• 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.

Musicman going in the wrong direction!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
#61
hover said:
:hmm:

so is that a dig? at woefully misinformed, unchangeable caveman "rock" players? or can we dig your Star Trek future-tech playing style too? ;)

How's it work for blues? I do that too. And electronica. And dub. I'm gonna need an update. :)
Click to expand...

I thought it was standard practise that we had our right hands removed and had it replaced with a hook with a plectrum on the end of it... that's what I was told before it happened anyway...

That technique makes sense anyway in terms of not injuring yourself, but if your playing as mellow as he seems to think we all should - which is all good and well for some styles, but rock bass doesn't sound very good to my ear unless I'm flailing my plectrum hook at the strings with a bit of aggro - then I don't really see how anyone would be capable of hurting themselves in the first place. Good advice for a heavier hitting player to get the most out of their fingers though.
 
#62
On a non-sarcastic note, I use various right hand finger-style techniques, depending on the situation. I play with an anchored thumb. I play with a moving anchored thumb. I play with a floating thumb. Sometimes, I even play with my thumb. Depends on the song, how many strings on my bass, my mood, the sound in my head, etc. - same reason I flail away with a pick from time to time.

I knew my thumb was opposable, I just didn't realize people actually oppose it!

I really wasn't aware there was a wrong way to do it. Somebody better get Geddy Lee and Gary Willis together; one of them's got some explaining to do!
 
#63
ksandvik said:
I've been looking for this operation on my ATK. I don't want to drill holes as it could be an issue in case I ever sell the bass. Don't think super-glue is either an option.

If there were pre-drilled holes and screws covering the area up. And the bass could arrive with a modern thumbrest, that would be a piece of detail that makes such instruments different from other ones. Or constant refinement, something Japanese and European companies are famous for.

A little bit similar as some Ibanez models (SRX) that have a nice placement for thumb on their mic guards...
Click to expand...

I can't remember what they're called, but there was some gimmicky temporary wall hook kinda things that had one in the shape of something that could be used as a thumb rest. You basically stick them to your wall like a sticker and then when you decide you don't want it anymore there's a tab you pull and the thing comes of with "no gunk", it revolutionised modern living for me that's for sure :p

Anyway I can't imagine a new pickguard is much more then you'd pay for a thumbrest anyway, although Ibanez can be very skanky when it comes to spares; wanted to get a new nut a bit ago and it would have been £17 (which is over $25 dollars for you yanks I think), and payed £5 for a new battery cover for my tubescreamer. There's somewhere that does ATK pickguards though in some pretty cool designs if your into that sort of thing too.
 
#64
SwamiRob said:
I can't remember what they're called, but there was some gimmicky temporary wall hook kinda things that had one in the shape of something that could be used as a thumb rest. You basically stick them to your wall like a sticker and then when you decide you don't want it anymore there's a tab you pull and the thing comes of with "no gunk", it revolutionised modern living for me that's for sure :p
Click to expand...

OK, I will look for those, my wife might know what they are called.

As for floating thumb or not, or using pick is the only way to get a rough rock sound, a picture says more than thousand words:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...sa=N&start=198&um=1&ei=QnMkSqSQFJ36tQPRvOSbBg

PS: Found them, 'suction cup hooks.' If I found a flat one somewhere it might solve my problem. Note I only use it to rest the thumb when playing on the lower notes, with thumb resting the thumb follows the strings going upwards, but for the lower string -- especially when playing long boring 70:ies rock anthems, a thumb rest is nice as it 'rests' the thumb. Bass guitars with two pickups of course have a default thumb resting position in the upper part.

PS: If EBMM would innovate even more, from an ergonomic point of view, have something where you could place picks so they are within easy reach when needed or if you need a spare one suddenly.
 
#65
ksandvik said:
OK, I will look for those, my wife might know what they are called.

As for floating thumb or not, or using pick is the only way to get a rough rock sound, a picture says more than thousand words:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...sa=N&start=198&um=1&ei=QnMkSqSQFJ36tQPRvOSbBg
Click to expand...

I seem to recall a quote about why he anchors his thumb. He had no problem with other techniques, but he said something about for a technique to work for him, it has to work when he's running full speed across the stage with his bass flying through the air in front of him, or some such. He's a heck of a player, but he's also never forgotten that he's an entertainer.
 
#70
ksandvik said:
Here's another thing EBMM could innovate (and or fix.) Just embed the humbucker coils so they are not visible, looks pretty but you get nasty sounds if you push the strings towards the coils (by mistake or not.) The magnetic fields will reach the coils, anyway.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the pole pieces? This is a problem - I've done quick fixes with electrical tape and more permanent ones with clear nail polish. Anything that takes the edge of the metal on metal.
 
#72
ksandvik said:
I've tried electrical tape but the isolation does not help. Anyway, just bake the pole pieces inside the bakelite or whatever is used for the mic body.
Click to expand...

I think it helps, but it doesn't fix. I'm with you. I like the look of exposed pole pieces, but I like the functionality of non-exposed better. At least MusicMan seems to ground theirs; most Fenders will buzz if you touch the pole pieces with your thumb or fingers.

I just don't think a ray would look as cool without the pole pieces, though.
 
#74
Tommygunn said:
Sorry for coming out at you hard I just like the old nut better but I think this nut may not have been doing it's job so I'd be more than glad to go back and try out another EBMM with a working nut and get back to y'all bout what I think!!!
Click to expand...

How is it "not working?" I had the compensated nut on the Bongo 4 HH I owned a couple years ago, and it's also installed on the Bongo 6 that I'm borrowing currently. It works no better or worse than any other nut I've tried, assuming that the nut slots are cut correctly for the installed gauge of string.

Consider this: the witness point of the string passing over the nut is on the side closest to the fingerboard. After that point, the string doesn't vibrate. As a result, the scallops in the nut do slightly change the vibrating length of the string.

Unless the strings are popping out of the nut, I don't see the issue. And I don't see EBMM trumpeting it from the rooftops that the nut alone makes their basses superior to everything else on the market. Chill.
 
#76
ksandvik said:
Funny, I talked to the big boss over at Music Man about the lack of thumb rest on his bass guitars last Friday (such as the single pickup ones.) His condensed answer is that I was the only one that needed that and that if I don't like his designs, don't buy his bass guitars.

I disagree about the 'not resting the thumb'. When playing the low end you have a good anchor point as well as you could use this to dampen the other strings. Anyway, it's all personal based on individual techniques and so forth.
Click to expand...

Let the "big boss" over at MusicMan know that I won't be buying any of his basses either.

I've yet to hear one that sounds better than my ATK.
 
#77
That is a compensated nut. It's a better nut. Better intonation.

Screws != thumbrest - screws are there to hold crap together, not for you to rest your thumb so the instrument is designed with that in mind. Want a thumb rest? Design one and put one in.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back