Chris2112

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLYfokL-cL0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLYfokL-cL0[/url] My favourite track with Larry playing on it. Great feel, great tone and presence in the mix. He just seems to move around so intelligently on this one, and adds that 'drive' into the tune.

How draconian! There is a bloke in Newcastle called Steve who busks with an electric bass and amplifier. Loud, and bloody brilliant! It seems a little silly not to let you use an amp for something like a double bass, something that would sound lost with it. But then I suppose if you start letting someone use an amp whilst they're busking things could soon get out of hand. The buskers in London really impress me, the ones with the good spots (like in busy tube stations) take it really seriously!

Don't forget, Wal basses were once hopelessly unfashionable! Time was at a point in the 90's where they were considered 'uncool', and once were described to me as the aspirational bass of the pub band bassist. I suppose this is due to the fact that they were one of the 'new' basses of the 80's pop scene, and if it wasn't a Status then such and such would have played a Wal, etc etc. Mind you, people though Brit Pop and Oasis were cool in the 90's so that proves they knew naff all! As such, their values plummeted and it was a while until the experienced a renaissance. I remember seeing a slightly used mk2 at The Gallery for £1200, within living memory, as it were. I've always loved them though I don't think they're worth the prices they command these days. The prices seemed to shoot up as it began to seem likely that the days of them being produced were numbered. Sadly, now that they're being made again the new price list has stayed truly top-shelf, whereas they were once something everyone could aspire to.

Basses can vary. Some people prefer their dots in the same place as where they would be on a fretted bass, some prefer them to be on the actual note, the quickest way to be sure would be to either play the note into a tuner, or even better, have a tuner in the loop of your amp whilst you're playing, so you can better hear what you're doing. Don't forget that your left hand technique has a lot to do with the note you produce too. If you're used to playing fretted basses, you can get into a lazy habit of just trapping the string down at the fret with the pad of your finger. You may find you get better results on the fretless if you keep your thumb on the back of the neck and fret with the tips of your fingers for a more accurate way of doing things. Have a close look at your fingers the next time you sit down and play fretless. See if the pressure you're exerting is going to the right place. You may be 'squashing' your finger down further than you think which can lead to sharps!

I find the best Fender jazz basses are the new ones, built in the old style! Take my Fender Jaco Pastorius fretless. Superb construction, excellent playability and awesome tone, all from a 'new' Fender built to the old design. The thing with newer Fenders (at least the high end ones) is that they have a consistency lacking in the older ones. Take some 70's jazz basses, for example. Some sound fantastic and are a reasonable weight, but some sound cack and some of the ash bodied ones can weigh a tonne.

Plus, when you go to New York you'll inevitably try something else that you really enjoy and end up wanting one of those too!

Sounds like a cool idea. I love a bit of 'home innovation'!

Yes, it's dreadful. Now, Albert Niland's cover...

They are fairly rare things, they seem even more rare than their fretless Buzz brothers! So you may struggle to find a shop stocking one outside of a shop round London picking one up used. Wasn't there a Basschatter trying to sell a lurid green one with EMG's here recently for quite some time? He may take an offer.

It didn't really strike me as anything wild, though the 'grating' quality of it did start to irritate me quite quickly. Enjoy it though, you'll probably keep it for a week or two and change your mind, subsequently changing your gear and then deciding a couple of years later you want that tone after all!

I am thinking about picking up a cheaper synth, just something to mess around with when I can't be bothered to get my bass out.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1344190828' post='1760989'] hmmm I don't see any Jeff Berlin just as well cos he so brill nobody else would probs be able to handle it anyways [/quote] He is indeed great. Some of his stuff is mind-bendingly tough. [i]Dixie [/i]and [i]Tears I[/i][i]n Heaven[/i] to start with! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpq7nkq3uTQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpq7nkq3uTQ[/url]

Could be that 'ole Ampeg, they can often sound pretty flat.

Ah, the joy of playing seated gigs! I still loop the cable under my strap though, to provide a safety barrier!

I still don't see the attraction. Something for blokes of a certain age...?

All depends on the type of gigs. The seated gigs I've done are far less dangerous for an instrument than a bunch of clapped out, wannabe-punk hacks jumping around a small stage at the Dog and Bollock with the bass amp resting on a bar stool and a beer crate for a footrest. That said, I wouldn't own a bass I wouldn't gig but some have passed through my hands at times when I haven't been gigging so have never left the house save for the recording studio!

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1343847458' post='1756342'] Oh god... that's all I need - do you reckon it's 'better' than a 5 string NT thumb? [/quote] Better? No, just different. The difference in weight/balance is minimal despite the shorter body on the NT. Maybe the NT weighs slightly more. The main difference is in the tone, with the NT sounding a little more mellow to my ears and the BO having a little more 'honk' in the upper mids, and a bit more of a noticeable bark in the tone overall. The biggest difference is - or was - the price. BO Thumbs used to be a great bargain but some of them have some pretty optimistic price tags attached, even used!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1343846399' post='1756317'] I saw a thread on warwick jack sockets... and was shocked to find not one reference to chocolate! [/quote] I was going to say, the issue with Warwick jacks is generally that they are sh*te! My Thumb and Streamer never had issues, but they lead pampered lives. Some of my friends who have had Warwicks have had jacks replaced time and time again!

What a piece of tat.

Some of the old Wal basses had quite a pronounced V shaped neck, some slightly less so - they generally all feel a bit different! Not my favourite neck profile but definitely something I could live with without issue.

Sold Ale my Warwick Streamer Ltd Edition 1990. Great to do business with, and I'm very happy to sell the bass to him as he made it clear early on he really wanted it. He even shipped me a case as I didn't have one for the bass. I would happily do business with Ale again. Enjoy your new Warwick!

Never cut them, sometimes give them a little boost depending on the overall mix and sound.

I love playing around with a pedal point during solos. It's such an interesting device but one I think that is often overlooked by guitarists and bassists during solos, who can tend to think about 'box shapes' quite a lot. Key players seem to love pedal points, so take a leaf out of their books and refer back to that common chord tone when soloing. Not only can it be an interesting melodic/harmonic device, it can bridge the gap between notes that you're using to form the main body of a solo, creating a real impact. Steve Bailey is particularly good at this when he mixes it with his three finger technique.