Sumbabba

Hello all I've got a big gig next week and I wanted to beef up the sound of my Yamaha SLB200 with a Fishman Full Circle pickup. Has anyone fitted one of these and is it easy to do? Or is it a job for a professional? Cheers!

Well I had a quick look on Amazon and the intermediate and advanced books looks great so I went ahead and ordered them from the publisher. Looking forward to getting started on them!

Sounds brilliant, thanks for the review. I have some reading experience and I know all the terminology from when I studied classical guitar as a youngster. Is there much I could learn from the beginners book you reckon? Or is it all about introducing notes and symbols etc?

Really? I'm up to 2 hours of arco a day already! You should try the Alexander Technique, it really helped me.

[quote name='JwK94' timestamp='1377732799' post='2191261'] Don't see the problem here? Bass players aren't allowed to jam together? If you don't like jazz bass guitarists then fair enough, but I quite enjoyed most of this (apart from billy Sheehan if course, who keeps inviting him to jazz gigs?!) [/quote] No, bass players are NOT allowed to jam together. It's a maximum two bassists on any stage and only under strict supervision. Everyone knows that, it's one of the first laws of music...

This video makes me want to harm myself.

I've been thinking about getting a teacher. Not sure if I'll go down that route, I'm enjoying the trial and error of working it out myself. Mikrokosmos is a series of pieces written by classical composer Bela Bartok. There's 6 books with about 30 pieces in each one. They start off dead easy and end up being proper concertos. The idea is that the slow progression in difficulty gradually gives you the skills you need to play the proper stuff. I've been using it to learn piano and it's amazing. Thanks for the suggestions I'll check those books out

Anyone?

Hi all I've recently entered into the world of arco double bass which is proving to be more difficult than I could ever have imagined! It's made me realise that my guitary left hand technique is complete rubbish so I'm basically starting from scratch. With that in mind, I'm looking for a Mikrokosmos style book of progessive pieces that I can use to practise and develop my upright playing. Anyone know of anything like this? I'm using Strictly Strings - String Bass/Book 1 at the moment which is ok but I'd like to find something better. Thanks in advance! - S

Yep I'm I'm well chuffed! It's a copy of my last VM4 which got nicked in May so I've done my fair share of waiting! The top is imbuia, the body is alder and the tone it produces is bloody amazing. Can't wait to gig it (I'll be guarding this one with my life).

Here she is, just arrived today. The gap in my life has been filled again!

I agree with all of the above. [size=1]But you're right, guitarists ARE dorks ;-)[/size]

Sorry that was an endorsement not an explanation! Check out this description of the technique on the website of the school where I trained - http://www.atstudio.co.uk/aboutat.html

As I've posted elsewhere, I couldn't play bass for about ten years due to chronic tendonitis. I tried everything from yoga to physio to health supplements and nothing worked. Finally tried the Alexander Technique and it worked a treat. I'm now back playing gigs (including four hour afrobeat gigs), I've started learning (potentially tendon melting) upright bass and the benefits to my playing (not to mention overall wellbeing) have been so great that I recently studied to become a teacher. Hamfist is right, there's a lot of very rational, intelligent teachers out there but there's also some away-with-fairies types too. Comes with the territory I think. In my experience it's all about finding the right teacher with an approach that suits you. What I love about the technique is that it's not about getting it right or wrong but about finding out what works for the individual. Couldn't recommend it highly enough!

My last VM4 got nicked in May but I ordered a new one with the insurance money with pretty much the same spec. It's just been built and is on it's way & it looks even nicer than my last one. I was gonna wait until it actually arrived before I posted pics of it but I'm just too excited! Thanks thieves!

Definitely give the Alexander Technique a go. I had to stop playing for around 10 years due to severe tendonitis in my left hand. I tried everything, physio, yoga (which actually made it worse and effed up my knees!) but the only thing that worked was AT. Not only did it work but it totally improved my whole approach to playing and practising. My teacher is 74 years old but she's still running around like a lunatic and travels all over the world to do workshops. She also runs a teacher training course where I trained to become a teacher, although I don't actually do any teaching at the moment cos I'm too busy playing gigs!

You've got me started now! Here's a short film about afrobeat maestro Dele Sosimi (who used to play keyboards for Fela in Egypt 80 and MD'd for Femi Kuti) who's band I also play in. The man's a blimmin legend! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n64JoJUEPw

And here's our YouTube channel with more vids... http://www.youtube.com/user/Destroyerstv

The Destroyers live at Moseley Folk Festival in Birmingham earlier this year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urQxeCGgr9Y&feature=youtu.be

At the moment I'm playing with a load of musicians who are scarily good (e.g. turn up to a rehearsal and sight read stuff in 7/8 at ridiculous tempos etc) and it really inspires me to practise. I think putting yourself in situations where you're playing with people better than you is great motivation to improve. Also I want to get into playing jazz and so I'm practising my II-V-I's in every key every day on the double bass as well as learning tunes. When I've got a lot of gigs on I find it more difficult to get into a routine but now it's quite quiet & I can really get inside the music. Makes playing the bass much more satisfying!

I have a massive favour to ask of one of you lovely Basschatters. It's a long shot but I thought I'd give it a try anyway - can anyone lend me an acoustic bass guitar for a BBC London Radio session tomorrow morning? I promise I'll protect it with my life & be eternally grateful! It's for this magnificent artist - http://www.bevleeharling.com - signed to the ultra-brilliant Wah Wah 45s label and who was Gilles Peterson's album of the week a few weeks back. I'm sure there'll be future guest lists a-plenty and massive amounts of goodwill for anyone who's feeling generous! Thanks for reading, S.

Forgot to mention that the serial number is 10172.

Thanks mrdirtyrob! It's had a huge response which gives me a glimmer of hope...

And thanks Mornats! The incredible response from friends and complete strangers has been very humbling.

Thanks Uke!