a coupla SII demos for ya

[BeenDown139]

been kinda slow around here lately, thought i'd toss in a clinker for everyone to bat around.

i've been updating my repertoire with more contempory stuff.  being a boomer in a youngster's world is making an uphill battle of getting hooked up with a band.  i get a lot of calls for classic rock. i'd really rather not go that route.  i just recently started adding videos to my profile, it seems to have increased my views but no gig yet.

i've been mostly working with the pretty bass lately since it's my gigging instrument.  i pulled the SII off the rack this morning and cut a coupla demos for my profile.  it's really hard to stifle the tone of this bass.  that's one of the things i like about it.  i'm mostly in the left channel, fairly new rotosound rounds, stereo with the mike between speakers.

Broken:

Cardinal:

here's my profile.  if yer in the denver area looking for bass player, hit me up!
https://www.bandmix.com/tim1719030/

[goran]

Nicely done man, love that axe of yours.

[pauldo]

That bass sure is pretty and sounds great.
Curious about the artwork with the bench and trees that is over your right shoulder.  Beautiful and haunting.

[Quasar1]

FAB !!!!

[BeenDown139]

ok one more last post on this subject.  a few more updates to my musical resume before i start off on a strictly fretless project.  gotta put the SII down and play some of the other basses for a while.

i normally do these next 3 songs on the fretlesses but i had the SII strapped up so ya get the roundwound string, filters wide open snarl that i love outta this bass whether it works well or not.

"love is alive" is in Eb so it's gotta be played on a 5-string unless i play part of the chorus up an octave which doesn't work very well imho.

the recorded pitch on "treat her like a lady" wanders a bit from start to finish.  i can compensate on the fretless, i live with it on fretted.

this version of "fever" was originally recorded with an upright,  playing it on a 5-string makes the fingering easier, i'm not sure if i'd use the SII for this song live but its tone sure gives it an interesting take. imho.  ymmv

i heard this one one on NPR  the other day, fell in love with the bass part and so here ya go.  still got a coupla nits in it but after 5 takes i got other things to get after so they'll have to be fixed in the mix 

As usual - i'm mostly in the left channel, Series II stereo mode, mic'd between the cabinets, strung with semi-fresh but fading fast rotosound rounds

[pauldo]

Last video doesn’t play “…contains content from SME…”  blah blah blah.
That bass sounds great!
Are these videos up on your ‘band search page’?   Phone should be ringing off the hook.

Still curious about the bench & trees picture/ painting.

[DistillaMatto]

"Love Is Alive", awesome.

[BeenDown139]

Last video doesn’t play “…contains content from SME…”  blah blah blah.

the v ideo in question is "sweet surrender" by sarah mclachlan from 1997.  it must be copyrighted in canada.  i can't even view it (maybe i cancelled myself?  ).  i dug thru the email utoob sent me,  i can submit a fair use appeal, kinda thinking about it but it sounds like a lotta tedium and if they don't like it they can cancel my channel.  maybe if i do fight it,  sarah herself will look at it and point out all my mistakes?  give me an audition?  killer bass line, sounded real good on the SII (if i say so myself), her bass player is a monster, i had a real challange getting it to sound right. 

Still curious about the bench & trees picture/ painting.

sorry about that.  i got that at ikea when i lived at my last place, it kinda went with the picture of the pier that goes to nowhere behind me,  that one came from goodwill about 5 years ago.  i was just getting back on my feet after a catastropic life event that separated me from my family and everything i had.  i took one look and it kinda summed up where my life was at then.  hadda start completely over, working as an electrician's grunt, a lot of my stuff at the time came from goodwill and walmart.  kinda glad that's behind me, but i never wanna forget.

these videos are all on my bandmix page, i started posting videos about a month ago and i'm gett a lot more interest, but no band yet.  got another audition saturday with full rig and the pretty bass.

i gotta say, the amatuer music scene in denver is a bust these days.  my contact spreadsheet shows 82 contacts since last year at this time, i've had 10 auditions all of which eventually led to nothing for reasons other than my musical ability.  i think my age has a lot to do with it.  i'm completely upfront about it in my resume, if you watch my videos, i'm obviously no spring chicken.

thanks for your kind words, i feel like i'm screaming into the void sometimes so it's nice to have a little validation

[jazzyvee]

Good to hear that bass tone you are getting. I haven't had a gig where i can open up the filters for about 18 months. 🙁

[pauldo]

thanks for your kind words, i feel like i'm screaming into the void sometimes so it's nice to have a little validation

Do not fret (pun intended) the void is very loud these days (read: we are not alone with our screaming)

[BeenDown139]

[bass tone you are getting. I haven't had a gig where i can open up the filters for about 18 months. 🙁]

so i guess the filters are to me like the LEDs are to other players - i can't think of too many instances where i've twiddled the filter (or tone) knobs on any of my basses other than to hear what they do.  i always run wide open and use the pickup balance to give me more twang or thump.  it works particularly well in stereo mode because my amps are voiced for the pickup channel.  when i cross the neck from B to G string, i can hear the sound move from the neck to the bridge amp.  it's not quite as effective in bi-amp mode.  so i'm effectively using my amp volumes as tone controls if that makes sense.  sounds killer live.  gotta get this SII out on a gig with me before i kick the bucket.

[jazzyvee]

I'd get fired pretty quickly if i used the filters fully open on my reggae gigs. Generally they are fully closed and an Sf-2 included to emphasise the low end.If the stage sound is muddy from the subs, i do open up the mids a bit so i can hear my pitch better. 🫣

[BeenDown139]

I'd get fired pretty quickly if i used the filters fully open on my reggae gigs. Generally they are fully closed and an Sf-2 included to emphasise the

i don't know if i could function in that environment.  i like to tell people that my tone and my chops are my calling card.  i use a percussive fingertip right hand technique that does well with a lotta twang. typically i have enough mid-range that i obviate the need for a rhythm guit@rist.  i got called up for an audition tomorrow, i gotta learn "come together" and "something" by the beatles and "in the presence of hte lord" by blind faith between now nad then. i can tell that my usual approach for tone ain't gonna work on those songs without freaking someone out.  i'll be accompanied by the mighty MKDeluxe set up with new rotosound rounds.  so i cranked the tone knobs all the way down (something i never do) and did a run-thru.  i could hardly recognise my own playing, wasn't even sure i was playing the right notes in some spots.  enuff bass to rattle yer fillings but tone-wise it fit those songs well.  they sure don't build bass lines like that anymore.  not sure what my long-term prospects with this band are gonna be, but i do like to expand my musical horizons.
back to the woodshed.   sigh....