Recent content by Alexander Silva

My parts Jazz fretless 5 string. 16.5 mm spacing 43mm nut. Maple coated board. Passive. Roto66 nickels 40s I am very comfortable with these measurements. Tight string spacing has always been a must for me. The last few years FSO style body is becoming one, as well, does not matter which p j...

I love picks and the sound/playing styles they impart. I love fingers as well for the same reason. I never saw a point in trying to mimic one by using the other. I think of them both as a different timbre and a different approach. Either can be a valid option towards fulfilling the role of the...

I tend to always favour one pickup and leave the other one at 75-50ish. Which pickup depends on the gig. I rarely use both full on. I also choose the selection for the gig and leave it as is for the whole duration.

Definitely start slow and gradually bring it to tempo. Getting anything to be in time, cleanly articulated, in tune (a tuned fretted bass with improper technique can also be out of tune) with proper tone production is a complex task, especially if years of muscle memory and experience are not...

I would suggest either a preamp with a DI out, especially if it has a tuner, compressor and mute on it. A nice pocket friendly solution is the valeton dapper effect strip. Alternatively a middle of the road multi fx like the zoom b2 four, might be nice, all of the above would be covered, plus...

A string breaking has only happened to me once, more than 10 years ago. So I do not even think about it, I just have a set of strings in the gig bag for good measure.

Partly. Not for the exact bass, but for some of the same specs, especially string number, spacing, nut width and fretboard wood. If I make the decision to get a different bass, since I really know what I like, by this point, these 4 things need to be the same.

Just play the strings you like. Coat the board if necessary. FL with rounds and FL with flats are two immensely different aesthetics and for most different playing styles as well

I use my bass as a means of intimidation and general mischief It can spread terror to band mates at soundchecks, especially with 3 layers of synth at the soft verse of a ballad or a rather cerebral series of unexpected inversions It can cause involuntary movement and spasms of people. It can...

Have you tried favoring one pickup to get some more mids out of it? All 2 pickup basses at equal volume have a bit of a scoop due to frequency cancelation brought on by phase. Although it can be a beautiful tone in isolation and in certain mixes, I personally avoid both pickups full on, on my...

Marketing and sponsorships aside, what a pro chooses to play at a certain gig is dependent on a variety of factors. First of all, definitely applicable to session players, what they are asked to play or what the employer wants to see/hear. Secondly, touring can be rough on the gear. Prized...

An abg is a nice thing to have, but the use you will be getting out of it depends on your expectations: -In general a typical ABG would not be loud enough to comfortably compete unamplified with an acoustic ensemble. -In general it also would not be an ideal practice instrument due to the...

For me a me bad music would be: Badly played due to lack of skill Badly arranged or composed This would not necessarily mean that a simple genre for example punk as a whole would be bad, just punk played badly would be bad music Then there is another category that would be "Not even...

I respect the man! Dead stable and very solid time. It might not sound like much because it is meat and potatoes rock bass playing but it is really not easy at all to master those fundamentals, control yourself to stick just to them and to be so consistent at it throughout 40 years or so.

The following three pedals surprised me in a good way The discontinued Hartke VXL is a great preamp-DI box it comes with a saturation and an enchancer circuit for a small bit of grind or sparkle or warmth depending on how it is set up, it also sports a blend knob, 2 band eq and a mid scoop...