/ \ / / - _--__| / | | / \ ________--__- O --- ____ | | \ \ / \ =======/-/=======| |) O --- ___ \ | / / ======/-/=====================| |) O--- ___ | / =====/-/===================================| |) O--- ___ ====/-/================================================| |) -__ ___/_/ _|_ | _ ___ ___ __|__ _ \__ __ \ ___\_\\-_ | |_ / \ | ) __ | | | | / \ | | \ \\ \\\\\\\\\-_ \_/ | \ |-- |--< / \ | \_/ \_/ _ |\ \ | | \__ | \ \__/ | ____ \ o \/\ |_\ /\| \_ |___/ ____---\\\\\\| \ \ \ \ \_ /\| \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--- \_ \ \ \ _/\/ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\------ \_ \ __-\\\/ ---\\\\\\\- Issue #283 January 25, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To post: Subscriptions, deletions, requests: bass@uwplatt.edu bass-request@uwplatt.edu (Bitnet: bass@uwplatt.bitnet) (Bitnet: bass-request@uwplatt.bitnet) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today's topics: Recording and mixing bass Reading... Pedulla for sale Wooten & Bailey To Record Album Anyone want a SWR Goliath? Primus Tab / Comp.-Lim. Guru Ron Carter plays Bach? Under-rated Bassists RE: The Bottom Line #282 Fender Bass amps under $300 TBL Logo Stuff - Bass Lessons Warwick Thumb Bass RE: Joni & Jaco GIF file download Zen and the Art of the Bass RE: OVER Rated Players; Paulšs Recording Problems; Neck Thrušs vs Bolt-Ons RE: More On Warmoth Necks OVERrated Bass Player Meets Bach Under-rated bass players Information about acoustic bass guitars Standing in the Shadows of Motown RE: underrated players ... thanx TBL comments Ungrounded amplifiers ---------------------------------------------------------- Administrative notes: Those of you who found your "undigestifying" software not working with the _Bottom Line_ not too long ago should give it another try. Something mysteriously fixed itself so that the formatting comes out correct. Don't ask me how... Geez, you guys have been *monsters* on the keyboards lately. Just -look- at all those "Today's topics." The nice thing is, though, that I don't find myself skimming over too much; the signal-to-noise ratio remains respectably high on this list, which is something few groups seem to be able to attain. Give yourselves pats on the backs (how many more plurals...). Plus, it makes my job much easier. :) Kevin ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 00:38:45 EST From: nathan@hilbert.biology.YALE.EDU Subject: Recording and mixing bass > From: Paul Desjarlais > > This leads me to some questions on recording; I'd love to see > more discussion of bass recording techniques in TBL, if > anyone has some tips, because getting a good bass sound in a > mix on tape still manages to elude me and my band. I just finished co-engineering and co-producing an album for a local "alternative rock" group ("Swansons") composed of drums, bass, guitar and vocals. We recorded in the home studio of a local musician equipped with two Alesis ADAT digital recorders (16 total tracks), and mixed down to DAT. There were two Yamaha 12x4 recording boards that were quiet enough, but nothing to write home about. Basic instrumental tracks were recorded with drums, bass, and guitar playing together for good "feel" to the musicians (and the drummer - just kidding ;-)). The stock Mexican Fender P-bass was run direct into an Alesis 3630 compressor, then into a Chandler Tube Driver set for a clean setting with just a touch of tube bite, and then into the board. The Tube Driver added a lot of high end to the sound of the bass. The compressor was set to reduce about 6-9 dB during the loudest peaks of the low E string, a ratio of about 4:1. For mixdown, a BBE 402 was instrumental (no pun intended) in adding punch and definition to the bass tracks (as well as the acoustic kick drum and snare). A BBE seems to add low end EQ, and high end phase tricks. One final note that might be easy to overlook in the search for a technical solution: the music we recorded was composed and arranged so that there was space for the bass to punch through in plenty of places. They avoided all the instruments battling it out all the time for room in the mix by writing guitar parts that were sometimes pounding, sometimes ethereal, sometimes completely silent. There are some great drum+bass-only groves that last for several measures where the bass could be really punched up in the mix. Good luck! ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 02:46:05 -0800 From: jimlynch@netcom.com Subject: Reading... Why? If you're interested in learning functional harmony (a _must_ for most players; all others will benefit greatly), you must read. Not necessarily sightread, but at least be able to get the notes out fast enough so's you can follow what is being said about it. If you read, you have access to more than 400 years of music. Believe me, *NOTHING* is new. It's all been done one way or another and you have access to it. If you don't read, you're stuck with copying albums or composing on tape. And for composing, what do you have to go on? _Only_ what you have heard. Only what the music industry wants every 13-year old to hear, because anything else is not marketable. _Problems_ Most of the time there are two kinds of players: readers and listeners. The problem with readers who _started out_ reading is that that's the only way they can play. They (generally) have no ear training, theory or improvisational backround; they just read and play. By-ear players (who have been playing for decades with people without any formal theory backround) have a hell of a time learning to read because their _great_ ear gets _in the way_. They hear some other line that's stronger or they hear a sharp dissonance and they think it's wrong immediately. (they may be right, but that fact doesn't help with the reading.) If I thought there were readers only, I would encourage them to go to jam sessions, get up with the house band and _listen_ carefully to what's going on in the music while playing, but I don't think there are read-only players, (that read this column), so I won't say that. The combination of the two is a rare and beautiful player who should definitely be writing (either by tape or on paper.) ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 24 Jan 1993 13:09:58 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Hutchinson Subject: Pedulla for sale FOR SALE: MV Pedulla Series II fretted 4-string bass LEFT-HANDED Bartolini PJ combo with TBIBT active EQ and preamp Gloss black finish, black hardware Hardshell case Used about six months, great condition Invoice price (new): $1820 If interested please email hutchins@ithaca.bitnet or call me at (607) 256-8303 ... after 5pm EST is best, otherwise leave a message. -- Mike Hutchinson Ithaca, NY, USA ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 13:15:56 MST From: Erik Habbinga Subject: Wooten & Bailey To Record Album The following is quoted from an ADA Trends brochure I found a a music store over the weekend: Bassists Steve Bailey and Victor L. Wooten, brought together by ADA in 1992, will be recording a CD together. The two bass masters [isn't that a tv show???] made their live debut at last year's ADA NAMM booth, drawing much media and industry attention. The album will be distributed by CPP Belwin and will be packaged with an instructional book containing complete transcriptions. The duo are hoping to begin recording in LA while they're both in town for winter NAMM '93. Victor keeps a full calendar touring with Bela Fleck as one of the Flecktones in support of the band's third Warner Bros. release "UFO TOFU." Like their previous efforts, the album is a top ten fixture on Billboard's Jazz charts. His playing continues to win him acclaim, including a second place standing in Guitar Player's recent reader's poll. Steve Bailey pursues a breakneck schedule of touring, session work, and teaching at B.I.T. He recently went out with Kitaro & Jon Anderson as part of an orchestral group including Doane Perry of Jethro Tull and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Steve's unique 6-string fretless playing style combined with Victor's innovative slapping, poppiung, and tapping create a mesmerizingly complete musical sound that cannot be missed! I will not attempt to draw the accompanying picture with ASCII characters!! [ Send it to Paul Desjarlais to fill his time. :) :) Bass Mgr. ] Erik ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 17:50:45 -0500 (EST) From: Len Moskowitz Subject: Anyone want a SWR Goliath? Thought all us TBL'ers would be interested in this: My local Sam Ash (Paramus, NJ) is selling a used SWR Goliath cabinet in very good condition for $399. Their phone number is 201-843-0119; ask for Bill Karcher. Bill is the assistant manager there and a nice guy. I've no connection with him other than being a long term satisfied customer. (The Goliath has 4 - 10" speakers and a bullet tweeter.) Len Moskowitz moskowit@panix.com [ Hey Len, ask the dealer in a few days how many people have flooded the phone line. I'm curious. Bass Mgr. ] ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jan 1993 09:05:03 +0100 From: Peter Vermeeren Subject: Primus Tab / Comp.