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Cool ‘How to’ – Changing Strings On a Sadowsky Bass

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Roger Sadowsky

This is a really cool video and tutorial for how to change strings on a Sadowsky Bass!

Re-shared courtesy of Roger Sadowsky

With the release of the newly re-engineered Sadowsky Blue Label Flatwound Bass Strings, we thought that it was time to put together a quick and easy guide to restringing your bass. Whether you’ve changed thousands of sets of strings or are just getting started, this guide (and video) will have you doing it like the pros at Sadowsky in no time.

AND, if you feel that this video is too fast—we sped it up on purpose—stay tuned for a more in-depth string change video from Roger Sadowsky later this year.

Quick Links: Sadowsky Bass Strings, Polishing Cloth, Fretboard Oil, Music Nomad Grip Winder,

1. Prep:

Tape the back of the bridge with the kind of low tack masking tape used by painters. Taping behind the bridge helps to prevent dings/scratches from string ball ends. Never apply tape to old, vintage, or peeling finishes.

Optional: put a polish cloth under the strings and over the pickup area to further protect the finish. We don’t always do it, but it’s a good practice.

Note: We like to unwind the strings rather than cut them off 1) so that you can keep the strings as a backup set if you break one during a gig and 2) to prevent a sharp end from dinging your bass—if you haven’t noticed, we’re really serious about protecting the finish!

2. Cutting the String Ends:

Insert your strings in the bridge and then measure the ends before cutting. We measure 3 post lengths from the insertion point on a post with a ½ inch diameter shaft. Measure 2.5 post lengths on a ? inch diameter shaft. These are the most common shaft diameters. This measurement is important because it allows for enough room for 3 wraps on the string post. Three wraps provides enough downward pressure so that your string has better contact with the nut without overcrowding the post. If you don’t have enough pressure, you can have buzzy open strings (especially on A strings with a round string retainer for the G and D strings, common on Fenders). For cutting strings, we recommend the string cutter available on www.stewmac.com.

3. Winding:

First, do not pre-wind your strings on the post. This can create a twist in the string which can lead to a broken core and can change the natural path of vibration and make that string sound “off.” Do, push the string end down into the post. Then bend the string through the slot. As you begin winding, use your thumb to simultaneously push the end down and force a clean angle on the string end. See the video for reference. As you wrap the string via the tuning peg—we recommend the Music Nomad “Grip Winder” which is available on our webstore—keep tension on the peg/string and guide it down the post for each wrap. Hold the string down with your thumb and avoid putting it under the string tree during tightening/tuning to prevent the string silk from shredding. The last wrap of string should come off the lowest point on the string post.

4. Stretch and Tune:

First, tune up your instrument. Then, stretch out the strings along the length of the string. Grab the string under your four fingers and use your thumb as a fulcrum to pull up and stretch it out. After this, retune your instrument. Then restretch the strings. Repeat this until the strings do not need to be retuned after stretching.

5. Last:

Press down with your thumb on the string right before the bridge. This will take your softer, rounded break angle and make it into a more defined, sharper angle. If your string is soft over the bridge, your intonation will also be soft over the bridge and your action will be slightly raised—which can lead to tuning and setup issues.

6. Celebrate:

Find someone to high five!

For more information, visit online at sadowsky.com

Bass Edu

Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque

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Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice's Bassist Lewis Bridges - From the Album, Grotesque

Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque

Bassist Lewis Bridges Shares…

“Gruesome’s sparse intro marks a stark contrast from the intensity of the rest of the album.  The original intention was to keep the bass simple but colourful, however as I worked on it, the lines grew more expressive and the more striking flourishes began to emerge.  The intensity builds into a harmonic minor passage that takes us into the drop — a signature death grind cacophony.  This is where Foetal Juice thrives.  You’re getting a full-on right-hand barrage to in the face to take you into a groove-laden mulch-fest.

I owe my throbbing bass tone to the Darkglass Alpha Omega pedal borrowed from our sound engineer, Chris Fielding (ex-Conan), mixed with the clarity of the tried and true Ampeg SVT CL.

