The Christian Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club Part 4

[Ol'Bass'ead]

I have been fighting this for years. Then the other day I went to GC to get a new set of strings. They were out of the ones I liked, so I tried a set of Cleartones. Whoa Boy! All of a sudden I have a B string that almost outdoes the rest of them. Im still trying to compensate with amp settings and technique. Try them, theyre supposed to last longer than most strings, and so far they seem to be lasting longer than anything else Ive tried.

 

[1buba]

I have been fighting this for years. Then the other day I went to GC to get a new set of strings. They were out of the ones I liked, so I tried a set of Cleartones. Whoa Boy! All of a sudden I have a B string that almost outdoes the rest of them. Im still trying to compensate with amp settings and technique. Try them, theyre supposed to last longer than most strings, and so far they seem to be lasting longer than anything else Ive tried.

Do they take care of the problem of the B string farts?

I hate trying other strings on the 'wick - I have to crimp them to fit in the bridge.

 

[bassman314]

I'm currently using the warwick black labels... and yeah -you are right, the string is a bit loose. hmmmm.. tech? i HATE having someone else do it. maybe someone has a link to how what it takes to tighten it up???

Thanks bassman!

one option is to go to Radio Shack and find 1/4" spacers (for use with Circuit boards) thread one on the end of the Bistring so it fits between the ball-end and the bridge. It'll lengthen the string just a wee bit and add some more tension.

                  Bridge
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I got this out of Gary Willis's book 101 Bass Tips

 

[corrynthia]

My only issue is getting used to the additional string. Occasionally, I find myself playing a little lower than everyone else.

lol, i've been having fun trying to get used to that additional string. a few times during last week's sunday nite service i was off a string, especially on the third fret for some reason. played a low g instead of c, etc. i keep telling them to fire me (it's a volunteer position).

otherwise, i am really happy with the sx... it's great for "the battle belongs to the Lord" to go down to the low d.

bassman314, thanks for the advice about playing songs i'm already real comfortable with... it's helped give me confidence to try some new things.

 

[corrynthia]

Wow guys... I think we all struggle with this prob, neh...? Ministry is a battlefield... and leading a ministry puts you on the front lines...big time! Pride, prejudice, appathy, expectations... pride... did I mention pride? We all bring these things and much more to the table in any social situation to one degree or another...

I struggle big time sometimes in my WT with peoples attitudes, lack of discipline or imagined talent... and it's strange because it seems amplified this last two weeks. Now I'm reading of your struggles and I think... "some one's moving here..."

I don't lead... or even want to! (I've seen the leaders job and I don't want it!) BUT having said that; I just want to encourage you guys be on gaurd and to serve in humility:

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more severely." (Jas 3:1)

I'll be praying, neh?

+1 to everything you said above. i believe part of being a wt member is ministering to the other team members, being there to encourage them, pray for them, listen to them, and so on. that being said, there are situations when you can only do so much. it can be a hard decision to leave a group, and i am in no way encouraging or discouraging rudy from doing so. that decision has to be made by rudy with God's guidance. but for my own spirit (and sanity) i have left two groups in the past because a couple members were not there for the glory of the Lord - they were there strictly for their own glory (pride).

 

[9mmMike]

+1 to everything you said above. i believe part of being a wt member is ministering to the other team members, being there to encourage them, pray for them, listen to them, and so on. that being said, there are situations when you can only do so much. it can be a hard decision to leave a group, and i am in no way encouraging or discouraging rudy from doing so. that decision has to be made by rudy with God's guidance. but for my own spirit (and sanity) i have left two groups in the past because a couple members were not there for the glory of the Lord - they were there strictly for their own glory (pride).

Well put. Pride is one of the most damaging things, especially for a Christian it seems. I am pretty sure this is part of the reason that God gave me such a great spouse. She has a gift for gently reminding me for whom I am playing/teaching/working, whatever. It happens less often but it is still too easy for me to be pleased with the work "I've done". Credit where credit is due must be in the Bible somewhere! LOL

 

[rfclef]

Apologetix in Newberg, OR on May 9. Me and my kids LOVE them. My band has 2 of their songs in our set. I already have our tickets...