-Lim. Guru Hi ! Matt's right (BL#279) ! Mike Watt (fIREHOSE/Dos/ex-Minutemen) also belongs on the list of unknown heroes. Don't wanna be the wise guy or so however, but he plays on an ooooooooooold Tele bass with EMG's and on nothing else as it seems (and I think that's a right choice 'cos I L I K E his sound and playing). More on this lumberjack in the summer '90 issue of Bass Player. Ken asks for Primus tab (BL#280). I remember there was some tab some time ago but can't track down the BL issues right now. Hey, I do admire your courage: playing for about four months and asking for tab of 'Tommy the Cat' ! I saw this tab in a magazine a year ago and at home, what I remembered of it seemed next to impossible to me then. 'Those Damned...Tweekers' is easy however, you should try this one. Would like to see the tab that is sent to you directly in BL. Let me finish by thanking the Almighty Compressor/Limiter Guru (RE to BL#277). To my surprise, there appeared to be two of Them ! But luckily They BOTH told me very wise things so I didn't get confused which One of Them to believe. I think I'm gonna try the Boss CL-50, the DBX 163X and the Alesis 3630 (stereo this last one, so also usable for the little bit of band recording that we do). Hey, and if someone has funny or nasty stories about these boxes (I remember the CL-50 to be mentioned several times some while ago), type them down if you like ! Bye, Peter ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 07:52 EDT From: JWHITE@OPAL.TUFTS.EDU Subject: Ron Carter plays Bach? A couple weeks ago, a jazz-head friend of mine bought the Ron Carter disc. He loaned it to me to see what I thought, since I'm a bass player (of sorts, anyway). Well, to tell the truth, I couldn't listen to the entire disc. Now Ron Carter has a great reputation and has played on a bunch of great tunes. BUT I have to agree with pmb - the intonation is off for all the upper register stuff. My friend loves both Ron Carter and Bach, but he was wondering if he was hearing the songs wrong - they sounded off to him as well. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this disc - with all due respect to Mr. Carter - $16 is a lot of dough for a CD that you can't listen to. (Geesh, and I don't even _like_ critics!) Joel ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jan 93 09:21:27 U From: Oz Barron Subject: Under-rated Bassists Ok, Bracing myself for derision: Peter Cetera! Ok, he's become a wimpy pop signer, but check out the old Chicago stuff (especially 1-5) and he plays very melodically. On many occasions, the bass is the 4th horn in the horn section. -oz ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 10:13:43 EST From: djudy@djudy.East.Sun.COM Subject: RE: The Bottom Line #282 Suggestion: when discussing personal experiences with equipment or musicians can the sender include a short bio about him/herself? Like maybe- I have played for X years playing styles include jazz, funk? It would really help me in determining the ear of the sender. Dennis ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 08:37:56 PST From: rrome@bssv02.hac.com Subject: Fender Bass amps under $300 Greetings all I am finally going to take the plunge and purchase a low-end amp for my Fender Jazz (American Std). Having a 2 year old in the house and no band interest, something less than a Hartke or GK will suit me fine. Fender's Sidekick 30 and Bassman 60 pack enough punch for me but I can't get past the fact that they're made in Taiwan and look it. Knobs and plugs look like Tandy equipment at best. Compared them with a 60 Watt Peavey (no flames) and the Peavey had no punch at all, even though it looked like a competent Made-in-usa unit. Any opinions on the Fenders? Haven't tried the RAD bass yet, but I hear it has a smaller speaker and less watts than a sidekick. Thanks, and email would be great as I am not yet re-subscribed to the group. Russ Romero (rrome@bssv02.hac.com) ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 11:19 From: TYOUNG.GATEWAY@cssm004.StPaul.NCR.COM Subject: TBL Logo Stuff - Bass Lessons I have placed the the TBL Logo out at the Kappa archive in corel draw format (TBL-LOGO,CDR). The reason being, there is a company call Image Graphics that will take this image and imprint on coffee mugs ( 7.50) , Mouse Pads (12.95), Beer Steins( 12.95), T-shirts ( 12.95) as well as jackets, aprons etc. etc. etc.. There is no charge for color, so if the creator wants to go wild I will gladly attempt another conversion. The conversion is not quire as good as the original in the fine detail, but it is satisfactory. Image graphic requires a 25.00 min order and can be reached at (205)-222-4166. The image can be sent via mode at (205)-222-6586 (24hrs) or mailed on a floppy. BTW: Hooray for the Bass lessons so generously included in the last issue. Where else but on the net can you find such great people ?. Todd Young Todd.Young@STPaul.NCR.com ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 13:00:41 EST From: Al Subject: Warwick Thumb Bass Hi, all, and to business. A fellow I know is offering to sell me a Warwick Thumb bass (5 string) for $1000 canadian (sorry I don't have the foggiest about exchange rates today). Assuming I like it, is this a deal, a steal...has anyone had any problems with 'em? Al ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 10:04:04 -0800 From: spence@snake.esd.sgi.com Subject: RE: Joni & Jaco > I just to write cause I just listened to one of my all time favorite > songs - Joni Mitchell's "Cotton Avenue" with Jaco playing. It is on > her album called "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter." Give it a listen if > you can and let me know what you think. > great song. my personal favorite is "jericho", from the same album. the interaction of everyone playing on this song is wonderful. i love the way joni's meandering melody line is accented by jaco. also, wayne shorter's sparse but expressive lines add emphasis to the vocals. can anyone recommend other joni albums with jaco? spence [ My favorite is still the live _Shadows and Light_, especially "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines." Bass Mgr. ] ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 12:13:58 CST From: grahams@uwwvax.uww.edu Subject: GIF file download I had no problem with the GIF file when I downloaded it. I am using a program called VUIMAGE to see what it looks like. VUIMAGE is version 3.20. I down- loaded on 1/5/93. Hope that helps. Steven Graham GRAHAMS@UWWVAX.UWW.EDU ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jan 1993 14:01:06 -0500 (EST) From: stu1016@discover.wright.edu Subject: Zen and the Art of the Bass I've been reading TBL lately and I'd like to add my $0.03 (Hey I'm an Alembic Player, I'm used to things being more expensive. :^) ) to several threads. RE: To Read, or not to read, ---------------------------- I feel that the area of my playing that is most lacking is that I cant read I dont think its really a matter of "Why should I read?" it's a matter of why SHOULDNT your read. Is there harm in learning? And if through learning you become a better player in the process isn't that reason enough? I am trying to learn how to read (Slowly!) and I feel that when I can sight read I will be able to play ANYTHING. The hardest part of my learning curve is not the technical part. Anyone with two hands, four strings, and ten fingers can play everything that Jaco, Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten, or John Myung can play. Period. Technique is just practice. I'm learning 'Portrait of Tracy' from the TBL Tab and I'm getting better at it. (I can even hit that 2&6 stretch sometimes now!!!) and I thought that I'd never be able to learn it. The hardest part is not how you play, it's what you play and why you play it. If I can pick up sheet music to say "Donna Lee" or 'Giant Steps' I can not only see what notes are being played but where those notes sit in relation to one another. Example, ------------- ------------- ----4-------- --6---------- does not tell me that I'm to play A# and its Major 3rd C#. It tells me 6th fret 4th string, 4th fret 3rd string. It doesnt tell me that the 4th fret 3rd string can be played at 9th fret 4th string. (Forgive me if my numbers are wrong, I'm doing this from memory. My bass is 60 miles away.) But sheet to that two note passage would tell me A#, and C#. period. Now I know the why. If you play only root-fifth blues rock lines maybe you dont need to read. But why constrain yourself to one style? RE: Fretless. ------------- The concept of fret lines on a fretless is one that's a little close to me. I have owned a Fender Jazz Fretless with no fret lines for over a year now. I feel that I'm a better fretless player today because of the fact that I have no fret lines. I can't play by sight on it, I have to intonate by ear which teaches better intonation anyway. I feel that Fret lines, though useful hamper the development of the ear's ability to hear the intonation. (BTW, there are side markers on the neck, If I'm lost I can find 'em that way.) Yes, the learning curve on an unlined bass is higher, but I think you end up in a better place. (BTW my next bass is going to be a Carvin LB76F 