The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[mortlock]

any bass players here ever get into using short scale basses. ive been thinking about it lately for the reduced weight and back strain..

[VOLVO)))]

Too muddy.

[liquidsmoke]

If I was playing bass in a band that tuned in the E to D range I'd look into something short and light with a small thin neck. I fooled around with one that was probably 27 or 28" scale at guitar center a few months back and it was a lot of fun and super easy to play. Didn't weigh more than a mid-weight guitar. I remember the Epi short scale SG bass being neck heavy.

[liquidsmoke]

I didn't go but here are some pics from Galactic Hatchet's 'Peavey Henge' show in honor of Peavey's 50th

[jibberish]

that looks loud.

[Danny G]

Surprised the stage didn't collapse from the weight.

[Lumpy]

any bass players here ever get into using short scale basses. ive been thinking about it lately for the reduced weight and back strain..

What about one of those new Squier Jaguar basses? They are sooper inexpensive, a few different models (different pickup configurations to choose from). Get yourself to a Guitar Barn.

[Lumpy]

I like the hippie style paint jobs being offered here (about 5 different ones shown):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-painted-Precision-Fender-American-standard-bass-USA-guitar-vintage-design-/400848489933?&_trksid=p2056016.m2516.l5255

[Danny G]

Rigged this high-tech method of interlocking the two pedalboards together. I'm a problem-solver.

[RAGER]

Nice, but I would have use wrought iron for a more cvlt look.

[RacerX]

any bass players here ever get into using short scale basses. ive been thinking about it lately for the reduced weight and back strain..

Like liquid smoke said, if you're not going to down tune much, they're great. Jack Bruce used short scale for all that Cream shit, and you can hear a whole lotta definition in his tone rather than muddiness...

[VOLVO)))]

Thought he used a Fender Bass VI? I dont know if I count that as a bass...

[Lumpy]

Free guy used a short scale bass too. They're thumpy. If you're playing thrash, it might sound muddy. But if you're playing thrash you probably don't care about "good tone".

[RacerX]

I'm a total Jack Bruce Bruce freak. He used the Fender Bass VI for most of Fresh Cream before moving on to the short scale Gibson EB-3, which he used for the rest. Later in his career he was using Warwick fretless, also short scale, I believe.

EDIT: The Warwick is the Thumb Bass Model, which is traditional long scale.

[liquidsmoke]

I like the hippie style paint jobs being offered here (about 5 different ones shown):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-painted-Precision-Fender-American-standard-bass-USA-guitar-vintage-design-/400848489933?&_trksid=p2056016.m2516.l5255

Very cool. I'd like an SG done up this way for the psychedelic band I keep not forming.

[Danny G]

Ocean of Stars had a great set at the Triple Crown last night. Yay!

[jibberish]

it almost looks like you could pin the two hinge sets together on your pedalboard heh.

stoked to watch your set.
looking forward to only wardrobe malfunctions and nothing else.


now that I have learned changes and clocks, i'm starting to realize that these types of rock piano are just glorified basslines. arpeggiated chords. that's it.
I wont learn clocks exactly. way too boring 3 chord wonder except for the bridge. both took all of 10 minutes to get the gist of it. they are both really pretty songs too.

great gig in the sky is a piano piece and it's going to take a while to get that one in the bag. if I was a god, I could play the vocal line with the piano part...channeling emerson, wakeman and liberace...come in...do you copy...(sounds like a pack of lawyers heh)

[Lumpy]

Nice bass drum head.

[jibberish]

ok , so I sped up the pieces parts of that coldplay clocks song. I like to play a new thing I learn a few days in a row to lock it in. just repeat the riffs until they smooth out, then throw it on the shelf with the rest.

boring, but very pretty, BUT I have a potential good use for it I believe
  it is in some strange b flat minor/f minor e flat zone.
from jamming with my pal and his trombone for so long, I have to think in terms of b flat and f because that is the concert tuning of a trombone.
I think this would be a good one for me to go full wall with that piano part and see how phatt i can make those riffs while my buddy noodles some psych trombone through the delay and pitch shifters n shit.

here's a thought in case anyone tangles with brass in one of their band situations (woodwinds are similar but different animals, but I guess this philosophy of bugle applies there too)
in a way, a horn is identical to a guitar on how the notes are broken down in the various strings. the strings are all tuned relative to each other in a pattern, and between open strings, you have places to influence the open string to get the notes between it and the next open string up(frets obviously)

ok a horn uses harmonics from blatting into the mouthpiece heh. a bugle has harmonic points that form a major chord. listen to all those bugle tunes like taps and revile and well, anything that a bugle plays it has to play on a major chord because that's the 3 notes a bugle can play. the size of the instrument and to an extent, the mouthpiece size, determine the playable range of octaves of these 3 notes. super lip dudes can get higher registers because they can get the extreme blatt going and get an extra octave or whatever

on the bottom, you can cheat and get a pedal tone which is below the actual range of the instrument. standard trombone is a b flat. they have a baritone trombone(think adding b string to your guitar) which goes the next notch down to F, just like adding that string.

horns get all the in-between notes from changing the length of the plumbing the air blatt  goes through. trumpet valves just cut in and out, different lengths of pipes.
the 'bone has the slide which varies the length continuously.   I have seen trombones with valves and the slide.  I appreciate the crazy shit you could do with that.

so , if you have to arrange with brass in mind, determine the concert tuning key and the lowest note or pedal tone that horn can play. you have to deal with those constraints.
a horn can play any note, but stuff like bugle runs, you have to set those up for the specific horn, or if you want to really take advantage of horns droning, they drone best in their natural key....maybe this helps, maybe this gives you a headache..heh.

[jibberish]

joann castle.  something from when I was very young.  I was blown away by her mad piano skillz. and at that point in time, I had not seen much of the world around me at all.
liberace freaked me out when he played 2 different songs at once on the piano on some tv show.  I was really impressed by that. and man I was a little kid too. but still mad skillz is mad skillz.

seriously, put this in front of some 6 yr old who seems to have an attraction to music.
fuckin a. this is so badass and in a big fucking costume no less. I will never forget....

[liquidsmoke]

^ that is surreal and awesome


Had the second 2 piece gig tonight. I was half drunk and it was so fucking fun. We almost train wrecked it during one song and I don't even care. Headbanging to your own music and going crazy while you play it is something I highly recommend. Also, Moon Curse came over from Milwaukee and destroyed. Life is good.

[liquidsmoke]

[Danny G]

Nice, but I would have use wrought iron for a more cvlt look.

I might still do that \m/,

Now with them interlocked, the problem I'm running into is having them BOTH slide haha ugh

[RAGER]

Awww fuck.  I'm sick with a fucking cold so yesterdays practice was shit.  Most of the time I was blowing my nose with one hand while playing synth leads with the other.  Didn't even bother picking up my guitar.  Was gonna get a few ideas tightened up and maybe get a decent recording but......  Hopefully next weekend with be more productive.

It's official.  I've held all basic posts in a band except lead singer and I almost did that once but declined.

[Andrew Blakk]

How could we miss that the intonation on the bass was all over the place? 
Damn, what a rookie mistake we did. Just bring him back in and record the fucking bass once again.