scalpy

Rumour is next record will produced by Rick Rubin. I think their trick has been to use the bass as guitar gimmick to distract from the fact he's got a great rock'n'roll voice and the whole aesthetic of the band is really cohesive, lyrics, subject matter, structures, graphics etc. essential today more than ever.

Tempo advance. A little fiddily at times but you can program set lists and share them, do tempo changes and time signature changes, and do mind blowing sub divisions with ease. I like the feature where you can change the sound or mute certain beats, so if you have a piece in five for example 3+2 beat 4 can have a separate accent. Not rocket science but really useful.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1424777595' post='2700258'] Bass player should always have the final yes/no on the drummer. If the bass cant gel with the drums there is no hope. I dont think the other band members realise how important the combination is until its not working. [/quote] That's how the Stones did it with darryl Jones. All the choice of the worlds most acclaimed bassists and Charlie got the final word. Although apparently the Miles Davies link didn't hurt!

Married the singer in our band- problem solved.

[quote name='madshadows' timestamp='1424635722' post='2698625'] Overend Watts and his Swallow Bass !! [url="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/196188127487288240/"]http://www.pinterest.com/pin/196188127487288240/[/url] John [/quote] This very bass used to hang in the dinosaur market in hereford, a fine vintage shop owned by Pete in the 90s. I asked to have a go and the staff politely declined, purely for the reason they didn't think the bantamweight adolescent such as I was would be able to pick it up!

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1424628720' post='2698492'] [attachment=184738:3765692550_b8f60121b7_o.jpg] [/quote] Great call, Johnny Colt in the Remedy video played one and I lusted after it something terrible.

The tempo advance app on my phone is my new religion. It really helps, especially if you start muting beats. However, not everyone I play with works with a metronome and I do get frustrated when I feel like I'm dragging the band forwards or holding them back when they rush. The daft thing is you really don't need to practice with the metronome that much before you develop the knack of telling the difference +\- a few bpm. I've been doing a show all week and the MD was a great vocal coach but not so hot on rhythm. We finally got her to slow down the finale to the correct speed and the audience started clapping along all of a sudden. Bpm is the law!

I just wanted to be in a band. Can't sing, not mental so couldn't be a drummer, hated playing the piano and my fingers don't move that fast so as I saw it couldn't be a guitarist. That left bass. I've been averaging 80 gigs a year for the past few as well as being a classroom music teacher. The flawed logic has kept me in biscuits after all!

Digital desks play a part I'm sure. The sound man thinks, here's the preset for kick eq, compression is a memory bank away and voila! I'm going to really light the blue touch paper now and suggest the lack of bass is due to them insisting on a pre eq send.... Stand well back!

Interesting fact about thunder. They all drive Toyota rav4s. Apart from the singer, who drives a Porsche.

Stop notes at the right time.

Well seasoned hardened cynic of gigging in London here. Be prepared to do all the promotion and legwork yourselves, expect your fan base to travel with and then play to just them as the 'promoter' has booked 4 bands from opposite ends of the country, the other bands won't have the courtesy to watch you and then the venue will have a go at you for not being a big enough draw after you've taken a day off work, paid the congestion charge, God knows what for parking, food and drink and you could play your local to the same crowd without the wallet rape and overwhelming sense of your soul evaporating. But it works for some.....

20 feet from stardom's on there, loved that. The muscle shoals doc left me with a lump in my throat on more than one occasion, great watch. Will watch the eagles one asap.

Used to love making music. I remember one letter said something along the lines of 'did you know right said Fred have used Hendrix's 3rd stone from the sun for I'm too sexy?' Directly underneath it was a letter that went, 'that bloody Jimi Hendrix, he's only ripped off right said Fred for 3rd stone!' What a fabulous introduction to the anorak/ wit culture of musicians.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1423728914' post='2688276'] A Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by The Black Crowes. Gorgeous soulful/gospel-fuelled stones-esque rock. Love it [/quote] Have it! Love that record

Janis Joplin- Kozmic Blues Pin you to the wall sincerity and the band is stunning.

Aguilar db359? Looks 2 or 3u to me, and the one for sale in here is really tempting!

Another plus one for breaking them into 2 and 3 beat groupings. What I found helped then was learning some rhythmic licks that fit 2s and 3s and then you can hear them in the drums and think of lines much more easily.

Oh, and while I think of it, good damping technique helps too.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1423511451' post='2685791'] Coated strings eliminate it a little bit too [/quote] String squeak was driving me (and the engineer) nuts on a session, to the point I had to do the track one chord at a time. A guitar tech friend of mine recommended coated strings and a thinner gauge to boot, as the wrap is more abrasive on heavy strings and the cause of the problem. It really helps, as does fast fret.

Beyoncé may be great but her dance moves are well documented ripoffs- Tina turner for one and the single ladies video has carbon copy moves from west side story's America. All worked out for her by someone else. Her vocals may be powerful, I think she sings great but generic soul/Pop. Kanye needs to get some perspective!

Absolutely any tune, even the root fifth mid tempo snooze-athons you find in some shows was impossible with the Duracell bunny (running low on go go juice) of a drummer I had to work with in December.

Like a lot of basschatters on here I have aspirations of making more music professionally and being bit of a blagger have seen the occasional glimpse of life on the pro side. I know I'm still a weekend warrior in reality but I'll share two observations. Working for a songwriting/ production team with a producer whose clients include McCartney, John Martyn and madness you realise there is no fuss. The computer goes down, no worries. The guitar sound is not right, no worries. The part the drummer comes up with isn't right, no worries. (He's played for grace Jones and sly and Robbie, he trusts his ability to come up with something else, he's put the hours in, both practising and listening) If I'm playing with that lot, it's quiet, it's relaxed and it's postive. Secondly with regards to gear. The drummer has an Audi estate full of gear, dw kit for heavy, mapex Jazz kit, two cymbal bags stuffed to the brim etc. the guitarist has a gorgeous les Paul, a baja tele and his strat is a bottom of the range squier with stock pickups and crack in the body running the entire length. When he plays it it sounds a million times better than my function bands guitarist playing his 63 strat that cost 5 figures. I take the gear in my signature and a takamine acoustic, an octave pedal and a ibanez synth pedal. If there's a problem with my sound I change pickups. If that doesn't work the problem will be my playing and the part I've come up with. Which neatly sums up both observations, playing in top flight studios with top flight people you have to be flexible, both in terms of attitude and musicianship. It's very difficult to articulate that on a forum.

Once was told by a punter 'I haven't had such a good time since I saw Gary Glitter'. Not quite sure what she meant now.

Krist novoselic on the nevermind album. Johnny colt- black crowes, southern harmony. Both crucially pick players. Can I play with a pick? Nah.