6-string fretless WITH NO LINES!! :^) ) ----------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Bassist In Residence. stu1016@discover.wright.edu ----------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 11:07:15 PST From: Graham_McClelland.Sthq@xerox.com Subject: RE: OVER Rated Players; Paulšs Recording Problems; Neck Thrušs vs Bolt-Ons Re: OVER Rated Players - I've gotta agree whole heartedly with Kevin here. Judging someone as over rated could cause some dissension. It also serves no purpose other than to allow someone to vent "sour grapes" over another's success. Besides, the big picture is that bass players in general are all UNDER rated by the general listening population. You know the stereotype - "The bass player has fewer strings to deal with, so he must not be as good as the guitar or keyboard player". Or, "How difficult could it be to play an instrument with only four strings?". Other than among our peers, we're ALL under rated, folks. Enough pontificating... Re: Paul's recording problem - I've experienced the same problem with regards to capturing the desired sound in the studio. My opinion is that alot Engineers and Producers don't know how to go about getting a good bass sound because they haven't spent alot of time on it. As long as they can "feel" and hear it through the mix, they're happy. Case in point - how much time is spent by the studio crew tweaking the drummer's kit before recording starts? Three to four HOURS at LEAST in most cases. How much time is spent on bass? A fraction of that. When you mention that your sound isn't what you want, they say "Don`t worry, we`ll fix it when we mix it down." What happens next is that you walk out after the session feeling that you played well, but no one is gonna hear it. My remedy? I try to get the band to agree to having my sound "punched up" on the basic tracks because once the producer starts messing around and adding tracks and compression, my track starts to blur. I still don`t get the tone I want, but I don`t end up being a monotonous drone in the background. In band situations I usually record direct with a little flange, varying amounts of chorus and lots of EQ'ing. Re: The neck-through-body topic John brought up in #282. If money is no problem, than a neck-thru-body bass is for you. Tone and sustain in particular is better than a bolt on config. The only problem is that should something happen to the neck due to a freak accident, you may not be able to save the bass. Again, if you can afford to run out and buy another bass - no problem. I could be wrong, but I don't think any of us are in this unique position. I'm a tinkerer without big bucks to drop on my musical endeavors, so I prefer bolt ons. I read alittle about the Peavey/Bromberg bass in the latest Bass Player. Sounds extremely versatile. An interesting collaboration too. `Til next time... Graham graham.sthq@xerox.com ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 11:08:17 PST From: Alan.Henley@EBay.Sun.COM Subject: RE: More On Warmoth Necks Okay. Now I'm good and confused. Maybe someone can help straighten this out. From #282, Graham McClelland writes: >If I'm not mistaken, Fender (and probably others) is using fairly light >woods like ash in their production instruments. This would account for >the problem with matching a heavier Warmoth neck to a stock Fender body. And now from my own posting in the same issue: >Secondly, I was looking specifically for a solid, heavy neck >because the body of this bass is ash and quite heavy. One of us is saying ash is light while the other is saying it's heavy. One thing that is NOT in doubt, the body of my bass IS heavy. For the longest time, I thought it was maple, but when I had some work done on it last year, the tech said it was ash. (Of course, he could have been wrong.) Second point. I was under the impression that Fender (and others) had taken to making bodies out of Alder, which is a very light wood that gives a nice natural slap tone. Can any of you wood-wise folks out there clarify this? Alan Henley ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 14:11:35 EST From: bulm2533@mstr.hgc.edu Subject: OVERrated Bass Player Meets Bach In the last TBL >From: PBAYMILLER@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu >Subject: Ron Carter plays Bach made the astute observation questioning the intonation of Mr. Carter on this album. [flame on] Not only is this an album to avoid, but this confirms my belief that Mr. Carter falls into the OVERrated bassist category. I too received this album not too long ago as a gift and with great