Guitar, drums, bass, tab, lesson, gear talk, music making thread.
Im just an average shitty guitarist and mostly just like to noodle for my own pleasure to relax.
Never really had much interest in bass, but got a cheap bass for free the other month and really loving noodling on it and just trying to learn some classic songs has really given me an appreciation for the music of bands that ive often not been that into, and its kind of also made me listen and re look at how i listen to some music. really taking in the bass rather than just the guitar.
Anyway never been a huge RHCP fan and they kind of get some shit at times, but I have new appreciation for how beautiful fleas bass lines are and his bass playing.
This songs bass line is perfect and fun to play* and how on earth did this song get left off Blood sugar sex magic?
All boxes ticked for perfection for me, little Intro lick, then that bass line through versus with just the odd slight variation and then switches into that chorus, then that slapping bridge part, then after the 4 minute mark there is even a a few sections where he kind of goes into little bass runs & solo's, its all just perfect, IMHO its one of the best bass lines and use of bass ever, even that one very last note is right in its place where it should be
* I dont know if i will ever be able to play the whole thing or get it to sound as it really should, but have the versus down pat, working on through the bridge/chorus and still working on my finger picking technique, hard to break the habit of just playing with my thumb which also has a cool feel/sound, but the classic right hand bass technique does have a cool flow when you get going.
That's really cool Indo. I've always wanted to play bass but never bothered to learn. Been a drummer since my teens in a few roughy bands over the years but have hardly played the last few years apart from a Christmas party and a couple of other parties. You've inspired me to buy a bass. For some reason I thought I might be quite good on bass but was always only an average drummer. RHCP has got to have some of the toughest base lines around. Good work
I do the same, Indo. Walk around my place, noodling on my bass. Most of the time, i don't plug it in. It's just for me as a pleasure thing. I used to play bass in a garage band some 30 years ago. I mostly did it for the partying and because i wrote all the lyrics... was a good outlet. Not interested in any of that now. I just really enjoy the noodling.
Poo- an Ibanez GSR200 is a great beginners bass. Great sound for the price (about $230 USD), looks great, comfy-to-play short scale neck.... give it a looky loo if you wanna buy a bass....
@poo-man
You would probably have an advantage being a drummer having rhythm, some bass stuff is also kind of percussive.
This RHCP song is suppose to be one of the easier RHCP songs (the main bass line at least) and its kind of easier than it might appear just has a nice flow. (obviously playing the whole song is a different story)
@ wax24
Nice i think im going to invest in an acoustic bass just for noodling while watching TV etc, as im tending to practice bass lines on my acoustic guitar anyway, i actually think playing a bit of bass has actually improved and expanded my guitar playing too.
I think bass playing helps with guitar, keyboards, drums. I've played all 4 at times, and playing bass does help. I dunno why. I've had a weird thing happen to my vocal chords, in the past two weeks. I sing my way to and from the surfbreak, about 45 mins one way. I have lost high tenor/low alto. I mean, my voice sucks, but i could use any of the ranges. Now, no. No pain, no strain, no trauma i can recall.... just gone. I hope that is temporary as i love to sing. I hope it goes away on it's own, as i hate seeing doctors.
But you can speak fine still?
In regard to singing I have no idea how people can sing and play an instrument, i could play the most basic chord progression or two note bass line and once i try to sing i just stop playing, i just cant do both at once in any way.
Ive tried even just humming to learn how but still cant do it, i dont have much ambition to sing though.
Ive also been learning this bass line, again from a band that often gets dissed and a song many of us have heard a few too many times.
But again its a really beautiful bass line thats not that hard to play really. (BTW. when i say that i mean to get the basic bass line down, getting it to sound like say this guy does is a different story)
And it really surprised me how good some Nirvana bass lines are when isolated, like check out this one
Those are both good bass lines. I know i've thought in the past that the bass in Nirvana is good, but not really thought much about them at all, if that makes sense. I've been drifting towards country music lately (but that's for another thread, prob.) I like learning covers, but i more just make up my own stuff. Some sounds good, some not. Like i said, i wrote the lyrics for the garage band, so i had to play and sing, too, just to write the song. But my singing was just so that the singer would know the phrasing for whatever i wrote. I would turn it over to our drummer and he would flesh out the music while the singer took my phrasing and made it his own. I loved the process. As for my voice today, i can speak, but a little scratchy. Can sing fine, until i hit a certain point, then just no voice, no sound. No pain either. Weird and a little worrisome. I have been drinking hot tea with honey.
