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Uncle Boogeyman posted:i really have no need for another bass but the corny metalhead in me always wants to pick up a cheap goofy something like this whenever i see it. there was a Dean Metalman at my local shop for a while that i wanted to bite the bullet on so bad. For me its more of the kinda lovely 80s mid scooped PJ tone that I've been thinking about for some reason that drew me to this one. After having it for a day I have to report every stereotype about this kind of bass is true. Neck dive, limited arm position due to the upper point, awkward to play because everything is shifted more towards the left compared to a double cutaway bass. I got the bridge pickup working and its a little underwhelming. From what I can tell its supposed to be setup as a humbucker and coil tapped single coil (bridge side active). The pickup position is just too close to the bridge, though in humbucker mode its not awful. Both pickups together is just meh, not enough of the PJ tone I'm looking for (though I may try to rewire the coil tap to use the other coil instead). Split on its own still sounds good. Got some of the bow out of the neck, going to give it another day to settle because that truss rod didn't seem too happy to be turning. Now I need to work on the intonation, I'm maxed out on the G and its still a little off.
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Jan 3, 2016 04:27
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As I posted in the review thread I recently tried a Dean Z bass and that thing is just very below par - maybe I'm more a pragmatist than I give myself credit for, but an explorer shape bass just doesn't work because it shifts the fretboard another 6" away from you. Why not go for an SG shape or the Ibanez BTB if you want something hardcore looking?
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Jan 3, 2016 07:57
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Southern Heel posted:As I posted in the review thread I recently tried a Dean Z bass and that thing is just very below par - maybe I'm more a pragmatist than I give myself credit for, but an explorer shape bass just doesn't work because it shifts the fretboard another 6" away from you. Why not go for an SG shape or the Ibanez BTB if you want something hardcore looking? SG Basses are cool and fun to play on occasion but i'm not a fan of the scale and the sound always felt kinda limited (although Mike Watt and Jack Bruce both played em and, y'know, clearly that's a strong endorsement) the Ibanez BTB, like most Ibanez basses, is just ugly as sin as far as metal basses go, i do think those ESP ones like Tom Araya plays are kinda cool. a friend of mine had one in high school and as i recall it sounded great. i've also always kinds thought that the Warwick Vampyre looks just stupid enough to be kinda awesome. i think the thing that got me on this Dean Explorer style kick was seeing Mutoid Man live. their bassist plays one that's very cool looking and he gets some really gnarly sounds out of it. i was right in front of his amp for the first half of the show and it was overwhelming. great bass player. edit: nevermind, his is an Aria Pro II. i always wanted to try an Aria bass because of Cliff Burton.
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Jan 3, 2016 15:25
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:SG Basses are cool and fun to play on occasion but i'm not a fan of the scale and the sound always felt kinda limited (although Mike Watt and Jack Bruce both played em and, y'know, clearly that's a strong endorsement) gibson made sg's in long scale, too.
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Jan 3, 2016 20:13
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Dyna Soar posted:gibson made sg's in long scale, too. And as far as I recall the Epiphone EB-3 is 34" as well. Balances terribly, though.
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Jan 4, 2016 03:49
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yeah the newer EB-3s are long scale but the vintage ones are short. they are very nice basses, i used to really want one but on playing a couple decided they weren't really for me. my uncle had a very nice vintage EB-0 that sounded great.
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Jan 4, 2016 03:59
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So because I'm a guitar player... I want to upgrade the pickups in my bass  .I've got an Ibanez soundgear (one of the better ones that isn't a premium model) and it's got Barolini Mk 1 pickups in it. I'm pretty happy with the sound, but I wouldn't mind a little more punch and clarity (which I think is the same as a guitarist going :"I want more gain") The other thing is that the Active EQ on it is fairly useless. The Treble acts more like an extreme presence knob and the bass knob just acts like a "More mud" option. The mids...are fine I guess? But nothing special. Now if this was a normal electric guitar, I'd know exactly what pickups to put into it. However, I have no idea about bass pickup manufacturers, onboard preamps or anything else. Since I AM pretty happy with what I have, I'm wondering if I should even bother upgrading the pickups? Thoughts?
