kjb

Question, how does a player get to the position to be playing with well respected band leaders like Mike Stern, other than on the merit of their playing ? Also what do you think Mike Stern's reason was for hiring Janek ? I always associate 'chops' to mean Speed and technique. I'm pretty certain that it takes more than chops to land a gig with Mike Stern. By the way, I'm the same age as Janek, so I certainly don't have a schoolboy crush on him, anymore than you do on the much younger and far better looking Hadrien Feraud.

I always email or phone before ordering, just to check it is in stock. I also ask what delivery service they use, and when to expect it. If they don't reply or are vague in their reply then I order from somewhere else.

The drummer sets the tempo, and the band should play to that. If he's speeding up or slowing down, then that's poor playing. Being on or behind the beat is feel, not a timing issue. I hate it when I play with drummers whose timing is poor, ie 1/8 notes aren't 1/8 notes etc. A drummer I did some gigs with a couple of years ago was awful. I had to stop playing and just hold a note when he did a fill, I never knew where the next 'one's was going to be, it was never where it was supposed to be. He couldn't quite understand that playing a fill of maybe 1/8ths or 1/16ths across the kit, they were supposed to be in specific subdivisions of the bar. To his mind as long as he hit his drums 8 times during a fill then he was doing it right. I spend probably 95% of my practice playing to a metronome, and I always spend part of the time with it set at a quarter of whatever tempo I want to play at, so it's just playing on one beat per bar, and I move that beat around, and sometimes have it on an off beat.

One of my college tutors does rock of ages. I did a week at Birmingham old rep theatre a couple of years ago and loved it. I had a week of rehearsals with the cast, then a week of the show. The hardest thing was concentrating and not missing cues, you may have 30 odd bars of not playing, there were tv monitors on each side of the pit showing the on stage activity, it was very easy to start watching that instead of the MD.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1333719198' post='1605697'] He is truely stunning. I didn't massively dig his solo album but as a sideman he is incredible. He has come on leaps and bounds from when he was playing with John McLaughlin (and pissing off Gary Husband IIRC), and he was no slouch then. But every time he plays he seems to be a bit more 'on the button', which is fine form considering he was on fire when he played on [i]Industrial Zen[/i]. I think the praise Hadrien deserves goes far beyond his technique. To whoever it was above who tried to say I 'don't know what I'm talking about', please try to be more constructive than that. You cheapen the discussion with lazy quips like that, it may be that you're a Janek fanboi who doesn't like the tone of the debate here but you could do more good by explaining your thoughts and feelings in depth. [/quote] What I mean by saying you don't know what you're talking about is this. You state that janek is a 'pretender'. Which is a bit of an odd thing to say considering his position in the New York jazz scene. He regularly plays with Mike Stern for example, a gig he shares with Anthony Jackson, Chris Minh Doky anfRichard Bona. Now that's not a gig that gets offered to just anyone. Have you ever seen him play live ? He's a visiting tutor at my college, and I've been lucky enough to see him play a couple of times at master classes. He is an an incredible player.

I don't drink anyway, but I see it that a rehearsal is just that. A let's have a few beers and play some music is something else entirely. There's going to come a point where it becomes a waste of time. And truly no one really plays better after drinking, they maybe just feel more comfortable with what they're doing. And drinking on a gig is something I would never do.

I like it, but I like everything he's done. Each album is different which I think is cool and important. And Chris2112, no disrespect but I don't think you know what you're on about. You don't get Janek's level by being a pretender.

Just use the same screws and a large washer. Simple, effective and cheap.

Definitely go for a used bass, you'll get far more bass for your money. I got my Sei for just about your budget, and I doubt you'll get a better 5 string jazz for the money. The Gallery would be my first port of call. And you really can't find a better selection than the used section on here. There's a nice sadowsky for sale at the moment.

String gauge doesn't come into the equation. Matt Garrison uses 100, 80, 60, 40, 28's on his basses. Those who've said to use a heavier gauge strings aren't allowing time for their ears to become accustomed to the sound of the high C string. High C strings do sound odd compared with E's and A's etc, but you get used to the sound. When I play a 6 string bass the heaviest C I use is maybe a 30. A tip is don't change to C string when you change strings, just put a 4 string set on. It's cheaper and the high C won't sound so odd.

Korg pitchblack, I tried the pitchblack and the polytune together, and the pitchblack was without doubt the most accurate. There are threads on talkbass about the two. The pitchblack is also easier to see on stage, and its better built too.

They're not exactly transparent though, even bypassed there's a definite change in the sound of your instrument. It won't just be your bass but with a more versatile eq control section. Looking at the price of that on eBay, I think I underpriced my u retro on here last week.

Is the ramp new ? I'm guessing it is, I'm sure the one I tried had a plastic ramp.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1333369199' post='1600603'] Beautiful instrument, the one I tried in the gallery just didn't do anything for me though. Far too polite sounding for my tastes, however they are usually custom instruments so I guess you can cater the sound to your own tastes. The build quality was great [/quote] I guess a lot depends on the pickups and preamp that are installed. I've got Kent Armstrong pickups and (at the moment) a John East u retro preamp in my Sei jazz, it really is a tone monster !

Just do what I do. I just use the existing screw that comes with the strap buttons fitted to the bass, and a largish washer and semi permanently fix my strap to the bass. Saves loads on strap locks that have inherent design faults, and makes for a much more secure fixing.

I don't see the point in TAB. It doesn't tell you how to play the notes, only where they are on the string. That's assuming that they're right in the first place, most you see on the internet are pretty hopeless. Learn to read and write music, you'll find it so useful. It's so much better to train your ear to pick out the part and then write it out in standard notation. I'm studying bass at ICMP, you don't see TAB there. Everything they give us is in standard notation, so we're reading pretty much all of the time. It's amazing how fast you pick it up.