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Post by Vincent on Sept 25, 2018 19:26:40 GMT
Yes I am certainly with you on used gear. Even better to see it in person before you part with the money too of course.
So if I have this correctly you are relatively new to bass. Have you bought a bass amplifier? I have used my basses with guitar amplifiers before in the past and while they can sometimes sound okay the real thing can be so much better. Just some thoughts.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 26, 2018 1:49:23 GMT
I bought a bass in March this year, never played one before. I use a Fender Mustang V1 at low volume. Its Bassman model will have to do. I'm not interested in playing loud and I don't care much for tone, really, beyond basic character and definition. I enjoy some tonal variety, I'll insist on sufficient reach in the treble area, but notes are what I'm interested in. The day I can improvise something that sounds like Brahms, I'll be happy Fooling around with this right now:
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Post by Vincent on Sept 26, 2018 10:00:00 GMT
Transpose it down to E minor with software. I know there is software that can do this. I have seen it somewhere. Then let those open strings ring out while you fly around the board. Be happy.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 26, 2018 10:41:07 GMT
I don't need to transpose anything, can't read it anyway. I'm playing this by ear in whatever tonality I start with. I was on D yesterday. Just the main themes, of course.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 26, 2018 12:12:53 GMT
Aarghhh! I can't play it with open strings It's nothing new, I know I have to practice this. I never really did. I can play it by putting my index on the nut and pretend to play the notes, then it flows just like anywhere else but I get all mixed up if I don't "fret" the open strings. All right. I'll do some serious practice today…
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Post by Vincent on Sept 26, 2018 12:48:40 GMT
F minor can be a bit of a bitch on guitar. Almost as bad as Eb. Get an audio file of the track. Rip the youtube one if you have to. Find some software and tell the program to detune it a semitone down. Then you will be able to play along with it and improvise much easier in E minor. All of the available open strings in standard tuning are in the key of E minor. No need to worry about hitting an out-of-key note on the open strings while improvising because there isn't one, and that includes the low B on the bass. Or if you like you can tune the guitar a semitone up and do it that way.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 27, 2018 10:55:20 GMT
Update: it's easier to play on guitar than on bass I have several recordings of that quintet, I have been loving it for more than 30 years. But I really ought to play the starting theme again because I've been playing if from memory and I'm almost certain I'm mixing things up and making my own thing now.
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Post by Vincent on Sept 27, 2018 14:55:12 GMT
Not saying you do but many seem to think bass guitar is easy, and it ain't!
Maybe you are not quite ready for this Brahms piece. This one below has an interesting bass part.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 27, 2018 18:09:51 GMT
I'm not ready for anything. Of course my discovery that Brahms plays more easily on guitar was genuine. What else would you think of me The Jazz Bass came today. It's a huge thing. It completely fills up my spare case. It's like new without a scratch and as beautiful as the pictures showed. I found it almost difficult to identify the places where the pieces join. Even the strings sound new and have coloured ball ends. Might be D'Addarios. Same colour code. It's neck heavy, though. The basswood body and the huge neck, broader and thicker than that of my 8-string, don't balance each other out. That headstock is ridiculously large too. I won't keep it. Back to square one. Now I think it will be a choice between another Ibanez SR and the Harley Benton HBZ-2005.
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Post by JAC on Sept 27, 2018 20:55:45 GMT
The Fender (and Squier) all have the 19mm spacing on their 5's (at least the ones I have seen do). The Ibanez are usually 16mm which does make a big difference.
However, until you get used to it, all 5 string necks will feel wide.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 2:46:27 GMT
The Fender (and Squier) all have the 19mm spacing on their 5's (at least the ones I have seen do). The Ibanez are usually 16mm which does make a big difference. However, until you get used to it, all 5 string necks will feel wide. That feeling is not a problem. I can get used to that spacing and size. The unbalance resulting from the weight is the decisive issue. I cannot rest the curve of the body on my leg without having to fight the neck from diving down. Resting the lower horn on my leg is a little better but unstable as it keeps slipping away. I read the Jazz Bass and the Jazzmaster were designed to be played sitting. This is not the case for the 5-string bass. This is a new requirement: I need a 5-string that was either designed as such, which is almost never the case, or for which balance has been at least cared about. The Ibanez SR or that bass in the Stevie Wonder cover above, with their smaller neck, narrower nut and smaller headstock look more promising.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 3:06:21 GMT
That G still looks like it's nearly off the board. The B well down from the edge. That's because the picture was taken at an angle, standing in front of a couch.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 3:37:09 GMT
The Black Nylon strings came too. They are interesting. They look new and still stretching. I put four of them on the Ibanez. It's a very strange feeling at first, like playing tight pieces of plastic, nicely smooth and somehow "easier" (no finger graters). They seem to have a higher tension, though. It looks like higher action and the intonation is off. The sound is something. No "zing" but an edgy "thump". I like that. I wonder if that edge will stay or vanish like the "zing" of new roundwound. I don't want to cut them short so I'll have to think of something to tidy up the headstock…
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