Captain Tomahawk

If you fancy something a little different try out some Zeuhl "The genre is a mixture of musical genres like Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism and Fusion. Common elements: oppressive or discipline-conveying feel, marching themes, throbbing bass, an ethereal piano or Rhodes piano, and brass instruments." You can listen to a few songs by Magma (They started it all) at the link below http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAND.asp?band_id=646 All 7 tracks they give are fantastic (La Dawotsin and Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik being the easiest to the ears to begin with). And if you fancy buying an album i reccomend Udu Wudu Dun Wow!!! aint bought this album yet but just wait till you hear what the song transforms into!!!!! http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=3552 Unfortunately the progarchives webpage just went down so i cant give anymore links just now. but Magma and Dun should be enough Zeuhl for most minds.

Gong - Eat That Phone Book Coda, Never Glid Before

Hey man, I've got a Laney HCM160B that i would sell for 100

Or you could Pick up my Cort 5 string action bass. I'll stick some new strings on it and maybe even give it a nice set up, just for you joiner It's actually a pretty nice bass and the neck is extremely comfortable, feels almost like a 32" short scale bass. It really needs a new home man, i ain't touched it in a long long time. it's your's for 100

I think your in need of some Ozric Tentacles. If you have a look in virgin they have a bunch of their cd's going as doubles, If you fancy a summery change go for the Erpland/Jurrasic Shift double cd. Also give Hidria Spacefolk a listen at www.myspace.com/hidriaspacefolk ,Modus Operand Hermetic and Amos Ame are intense! No one could doubt the summer charm of the cantebury scene either- check out caravan- in the land of pink and grey Gong - Angels egg Steve Hillage - Fish rising Have a good summer.

Like sultan of swing said the Ozric Tentacles would be fantastic. Please give them a look. Oh and who could forget: System 7 Eat Static Acid mothers Temple Hidria spacefolk

Thanks for the links guys, Muchos help. My bass is being built by a Luthier I know over in America called Karl Thompson(not Carl Thomspon,though he is brillaint too). It's a 4 string double cut 34" neck scale Etimoe Body Buckeyeburl bookmatched top and bottom see link belowfor the peice im using http://walnutwoods.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NW&Product_Code=6-10-1h&Category_Code=BBIW 5 peice neck with side veneers :wenge veneer, maple,wenge,bubinga,wenge,maple, wenge veneer Aint finalised my fretboard wood probably good ol' ebony. ebody accent lines bookmatched headstock Nordstrand signature dual coil pickups Aguilar 3 band preamp controls: N-pu volume, B-pu volume,Mid selector, Passive/active switch, passive tone, 3 Eq knobs Thg Ebony domed knobs (possibly with the buckeye on top) Gotoh Tuners Hipshot B-sytle bridge Dunlop Strap locks The body will use a clear matte lacquer finsh neck finish will be Tung Oil I still aint finalised my desired specs for my neck dimensions etc string spacing will probably be 18mm Inalys i still aint sure on either..im gonna design something interesting

Hopefully get it going relatively soon. Pretty busy at the moment with my job and my other musical activites but i'll get a couple of short recordings done for you to hear my approach to solo bass in the next week or two. You able to do the same? Yeah he is a top bass player and has great improvisational skills, i'll maybe try get in contact with him. listening to Manring has given me a totally new prespective on Zon basses, the tone is incredible. he has his own section on www.talkbass.com if you aint discovered it yet. Plently of threads on alternate tunings etc and he aint bad at answering pretty quickly despite being one of the busiest bass players around.

I want to give it a shot! Anyone out there with some experience got some tips or can give me some information on someone with a workshop etc. I've been thinking of getting into this for some time now and it's about time i actually did something about it! I'm having a bass built for me by a great luthier in America and although i've nearly settled on the specs for it i still wish it could be a fretted 4 string and 6 string fretless in one! Well im sticking to the fretted 4 from him but i figure in time i could build my own 6/7/8 string basses! (I have no control over my desire for extended range basses) So if anyone has any experience in this field please give me any help on the following: Location -I don't mind paying for use of a workshop Tools - I have a rough idea of what i'll need Sources For wood- I can't find any british sources, two great american ones however! www.walnutwoods.net and www.exoticwoodbrokers.com are amazing Useful/Required reading and any other helpful tips to keep me from cutting fingers off. Anyone else interested in starting up? It would probably be more interesting having a couple of people carving up too and would allow us to save a wee bit each on space, tool and materials etc. cheers

