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EvilChameleon posted:My left hand really, really hates playing chords. Is there a good way to practice them so that my hand doesn't become numb and sore and tired really, really quickly? I've been mostly just doing power chords with the occasional octave thrown in for good measure. I feel like I'm a guitar babby all over again, complaining about barre chords, but bass strings are really something else. Just hoping my post was overlooked because of gearchat and forums being down. Otherwise I'll have to take my queries to BassTalk or something and I don't know if I'm ready for that.
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Jun 26, 2014 05:29
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EvilChameleon posted:Just hoping my post was overlooked because of gearchat and forums being down. Otherwise I'll have to take my queries to BassTalk or something and I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't know of any resources, sorry. If you are entrepreneurial you should check out Guitar Pro, it has tools to transpose songs from 4 to 6 string, but it will take some tweaking.
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Jun 26, 2014 15:56
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Are your fingers sore from stretching or actually holding down the strings?
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Jun 26, 2014 18:21
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I just found a bass that my dad says belongs to him but he never plays, so I can have it. Great! Uh, I don't play bass, but I've played guitar for a long time. My experience with this instrument has been 'play the root note of whatever the lead needs for his licks/solo' : could I get pointed in the direction of some complex bass work to practice? I think I'll be able to get by just fine by using a pick, so I'm not worried about understanding how to keep rhythm or playing more complicated things, I just don't want to become bored out of my mind by playing the bass line to Sharp Dressed Man by myself. As an example of what I'm looking for, I really enjoyed learning the bass to Hotel California. It was simple, but it wasn't just playing the same notes as the guitar, but lower. I'm not interested in playing stuff like Metallica's bass work where you literally can't even hear him because he's just playing under the guitar every song.
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Jun 26, 2014 18:37
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Any particular genre? When you said Hotel California the first thing that popped into my head was 80's pop rock, where the bass is out front usually on top of synths and light guitar. Duran Duran's Rio came to mind, The Fixx's One Thing Leads to Another, etc. Bands like The Police and U2 have bass lines that usually aren't doubled by guitar, although they also are on the easy side to play.
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Jun 26, 2014 19:53
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Try learning Pulling Mussels from the Shell by Squeeze and maybe Boys Keep Swinging by David Bowie, and maybe early Elvis Costello and the Attractions stuff.
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Jun 26, 2014 20:12
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Declan MacManus posted:Try learning Pulling Mussels from the Shell by Squeeze and maybe Boys Keep Swinging by David Bowie, and maybe early Elvis Costello and the Attractions stuff.  Yeah, if you're into it a lot of the late 70/early 80 punk & new wave stuff have really fun and interesting bass parts. Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Clash, The Jam, Television, Talking Heads, etc.
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Jun 26, 2014 20:39
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Yeah Bruce Thomas is an excellent bassist and has lots of memorable lines; you can hear him on Elvis Costello's "Armed Forces," "Get Happy," and "This Year's Model." Also Graham Maby on those old Joe Jackson records is great.
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Jun 26, 2014 22:19
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So I'm auditioning for a band and I'm playing along to some of their material, but I'm finding it extremely hard to fit anything approaching a groove into what effectively is a Blink-182 style straight eighth-note major chord progression. I'd like to play fingerstyle and so root-fifths in quick succession is a bit of a pig for long periods, and the chords change pretty quickly to grab thirds - what are my options? Nailing the root on time, every time?
