Yeah, DMiller, I checked that website out - very interesting. I'd like to try them out - maybe go into a music store that has them on a bass...Of course, I hadn't played since 1985 and have got so busy with work and family [which is a good thing compared to my TWI days]...Checking out this thread has got me thinking about messing around with it again...I'll jam once and awhile with my son [he's got a Carvin Bass and plays Acoustic Guitar]...Anyway - I remember in the late 60's, this guy Ricky I knew had Nylon Taped Strings - very mellow sound - sorta muted - and I noticed they'd get nicks in the tape and I think that messed with their sound too...I've always used round wounds because the strings seem to last longer - guess that's an illusion because of the brighter sound - I used to like the oinky, ringy sound but I'm wanting a more mellow tone that would compliment the whine of a fretless...So maybe I have to hear the Blue Steel strings.
That's either Hendrix or SRV.... but I could be wrong...
SRV :wub:
That's going to be Stevie Ray Vaughn, Chatty, known for that year Strat. Hendrix played a right-handed Strat, left handed, etc. but never tuned a 1/2 step lower till later in his career or used heavy gauge strings, regularly . (SRV went up to .013's I've read). That's "heavy".
Don't it just ache ya to think of what might have been had he not died! :(
I have some favorites of his, I've posted here once or twice I think so won't bring more but he is so fine!
Whoa DMiller !!!!!!! You have mentioned the instrument of my dreams - a Double Bass !!!!! Just one little hitch - those strings wouldn't work on my electric bass - I don't think the strings would do anything to the pick ups looking for steel moving through its magnetic field...I did some experimentation years ago - building several different microphones into the body - that gave it an acoustic sound - but it was very shallow - since it wasn't as long as a double bass and didn't have a resonating hollow body...Plus I think a double bass would be a big challenge for me to play. My fretless has the frets marked on them - so I don't get lost. :blink:
T-Bone, you could go a couple different ways with your strings - flat wound "ribbon" strings or roundwound.
Rotosound makes a well known line of the round wound. Fender makes a well know line of the flat/ribbon.
Right now my son has a fretless Fender Jazz with Fender flats on it and it has a really nice warm, smooth sound. The Jazz has light tan lines where the frets would be - as you say, much easier to be in key. It has a sound like you're describing I think but will get some funky thump going too. I've grown to like them although I do have to really concentrate or I slip and slide.
The round wounds on a fretless will add a brighter and louder tone, as I'm sure you know.
Musicians Friend sells quite a few - buy the short, medium or long scale, "based" on your need. :)
Jaco Pastorius used the Rotosounds on his fretless Jazz bass, and got a very smooth sweet tone and a very funky bright tone out of them. I've read that Joe Zawinal of Weather Report thought JP played double bass when he first heard a tape of him, prior to JP joining Weather Report. Apparently he was surprised when he showed up with an electric bass but dug that Jaco sound.
Chatty, it would have been interesting to see SRV develop his music over the years. He has some very admirable qualities - he was always "on", I've read there aren't very many recordings of his playing that're clunkers. He had his sound, he was a master of it, no question about that. It would have been great to hear more!
Thanks, DMiller and Socks, for the string info…Socks, I imagine your son's fretless Jazz Bass sounds sweet! There's a place in my heart for the Fender Jazz Bass…I had one in the early 70s – even had it customized – had a Humbucking pickup installed on it – it had three toggle switches for each pickup. It was great for that fat bass sound like Bruce's Gibson on live Cream tunes – but I liked the feel of the Fender [mine was fretted]…Caught a bad case of new-believer-free-spirit and gave my Fender to a believer [named Bob?] in NY before I went W.O.W…This is funny – years later I played on one of those R.O.A. side stages and got to play my old Fender . I still have the warranty/owner's card for it! Who knows – I may wind up getting a Fender Jazz again someday – it will be fretless this time.
I like Jaco Pastorius – I've got a CD of his "The Birthday Concert" – and like his energetic playing and Fender sound. When you mentioned Weather Report I thought of their first album "Sweetnighter" which featured Miroslav Vitous on Double Bass – I like his style and have a couple of his CDs.