Just sayin'.

 

[rfclef]

Just found out that Andrew Palau is supposed to be at the Faith & Family night... throwing the first pitch out, I think. Cool.

Cry Of Stones
8/17/2009 5:15 PM at Volcanoes Stadium
Field of Dreams Way NE, Salem, Oregon 97303

Faith and Family Night. Pre-game concert before the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes game against Everett. http://www.volcanoesbaseball.com/

 

[Droot]

So I was playing "My Redeemer Lives" yesterday at Sunday service. I had work long and hard to nail the bass line, which by the way is the fastest thing I have ever attempted in front of an audience. It went off well and I was thinking things were sweet, so I get with the sound man (a fellow bass player) and ask how it was. His reply, "great" and "the best he has heard me play, maybe the best played at our church so far". So now I am all swelled up and feeling fine, so I ask my wife (I have her listen to my part for feedback) about the song and she says my playing was very good but the song was terrible because the mix was all wrong. It seems that in her view, the sound man had over compensated with the volume for my part and had drowned out the rest of the band thereby wrecking the effect of the song. What a let down, my best ever killed by too much bass. It kind of makes me wonder if there is a message in all this.
DRoot

PS.. I tend to think my wife is right on this because I would normally get comments if a part is good and it was not forthcoming.

 

[Gumby4]

Welcome the newest member to the club.

JPhoenix19 #480
svtcobraboy81 #481
bigntasty #482
Heath_eld #483

 

[Gumby4]

My band has a gig this weekend in Staten Island. We will be at the New Hope Café this Saturday night at 8:00 PM.

The address is 1031 Castleton Ave, Staten Island NY 10310.

Link Removed

 

[Versatek6]

...the song was terrible because the mix was all wrong. It seems that in her view, the sound man had over compensated with the volume for my part and had drowned out the rest of the band thereby wrecking the effect of the song. What a let down, my best ever killed by too much bass. It kind of makes me wonder if there is a message in all this.
DRoot

PS.. I tend to think my wife is right on this because I would normally get comments if a part is good and it was not forthcoming.

Have you ever heard of Ed Kleinhammer? He was Principal Bass Trombone for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for about 40 years. An admirer said to him after a concert that he enjoyed his performance. Kleinhammer said to him, "If you heard me, I have failed."

What he meant was that he was a member of the ensemble, and to single out his playing meant that he was being heard above the orchestra.

We all play in groups much smaller than the CSO, but the concept holds through: we play to support the songs that convey the Message. If what we do detracts from the whole, we fail.

However, playing timidly and without conviction is as much a disservice, maybe more so. I would rather be accused of being overenthusiastic than underwhelming.

 

[9mmMike]

I agree. I play with as much conviction as I can muster and let the sound dude do what he does best. I cannot hear the balance as well as he can and if I adjusted to what I hear, I am sure it would be wrong.

 

[Droot]

I agree. I play with as much conviction as I can muster and let the sound dude do what he does best. I cannot hear the balance as well as he can and if I adjusted to what I hear, I am sure it would be wrong.

Thanks guys,
I always have trust in this sound man because he has a good ear for the mix (he is a fine musician). Who knows maybe my wife made more of it then I would have had it.
DRoot

 

[PilbaraBass]

one option is to go to Radio Shack and find 1/4" spacers (for use with Circuit boards) thread one on the end of the Bistring so it fits between the ball-end and the bridge. It'll lengthen the string just a wee bit and add some more tension.

                  Bridge
                ||  
String==========||[==]@
                ||   spacer

I got this out of Gary Willis's book 101 Bass Tips

I don’t buy this…

What I’ve found to be the best thing to get the B-string back in business is to ensure that the nut slot is not too deep on the B…if it is, it’s flop city regardless…get it right, and it’ nice and tight…

 

[PilbaraBass]

Have you ever heard of Ed Kleinhammer? He was Principal Bass Trombone for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for about 40 years. An admirer said to him after a concert that he enjoyed his performance. Kleinhammer said to him, "If you heard me, I have failed."