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Jun 26, 2014 23:46
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Ericadia posted:I don't know of any resources, sorry. If you are entrepreneurial you should check out Guitar Pro, it has tools to transpose songs from 4 to 6 string, but it will take some tweaking. Does it just look at the notes you have and try to spread them evenly amongst 6 strings? How entrepreneurial are we talking here? Stravinsky posted:Are your fingers sore from stretching or actually holding down the strings? I don't think it's the stretching because I'm not stretching any further than I do when I am normally playing, so I suppose it is from requiring more than one finger to hold down the total number of strings I need down. It isn't a callous thing since my fingers are mostly beat up that way, it's a muscle thing. Edit: I should say also that my action is relatively low. EvilChameleon fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Jun 27, 2014 06:23
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The Bunk posted:
All of these and also The Specials albums 1 & 2, worth learning. And then treat yourself to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xar9j2RRJDE. Wonderful rhythmic and deceptive lines, and pogo-ing for 40 minutes. It's exhausting just watching him 
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Jun 27, 2014 10:16
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Ironically, my favourite Bruce Thomas bassline is "Goon Squad": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_AUhGPHJc
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Jun 27, 2014 14:04
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Don't really play bass anymore so looking to get rid of my bass head to find guitar purchases. info on the head(sorry copy and paste from craigslist ad): I no longer really play bass so no reason to have this behemoth laying around. It runs at up to 2 ohms so it's perfect to push two 810s and crush some heads! This is a very rare vintage head, the only 320 I have ever seen. I currently run it at 8 ohm out of a 610 and it is plenty of power to drown out two 100w tube heads, can't imagine what it'd do at 2. (actually I have done it and it shook the house). This is the largest power section available of all acoustic corp heads vintage and new. This guy was basically created in response to the Sunn Coliseum and can easily go toe to toe with it wattage wise. I believe this is a 78 but not sure, in pretty good condition considering it's age. All three channels work, only one slide knob is missing. Not looking for trades. 
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Jun 28, 2014 23:14
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If I hadn't just bought a cheap coliseum bass I would have been all over that. Good luck with the sale.
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Jun 29, 2014 03:15
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You don't have PMs... Do you want to e-mail me, my username at gmail, and talk tentative details? I was looking around for Mesa tube heads - because I am a whore for Mesa things - to replace my Portaflex 500, but I'm kind of curious about this. To anyone else reading, this is in no way me calling "dibs."
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Jun 29, 2014 09:45
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I might be selling it locally, really didn't think it would garner that much attention quickly. I am going to meet with him soon about it but pretty solid he is going to pick it up.
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Jun 29, 2014 17:53
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Well, I didn't buy it, but I got a killer deal on renting an old Kay S1 upright bass in nice shape for a few months. The folky-pop thing I'm in right now is shooting some videos, and having the "Real Thing" is going to be nice versus my NS NXT5. I am going to figure out how to get an Upton soon, though. The real deal is so much more fun than the NS.
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Jul 3, 2014 05:03
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:I am going to figure out how to get an Upton soon, though. The real deal is so much more fun than the NS. Until you get stuck at an outdoor wedding gig in a torrential downpour and you have to leave your bass partially exposed to rain for a minute while you pull the PA gear undercover to avoid electrocuting everyone... Last weekend was quite the gig. At least all of my seams are still airtight! Kay basses are quite nice if you get one in good shape. No chance of rent-to-own? A longtime musical friend needs a bassist next weekend, as their Dixie band's sousa player is unavailable. I guess I need to find an old-timey bowtie and suspenders for this one 
The Science Goy fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Jul 3, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 11:16
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This one's really nice, but I owned a very similar all-ply Engelhardt from 1999 to about 2011, put hundreds and hundreds of shows on it, jazz, symphony, pit, whatever, and I just want something one step nicer. Like you said, I have the NS for outdoor gigs and sketchy situations so I'd like to get a decent hybrid that could theoretically serve me well for the rest of my life. This thing was so cheap to rent I would have been stupid to not do it, and it'll take me until October when I'll get my work bonus and should be able to use that to get a bass. Probably an Upton Standard Hybrid? Although Steve Swan down the peninsula always has a grip of cooler old basses...
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Jul 4, 2014 02:16
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Hi bass thread, was wondering if anyone could identify what this amp from rocksmith is modeling for me! I know I've seen them before but damned if I can remember. I thought it was an Acoustic but I couldn't find a similar model through googling. TIA
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Jul 7, 2014 03:16
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field balm posted:Hi bass thread, was wondering if anyone could identify what this amp from rocksmith is modeling for me! looks like some sort of g&k in shape but color looks accoustic.
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Jul 7, 2014 03:51
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Looks like it could be based on one of the older, simpler Acoustic models like the 140 or 150.