Chatty, it would have been interesting to see SRV develop his music over the years. He has some very admirable qualities - he was always "on", I've read there aren't very many recordings of his playing that're clunkers. He had his sound, he was a master of it, no question about that. It would have been great to hear more!
It's hard to know what he could have done. He didn't play by the rules in his mastery of strings.
I will say that Kramer aluminum neck is darn true! But it's funny how the end of it looks like a big tuning fork - it looks like the perfect Ham Sandwich Holder...And yeah Tommy has a good sound - I've got a couple of SRV CDs!
I betya ChattyKathy's got a tune or three, dmiller....
That Kramer headstock is distinctive T-Bone! Are you playing through an amp, these days? What have you used?
I have to say, the Jaco Bassological Method is interesting, and I'm not a bass player by any means, but I like that thunk. The basics of soul, or "funk" are built on the downbeat, the "1". Where you have a little more room to spread than rock, which hits on the 2 and the 4, splitting the measure. When you have a 4 beat measure or two 4's you can write a longer line. Jaco would write these hel-ashusly long lines, often spreading across the measures, as on "Come On Come Over" where he started on the downbeat of the 4, but then always hitting the first beat of each measure in his line. Nice stuff.
I'm playing through a Peavey TNT - a "little" 75 watt, Socks...I think it's part getting older and part lazy-butt, I did a terrible thing [for a bass amp] - put the amp on wheels so I can move it around easier...
DMiller, the two SRV I've got: Greatest Hits and In Step.
ChasUFarley - I've ordered that Beckology from Amazon!
Stevie Ray's 2 best...Texas Flood and The Sky Is Crying, in that order. :)
DVD's...Get Live at Montreux, a 2 disc set. Has both the 1982 concert (where they actually Boo'd him) and the 1985 show.. Also, SRV and DT Live from Austin, Texas. That is the 2 appearances on Austin City Limits. And Finally, Live at the el Mocambo. Yeah, I have a few of his DVD's. :)
SRV was basically a nice guy too... really untouched by it all (at least that's the way he seemed then, towards the end of his short life when I sat next to him on a plane ride from Philly to Dallas)... and he didn't 'check' his guitar...
TBone - Excellent choice. My favorite CD is the first one of the set - his early stuff. It's not as "produced" sounding. By the way, the song "'Cause We Ended As Lovers" was used on the CD that Mathman and I gave out at our wedding to our guests - great song! (There's some good music to get busy by on that box set....)
This weekend I found the Bass Guitar White Pages (Tab) - it's like 200 songs. Here's a snippet of some of the songs in it:
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T-Bone
Yeah, DMiller, I checked that website out - very interesting. I'd like to try them out - maybe go into a music store that has them on a bass...Of course, I hadn't played since 1985 and have got so busy with work and family [which is a good thing compared to my TWI days]...Checking out this thread has got me thinking about messing around with it again...I'll jam once and awhile with my son [he's got a Carvin Bass and plays Acoustic Guitar]...Anyway - I remember in the late 60's, this guy Ricky I knew had Nylon Taped Strings - very mellow sound - sorta muted - and I noticed they'd get nicks in the tape and I think that messed with their sound too...I've always used round wounds because the strings seem to last longer - guess that's an illusion because of the brighter sound - I used to like the oinky, ringy sound but I'm wanting a more mellow tone that would compliment the whine of a fretless...So maybe I have to hear the Blue Steel strings.
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ChattyKathy
SRV :wub:
Don't it just ache ya to think of what might have been had he not died! :(
I have some favorites of his, I've posted here once or twice I think so won't bring more but he is so fine!