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Jan 4, 2016 04:15
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Upgrade the preamp instead. Even if you put new pickups in you will still have the problem with the too-high treble control and too muddy bass. Darkglass has a preamp that's bass/mid/high-mid only. Or maybe try to find one based on the original two band Musicman circuit that has a pretty smooth treble control. Or even easier than that would be to just keep the internal EQ flat (or bypassed if possible) and run a preamp pedal. Tech 21, Aguilar, Darkglass, Ampeg, etc etc all make pedals around the same price that will give you more control over the sound.
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Jan 4, 2016 05:42
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DrChu posted:
This. My Tech 21 bass driver is amazing, and makes any instrument I plug into it sound way better somehow. I don't really like to use my amp and stuff without it now.
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Jan 4, 2016 08:41
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Tech 21
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I have one of the cheaper Soundgears (a Gio- wanted a cheapo five string) and I've found I get the best tone by turning the active boost pretty much all the way down then using my amp's eq to sculpt. The neck pickup is mega bassy so I blend that in for low end instead.
NonzeroCircle fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Jan 4, 2016 |
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Jan 4, 2016 13:02
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So I ended up getting the Fernandes from that guy, talked him down to 180 and it seems like it's in decent shape: I started working through the Hal Leonard Bass Method (I'm already through E, A, D and all the way to G  ), there's just one thing I'm still worrying about, I can't decide if I want to start learning left- or right-handed. The ring and pinkie fingers on my left hand don't have full range of motion anymore, which obviously is an issue with reaching around the frets. Additionally it seems like with fingerstyle you're using your index and middle fingers to pluck the strings which wouldn't be an issue with my left hand, leaving me to use my 'good' right hand for fret work.Since I'm starting from 0 guitar experience I don't think it would be too much harder to learn one way vs the other, is there any reason I'm missing why a righty trying to learn left-handed would be a bad idea?
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Jan 4, 2016 20:12
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Takes No Damage posted:Since I'm starting from 0 guitar experience I don't think it would be too much harder to learn one way vs the other, is there any reason I'm missing why a righty trying to learn left-handed would be a bad idea? if you play with a pick on your left hand the lack of motion of your fingers won't be an issue at all. if you have 0 experience it shouldn't be too hard to play leftie, so go for it if it's more comfortable to you.
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Jan 4, 2016 20:16
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The general argument is that more of the timing and expression is in the picking/plucking hand, since that's what sounds the notes, so it should be handled by your 'good' hand In practice there are tons of great musicians who play the opposite, although they're usually lefties playing right-handed instruments, probably because the choice and availability is better. That's probably the main thing to worry about!
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Jan 4, 2016 20:48
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baka kaba posted:The general argument is that more of the timing and expression is in the picking/plucking hand, since that's what sounds the notes, so it should be handled by your 'good' hand This was what I was thinking before you said it and I feel like it's the truth. Unless you're going to be playing crazy complex things or chords I think 2 good fingers and 2 wonky fingers will be fine on bass for fretting. You'll probably develop into a more interesting player by using more slides and slurs to get around too.
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Jan 4, 2016 20:55
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Django reinhardt bass ver. ? FWIW you can check out that Alex Webster book for some insane three-finger plucking and express yourself through a tremolo style eventually?Takes No Damage posted:I started working through the Hal Leonard Bass Method (I'm already through E, A, D and all the way to G This is definitely my favorite bass book, the backing tracks are a little corny but it pretty much covers everything you need. I'm actually partway through book 3 and I'm getting a little annoyed at the artificial difficulty being added (like sixteenth note rests interspersed randomly into triplets and dotted eighth notes) - for example: https://clyp.it/sphcqzej - this is introduced before the book gets around about talking about 7 chords, for example. Overall very enjoyable though. I've got Standing in the Shadows of Motown too, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Jan 4, 2016 |
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Jan 4, 2016 21:49
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Kilometers Davis posted:This was what I was thinking before you said it and I feel like it's the truth. Unless you're going to be playing crazy complex things or chords I think 2 good fingers and 2 wonky fingers will be fine on bass for fretting. You'll probably develop into a more interesting player by using more slides and slurs to get around too. Yeah I considered this as well. Not that I'm directly comparing myself of course but Tony Iommi lost half a drat finger on his fretting hand and I doubt anyone would say it limited his playing. And I did notice that the way the strap pegs are it doesn't really work to have the bass flipped over to the right. It's really tough to even get left fingers 1, 2 and 4 onto adjacent frets, but it's only slightly easier with my right hand. I suppose I'll continue on with righty style for now, it's a long time before I'm playing anything that might really be affected by it anyway. vvv That is indeed good info, it seemed like both the guitar and bass books I picked up started you out putting one finger on each fret and moving them up and down the strings. Jumping off a string once you're not using it anymore makes a lot more sense and is probably a more practically useful technique than developing the perfect 4-fret claw hand. Thanks bass guitar Wolverine's kid! Takes No Damage fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Jan 5, 2016 |
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Jan 4, 2016 23:57
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Takes No Damage posted:It's really tough to even get left fingers 1, 2 and 4 onto adjacent frets, but it's only slightly easier with my right hand. I suppose I'll continue on with righty style for now, it's a long time before I'm playing anything that might really be affected by it anyway. Important infos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXkxu_7Tn48 Basically you only need to cover the spread of frets you're actually using, and you can often relax your hand when moving from one finger to another. Bass is hard work, especially at the low end of the neck where everything's spaced out, so you need to build up finger strength but don't make it hard on yourself either!
