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i just can't play a damn 4-string...

#63
nostatic said:
Hmm...some of you guys are making me rethink this. I'm wondering if the problem is trying to make every instrument fit into every role - kind of a square peg/round hole. Maybe the thing is to just have a 4-string and have it be...and damn 4-string. Play it and be happy. If it doesn't go on very many gigs, not the end of the world.

Feh - I'm just trying to rationalize a sunburst P-bass purchase :D
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I was going to try and help you out but I see I'm too late. Enjoy the 4 banger. I am currently making my Active 5 string jazz fit into every role - save the stuff I will use my newly acquired NXT EUB for in the jazz combo. It CAN do it just fine, and I am trying desparately to NOT buy another bass - even though I could use a backup.

There is NO REASON to not use a 4 string for my pop/rock cover band or my R&B/Soul horn band. It would work for smooth jazz and church, although for those gigs the active 5 is pretty sweet.

So far I am hanging in with my "resolution" of sticking with my current gear. The active 5 has a bypass option, and I can still do everything on the 5 that I can do on a 4 so....
 
#64
SteveC said:
I was going to try and help you out but I see I'm too late. Enjoy the 4 banger. I am currently making my Active 5 string jazz fit into every role - save the stuff I will use my newly acquired NXT EUB for in the jazz combo. It CAN do it just fine, and I am trying desparately to NOT buy another bass - even though I could use a backup.
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I'll be interested to see how the NXT works out. I have had uprights a couple of times over the years and liked them but ended up getting rid of them due to a) lack of time to woodshed to have enough hand strength (especially for plucking uptempo bop), and b) pita to amplify and haul. NXT solves problem b), and as for a) I'm playing a couple hours every day so shouldn't be an issue.
 
#65
Bipslapper said:
If I didn't know better, I'd swear that P-bass is from Gelb Music in Redwood City, CA.


Just sayin'...
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Nonsense. What possible connection could I have with Gelb Music? In order for me to buy a Fender sight unseen I'd need someone I trust to check out the instrument and give me the thumbs up. And to make sure of the weight and build quality. Now who could provide such a service near Gelb? That's just crazy talk...

:hiding:
 
#67
After playing 4-string for 40-some years before picking up a fiver, I find that I still relate everything to the E string. The B string is always the 5th below that reference point to me so far. But I'm trying to adjust :)

And I'm never getting rid of my '78 Precision (that I bought new) or my '68 Jazz (that I just had Mike Lull refret) - or my SKB-3005 for that matter!
 
#71
VroomVroom said:
If you play with a pick and no one sees you....does it count? Just checking.

FWIW - all four-string action yesterday. No wrong keys. But it was fretless, so intonation will be a topic for another day.
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Rob Allens don't count. I find that picking one up sends me more to upright land in my head. And its a beautiful land, with licorice strings and dark chocolate fingerboards. With pepperoni tuners and rib eye bridges. And beer. Cold, cold, beer.

Wait, what was in my coffee this morning?!?
 
#72
nostatic said:
I'll be interested to see how the NXT works out. I have had uprights a couple of times over the years and liked them but ended up getting rid of them due to a) lack of time to woodshed to have enough hand strength (especially for plucking uptempo bop), and b) pita to amplify and haul. NXT solves problem b), and as for a) I'm playing a couple hours every day so shouldn't be an issue.
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A would be my issue as well. Hopefully i can get time to build chops. I love how it works for some of the more jazzy jazz stuff if you know what i mean. It also works well in tunes you may not think so well see how it goes.
 
#73
Well, the reality is that my Deep 5 covers the jazz stuff as good or better than an upright without any of the downside. There still are bandleaders in town who will only consider a player if they have "an upright." Usually an EUB will qualify with those guys. On one hand I find EUBs to be the worst of both worlds. What I love about an upright is the physicality of the playing. You're draped around the bass and it is a full body experience. I love that. An EUB doesn't really give you that at all. It does solve amplification problems, but you also have the upright neck which I'm not as fast on as the RA neck.

Like everything else...a compromise. But if I'm just considering tone and approach, I think a Rob Allen is a much easier solution than EUB to get that vibe. Of course that still doesn't keep me from wanting to mess with an EUB to see for myself.
 
#74
nostatic said:
Our bud Jerry hipped me to a very cool Fender P-bass that he'd played. I've long lusted after a sunburst P-bass - the Jamerson/Washington vibe is potent indeed. I moved to 5-string 11 years ago, and a few months back tried to play some 4-string but sold them after it confused my small brain. Mostly when I'd go back to 5 - I no longer knew which string was which.

Anywho Jerry went and checked this bass out again tonight and gave it the huge thumbs up. I talked with the shop and it checked a number of boxes - 8.2 lbs, clean build, great tone. I said I'd have to sleep on it. I grabbed an Ibanez 4-string that I picked up a few days ago as a cheap (and returnable) experiment. I sat down and told myself that it was all in my head, that most players had no problem going back and forth. I jammed along with Mr. Magic on the 4. Hmm...that wasn't smooth, but was ok by the end of the song. Did it a few more times and found some positions/riffs that worked. Then grabbed a 5. Disaster. Went back to the 4. Disaster. Took me about 15 minutes playing the 5 to get my brain back into understanding what notes were where.