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dmiller
Ratzz. the link won't work. :(
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T-Bone
Whoa DMiller !!!!!!! You have mentioned the instrument of my dreams - a Double Bass !!!!! Just one little hitch - those strings wouldn't work on my electric bass - I don't think the strings would do anything to the pick ups looking for steel moving through its magnetic field...I did some experimentation years ago - building several different microphones into the body - that gave it an acoustic sound - but it was very shallow - since it wasn't as long as a double bass and didn't have a resonating hollow body...Plus I think a double bass would be a big challenge for me to play. My fretless has the frets marked on them - so I don't get lost. :blink:
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socks
T-Bone, you could go a couple different ways with your strings - flat wound "ribbon" strings or roundwound.
Rotosound makes a well known line of the round wound. Fender makes a well know line of the flat/ribbon.
Right now my son has a fretless Fender Jazz with Fender flats on it and it has a really nice warm, smooth sound. The Jazz has light tan lines where the frets would be - as you say, much easier to be in key. It has a sound like you're describing I think but will get some funky thump going too. I've grown to like them although I do have to really concentrate or I slip and slide.
The round wounds on a fretless will add a brighter and louder tone, as I'm sure you know.
Musicians Friend sells quite a few - buy the short, medium or long scale, "based" on your need. :)
Jaco Pastorius used the Rotosounds on his fretless Jazz bass, and got a very smooth sweet tone and a very funky bright tone out of them. I've read that Joe Zawinal of Weather Report thought JP played double bass when he first heard a tape of him, prior to JP joining Weather Report. Apparently he was surprised when he showed up with an electric bass but dug that Jaco sound.
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socks
Chatty, it would have been interesting to see SRV develop his music over the years. He has some very admirable qualities - he was always "on", I've read there aren't very many recordings of his playing that're clunkers. He had his sound, he was a master of it, no question about that. It would have been great to hear more!
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T-Bone
Thanks, DMiller and Socks, for the string info…Socks, I imagine your son's fretless Jazz Bass sounds sweet! There's a place in my heart for the Fender Jazz Bass…I had one in the early 70s – even had it customized – had a Humbucking pickup installed on it – it had three toggle switches for each pickup. It was great for that fat bass sound like Bruce's Gibson on live Cream tunes – but I liked the feel of the Fender [mine was fretted]…Caught a bad case of new-believer-free-spirit and gave my Fender to a believer [named Bob?] in NY before I went W.O.W…This is funny – years later I played on one of those R.O.A. side stages and got to play my old Fender . I still have the warranty/owner's card for it! Who knows – I may wind up getting a Fender Jazz again someday – it will be fretless this time.
I like Jaco Pastorius – I've got a CD of his "The Birthday Concert" – and like his energetic playing and Fender sound. When you mentioned Weather Report I thought of their first album "Sweetnighter" which featured Miroslav Vitous on Double Bass – I like his style and have a couple of his CDs.
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ChattyKathy
It's hard to know what he could have done. He didn't play by the rules in his mastery of strings.
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socks
"The Birthday Concert"....now we're talkin' T-Bone! I've heard the rendition of Happy Birthday from it, pretty cool tune.
I've only heard good things about Kramer, basses, in general that the necks are very true and the sound has a lot of range throughout the models.
Aaaah.
That's a musician talkin, there, sir. Damm glad to meEt ya! :) This thread's all good.
Speaking of bass players, Tommy Shannon, Double Trouble. Not too shabby.
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T-Bone
I will say that Kramer aluminum neck is darn true! But it's funny how the end of it looks like a big tuning fork - it looks like the perfect Ham Sandwich Holder...And yeah Tommy has a good sound - I've got a couple of SRV CDs!
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dmiller
True confessions -- from a Bluegrass fiddler:
OK -- I admit it -- I like rock and roll too! :D
Have heard of SRV, (and probably have heard his stuff), but I wouldn't recognize it.
Any suggestions for a CD or two of his that I could buy??
Y'all have me curious about him now. :)
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socks
I betya ChattyKathy's got a tune or three, dmiller....
That Kramer headstock is distinctive T-Bone! Are you playing through an amp, these days? What have you used?
