy goodness. Roll of hounour (hope I got this right): - Marky L: Klystron 500 & Neo cabs, USA P Bass, Shuker P & Gibbo T-Bird The Stick: EBS Rig, Sandberg, USA Jazz, GB Spitfire, Jeff Finch 6 string. Dom: Home made fretless acoustic basses & variety of shop accesories. Captain Rumble: Barefaced 1x15, Eden Highwayman, Tecamp Puma & beautiful Warwick $$ Barely 4 LMII, ABM 115 & beasty Yamaha Attitude (scalloped frets) Deaver: LMII, Barefaced, Alembic, MTD & Jap P bass BassBod: Sadowsky, Alembic, Fretless Jazz, Trace GP11 Pre, SWR Pre & Alembic Pre amps MartinDupras: GK Fusion 550 head, Traynor Basemaster, Hartke cabs & 5 string Bongo. Oldslapper: LMII, mini 48 & 115, bassix EUB & acoustic upright. Just goes to show us country bumpkins have got some tasty gear. Ian Aird gave a lovely demo of what you can do even with 2 strings missing on your bass, ably supported by Ben Cornish on drums and Dom on pipes. Derek Halliday gave some useful advice on care & setups. Pics to follow when I can get on the other P.C. Thanks again chaps, very useful 3 hours that flew by, thanks also for letting me have a go on so many beautiful guitars. John

[quote name='silentbob' post='891583' date='Jul 10 2010, 08:35 PM']Do you have room for a bedroom noodler? I would really like to try and get down to this if i can sort out some childcare.[/quote] Totally. Be great to see you there. John

[quote name='josh3184' post='891173' date='Jul 10 2010, 11:05 AM']I'd say about £400 would definitely get him a sale, £500 if he wants to hold out. I've seen much higher end Warwicks go for £500 but then again I've seen a 4 string version of your friends bass go for that so go figure [/quote] Thanks Josh. Looking on here, I think you're bang on.

Any ideas folks on values of second hand one? I don't have one, but have tried them, they're a bit heavy for my old back, but mate is selling his and asked what he should sell it for. I have no idea, but said I would ask. Think he paid about £950 new, 5-6 years ago. The Warwick prices seem to be going down, unless they're custom jobbies. Thanks, John

OK folks! It's all on for tomorrow. Modest line up of visitors for the afternoon include: Derek Halliday, local luthier on set ups, general guitar care. Ian Aird, local bass wizard, giving a "nutty solo jam thingy" for your entertainment Ben Cornish, local drum tutor, ACM graduate and all round groove merchant providing some errrr...drums for your groove sir. And of course you!! With your eclectic mix of wood and wires. Here's my mobile number if anyone needs help with directions, etc. 07772 335138

I'll probably bring my battered old double bass and Bassix EUB for anyone to have a bash on, specially if you've never played an upright before. I'll chuck some side markers on so you can get an idea where you are. I don't expect to get much playing done, if any, as I'm sure to be busy. But happy to bring my minis along (4x8 & 1x15) if anyone fancies hearing them with the LMII? Not very exotic gear I'm afraid.

[quote name='Slaphead' post='889867' date='Jul 8 2010, 09:13 PM']I will try and get there Alan POOLE[/quote] Hi Alan, welcome to the forum, and hope you can make it on Sunday. John

[quote name='Clarky' post='889713' date='Jul 8 2010, 05:42 PM']Sorry to be the village idiot but how do you record a clip for YouTube?[/quote] Haha I have no idea either! But I have 2 kids who do.........I knew they'd come in useful one day,

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='889596' date='Jul 8 2010, 03:31 PM']I sold a 70s Fender P on eBay, and posted a little videoclip I made into the auction: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m8GOgZTvwA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m8GOgZTvwA[/url] It shows that the bass: a ) Really existed b ) Growled like a good'un c ) Rang true and clean all the way to thehighest frets No doubt it also fuelled GAS in prospective buyers... despite my lousy playing. It went for a fair bit more than I hoped. So... I think it's a good thing. People like to see stuff.[/quote] I liked this. You saw a bass, you heard a bass. Liked the way that you can show stuff like "no fret buzz", "intonation" (can be adjusted I know), controls work, etc. and of course, actual condition Thought the playing was v. funky too nice Rocco style. I guess you don't have to play anything dazzling, just pluck some strings and turn the knobs to show pup, tonal, volume contrast and play up the board chromatically to show how frets play? (I'd probably get a mate to play mine if I wanted to dazzle potential buyers ) Think I'll use the old "tube" next time, particularly if it generates a bit more interest. Thanks, John

[quote name='OldGit' post='888960' date='Jul 7 2010, 09:23 PM']Meanwhile another way to hear your bass "sans amp" is to press part of it against a piece of furniture with some kind of cavity. Say a bookcase or wardrobe or even a wooden table. This gives just a little resonance and volume..[/quote] +1 I love playing my bass like this, our kitchen table has a great "boom" to it. Don't know if your "sans" amp playing improved your technique in itself as I don't know what your usual practice routine is. But I often find any change in my practice routine helps, no matter how small a change. I wonder if the change in location, or being relaxed on holiday helped, or playing daily (if you don't already).....whichever way, glad you've noticed improvement, nothing better to encourage yourself with.

Nice Stu. Nice having the transcriptions, and a great encouragement for the students to have their's posted too. Enjoyed the sample sound clips too. Any plans to add more transcriptions over time? Cheers, John

Agree..and voted so. It's the length that gives the slender elegant look IMV......probably why I'm not a fan of the headless variety, too stubby. However, I have to say that I do like the look of a Les Paul, a beautifully designed guitar......and a Les Paul bass......oh! suit you sir..oh!

[quote name='olipaulo' post='885742' date='Jul 4 2010, 07:52 PM']I'm such a dumb ass... I'm sorry, but I wasn't reading this post since a long time ago, and I thought that the meeting was on the 17-18 weekend. I already bought my flight for the 8-11 weekend, to see the wife back at home... I really wanted to go, because I'm leaving the UK at the end of this month... It was a chance to trade sounds, experiences and stories with you all. I really hope all the work done by John may be rewarding for everyone who attends. Thank you, John, for all your efforts, and once more, I'm sorry... Maybe another opportunity will rise![/quote] Shame, but I always say that family is more important. We can still share stories and experiences through the wonder of basschat...

[quote name='Marky L' post='886016' date='Jul 5 2010, 07:37 AM']I am hoping to but at the moment it is looking a bit dodgy. If I can I'll bring my Shuker JJB, a P bass too? If I can make it I could bring my cabs n head too. What is the address again?[/quote] Shaftesbury Christian Centre SP7 8PH. 2-5 p.m. [url="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1C1SKPC_enGB359GB359&q=SP7+8PH&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Shaftesbury,+Dorset+SP7+8PH&gl=uk&ei=434xTPGLFKWy0gS2vrn8Cw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA"]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1C1SKPC_...ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA[/url] See you then Marky.