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Christabel posted:I'm using one pedal - Big Muff - for two songs, and if it doesn't work out I don't think it'll make a huge difference. I'm not sure where I can keep a spare pick. Under my tongue maybe? 
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May 9, 2016 20:09
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Where's the showmanship in pockets?
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May 9, 2016 20:10
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Something that I tell my students who are starting to play live is to try to practice like they perform. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you psyche yourself because It's A Big Show and put yourself in a situation to play not at your best. You shouldn't worry about putting "more" or "less" into your playing just because people are watching. As the show approaches, consider practicing standing up at home, work on looking out into the "audience" as you play, and maybe even use a mirror to check your body language. You want to look in your element on stage, whatever that is. While bassists can get away with a lot, you don't wanna be a wallflower, and you also don't wanna be this guy.
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May 9, 2016 20:25
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God, I haven't thought about what my loving face was doing. What if my bass face is like Este Haim's?
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May 9, 2016 20:33
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In that case, you should take the time leading up to the show to find out what red lip shades work for your skin tone, imo
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May 9, 2016 20:39
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The sound you get onstage is often totally different from what the audience hears, so if you have any friends in the crowd, ask them how it sounds after a couple songs, and adjust your levels if necessary. Don't be afraid to turn up. I played too quietly at my first couple gigs because I was scared of people hearing any mistakes, and it messed up the sound for the rest of the band.
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May 9, 2016 21:14
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Has anyone ever actually broken a bass string? Outside of an industrial accident or something I mean I suppose it happens but I'm really having trouble imagining it. Maybe the G if you're really hacking away with a pick?
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May 9, 2016 21:24
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I used to break Boomers all the time. I switched to DR and problem solved.
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May 9, 2016 21:25
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I can't imagine breaking a bass string but I don't understand breaking guitar strings either. I've only broken one or two on guitar and that was a hardware issue.
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May 9, 2016 21:45
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For the love of god bring a tuner.
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May 9, 2016 21:55
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Actually replace that statement with "all the guitar/bass players should have the same kind of tuner" or "tune your poo poo up with the same tuner before you go on."
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May 9, 2016 22:20
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I broke a low E once from constant de/retuning down to B/A and back. Filed the saddle and it didn't happen again. Me getting a 5 string may also have helped.
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May 9, 2016 22:38
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baka kaba posted:Has anyone ever actually broken a bass string? Outside of an industrial accident or something e string, maybe 5 times in the past 15 years. i play with my fingers but i really beat the poo poo outta the string especially when drunk. also my string are like, 130 - 95 or something like that. Spanish Manlove posted:Actually replace that statement with "all the guitar/bass players should have the same kind of tuner" or "tune your poo poo up with the same tuner before you go on." eh, kind of overkill? stringed instruments are always a little bit off tune anyways. Dyna Soar fucked around with this message at 23:04 on May 9, 2016 |
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May 9, 2016 23:02
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Strum the string you're tuning with the same force as you would play it normally.
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May 9, 2016 23:16
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Spanish Manlove posted:Strum the string you're tuning with the same force as you would play it normally. no such thing as the normal amount of force when you're playing metal fingerstyle. depends completely on what the song or part dynamic is. my point was though that pre-tuning your bands stringed instruments with the same tuner is useless because a. all stringed instruments are always a bit off tune and b. a bass can maybe go through a gig without tuning between songs but a guitar sure as hell can't Dyna Soar fucked around with this message at 23:23 on May 9, 2016 |
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May 9, 2016 23:19
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I ended up ordering a Thorpe posted:I used to have a Conklin GTBD-7 7 string bass about 5-6 years ago, but had to sell it when some bills came up. I've been getting the itch to grab another 7 string the past few months and was wondering if by chance anyone has tried the Ibanez BTB 7 that they have? I ended up ordering a BTB 7 but it had dents on the back of the neck. Played it for a minute before shipping it back and couldn't get along with the electronics or string spacing. It was a nice bass but the tone was rounder and more mid scooped then I care for and overall I wasn't that impressed with the instrument. I ordered a Conklin gt-7 and a bartolini 3 band preamp to chuck in it (the gt-7 comes with only a two band and its regarded as pretty much junk) and it should all be here Wednesday. The gtbd-7 I used to have was neck through and I find I actually much prefer bolt on instruments. I'll post some video once I get the preamp in and get used to having a high F string again
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May 10, 2016 10:37
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I am not a bassist. I have access to a bass while laying down some demo tracks. What I really want on a lot of the tracks is a slow, continuous ebb of bass thrum. What I get is a sharp attack that dies off quickly. I'm currently running the bass (That really needs repairs honestly) DI and using a software compressor to take down the attack and add some sustain, but it's still dying off quickly. Fingers or pick don't seem to do anything to soften the attack. So basically, is no sustain through a DI a sign the bass needs setting up? If so it's gonna need some repairs first, as it doesn't even have all the screws for the saddles.