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Jul 7, 2014 04:39
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Juaguocio posted:Looks like it could be based on one of the older, simpler Acoustic models like the 140 or 150. Almost certainly. 
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Jul 7, 2014 05:02
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Wow, slap bass is so fun!
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Jul 7, 2014 05:17
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It sure is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzt3uNEVxU
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Jul 7, 2014 05:24
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I wish I could get more into playing slap bass. I love the physical feel of it but I hate dialing in trebly "hifi" tones. Sounds incredibly punchy through my TH500 though
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Jul 7, 2014 06:07
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What do you mean by dialing in hifi sounds? You mean like making the G string pops cut through the mix?
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Jul 7, 2014 06:32
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NTT posted:What do you mean by dialing in hifi sounds? You mean like making the G string pops cut through the mix? Pretty much yup. Getting that high end cut through and all. I'm all about the low end/full mids so dialing in anything that high feels off to me. If I don't though I get that muddy slap pop sound that doesn't translate into anything impressive. Now that I'm talking about it though I'm totally in the mood to work through some slap exercises, hah. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.
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Jul 7, 2014 06:48
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Unfortunately, there is not much music featuring slapping that anyone other than (slap) bassists get off on. I.e. Bass slapsturbation.
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Jul 7, 2014 07:03
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Sounds like a veritable niche goldmine for me to dig into. 
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Jul 7, 2014 08:30
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rio posted:Unfortunately, there is not much music featuring slapping that anyone other than (slap) bassists get off on. I.e. Bass slapsturbation. Yeah, modern jazz, fusion, and modern Gospel are about the only genres that really feature it outside of the usual wankmasters. It's a shame because when it's tastefully done, sometimes it makes all the difference between a good bass line and a great one. Scarf fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 16:47
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Slap bass has even been known to antagonize the animal kingdom! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEydHNtBZmI
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Jul 7, 2014 17:28
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Do you guys use fancy straps at all? I was just at my local music store and they just had the generic selection as always. Some $100 Gibson padded ones for your boutique guitar and some ones with Hendrix or Pink Floyd on it. Are there some cool kinds that are worth looking into? I broke my last strap so I am thinking maybe I should have something sturdier for the 6 string bass.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:01
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I'll crosspost from the guitar thread; I went to a little skater punk shop at the mall and picked up a seat belt belt for  and then cut it in three places; once to turn the middle into the ends, and two cuts on each new end for the strap loops. I then used a box of matches to fuse all the loose material. I haven't really been tugging a whole lot on it but frankly I expect it to break if I abuse it. It holds weight and little tugs or swinging just fine though. Make your own belt; it will be cheaper and more unique.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:23
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If your bass is heavy, I would suggest something like the Wide Ride strap. (Are they still around? Their website is down.) Or just a 3" or 4" strap.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:32
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I bought a $40 wide leather Levi strap from amazon. I don't think I'll ever need another functionality wise. It negates neck dive on every instrument I have and definitely spreads out the weight of basses nicely. I can't imagine paying more unless you're having someone make one out of a sacred alien cow hide.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:20
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I like the reunion blues wool ones. About $40 and pretty comfy.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:23
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EvilChameleon posted:Do you guys use fancy straps at all? I was just at my local music store and they just had the generic selection as always. Some $100 Gibson padded ones for your boutique guitar and some ones with Hendrix or Pink Floyd on it. Are there some cool kinds that are worth looking into? I broke my last strap so I am thinking maybe I should have something sturdier for the 6 string bass. I know I'm not the only one here who likes Couch straps.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:03
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Scarf posted:Yeah, modern jazz, fusion, and modern Gospel are about the only genres that really feature it outside of the usual wankmasters. It's a shame because when it's tastefully done, sometimes it makes all the difference between a good bass line and a great one. You too can aspire to one day pouring glue into the hole in your thumb that you created by playing slap bass tastefully just like flea.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:18
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Manky posted:I know I'm not the only one here who likes Couch straps. And just like that I need another strap.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:25
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