Good topic that I think is a given on this forum as surfing and music go hand in hand.
Me, I'm a luthier, mostly classical guitars but I've built 2 slide guitars and three Les Pauls as well. My preference for playing guitar is not classical music though I leave that to the ecperts, I play badly and loudly, early seventies stuff mostly.
Great thread i-d.
I'd identify as a shitty player, on a good day, average.
I haven't got any input on bass as i've never played one and the couple of bands i dicked around with never had a bass player. I do want to get hold of a Bass VI or baritone though.
Recently, i'm also trying to sing and play. Just when i think it's not too bad, i listen back to it.
Jebus, why is it that hard. My timing ends up down the sh*tter.
I'm with Ash: playing loudly, badly.
Fuzz, distortion, reverb, delay. Hides my sh*tty ability. Stoner/shoegaze and turning any song into that style.
+1 on the fuzz, delay and chorus pedals, they work so well with a few beers.
Ash wrote:Good topic that I think is a given on this forum as surfing and music go hand in hand.
Me, I'm a luthier, mostly classical guitars but I've built 2 slide guitars and three Les Pauls as well. My preference for playing guitar is not classical music though I leave that to the ecperts, I play badly and loudly, early seventies stuff mostly.
You make guitars thats impressive, you need to post some pics.
I had an old mate that use to make them too, even made some for guys from decent bands like the Cruel Sea etc
Ash wrote:+1 on the fuzz, delay and chorus pedals, they work so well with a few beers.
Never really got on with chorus. Then i lucked out and jagged a '76 or '77 metal corner JC 120.
After that, i got it. Bob Smith straight outta the box, if you're into that.
Didn't like the amp so much but that chorus...you can see why it's [still?] the standard.
Anyway, it all sounds good after a frostie or 2
A fun project for someone who likes dabbling, but hasn't luthier experience, is to get an old $20 classical guitar, cut the nut off, then cut the neck in half (at the 5th fret). Then you reattach the nut, making a real short-necked guitar. Great for playing in the passenger seat on road trips : )
(check it doesn't have a truss-rod before you hit it with the circular saw!)
Indo google Ashley Sanders Guitars, all the pictures are on the journal page.
Roo I didn't use my chorus pedal until I mucked around learning the Stones, Gimme shelter, then I got it or more accurately when to use it.
Wow when you said you made guitars i thought yeah okay you had made half a dozen in the shed as a hobby after watching some YouTube video
But its clearly much much more than that, super impressive clearly a very talented craftsman
Beautiful work Ash. You're a true craftsman.
Cheers boys, it takes a long time to get things right and having a little bit of an obsessive disposition, being a cabinet maker first helped things along as well.
You play beautifully Ash. The guitar sounds incredible! Wow. Super impressed.
At one stage in my travels in South America I was gifted a classical guitar from an English backpacker who had procured it in Buenos Aires. There was something so sweet about it, the rosewood possibly, but man it sounded so good. Anyway, surfing in the north of Peru I met an Argentinian who was the son of the luthier!
The luthier was a guy called José Yacopi. Since then I've seen some of his guitars going for thousands (not that I'd ever sell it). He said while the one I had was a fairly standard model, his dad was the real deal.
It's a magic thing, that balance between wood and tension.
Thanks for the compliment Wyre re playing, but none of the playing is me it's either customers or agents. The classical guitar just grew on me, I love its lack of bling and it's pure functionality, sort of like a favourite plain white board.
When played by a really good musician they sing very sweetly but with depth. A trip to Spain in 2019 was well worth the cost, it's the home of flamenco and classical.
Top stuff Ash.
I wish i had the skills to justify the purchase of such a highly crafted piece of kit.
I can knock up a Frankencaster type deal, i make pedals and do my own mods, setups etc but a classical of that standard...that's next level.
Hats off man.
