Nobody’s suggesting that you churn out The Odyssey every afternoon but a few careful notes on what you got through in the day/session can be useful to guide you next time. I’ve included a couple of example snippets from one of my practice diaries below.

Electric
Janek Ex.1 & 2
New voice leading lick
Fretless positioning
Simple double thumb

Double

2nd and 3rd Position – Simandl

That’s was written after around 30 mins work on each instrument so hopefully you can see just how simple the info you jot down can be and how it can be really useful for your next practice session. A quick look back over what you got through last time can help you make efficient use of whatever practice time you get and in my book efficiency is king. The final addition to my practice diary is a monthly plan to keep me on track. Keeping it nice and simple I’ve taken to making a few notes on the first of each month making out what I’d like to have achieved.

The Pen vs The PC

I used to believe in pen and paper but I’ve quickly come to embrace Evernote. Using a note pad application is a really useful way of building a practice diary. I’d recommend Evernote as you also get the ability to record direct to it via sound card or microphone, you can upload files including PDF versions of charts etc and it’s available wherever you are.

So, if you feel that you’re not making best use of your practice time, taking on too much or losing track of what you’ve done or plan to do then try starting a practice diary. Those quick notes after every session will keep you on track and moving forwards.

Also in the news…

I heard of these guys through Janek Gwizdala’s blog. Their work is just awesome, I can’t get enough at the moment.

It was my mainstay bass until 2010 when I needed to up to a 5-String so I got myself a second hand G&L Tribute L2500 – I was working on the theory that ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. So with two heavily gigged basses I thought I’d write a review of both from a long term owners perspective. I’ll be as impartial as possible and they certainly have a few niggles to gripe about.

The Basses

L2000 – The physical build quality of this bass is exceptional, the neck is connected with 6 bolts and there’s not a hairs breadth between the neck and body at the join. The body is a single piece of Swamp Ash with a natural finish and very attractive grain pattern. The Maple neck and fretboard were immaculate and played perfectly when new, there is now some noticeable wear but nothing beyond what you might expect from 6 years use. The biggest caveat are the Iron pick-ups which have begun show signs of rust despite not being exposed to harsh climatic conditions. The tone hasn’t diminished but it’s not something you’d expect of a £500 instrument.

L2500 – This build quality on this bass is good but not as good as the L2000. The body is three pieces of glued Swamp Ash with a Cherryburst finish. The neck/body connection is nice and tight but when I first got the bass I had to do some light work to smooth some fret edges and re-seat the slightly raised 15th fret. I guess this is one of the pitfalls of buying over the internet but after 30mins work the neck is as good as the L2000′s.

The L2500 has a string-thru bridge and as a result only two screws connect the bridge and body compared to the L2000′s six screws. Despite this the bridges feel equally secure. Both have a ‘Saddle Lock’ which in reality is a small screw on the side of the bridge which pushes all the saddles together and supposedly enhances sustain. As it’s positioned on the lower side of the bridge when playing the instrument, the screw can and has worked itself loose. Keep and eye on it and you should be fine. The battery is concealed within the control cavity and can only be accessed by unscrewing the whole panel. (6 small Phillips screws) A separate compartment would be very useful but you can always fall back into passive mode if your battery dies mid gig. All Tributes come with traditional open gear machine heads, the action is smooth and solid on both instruments.

The Tones

The electronics are the same across both basses and subsequently they have very similar tonal pallets. They feature two Fullerton-made (USA) Humbucker pickups, Active circuitry with toggle switches for pickup selection (Neck/Both/Bridge), Series and Parallel modes and passive/active/active with treble boost modes. There’s also a volume and treble pot and a dual function bass pot which acts as a tone pot in passive mode. This configuration allows you to coax out a whole host of varied tones and mimic some of those standard Jazz, P and MM sounds. But don’t be fooled, this will always be a G&L and while you can get close to those sounds you can’t expect to bag yourself a Stingray for half the price.

I consider them to have two stock tones -

1. Both Pickups, Series, Active, Treble and Bass set mid way – This gives a glorious warm bass tone and the instruments are worth it for this tone alone.
2. Both Pickups, Parallel, Active, Treble and Bass set mid way – Brightens and thins the sound giving a fantastic tone for slap.

From there you can select the Neck pick-up in Series mode for punchy P-Bass tones or the Bridge pickup in Parallel for a biting jazz-esk tone for solos. While a pot for pickup selection or individual pickup volumes would give you extra flexibility in dialling in a tone, I’ve never had the need as there are more than enough tonal options to choose from. The B string on the L2500 isn’t the tightest I’ve ever played but it’s very respectable for a 34inch scale and produces a punchy sound that’s well matched to the rest of the strings.
The only real complaint that I can level at the basses is that if you let the strings get in to 7-9 months age range the tone can become a little hollow and lack body. Some EQ tweaking can remedy the problem and interestingly once you break through the 9 month barrier the tone becomes very usable again. I’ve used various brands of string and they’ve all gone through the same thing.

Conclusion

Now obviously I own two so I think they’re fantastic basses. If you’re looking for a solid workhorse in the £500 range (£300-£400 second hand) you can’t go far wrong with a G&L Tribute L2000 or L2500. The tonal range is immense, you can take it into practically any situation and pull out a sound that fits perfectly. I wholeheartedly recommend trying the bass you want to buy before you buy it and make sure you’re comfortable with that specific instrument. Also, I’d recommend hunting for one with a one-piece body, I have that feeling in my gut that the one-pieces are superior to the glued ones although I can’t put quantifiable difference between them.

They are by no means perfect or even fully complete but they were enough to get me from one end of the gig to the other avoiding any hairy moments.

Starsky and Hutch

Pick Up The Pieces

Cissy Strut

This is the Spotify Playlist containing the tracks and a few others that were also in the set.

Thoughts and comments on them are very welcome.

I just heard this for the first time. Thought it was pretty wicked and worth sharing, there’s some cracking bass action.