As mentioned earlier, colourful basslines are important, especially in a one-guitar band. Chucking some funny intervals and odd flourishes here and there brings life into the brutality. There’s no point sounding brutal if it’s not gonna be fucking evil too!

Recording this playthrough was hard work. This was not the fault of James Goodwin (Necronautical), who was kindly filming and is ace to work with, but because in true Foetal fashion, we had stinking hangovers — and that jam room was hot!”

Follow Online

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Bass Edu

Bass Lines: The Circle

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jaime Vazquez

Bass Lines: The Circle…

Hello bass players and fans of bass! This month we’re going to study “The Circle.”

The Circle of Fourths can also be called “The Circle of Fifths or just The Circle.

Practicing the scales, chords, and ideas in general via the circle has been a common practice routine for jazz musicians and highly recommended.

It is a disciplined way of working through all twelve keys.

Plus, many bass root movements to jazz and pop songs move through sections of the circle.

Fig. 1 – “The Circle”

See you next month for more full bass attack!

#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thecircle, #thecircleoffourths, #thecircleoffifths,#scales & #chords.

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Bass Edu

Approach Notes – Part 5

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James Rosocha

Continuing our lesson of Approach Notes, Part 5…

In continuing with the concept of approach notes being applied to chord tones, this lesson approaches the root, third, fifth, and seventh degree of each arpeggio inversion by incorporating a double chromatic approach from above, and a single chromatic approach from below. 

The first examples approach the root of a G major 7th arpeggio as a double chromatic from above and a single chromatic approach from below -before continuing to the third, fifth, seventh, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the root, continue to the third, fifth, and come back down.

The next example approaches the first inversion of G major 7th arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the third, continue to the fifth, seventh, root, double chromatic from above/ single below to the third, continue up to the fifth and seventh, and back down.

The third example approaches a second inversion of a G major arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the fifth, continue to the 7th, root, 3rd, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the 5th, continue to the 7th, root, and back down. 

This final example approaches a third inversion of a G major 7th arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above and below approaches the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, 5th, double chromatic from above and below to the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, and back down.

Be sure to pace yourself with these lessons to avoid burning out.

Being overly ambitious with your practice schedule can lead to unrealistic expectations. Try learning one approach note concept and one chord type a week. Change your practice routine as necessary and tailor it to your needs as a musician. Good luck!

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Bass Edu

BASS LINES – The Blue Notes (Minor Blues Scale)

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jaime Vazquez

Hello bass players and bass fans! Happy New Year 2024!

In this issue, we are going to study the blue notes.

In blues, jazz, and rock, a blue note is a note that (for expressive purposes) is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context.

The blue notes are usually said to be the lowered third(b3), lowered fifth(b5) and lowered seventh(b7) scale degrees. The lowered fifth(b5) is also known as the raised fourth(#4). Though the blues scale has “an inherent minor tonality, it is commonly ‘forced’ over major-key chord changes, resulting in a distinctively dissonant conflict of tonalities”.

Blue notes are used in many blues songs, in jazz, rock and in conventional popular songs with a “blue” feeling.

Formula:

The A Minor Blues Scale

1 – b3 – 4 – (#4/b5) – 5 – b7

A – C – D – (D#/Eb) – E – Bb

The grades(blue notes):

b3, (#4/b5), b7

C, (D#/Eb), Bb

See you next month for more full bass attack!

#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thebluenotes, #minorbluesscale & #bluesscale

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Bass Edu

BASS LINES: Staccato for Bass

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jaime David

Staccato for Bass…

Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we are going to study the technique known as staccato.

When we talk about the staccato technique, we are referring to a form of musical articulation.

In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence.

* In 20th-century music, a dot placed above or below a note indicates that it should be played staccato.

* The opposite musical articulation of staccato is legato, signifying long and continuous notes.

Fig. 1 – An example of a normal notation.

Fig. 2 – Is the same example but now with the staccato articulation

Fig. 3 – A basic groove played and written in a normal notation.

Fig. 4 – The same basic groove using the staccato technique.

So, at the end of the day, you as a bassist will decide what type of technique you will use depending on the effect you want in your performance.

See you next year for more full bass attack!!! Happy Holidays & New Year 2024!!! Groove On!!!

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