Keep playing...bad and loud!
Yeah, beautiful guitars Ash. I've wanted one for a good bit, but can't justify the spend. If that changes (or my mind does), i will look for you.
R00ney wrote:Top stuff Ash.
I wish i had the skills to justify the purchase of such a highly crafted piece of kit.I can knock up a Frankencaster type deal, i make pedals and do my own mods, setups etc but a classical of that standard...that's next level.
Hats off man.
Keep playing...bad and loud!
Just the fact you make pedals is pretty cool, you make copies?
Please excuse my drop-in here, I honestly can't even hit a triangle in time but my brother plays in a band in the UK and has a series on youtube about pedals etc (I seriously know nothing). Might appeal you you muso's
That's good stuff Mugof. Good to steer young punters clear of chorus and flange : )
(unless they're going for a tucked-in-shirt high-slung-guitar mullet-ironic pointy-headstock 80s never-surfed surf-sound. Or Cure covers ; )
mugofsunshine wrote:Please excuse my drop-in here, I honestly can't even hit a triangle in time but my brother plays in a band in the UK and has a series on youtube about pedals etc (I seriously know nothing). Might appeal you you muso's
Nice will check it out, i like wasting time watching these types of videos :D
I dont even currently own an electric guitar, only bass, acoustic classical, and steel string acoustic but still have my two fav pedals.
Shit i knew they were worth a little these days but not this much https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364313897616?hash=item54d2ccea90:g:KAsAAOSwI...
You could get some sick-as Kim Gordon tones running your bass through those pedals:
indo-dreaming wrote:... you make copies?
Yeah, mainly just fuzz copies.
I wanted an original Univox/ Shin Ei Super Fuzz but couldn't find/afford one. Taught myself to make them and they more than hold their own against originals.
Fuzz face, Tone bender clones and I love the EA Trem.
If it's an easy build, I'd have a crack at it. Not that the Super Fuzz was easy. It has about 10 times more components than any 'normal' fuzz
indo-dreaming wrote:Shit i knew they were worth a little these days but not this much...
Hey Indo.
Dunno if you've seen this page http://www.kitrae.net/music/music_big_muff.html
A good page to date and I'd your BM.
Muffs are a can of worms which makes them so cool. You never knew what you got. Back in the day, they'd pretty much chuck whatever components they had on hand so there's many variations within each model with little to no documentation of such.
basesix wrote:That's good stuff Mugof. Good to steer young punters clear of chorus and flange : )
(unless they're going for a tucked-in-shirt high-slung-guitar mullet-ironic pointy-headstock 80s never-surfed surf-sound. Or Cure covers ; )
I just watched a couple myself. Completely different language to me; The sus 2 chord, wtf!?
mugofsunshine wrote:I just watched a couple myself. Completely different language to me; The sus 2 chord, wtf!?
a 2 is the same as a 9, (as 1 and 8 are the same in music)
means the chord has the usual notes from the scale (1,3,5) but also another note
sus just means 'suspended' as in it has to go somewhere, it has to 'resolve'.
Usually sus 2 (and sus 4) notes within a chord go to the 3, in the next chord or during the 'sus chord'
which is the important note, as the 3rd note of a scale determines major : ) or minor : (
R00ney wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:Shit i knew they were worth a little these days but not this much...
Hey Indo.
Dunno if you've seen this page http://www.kitrae.net/music/music_big_muff.htmlA good page to date and I'd your BM.
Muffs are a can of worms which makes them so cool. You never knew what you got. Back in the day, they'd pretty much chuck whatever components they had on hand so there's many variations within each model with little to no documentation of such.
Yeah i had seen that page before but always an interesting read the amount of info on that page is just mind boggling
It even says describing the model i have as being used by Sonic youth and favoured by bass players.
You know even before i knew anything about distortion pedals or knew what a big muff was i was always drawn towards bands or albums that used big muffs and Sonic youth has always been a fav band of mine especially Goo & Dirty, but ive never picked up or knew they also used big muffs too, as basesix also points out.
indo-dreaming wrote:... i was always drawn towards bands or albums that used big muffs and Sonic youth has always been a fav band of mine especially Goo & Dirty, but ive never picked up or knew they also used big muffs too, as basesix also points out.
