Fretless BVB in straight-ahead jazz combo context

[modeshapes]

I've been asked about how the fretless B1 does for straight-ahead jazz.

Now I have something better than a verbal explanation. This YouTube post shows me playing my fretless BVB with a 5-piece band for a cable access tv show. It was recorded with two room mics and sounds like it. You'll hear the bass better on big speakers or headphones.

Best,
Andy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mLSlkj4qa0
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[IotaNet]

Andy -

That is excellent footage -- great job and awesome playing!

[Tom7]

I LOVE this clip, Andrew. I do wish YouTube would do something about how out of sink the audio and video can be though.

The play is great as is the tone. If you don't mind, what are you playing it through? What is the rig?

And do you have both pickups balanced and maxed? Or have you dialed back one or the other?

Sounds great.

[modeshapes]

Originally Posted by Tom7

I LOVE this clip, Andrew. I do wish YouTube would do something about how out of sink the audio and video can be though.

The play is great as is the tone. If you don't mind, what are you playing it through? What is the rig?

And do you have both pickups balanced and maxed? Or have you dialed back one or the other?

Sounds great.

Tom7, thank you for the very kind words. The sync is my fault rather than Youtube's. I had a heck of a time getting the clip extracted from my dvd of the show -- I ended up using one utility to get the video and another for the audio. I lined them up again as close as I could but it is definitely not exact.

As for the setup, I have the front pickup dialed to about 3/4, the back one full on, and the tone full on. For me, letting the bridge pickup dominate allows a little more "stringiness" to come through.

My signal went straight to a Gallien-Krueger MB150E combo.

Again, thanks for the kind remarks & glad you enjoyed the video.

[Tom7]

Thanks, Andrew.

By the way, I love what you wrote on your web site about how much of the sound is in our hands.

I remember when I just started off playing, I went to check out a jazz group that was playing at a hotel in town (Jeff Lorber Fusion). I made friends with the bass player (Lester McFarland), and I commented on how much better his Fender Precision Bass sounded than my Fender Jazz.

He laughed and said he'd trade me. As I thought about that (rather excitedly), he picked up my Jazz bass (which in those days I always packed around with me), and to my astonishment, when he played it, it sounded so much better than when I played the very same lines, I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a trick.

That day I learned how much of our sound was in our hands, and I started to listen closer -- both to other bassists, and to myself.

I didn't realize about the neck relief thing, though. I'm going to play closer attention to that.

Thanks!