anticipation loaded up the CD player; sadly my ears were greeted with very sloppy treatments of some Bach favorites. Mr. Carter's intonation is generally abominable and his renditions were devoid of any reasonable musical facsimile: phrasing was non existent, dynamics were limited to a single mezzo-forte throughout and his improvisations were humorously out-of-style . After listening to this disc twice and reading the limited liner notes ( and noting that this is a Japanese production), I surmised that this must have been his fulfillment of obligations to a record comany and that this performance is not something he was out promoting. Well, lo and behold, on National Public Radio two weeks ago, here comes a feature with Ron Carter discussing this "project", how he researched the Bach scores and worked with "world renown cellists" to be certain that his style was in keeping with Bach's intentions. How he was so sensitive to Bach's orchestrations, etc,etc. I was appalled! The performance certainly does not bear any of it out. Man it sounds like he is a high school student sight reading it: wrong notes, mis-bowings, counting wrong, poor tone from those hideous LaBella (?) black nylon wound strings. I guess if you are going to BS your audience, be sure to go ALL THE WAY with it. Some nerve in my opinion. This album is a great disservice to acoustic bass playing, and I continue to be very dissapointed with Mr. Carter, especially in his shameless promotion of this project. -Steve B [flame off] ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 11:19:27 PST From: weaver@sfc.sony.com Subject: Under-rated bass players How about Harry Shearer (known to many as Derek Smalls)... ;-} Eric Weaver Sony AVTC 677 River Oaks Pkwy, MS 35 SJ CA 95134 408 944-4904 & Chief Engineer, KFJC 89.7 Foothill College, Los Altos Hills CA 94022 [ Ok, now call me silly, but I caught the Spinal Tap reunion on network TV over Christmas, and actually found myself *liking* some of their songwriting. If this was all supposed to be a huge joke from the beginning, this doesn't say much for those bands they parody who they're actually sounding better than. (Not putting -that- through Grammatix.) Anyone besides me split their sides when Nigel threw horseshoes at his guitar during the obligatory solo? Bass Mgr. ] ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 14:04:55 -0500 From: Brad Nixon Subject: Information about acoustic bass guitars I'm interested in hearing from TBL'ers who have some experience with acoustic bass guitars. I've been attracted by the Guild four-strings I've seen in taped concerts, and I've read about the relatively new Martin model. I'd be pleased to have email from any of you who have opinions about these and any other acoustic bass guitars. Oh yes, the first post thing: I'm playing acoustic and electric blues after some younger days in various loud rock trios. We're concentrating mostly on the traditional delta and country material. For acoustic, I'm playing a 1940's Kay string bass with a Fishman BP-100 pickup. Occasionally, we play a gig in which I'd to have the acoustic guitar option, instead of packing a 6-foot instrument for a limited engagement. Electrically, a choice of fretted or fretless T4001 Rickenbackers and an '89 Fender Jazz Plus fretless, all through a Crate B80XL miked into the PA. I'll be glad to summarize info and post it. Thanks for including the recent Slap/Tap lessons for those of us without access to rec.music.makers.bass! Brad -- Brad Nixon, Manager, Media Relations brad.nixon@daytonOH.ncr.com NCR Corporation 513 445 6413 1700 S. Patterson Blvd. Dayton, OH 45479 FAX 513 445 1893 ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 15:09:24 EST From: shinh@nmr-r.MGH.Harvard.Edu Subject: Standing in the Shadows of Motown Hi Everybody, At the risk of bringing up an old topic: (forgive me if this has been discussed.) I just got the James Jamerson book this past weekend, and I must say that I'm very impressed with JJ's bass lines. Personally, I wasn't aware of his playing when I was younger; I bought the book because my new bass teacher says that it's invaluable in improving one's funk feel. I had no idea that he was playing so melodically back in the 60's. Some of his lines are really cooking! I specifically dig the line the "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. Will Lee does a great job of grooving on this tune. There's a whole bunch of historical/biographical info on Jamerson in the beginning of the book; I found it intersting, but not particularly gripping. I guess it's because I never was a big