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Jan 5, 2016 00:27
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I got one of these little bass ukes for Christmas. It's basically a cheaper rondo copy of the Kala u-bass. Pretty fun though. Has a big sound almost like an upright/fretless when plugged in. Weird at first playing on rubber strings though. 
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Jan 5, 2016 00:56
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A drummer buddy has tons of banjos and ukes around the house, and his family's favorite toy is definitely the bass uke. I'd look for one to have around, but I don't spend enough time on my basses or mandolin as it is... Good book recs in here too, Hal Leonard Bass Method is solid as is the Jamerson motown book. I just got my copy of The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine, and it's going to keep my practice sessions fully occupied for a long time.
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Jan 5, 2016 17:52
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That book is my white whale - nothing ANYWHERE prepared me for the sperg/gold in that tome. I can't muster up the enthusiasm to plonk through another set of extended chords 
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Jan 5, 2016 18:45
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Southern Heel posted:That book is my white whale - nothing ANYWHERE prepared me for the sperg/gold in that tome. I can't muster up the enthusiasm to plonk through another set of extended chords One of my college buddies, a fantastic woodwind player, has this book and woodsheds a section of it daily. He says he will never run out of stuff to learn from it. I was looking for something to help with constructing better bass lines - I think I'm in a rut of falling back on the same handful of tricks and need to branch out - and really want to get my solos to be less sucky. This should definitely help with both of those things.
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Jan 5, 2016 19:13
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CaseFace McGee posted:One of my college buddies, a fantastic woodwind player, has this book and woodsheds a section of it daily. He says he will never run out of stuff to learn from it. I saw Damian Erskine give a live session on Scott's Bass lessons and ended up getting a copy of his one book http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AR0T5CW It has some good content. A bit heavy on the music notation for me right now since I haven't read music since high school chorus class, but I like a lot of the ideas behind the practice lessons. I just gotta do the extra work to find where the notes are on the fretboard but that probably is good for me right now because I wanted to learn that better anyway.
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Jan 5, 2016 20:17
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Southern Heel posted:That book is my white whale - nothing ANYWHERE prepared me for the sperg/gold in that tome. I can't muster up the enthusiasm to plonk through another set of extended chords I don't even know where to start with it.
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Jan 6, 2016 08:17
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I bought a little midi keyboard and learned to play chords in that and/or using MuseScore to input what I saw and hear it(if it was too hard to play myself), lastly I created a Spotify playlist for each lesson with the tunes mentioned so I could hear the progressions and melodies in-place.
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Jan 6, 2016 09:53
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:yeah the newer EB-3s are long scale but the vintage ones are short. they are very nice basses, i used to really want one but on playing a couple decided they weren't really for me. my uncle had a very nice vintage EB-0 that sounded great. There are vintage EB-3 models that were long scale as well. They were designated EB-3L
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Jan 7, 2016 17:51
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Scarf posted:There are vintage EB-3 models that were long scale as well. They were designated EB-3L a guy near me had one listed on craigslist for a while, but it was fitted with jazz bass pickups which kinda seemed to defeat the purpose to me.
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Jan 7, 2016 20:47
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Realistically speaking, is BEAD a worthwhile tuning or a compromise where nobody wins?
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Jan 7, 2016 20:55
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Southern Heel posted:Realistically speaking, is BEAD a worthwhile tuning or a compromise where nobody wins? Uh, I used to do that in an old band because I didn't have a 5 string. It works.
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Jan 7, 2016 20:58
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The tuning itself is pretty normal. Been downtuning it forever, also sometimes AEAD. You get used to it.