Mate, i hear that.
Super Fuzz Big Muff.
Yeah, Mudhoney was a no brainer for me but i think Fu Manchu and Poison Ivy sold me on the Super Fuzz.
I reckon pedals are a bigger rabbit hole than most of the conspiracy theories we currently cop.
Fn expensive but fun!
For me it was mostly Dinosaur Jr, Tumbleweed, and early Magic dirt. (who's guitarist even used two different early models to get a variation in tone)
But there is also albums or even songs from bands that i really dig when they used a big muff, and to me its their best work or period and when they have used other pedals they havent had the same appeal, although it might not always be just the pedal, but i think it factors in to things.
I guess there is certain sounds that maybe our ears/brains just like for some reason.
Only bass I own was a cashies special, going cheap as previous owner had scratched a swastika on it. I angle grinded it back to the timber base and coated it with wood stain then numerous coat of clear. Remember learning Greendays 'Longview' bass line on it and not much more. Always had 6 string acoustics and electrics. Got a kit for my birthday years ago and had fun building one of these.
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/guitars/pit-bull-guitars-es-3-electr...
Wiring and soldering pots and getting them on through gaps in the f holes was challenging.
The amount of tab resources online now compared to the 3 songs per magazine in my days blows me away. You can even download guitar rig software for nothing and have multiple effects with a guitar to usb cable, when I used to collect second hand pedals for $100 each.
I use a Boss JS-10 for practice now, mainly slow blues drum and bass to riff over but it has some good rock backing tracks too.
The famous Irish blues player Rory Gallagher, loved 2nd hand guitars, the more beat up the better. His favourite and iconic strat was bought by him 2nd hand, apparently the wrong colour for the previous owner, then flogged 2 weeks later, only to be found 2 weeks later in a ditch. He put it out on tv on a 60's crime stoppers local show and the thieves dumped it after everyone saw it.
Rory ripped on that strat, he was just on his own wavelength.
Rory Gallagher
Never thought I’d read that name in swellnet
Yeww
Here's another, Robin Trower.
Both blokes know their way around Stat single coils, and the blues.
Here's another, Robin Trower.
Both blokes know their way around Stat single coils, and the blues.
MidWestMonger might wanna goose step around the illicit trade in cheap pawn swastikas...
tbb is verifying the bass in question was purchased as a relic from Early 80's Joh Era Punk bands.
MidWestMonger is currently learning Bass lines from Briz Punk Band Public Execution...(Correct!)
Just for the record this is an authentic music study forum...nuthin suss goin' on here!
Authentic early '80's Qld Punk Bands / Radio / Gigs / Posters symbolized their Fascist Dictator.
1982 Goldie / Social Cancer : I was gassed at Belsen + Brizzos / Public Execution : SS Brigade
Both of these bands had Lyric Sheets / Fanzines confiscated & even burnt on Police State Bonfires!
Punks of the day know wot these trax represent & we don't need to pogo around it...do we now!
talking out the cheapest most 2nd hand basses etc...
beauty from garbage instead of the other way round like rchp, nirvana, sonic youth etc did it haha
och, mae kingom fer chrrromatic pipes!
(took a couple of watches to find his fuel-injected right elbow : )
Weird Taboo Dead Muso's shit going for a song...
#1 ($8m) Kurt Cobain's Unplugged Guitar
#3 ($7.5m) Bubble's Lap dance.
https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/most-expensive-music-memorabilia/
Many of you might enjoy this guy's vids looking into why certain songs are so great. This one is Angie - Rolling Stones:
you could have a fun night in just watching rick beato's bleary-eyed copyright rants frog - there's lots, they're great : )
I have watched quite a few of them. Just old favourite songs.
Interesting and shows the other realm in terms of talent and understanding of musical technique some people inhabit.
@seeds @frog - now optimist has left the band, and taken his styx with him, i think i've found you a backbeat for Grippy Little Toes
Cool. I was getting Die Antwoord vibes there.
I miss Opti. I wonder how his apocalypse bunker is coming along.
Not sure if much interest in this, but yeah the thread topic says it all,