Bassman Brad
New member
I personally find that quite fascinating.dirtythermos said:
Brad
Brad
U
Unsprung
New member
Sorry Purge
It was the poker faced nature of that one post that got me. I don't think the caffeine had time to kick in, when I read that, as well. And, now, back to our tuning discussion.
Matt
It was the poker faced nature of that one post that got me. I don't think the caffeine had time to kick in, when I read that, as well. And, now, back to our tuning discussion.
Matt
U
Unsprung
New member
re: Dial tone tuning
I now have a sudden urge to go get the cordless, and start playing "Transylvannia 6-5000," followed by practicing that "Linus and Lucy" bass line, finishing up with some more development of a bass line for an arrangement of "Baby Elephant Walk" that I've been noodling with, for a few years. Whenever I get that arrangement done, I'm sure there'll be some organ players get PO'd that I completely removed the organ, in favor of all guitars.
Matt
I now have a sudden urge to go get the cordless, and start playing "Transylvannia 6-5000," followed by practicing that "Linus and Lucy" bass line, finishing up with some more development of a bass line for an arrangement of "Baby Elephant Walk" that I've been noodling with, for a few years. Whenever I get that arrangement done, I'm sure there'll be some organ players get PO'd that I completely removed the organ, in favor of all guitars.
Matt
Monsoon
New member
Unsprung said:
Thanks. Now, I'll have that running through my head all afternoon!
ez_willis
.
crazydoc said:This looks like the appropriate place to introduce a new type of bass I've invented. It's a six string. The lower four strings are tuned the same as a normal bass, but one octave higher. Then I've added two strings of higher pitch - one tuned to B, and the other to E, two octaves above the low E.
It has a really different sound, especially whan chorded. It may even have potential for use as a solo instrument.
I call it the "soprano bass". I've already applied for a patent for it, so don't go trying to rip me off.
This sounds like it may work well for lighting on fire and smashing thru a Marshall stack, can you integrate that into the design?
Back to tuning, sometimes I will record my bass parts thru a guitar POD, then into the mixer into my soundcard. The tuner on the POD doesn't recognize the lower freq's of the bass strings so I have to give it a 12th fret harmonic to take advantage of the POD's tuner.
Garry Sharp
Lost Cause
Bass tuners work best on the 12th fret harmonic anyway. Just one pluck and you can adjust until the green light sstays steady.
Not that bass tuning is a topic worthy of discussion at any length....
Went to watch a gig the other day and the idiot guitarists tuned up, in front of the audience, no mute, just "twang twang twang" at full volume while they gazed at their pedals. Needless to say the band were complete shit. In fact they were so bad that my ears just couldn't bear it and we had to leave - no passouts so we didn't see the main band we'd come to see in the first place.
Not that bass tuning is a topic worthy of discussion at any length....
Went to watch a gig the other day and the idiot guitarists tuned up, in front of the audience, no mute, just "twang twang twang" at full volume while they gazed at their pedals. Needless to say the band were complete shit. In fact they were so bad that my ears just couldn't bear it and we had to leave - no passouts so we didn't see the main band we'd come to see in the first place.
U
Unsprung
New member
Pod
Don'tcha wish ya had a Bass POD? I've played my bass through my Guitar POD a couple of times, but it only makes me wish I had a Bass POD to play through. I've tried a Bass POD at Guitar Center, and was impressed enough to want one. Gonna hold out for a Bass POD XT Pro, however, since I'm wanting to build a bit of a home recording studio in my bedroom, so I can't really have too many pieces of hardware just laying around. As it is, I'll have an entire wall (except the 32" where the door is) nearly floor to ceiling in various electronic stuff...computers, musical equipment, tv, stereo, etc., and with what I've got planned, I may end up going around the corner, a bit, with it all...and I've still gotta have my bed, dresser & armoire in there (no closet, so gotta do the armoire bit). And when I say "nearly floor to ceiling," it's 'cause it's a 10' ceiling, so things could get a bit scarey, past 8'.
Matt
ez_willis said:
Don'tcha wish ya had a Bass POD? I've played my bass through my Guitar POD a couple of times, but it only makes me wish I had a Bass POD to play through. I've tried a Bass POD at Guitar Center, and was impressed enough to want one. Gonna hold out for a Bass POD XT Pro, however, since I'm wanting to build a bit of a home recording studio in my bedroom, so I can't really have too many pieces of hardware just laying around. As it is, I'll have an entire wall (except the 32" where the door is) nearly floor to ceiling in various electronic stuff...computers, musical equipment, tv, stereo, etc., and with what I've got planned, I may end up going around the corner, a bit, with it all...and I've still gotta have my bed, dresser & armoire in there (no closet, so gotta do the armoire bit). And when I say "nearly floor to ceiling," it's 'cause it's a 10' ceiling, so things could get a bit scarey, past 8'.
Matt
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
Plus they'd want to crank up the gain and distort the signal. Who wants to listen to that???Garry Sharp said:No point - it will never catch on. And if anybody did learn it they would want to play it too loud
lbanks
Banned
tourettes5139
New member
ggunn said:
got me there
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
EEEEEEHHH, that sort of thinking makes my eyelashes hurt!tourettes5139 said:got me there
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
hmmmmm
Found this....
Found this....
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
Resizing it messed it up.... damn....
Oh well.
Oh well.