I have to say, the Jaco Bassological Method is interesting, and I'm not a bass player by any means, but I like that thunk. The basics of soul, or "funk" are built on the downbeat, the "1". Where you have a little more room to spread than rock, which hits on the 2 and the 4, splitting the measure. When you have a 4 beat measure or two 4's you can write a longer line. Jaco would write these hel-ashusly long lines, often spreading across the measures, as on "Come On Come Over" where he started on the downbeat of the 4, but then always hitting the first beat of each measure in his line. Nice stuff.
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ChattyKathy
David, I'll burn a couple songs of SRV's tonight and link for you to listen to should you like. (Socks was right on!)
It's Friday! :)
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T-Bone
I'm playing through a Peavey TNT - a "little" 75 watt, Socks...I think it's part getting older and part lazy-butt, I did a terrible thing [for a bass amp] - put the amp on wheels so I can move it around easier...
DMiller, the two SRV I've got: Greatest Hits and In Step.
ChasUFarley - I've ordered that Beckology from Amazon!
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Bluzeman
Stevie Ray's 2 best...Texas Flood and The Sky Is Crying, in that order. :)
DVD's...Get Live at Montreux, a 2 disc set. Has both the 1982 concert (where they actually Boo'd him) and the 1985 show.. Also, SRV and DT Live from Austin, Texas. That is the 2 appearances on Austin City Limits. And Finally, Live at the el Mocambo. Yeah, I have a few of his DVD's. :)
Rick
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Tom Strange
SRV was basically a nice guy too... really untouched by it all (at least that's the way he seemed then, towards the end of his short life when I sat next to him on a plane ride from Philly to Dallas)... and he didn't 'check' his guitar...
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ChattyKathy
Okay, it seems a bunch of us have SRV but I'm fixin to post some. :)
This one was mentioned by Rick. This version was recorded in 1982. SRV Texas Flood
This just because I think it's so dang adorable. SRV Mary Had A Little Lamb
Thought it appropriate since he was mentioned by Chas. Hendrix Red House
A tad naughty but fun. Clapton Traveling Riverside Blues
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socks
Excellent choices Kathy! thanks!
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ChattyKathy
You're welcome. :)
I'm finding a tree by the water and lean against it and read for a spell today. Hope y'all are doing something you enjoy other than chores.
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socks
I'm heading for ChoreVille, myself! Sounds like a good Saturday ChattyKathy! Have some sweet music on in the background!
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ChattyKathy
ChoreVille will still await me, but that it'll have to do. :)
And yup, already have the music and player in the car with a favorite blanket to sit on.
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ChasUFarley
TBone - Excellent choice. My favorite CD is the first one of the set - his early stuff. It's not as "produced" sounding. By the way, the song "'Cause We Ended As Lovers" was used on the CD that Mathman and I gave out at our wedding to our guests - great song! (There's some good music to get busy by on that box set....)
This weekend I found the Bass Guitar White Pages (Tab) - it's like 200 songs. Here's a snippet of some of the songs in it:
All Apologies • All Shook Up • Another One Bites the Dust • Are You Gonna Go My Way • Baby Love • Bad Medicine • Badge • Barracuda • Beast of Burden • Blue on Black • Blue Suede Shoes • Blueberry Hill • Brass in Pocket • Bulls on Parade • Carry on Wayward Son • Cherry Pie • Come Out and Play • Come to My Window • Come Together • Couldn't Stand the Weather • Detroit Rock City • Eight Days a Week • Fly Away • Free Ride • Get Ready • Great Balls of Fire • Hard to Handle • Hey Joe • Hey Man Nice Shot • Higher Ground • I Can See for Miles • I Fought the Law • The Impression That I Get • Into the Great Wide Open • Iris • Iron Man • Jessica • Learn to Fly • Maggie May • Maria Maria • Money • My Girl • Oye Como Va • Paperback Writer • Paranoid • Pride and Joy • Riding with the King • Semi-Charmed Life • Sultans of Swing • Under Pressure • Walk of Life • Would? • Wonderwall • and many more! ©2001.
Whoo-hoo! The kids are in bed and I'm off to play!
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dmiller
ChattyKathy -- GREAT TUNES! Thanks. :)
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ChattyKathy
Glad you enjoyed David. :)
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