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Jan 7, 2016 22:23
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So with my Christmas bonus, I ordered a Rick from the Toronto Long & McQuade's. I could've just bought one through the internet and had it ready to go, but even with my bonus I had to opt for the L & M payment plan. Meanwhile, Scarf is probably marvelling at my bass promiscuity - like a tomcat, going from axe to axe. This could take anywhere from a month to a year =/ In other news, I've been taking some more lessons from Jeff Berlin and he's a pretty interesting guy. I guess one of the things he's known for (other than playing some badass bass parts with Holdsworth, Bruford, etc.) is his anti-metronome stance. I still don't agree with him entirely, but here's some things where I think he's on the money:
However, I disagree with him in the sense that I think metronomes are useful for gauging your time against an external source. For example, I've taught beginners who were unaware that their playing would rush or drag in certain places. Now, Jeff would say that you learn these things by playing with other musicians. That's true to a point, but I don't think you should have to wait until a drummer throws his sticks at your head before you realize that you're rushing or dragging. I also like to practice with a track from cubase that has a hi-hat keeping time, but it will randomly drop out anywhere from one to four bars so I can still see if I'm in time when it comes back. I mean, Jeff has incredible time without ever having used a metronome but I don't see a problem with us mortals using them within a proper framework.
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Jan 7, 2016 22:53
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Seventh Arrow posted:I mean, Jeff has incredible time without ever having used a metronome but I don't see a problem with us mortals using them within a proper framework. It never hurts to have Neil Peart backing your tracks either! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cKhfAa_oz8
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Jan 7, 2016 23:21
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Do Not Resuscitate posted:It never hurts to have Neil Peart backing your tracks either! Or Dennis Chambers, Alphonse Mouzon, Chad Wackerman, Bill Bruford, Ginger Baker... Seventh Arrow fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Jan 8, 2016 |
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Jan 8, 2016 04:58
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Southern Heel posted:Realistically speaking, is BEAD a worthwhile tuning or a compromise where nobody wins? Well, I mean if you're playing in that tuning , your shithead guitarists are eating up all the frequencies that would have been on the g-string, so you're not really losing out on anything, or at least that was my experience.
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Jan 8, 2016 17:13
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Seventh Arrow posted:So with my Christmas bonus, I ordered a Rick from the Toronto Long & McQuade's. I could've just bought one through the internet and had it ready to go, but even with my bonus I had to opt for the L & M payment plan. Meanwhile, Scarf is probably marvelling at my bass promiscuity - like a tomcat, going from axe to axe. This could take anywhere from a month to a year =/ You're not getting rid of the HB are you? I've never used a metronome much, but they're definitely helpful when starting out. The problem with a metronome is that, regardless of how good your drummer is, when you're playing live, you're going to speed up and slow down from time-to-time. So in a sense, playing to a metronome is a little rigid and unrealistic. At the same time, I've used them to help develop my sense of playing around the beat rather than on it. Then it's really helpful to have a steady rhythm; you can more easily figure out where you can squeeze in some unique timing. I'm actually listening to Ron Carter's "Piccolo" album and he's a loving master at that.
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Jan 8, 2016 21:00
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Metronomes are very helpful when learning riffs at fast speeds, and very useful when recording. I think they're essential for almost any musician.
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Jan 8, 2016 21:20
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Also you can get free metronome apps on your phones these days so there's seriously no reason not to have one.
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Jan 8, 2016 21:41
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Metronomes are good for getting rock solid timing but being able to adapt to a bad drummer is a very useful skill that a metronome can't really teach you.
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Jan 8, 2016 21:42
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My playing improved enormously when I started using a metronome and using drum software to make my own backing, but yeah, it's done nothing to help me stay in time with someone who isn't keeping time.
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Jan 8, 2016 22:20
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Spanish Manlove posted:Metronomes are good for getting rock solid timing but being able to adapt to a bad drummer is a very useful skill that a metronome can't really teach you. I'll be absolutely stunned if there isn't a metronome app you can set to slightly change the time with no user input or warning.
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Jan 8, 2016 23:06
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Shugojin posted:I'll be absolutely stunned if there isn't a metronome app you can set to slightly change the time with no user input or warning. Or you suddenly hear the cymbals stop and look over to see the metronome texting it's girlfriend with one hand while keeping up with the beat.
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Jan 8, 2016 23:46
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