Bassman Brad
New member
Our WHAT??? Our tuning discussion????? Oh, yeah! The tuning discussion.Unsprung said:
Brad
Bassman Brad
New member
Tuning the ONE string bass
Well, let's see. We've covered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 & 16 string basses -- and how they're tuned. And we've also slipped off into a few assorted tangents that are totally unrelated to bass guitar tuning (and I'm guilty of some of this, myself). Golly, gang. Don't know how many more pages we're going to be able to squeeze out of this thing. However, I did notice that we haven't yet discussed the proper tuning of the ONE string bass. Yes, of course, I'm talking about the venerable "wash tub bass."
I showed up at a jam session one time and met this guy who had played a version of this instrument that he refered to as a "thump pump." His improvement over the design of a conventional washtub bass was that he had mounted a 2x4 permanently to the wash tub and had attached a pump handle (like you would see on the pump of a well) to the top of the 2x4. Then he threaded the clothes line through the pump handle so that, when you pushed down on the handle, it tightened the string, thus raising the pitch. To drop the pitch, you just let off some of the tension on the string, by letting the handle move back up a little bit.
He let me play it quite a bit that night. Believe it or not, this thing was very playable. Even though I'd never seen anything even remotely like this beast before, I was able to play basslines on it without a problem. And, I'm telling you, man, it was WAY COOL, too!!! The guy claimed that he had played it in a jazz band during his stint in the military (I assume this would have been the 50s or 60s), and that they had played all over the world. He showed me a wooden case that he had built for it that had travel stickers from many, many exotic locations. Maybe he really DID haul that crazy mutant bass instrument all over the globe. I certainly have no reason to not believe his story, having seen and played this bizarre contraption for myself. (I'll bet it's not the weirdest thing that's ever been hauled on a military transport plane. I'd hate to even guess what that might be!)
God, I had such a BLAST with that thing, man! It was a real hoot to play. Heck, I better stop talking about it, or I'm gonna start thinking I need to build one of those things.
Brad
Well, let's see. We've covered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 & 16 string basses -- and how they're tuned. And we've also slipped off into a few assorted tangents that are totally unrelated to bass guitar tuning (and I'm guilty of some of this, myself). Golly, gang. Don't know how many more pages we're going to be able to squeeze out of this thing. However, I did notice that we haven't yet discussed the proper tuning of the ONE string bass. Yes, of course, I'm talking about the venerable "wash tub bass."
I showed up at a jam session one time and met this guy who had played a version of this instrument that he refered to as a "thump pump." His improvement over the design of a conventional washtub bass was that he had mounted a 2x4 permanently to the wash tub and had attached a pump handle (like you would see on the pump of a well) to the top of the 2x4. Then he threaded the clothes line through the pump handle so that, when you pushed down on the handle, it tightened the string, thus raising the pitch. To drop the pitch, you just let off some of the tension on the string, by letting the handle move back up a little bit.
He let me play it quite a bit that night. Believe it or not, this thing was very playable. Even though I'd never seen anything even remotely like this beast before, I was able to play basslines on it without a problem. And, I'm telling you, man, it was WAY COOL, too!!! The guy claimed that he had played it in a jazz band during his stint in the military (I assume this would have been the 50s or 60s), and that they had played all over the world. He showed me a wooden case that he had built for it that had travel stickers from many, many exotic locations. Maybe he really DID haul that crazy mutant bass instrument all over the globe. I certainly have no reason to not believe his story, having seen and played this bizarre contraption for myself. (I'll bet it's not the weirdest thing that's ever been hauled on a military transport plane. I'd hate to even guess what that might be!)
Heh, I'm glad you asked! Well, "tuning it" simply involved tying off the clothes line to a length where it would properly stretch from the tub to the tie off point on the handle, leaving the handle fairly high, but within comfortable reaching range. The resulting pitch, which would sound even if you didn't touch the handle at all, would be the lowest note of the instrument. You reached higher notes by pulling down on the handle until you got the pitch you were looking for, adjusting the pitch by ear.The peanut gallery said:
God, I had such a BLAST with that thing, man! It was a real hoot to play. Heck, I better stop talking about it, or I'm gonna start thinking I need to build one of those things.
Brad
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
I guess it would take some time to perfect it. Sounds like a real hoot to mess with...Bassman Brad said:
OK, my question:
Upright bass, tuned the same as an electric 4 string?
Bassman Brad
New member
Yep, exactly. It's even tuned in the same octave, although it sounds lower due to the extra size of the sound chamber.Rokket said:OK, my question:
Upright bass, tuned the same as an electric 4 string?
Brad
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
I thought so. I have pined away for an upright ever since I saw the Stray Cats in concert years ago. But it's tough being left-handed... There's too much work that can really screw them up that you have to do to convert them. And right now I can't afford to have one custom made...Bassman Brad said:
Bassman Brad
New member
Well, to tell you the truth, Rokket, I don't think it would actually cost you any more to own a left-handed upright bass than it would to own a right-handed one. From the research that I conducted into these instruments (when I was considering buying one) I found out that a professional set-up is pretty much a mandatory part of the cost of one of these basses. I wouldn't think that the cost to have it set up as a left-hander would be any more than the cost of having it set up for a rightie. I'm not an expert in these instruments, though, by any means.Rokket said:
Here's a great resource for you. Check out TalkBass.com. Go to the string bass section of the forum and hang out for awhile. You can learn TONS of stuff there. (Of course, the electric bass section is pretty cool, too.)
Brad
Rokket
Trailing Behind Again
I'll give it a look. I am not egotistical enough to say that I know all I will ever need to know about my instruments. Hell, when you play as many as I do, it's impossible to master them all. Bass is stil my primary focus, and my first love, but I also play guitar, can pound out a basic 4/4 on the drums, keyboards, sax, oboe, clarinet, banjo, sitar, mandolin... and I am in the process of starting on violin if I can find a cheap on that I can restring...Bassman Brad said: