Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Let's spread some musical misinformation
- Thread starter pklima
- Start date
In some towns in the USA law dictates that no band may have more than two guitars unless one of them is a pedal steel guitar. For this reason the Blue Oyster Cult cannot perform its multi-guitar performance-ending rendition of "Don't Fear the Reaper" in Rockville, Maryland, hence the REM's impassioned plea to the band "Don't go back to Rockville" after Michael Stipe was disappointed by BOC being hauled off stage in that town by police guitar-limit enforcers in 1977.
Controversially the town once tried to apply this limit to an unplugged session by Yes when Chris Squier played too high up the neck on an acoustic bass guitar and police tried to arrest him for 'imitating a three guitar line up' and finding a loophole in the law. This case was settled after Yes threatened to play all its early albums backwards in the courtroom.
Controversially the town once tried to apply this limit to an unplugged session by Yes when Chris Squier played too high up the neck on an acoustic bass guitar and police tried to arrest him for 'imitating a three guitar line up' and finding a loophole in the law. This case was settled after Yes threatened to play all its early albums backwards in the courtroom.
Last edited:
Tuning one full step down from normal is quite easy if you're on an elevated stage. Simply step off the stage to the ground level and tune your bass as you normally would and you'll be at least one full step down.
Most 4 string basses are tuned G D A E which is the exact same tuning as the lower 4 strings on most guitars. So if you want to be able to play either instrument in a band, just buy a guitar. Limit yourself to the lower 4 strings when playing the bass parts and use all 6 strings for the guitar parts.
If you aren't sure of your nut width just remember its the same as your neck width. If you can't remember your neck width just look at the tag on the inside of your shirt, it should be written there.
Many bass players are constantly confused about what order their pedals should be in their sound chain.
Just remember, your pedals always color the sound of your bass but all pedals have a bypass that will take them out of the mix if not needed. So the best ordering sequence for pedals will be to put your lightest colored pedals such as white, cream or yellow painted ones first in the chain and then move your darker painted pedals such as blue, brown and black towards the end of the chain.
When your pedal board is set up this way you will be able to get your sound selectively more colored as you add each pedal to the mix.
Note: if you play death metal you'll want to reverse this order so you start with your darkest colored pedal first and can lighten your sound up a bit by adding subsequent pedals in after it.
Just remember, your pedals always color the sound of your bass but all pedals have a bypass that will take them out of the mix if not needed. So the best ordering sequence for pedals will be to put your lightest colored pedals such as white, cream or yellow painted ones first in the chain and then move your darker painted pedals such as blue, brown and black towards the end of the chain.
When your pedal board is set up this way you will be able to get your sound selectively more colored as you add each pedal to the mix.
Note: if you play death metal you'll want to reverse this order so you start with your darkest colored pedal first and can lighten your sound up a bit by adding subsequent pedals in after it.
If you wish your pedals to not affect the tuning of your bass no pedal should be greater than G alphabetically. Thus autowah, flanger, chorus, distortion, fuzz, etc. are fine, but overdrive is not. However bass overdrive is fine and pitch shift and octave will naturally change the tuning, being after G.
1/4" instrument cable jacks are sufficient for diagnosing degenerative neurological conditions and brain tumors when stuck far enough up the nose.
davec
Supporting Member
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 878
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
When you ship a bass to release neck tension loosen the strings.... But make no adjustment to the truss rod.
Exactly! And you can even daisy chain the left half of your brain with the right by using a 6" long patch cable and shoving one end of it up each nostril.
Ah crap I should not have laughed this hard at your reply. I woke my woman up! Haha!
You can even link brains by putting one up your nose and one up a friend's nose. However, do not jack one into each nostril in case you cross the streams. Remember right nostril - left brain. So for maximum creative connection, left nostril.