Maybe this time the lesson will take - I can't play a damn 4. The B-string is part of my inner bassist. I'll have to live with my inflexibility.

Now a 6'er...
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Do you practice playing songs in various positions? that could help get you out of that rut...people who play with 5 or more strings (and learned bass initially on a 5 string) tend to play more across the strings instead of up and down the neck. I find that learning how to play scales using several different patterns has helped with the switch.

Also, try focusing on the E string as "home", and think of the B string as an added bonus when you have it. Try (with your 5 string) running several songs you play regularly without ever using the B string.
 
#75
Actually I was going to try focusing more on G as a point of context and get the notes on D/G nailed. Sadly I know what those notes are in reference to E and A rather than by themselves (with some exceptions).

I've done some of the experiments of running tunes in different ways. And when I'm having an "off" night on the 5 and am reading complex charts I'll sometimes revert back to my 4-string roots and jump down to the nut where I know everything is. Of course it isn't quite *that* bad, but we all have our comfort zones wrt the fretboard.

I don't really like thinking of B as a "bonus" - if you do that you essentially are not using the instrument to its full potential. That is the big problem that I have. Once you've integrated the B into your playing across the fretboard, it is difficult to remove it. Imagine playing a 4-string with no E string. Some guys could do that. I could manage if I really focused and played simple lines (which should be a goal of mine anyway, but I digress). And gawd knows back in my guitar days I could happily break any of the 6 strings and carry on playing and soloing. But guitar is different than bass.

So there certainly is the argument to constantly practicing different approaches to the same line/riff. And that's why I finally just pulled the trigger on the P-bass. I'll try to use that for woodshedding and gigs where I can easily get away with it (eg my funk band). But I'm not sure I'm going to want to play it on jazz gigs where I know I'm going to be playing stuff in Eb or D where I really want to be stuck in upper registers to try and get the same leverage across the key.

Right tool for the right job...and any tool in a pinch.
 
#77
nostatic said:
Well, the reality is that my Deep 5 covers the jazz stuff as good or better than an upright without any of the downside. There still are bandleaders in town who will only consider a player if they have "an upright." Usually an EUB will qualify with those guys. On one hand I find EUBs to be the worst of both worlds. What I love about an upright is the physicality of the playing. You're draped around the bass and it is a full body experience. I love that. An EUB doesn't really give you that at all. It does solve amplification problems, but you also have the upright neck which I'm not as fast on as the RA neck.

Like everything else...a compromise. But if I'm just considering tone and approach, I think a Rob Allen is a much easier solution than EUB to get that vibe. Of course that still doesn't keep me from wanting to mess with an EUB to see for myself.
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I tried a Rob Allen and it just didn't do it for me. I guess for me, if I want that "upright" thing I need to go upright. As you said, there will always be compromise, but I really need the "feeling of playing upright, the style, the scale, etc. I play SO differently when I play an "upright" compared to a "fretless" bass. We'll see how it goes. I tried before and couldn't get/keep the chops, but the neck on this seems to be more comfortable than the WAV I tried before.

My wife is confident I'll be selling it soon enough - like all the other basses I try. She's been with me a while. As I said, we'll juts have to see how it goes.
 
#78
FWIW....Rob Allen. I really think it comes down to the particular instrument. Most of my experience is with the MB-2 model. I've only played one Deep and one Mouse. That said...

34" seems to be the sweet spot. Rob's 35" basses lose some of that magic blossom to the note IMO. At that, some 34" basses have more of the mojo than others. My first one - now in the hands of our man, Jon (Pacman) - has it in spades. And my current one is very close. It's been said before, but with the right RA instrument, in a live setting it can be very difficult to pass/fail a blind test against an upright. I've actually had upright players chat with me on breaks about how, upon walking in the room, they would've sworn there was an upright player playing all those out-of-tune notes. :D :D
 
#79
VroomVroom said:
I've actually had upright players chat with me on breaks about how, upon walking in the room, they would've sworn there was an upright player playing all those out-of-tune notes. :D :D
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Monitor soaked... too funny, Jerry. Set us up for somebody giving you a compliment, then totally pull the rug out. Hilarious.
 
#80
O/T warning...here's some clips of my RA from a rehearsal on Saturday. Got a call to do a Latin jazz recording session. I knew there would be some cats on the date, but damn....there are some cats on the date. Just wow.

I ran through a house rig - good enough for rehearsal, but nowhere near what I'd want to use on an actual date. You'll hear some overdrive, which actually sounds kinda' cool to my ears. Nonetheless, at least one of these tunes will be recorded with the new Roscoe, but as was mentioned earlier: the best bass for the moment is the one you have with you. :) Also, the recordings aren't mine - the leader on the date made them and shared with us so we can mark up our charts for the actual session. Please ignore the clipping.

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