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May 10, 2016 12:03
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syntaxfunction posted:I am not a bassist. I have access to a bass while laying down some demo tracks. What I really want on a lot of the tracks is a slow, continuous ebb of bass thrum. What I get is a sharp attack that dies off quickly. I'm currently running the bass (That really needs repairs honestly) DI and using a software compressor to take down the attack and add some sustain, but it's still dying off quickly. Fingers or pick don't seem to do anything to soften the attack. So basically, is no sustain through a DI a sign the bass needs setting up? If so it's gonna need some repairs first, as it doesn't even have all the screws for the saddles. Could be a number of things. Dead-spot on the fretboard, frets need re-crowning/dressing, old dead strings, pickup height too low, crappy nut, crappy bridge, or just an overall crappy bass. How old are the strings? I'd start there. Also what kind of bass is it? Scarf fucked around with this message at 15:05 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 15:03
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I'm curious if anyone has ever tried cello tuning (C - G - D - A), like Oscar Pettiford used to do. I have my fretless tuned A - D - G - C and that's already a challenge!
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May 11, 2016 01:05
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Scarf posted:Could be a number of things. Dead-spot on the fretboard, frets need re-crowning/dressing, old dead strings, pickup height too low, crappy nut, crappy bridge, or just an overall crappy bass. Those a good questions! It's an old OLP (Musicman style) bass. The strings I don't think have ever been changed since it was obtained by my friend. And he got it second hand. So yeah, years old strings. I don't really want to bother putting new strings on because you can't adjust the action and it's a mile high. The bridge saddle screws for some of the saddles have been replaced with literal screws. Like, woodshop screws. So you can't lower them. The bridge itself is a bit wonky. So really needs an overhaul. Talking about it I've just realised that unless these problems are fixed there's no use complaining about lack of sustain. Thing needs an overhaul. I like the feel of the neck though, and it sounds pretty good. Just plays like poo poo right now. Thanks for being my soundboard!
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May 11, 2016 03:48
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Just restrung with Sadowsky flats. They feel awesome and sound nice, but seem a bit brighter that I would have thought. I guess that'll calm down with time though.
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May 11, 2016 04:05
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syntaxfunction posted:Those a good questions! It's an old OLP (Musicman style) bass. The strings I don't think have ever been changed since it was obtained by my friend. And he got it second hand. So yeah, years old strings. I don't really want to bother putting new strings on because you can't adjust the action and it's a mile high. The bridge saddle screws for some of the saddles have been replaced with literal screws. Like, woodshop screws. So you can't lower them. The bridge itself is a bit wonky. So really needs an overhaul. Yeah, never be surprised when a piece of poo poo plays like a piece of poo poo 
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May 11, 2016 13:31
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baka kaba posted:Has anyone ever actually broken a bass string? Outside of an industrial accident or something Broke my first one in YEARS last night. No pick or anything, and I play super light. Sometimes it's just time...
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May 12, 2016 00:49
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Seventh Arrow posted:I'm curious if anyone has ever tried cello tuning (C - G - D - A), like Oscar Pettiford used to do. I have my fretless tuned A - D - G - C and that's already a challenge! I had my Bass VI in F-C-G-D-A-E all fifths tuning for a while (with custom strings obviously), and while the open fifths were fun for Morphine-style lines and dumb power chords adding the third and octave like on a mandolin just sounded both too bottom heavy and too sparse. No problem with playing actual bass lines on it, and I find fifths tunings make me think more melodically in general, but its usefulness was kind of limited. I do really enjoy cello-style tuning on guitar though. If I had money for a mandocello.... CheesyDog fucked around with this message at 10:25 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 12, 2016 01:47
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baka kaba posted:Has anyone ever actually broken a bass string? Outside of an industrial accident or something I've broken A strings on multiple occasions. Not often, mind you, but I'm pretty sure it was always that loving string. And it's such an important one!
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May 12, 2016 18:07
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Yeah, years ago I used to break an A string every other month or so. The last string I broke was an E but the bass was tuned BEAD so maybe it's something to do with that position. Usually they would just seem to give up all of a sudden and break about an inch in front of the bridge. I wouldn't even be playing all that hard at the time, although I am generally pretty heavy handed. I mostly prefer flats now though and I've never broken one of them.
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May 12, 2016 22:58
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Kilometers Davis posted:If you don't care for those you can't ever go wrong with D'Addario imo. I've used their strings on tons of different instruments and they're always the best balance of sound/durability/feel. I've rarely ever preferred other companies. D'Addario is always a solid choice. I was reminded of that today when I put a set of XL Nickels on my Super P. I only bought them because the store didn't have any other sets in the gauge I wanted, but I really like the way they feel. I remember liking their acoustic guitar strings too.
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May 16, 2016 22:34
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Anyone have experience with Traynor amps? My Hartke head is on its way out and will probably cost me more to fix than I spent to buy it in the first place, and I have an opportunity to buy a Traynor YBA200 for $400, which seems like a steal for an all tube 200 watt head. I played through an older Traynor at a show a while back and it sounded great. Thoughts?
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May 17, 2016 17:09
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I love all the old Traynor stuff. The newer stuff not so much, the new YBA was not my cup of tea.