What he meant was that he was a member of the ensemble, and to single out his playing meant that he was being heard above the orchestra.

We all play in groups much smaller than the CSO, but the concept holds through: we play to support the songs that convey the Message. If what we do detracts from the whole, we fail.

However, playing timidly and without conviction is as much a disservice, maybe more so. I would rather be accused of being overenthusiastic than underwhelming.

The thing that bothers me most is when a talented musician overplays…

I’d much rather hear someone with very little to offer in the area of “chops” play with musicality and feel than to listen to someone throwing ½ million notes per song out there…

For music to live, it has to BREATHE!

 

[MX21]

one option is to go to Radio Shack and find 1/4" spacers (for use with Circuit boards) thread one on the end of the Bistring so it fits between the ball-end and the bridge. It'll lengthen the string just a wee bit and add some more tension.

                  Bridge
                ||  
String==========||[==]@
                ||   spacer

I got this out of Gary Willis's book 101 Bass Tips

I don't understand how that will make a difference. The length is measured from the bridge to the nut. Adding more length on the other side of the bridge doesn't change anything.

If you have a string of a given thickness and length, it will be a low B at only one tension. If you make it tighter, you change the note. That's how the tuners work. If you want a tighter B, you must either increase the scale length or increase the string thickness.

MX

 

[capnsandwich]

OK guys and gals, tomorrow is my first practice that I'm in charge of. I feel that I have everything I need together in order to teach the team 3 songs and audition an acoustic guitarist. I've actually been playing my acoustic all night and am falling in love with it again. It's a great way to show my wife, who's the pianist/keyboard player on the team, a few different ways to play accents on certain parts. Then I started jamming to the live version of "Your Grace Is Enough" by Chris Tomlin. Man, I was smokin'. I forgot how fun it was to play that thing and having such a small scale length and the strings closer together made my fingers fly since I was so used to playing bass. Forgive me guys but I'm actually going to start playing the acoustic a little more in my spare time since I feel it will help me understand the entire song structure instead of just the bass notes. That way I can relate to all the musicians and help them to learn their parts since I'm actually learning them in my spare time. Please pray that this practice and others to come are fruitful and help us to grow together as a team.

 

[capnsandwich]

I don’t buy this…

What I’ve found to be the best thing to get the B-string back in business is to ensure that the nut slot is not too deep on the B…if it is, it’s flop city regardless…get it right, and it’ nice and tight…

Also, I learned that string construction is a vital part of the tightness of the string. Yes, a .130 B string will be tighter than a .125 B string but also a hexcore string will have more tension than a round core string. I used DR High Beams, which is a round core string, for a few years but then switched to Sadowsky strings and found that the Sadowsky hexcore construction makes for a tighter B string. The overall bass and neck construction of a bass also plays a part in how low your action can go without the B string flopping all over the place. If you need to you can raise the saddle slightly under your B string. That will help get some of the floppiness out but if it's really bad then I'd suggest getting it set up with a set of hexcore strings like DR Low Beams, Sadowsky, Elrick strings, etc.

 

[MX21]

Also, I learned that string construction is a vital part of the tightness of the string. Yes, a .130 B string will be tighter than a .125 B string but also a hexcore string will have more tension than a round core string. I used DR High Beams, which is a round core string, for a few years but then switched to Sadowsky strings and found that the Sadowsky hexcore construction makes for a tighter B string. The overall bass and neck construction of a bass also plays a part in how low your action can go without the B string flopping all over the place. If you need to you can raise the saddle slightly under your B string. That will help get some of the floppiness out but if it's really bad then I'd suggest getting it set up with a set of hexcore strings like DR Low Beams, Sadowsky, Elrick strings, etc.

Yes, I didn't mention that, but stiffness of the string material affects the tension required also.

MX