fan. It's funny, though. A lot of the players that influnced me *heavily* are on the tapes and say that Jamerson was a huge influence. I guess that means that I have been indirectly influenced. The book is full of transcriptions of bass lines and comes with 2 tapes which are mixed with the bass way out front. The tapes are really helpful for a poor reader like me, and it's cool to hear some of my favorite bassists talking and playing. Check it out! -Shin ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 15:36:15 EST From: rm@centerline.com Subject: RE: underrated players ... thanx In #277, nosekw@odin.icd.ab.com recommended a number of '70's funk bands as having underrated players. I was psyched to hear about these bands, as I totally missed pop music during the '70's, so I went down to the local record store (Skippy Whites for all you Boston area folks- it's THE place for Black music, and particularly for old stuff) and looked for some of the albums mentioned. I did manage to find both a Steve Arrington and the Brick album mentioned. Although the bass playing on both of these probably could have been done by Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, or Bootsy in their sleep, there are definately some solid groove things happening here. Thanks for the tip! Got any more? Of course while I was there I managed to scarf up a couple of Brothers Johnson albums as well as a pile of George Clinton/Bootsy thangs. Man, those guys produced a pile of albums. I had never even heard of one of these- "The Brides of Doctor Funkenstein." rm ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 13:30:36 -0800 From: "Geoffrey L. Gould" Subject: TBL comments I can't keep up w/TBL on a daily basis, but I felt like making a couple of comments inspired by some of the postings. re: Zon neck joint (From: mikes@sol.metaware.com) Since we (Modulus) molds Zon's necks, I felt I could respond to the question of the Legacy neck joint. It is a 'glue-on', but with a very seamless heel joint, thereby feeling like a thru-body. re: After Market fretless necks (From: Alan.Henley@EBay.Sun.COM) Modulus makes Fender replacement necks also, but since they're >$600, they may not be very viable for most. We're currently using a super-hard 'diamond coat'-style coating on the fingerboards (unless we use a cocabola fingerboard) re: Kai Eckhardt (From: karlo@tanaga.island.COM) I have the current pleasure of working w/Kai, having just returned from the NAMM show, where he was demoing in our booth; quite a combination: Kai, a Modulus SPi-6, and a Glockenklang bass amp. On Sunday afternoon, I found our booth quite unexpectedly the site of a bass trio, with Kai, Victor Wooten, and Steve Bailey jamming away for 1/2 an hour. It was quite beautiful. No wanking! On Monday, Kai and Steve Miller played together very briefly, and in an entirely different vein. Kai is quite remarkable, and flexible as well. It (TBL) is quite a wild concept, I'm not quite sure I have the hang of it yet, but it's great to see so many smart questions and comments from the people who really hold the band together! Geoff ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:03 EDT From: JLEW@ACC.HAVERFORD.EDU Subject: Ungrounded amplifiers I have recently acquired the use of a Peavey TKO 100 combo. It is probably late 70's or early 80's vintage and has no grounding pin in the power plug. I haven't experienced anything bad so far, but two of my band mates have gotten very slight shocks from touching an effects box which was sitting on the amp, and from the pickup of my bass. My question is, am I risking life and limb using this amp, and if so, is there any relatively inexpensive way to ground it? JL ---------------------------------------------------------- Anonymous ftp access for back issues, etc.: kappa.rice.edu (128.42.4.7) in the /pub/bass directory (Username is 'anonymous', password is your e-mail address. Try typing 'help' for more info once logged in.) _The Bottom Line_ is a digest dedicated to the art of playing electric and acoustic bass. It is distributed on a basis that coincides with the amount of material received, from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville, USA; Kevin Tipple, Erik Habbinga, editors Copyright _The Bottom Line_, 1993 The contents of _The Bottom Line_ are solely the opinions and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the authors' managements or the digest management. The editors do not assume responsibility for copyright infringement of submitted material. *************************** End of The Bottom Line #283 ***************************