Defiantely some top tips there Monk Rocker. Id say that starting things slowly and building up rather than jumping right in and trying to play things at full speed is probably the most important of those tips as the difference it makes can be incredible. I had this exact problem trying to learn Classical Thump and Me and My bass Guitar by Victor Wooten, trying to play them straight away at full speed was just silly. Using a metronome for these songs and taking things a beat at a time has really helped. Thought I'd throw in some links i've found useful for any other bassists interested: www.adamnitti.com (good lessons section) www.lucaspickford.com (great transcriptions for plenty of Jaco, Anthony Jackson, Jeff Berlin and Marcus Miller songs) www.garywillis.com (great section on adjusting trussrod/action and general bass setup related questions)

Hey man sorry for taking so long to reply to your post. I know quite a bit of theory like modes, Inversions of chords etc. but my improvisational skills when using this theory to solo with can be a bit repeative. I can play some of Wooten,Hamm and the likes material but i've never really spent much of my playing time learning their material. I started drilling down on Jaco's portrait of tracy and stu hamm's flow my tears and noticed the related techniques picking up alot quicker again. I've also descovered what was wrong with my left hand technique and after realising it's importance had to share it with anyone viewing this thread. Basically i was lifting my fingers off the frets too early causing a sloppy sound and extra thumb pressure due to the amount my fingers were moving. I've spent that last week going over all the scale/arpreggios i've ever learnt using a stricter left hand technique and its allready paying off alot. Any strain i used to have reaching akward chords is pretty much gone and my playing is far more fluid. I've been thinking lately of trying to set up a bass trio kinda thing if you are up for jamming sometime, know any fretless legends around aberdeen? I think it would be a mental idea having three bassists from completely different musical backgrounds going crazy together! Let me know what you think Cheers

I'd recommend Electro Harmonix pedals (www.ehx.com). They do some amazing pedals. Some Boss pedals are pretty good too and relatively cheap. Check out www.gak.co.uk they have a pretty good selection for you to have a look through. EBS do some really good distortion pedals but they can be tricky to get a hold of around here so check out www.thebassgallery.com I'm not too clued up on bass wah but the Jim Dunlop bass wah should do the trick they might have one in R n B. In my opion you should go straight for EHX, EBS,TC electroincs and i've heard MXR do some mean ass distortion etc. These guys are beyond what the Boss pedals can give you and although Boss certainly ain't bad i'd say save that bit more aside for one of the bad asses mentioned above. Good luck finding what you want

Hi floks. Im currently looking for someone to help me out with a few things. I've self taught myself for around 4.5 years now and i've come pretty far. However there are few things i've rushed through over the years and only started to realise the drawbacks lately. My main concerns are: ear training, reading, application of alot of the theory and maybe some help with my my left hand technique (keep applying too much pressure with the thumb). If it helps i play alot of jazz,funk and prog bass and my key influences are stanley clarke, jaco pastorius,mike howlett,Jean Baudin, Justin Chancellor,Michael Manring,Steve Bailey and ermmm.. Mark king o_O Im also hoping to start double bass too, any teachers known? Thanks for your time

I use a warwick Streamer lx4 and i find it to be a really nice overall bass except i've come to dislike the neck as the shape forces me to bend my wrist too much reaching those tough Pastorius style chords. In general though i would certainly recommend them. The Corvette Jazzman and thumb bass are also pretty good. Like Voodoo_chile said it really does depend on your preferences. Check out www.talkbass.com and www.bassworld.co.uk both forums have alot of threads on first time purchases etc. If you wanna see some really sweet ass basses check out www.thebassgallery.com (british,fairly decent prices, ok selection) www.thelowend.net (american,amazing prices, great selection) www.luthiersaccessgroup.com (american, amazing prices, good selction) and finally www.basscentre.com (british,ok prices i guess,ok selection) good luck finding what is right for you man!