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May 18, 2016 07:12
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Not really sure of which thread this really belongs in, so I figured I'd share it with my fellow bassists: If you've spent any amount of time recording and performing your music, and had distributed it online in any shape or form, chances are you're going to come across "organizations" like The Akademia. They send you an email/message saying you're nominated for an award for your album/ep/single/video, and are invited to attend a big gala awards ceremony in LA. My band recently received notice that we'd actually won for best jazz EP (for the month of May) for our EP "Knock On Wood." On the surface, it was incredibly exciting, we spent a long time writing, rehearsing, and recording that ep. It was cool to actually get some recognition for it. And hell, the write-up they put up of it on their website actually made it sound like they listened to it. But here's the thing... You don't win anything. You "win" the ability to pay The Akademia a subscription fee to distribute your music to radio stations around the country and even a few international ones. Which honestly if you're really looking to expand your exposure doesn't sound like too bad of a deal. But what they fail to mention is that the "radio stations" are all online only, and were created and are maintained by The Akademia. They even give the stations call-letters, but they don't give a radio frequency, and often the letters are completely wrong (they'll have the K prefix for stations east of the Mississippi, which doesn't happen...). They also put out different "winners" lists each month... Soooo pretty much everyone is an award-winning artist now! Plain and simple, it's Pay-For-Play... That lovely business model that crappy concert venues and bars have been pushing on musicians since the dawn of time. But this is the absolute worst kind of pay-for-play because it misleads hopeful but gullible artists who are just trying to pursue their passion. Thankfully, Akademia is finally getting exposed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yznSBjsYSRE Long story short, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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May 18, 2016 15:58
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Scarf posted:Not really sure of which thread this really belongs in, so I figured I'd share it with my fellow bassists: I call bullshit on your entire post. And you should listen to me, too, because back in the day? I was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students. I was selected as a Who's Who student back in 1991 or so, one of only 75% of my fellow students to be so nominated, and for a small fee, I secured my place in that sacred tome. So maybe you should simmer down and enjoy your totally valid award.
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May 19, 2016 19:50
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tarlibone posted:I call bullshit on your entire post. And you should listen to me, too, because back in the day? I was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students. I was selected as a Who's Who student back in 1991 or so, one of only 75% of my fellow students to be so nominated, and for a small fee, I secured my place in that sacred tome. I also had a poem published by the internationally renowned Poetry.com.
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May 19, 2016 20:00
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 Road test tonight, ships tomorrow, should arrive some time in the middle of next week.
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May 20, 2016 01:00
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I've recently picked up a used Mexican Fender and I've been playing along with some easy stuff using tabs but playing like this feels like cheap imitation rather than actually learning yet I haven't a clue where to go from here. Advice?
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May 22, 2016 05:08
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Scales, theory, writing your own songs. Figure out what your heroes are doing and imitate them. You'll never get it perfectly and that's the point. Also lessons.
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May 22, 2016 05:13
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studybass.com is very good (weird site design aside). Builds you up with the fundamentals, explains the bass's role in music, covers theory and gives you songs that use each element that gets introduced, so you can open YouTube or whatever and get to see how it's actually applied That's the nice thing about bass, it tends to generally be fairly simple (one note at a time, focusing on chord tones, providing a solid foundation) so you really get to understand the fundamentals. That's why I like recommending that site to guitarists too
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May 22, 2016 05:42
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The French Army! posted:I've recently picked up a used Mexican Fender and I've been playing along with some easy stuff using tabs but playing like this feels like cheap imitation rather than actually learning yet I haven't a clue where to go from here. Advice? Do you have any other music experience? Can you read sheet music? Do you know any basic music theory? First thing I would do is start to learn what fret corresponds to what notes. Then use chord charts instead of tabs to learn how to play basic songs. The root note of the chord is the note you will want to play at this stage. I'm classically trained, so I'm definitely a proponent of theory-based learning - I'm going to rehearsal tomorrow with a few people with music performance degrees and a guy with a masters in composition so I'm definitely biased towards that (putting together a country/ 90s rock concert band, talk about overkill in the band roster but we should have wicked harmonies). Theory-based approach is definitely not the only way to do it, but that's my two cents. This site has a bunch of references, depending on what you do or don't know currently. Scott's Bass Lessons channel has some beginner videos, but he kind of jumps from hand placement and C scale straight to intermediate stuff from the quick skim I've done of his videos.
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May 22, 2016 05:42
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Spanish Manlove posted:Also lessons. Yes, this. Getting with a real teacher, even if it's not every week, is pivotal. You can avoid a lot of bad mistakes this way.
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May 22, 2016 20:00
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or just learn a bunch of your favourite songs from tabs, start a band with a bunch of fun dudes and rock out every weekend until you're maybe ready for a gig. it doesn't have to be such a chore to learn how to play.
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May 22, 2016 20:25
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Dyna Soar posted:or just learn a bunch of your favourite songs from tabs, start a band with a bunch of fun dudes and rock out every weekend until you're maybe ready for a gig. it doesn't have to be such a chore to learn how to play. Being good at your instrument helps with learning songs from tabs and jamming with others .
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May 22, 2016 20:38
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