...and here's "Portrait Of Tracy" on my fretted Bongo

[damon1811]

sweet bass

[PhuckHue2]

holy crap that Bongo has some hot pickups. some of harmonics sounded like a vibraphone

[RaginRog]

Que Bueno tocas! Como te gusta el Bongo? Qual es tu favorito baso?

Mi madre es de Baranquilla...pero yo naci aqui en los Estados Unidos.

[Alvabass]

¡Muchas gracias por tu amable comentario! Tengo instrumentos de diferentes marcas, pero definitivamente el EBMM Bongo es el que más se ajusta a mi gusto en términos de versatilidad y fuerza en el sonido.

De nuevo mil gracias. Un abrazo desde Bucaramanga, Colombia.

[Masto12321]

b e a utiful bass and nice playing man, keep it up!

[toast3rap3r69]

by a long shot i have never heard anyone play this song as well as you have (other than jaco himself)

i wish i could be half as good as you at the bass :(

[icecondor]

I think both videos are very good, with fretted and fretless. You play very well all musics that I see here. But one thing that i would say is that is almost impossible to get the same sound as Jaco because of the many effects he used to put, like chorus, which makes harmonics much more clearer and easy to get.

Although it's perfect and thanks for the great videos your post.

[tacoman4rmsj94]

i think this one is better than the other one.

but there both good.!!

[ultimabass]

What a beautiful sound, senor. Great job, keep up the bass playing.

[Alvabass]

Thank you so much for your kind comments! :)

[bajistadelmal]

Pues anexe un video de como toco yo portrait of tracy haber si te gusta =)

[112358miau]

Estoy mirando este tema y no entiendo el harmonico que haces en 0:13

[Alvabass]

Hola. Muchas gracias por tus comentarios. Ese es un armónico artificial, llamado así porque no es posible obtener ese sonido utilizando armónicos naturales, basados estos en las cuerdas al aire. La nota en cuestión es un D# y para lograrla debes hacer lo siguiente: Pisar la cuerda A en el segundo traste (no tocarla simplemente. Pisar con fuerza) y sin soltar, estirar la mano para tocar (no pisar) la misma cuerda con el meñique exactamente sobre el traste #6. (sigue...)

[Alvabass]

Al pulsar la cuerda teniendo la mano en esa posición lograrás el D#. Para entender el por qué de eso, piensa en lo siguiente: Si pones un dedo en la cuerda A exactamente sobre el cuarto traste, obtendrás un armónico de C#. Para lograr un D#, la cuerda tendría que estar afinada una segunda arriba (o sea un B al aire). Pero como no es así, al pisar la cuerda en el segundo traste esta queda como si la nota B fuese la nota al aire. (Sigue...)

[Alvabass]

Con el meñique, entonces, logras el armónico que queda cuatro trastes más arriba, que viene siendo el sexto traste en este caso. Eso sí: ¡Hay que estirar!

Espero que esta información haya sido de utilidad. No dudes en contactarme si necesitas asesoría adicional. Un saludo.

[112358miau]

Gracias. Pero ya habia revisado un libro de lecciones de Pastorius. De momento no tengo muchas mas dudas, quiza saber si el harmonico de 0:16 despues de la pareja esa de harmonicos es en el traste 5.

[Alvabass]

Sí. Corresponde al sonido dos octavas por encima de la cuerda al aire (E). Un saludo.

[112358miau]

Bueno, va bien la cosa. El caso es que no soy bajista, soy guitarrista, y ya sabia lo de los armonicos, lo que pasa es que en todas las tablaturas (que no partituras, por eso la mayoria estaban mal) leia armonico del traste 12, pero no me sonaba bien, hasta que me di cuenta de que estaba una octava por debajo. En breves probare un bajo sin trastes, a ver que sale. Un saludo

[schwarg]

fckin love the bongo bass...

[tigerfirefilms]

Wonderful!!

[NatePlaysMM]

Sounds awesome! I actually think I like this version better than the fretless version you play.

[igotmilk247]

how do u do dat please help me learn

[UserDoesNotExist1]

Well, step one is pick up a bass. Step two is practice. Step three is to repeat step two.

[dubassaves]

lol fine advice

[dubassaves]

the best thing to do is to take your bass and just listen to it till you cant

[TEgnoto89]

killer bass, killer tone

[eggsandham2]

i like the tone on the fretless for tis song better

[Jc3intelligent]

WOW!!!!!!! you're an amazing bassist and you sound just like Jaco!! i wanna be as good as you are someday! 5 stars for the inspiration!

[shabakaba345]

when i tried it with the A, D and G string i just couldnt get it to ring, but when you pay only D and G it sounds mega.

[shabakaba345]

hey man on the very last harmonic, try fretting the D and G string on 9 and playing natural harmonics at 13th fret. SOunds amazingly better. best cover of song by the way.

[TRIARII117]

what kind of amp did you use? what are the settings on the pre amp on the bass? id like to see about getting a similar tone on my stingray5

[Alvabass]

Hmm... that was two years ago and I can't remember if I used different settings at that time. Anyway, I always use my Kustom KBA 30 practice amp plugged to my PC's sound card (a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum). If I used my regular fretless EQ settings for this video, the balance between neck and bridge pickup is around 70% bridge / 30% neck. Also, the piezos are also slightly favored. Let me know if you need further info. Thank you for your comment! :)

[TRIARII117]

I see. I was actually more wondering about the balance of the treble, mid and bass. My Stingray is a single humbucker, without the piezo bridge. An older model, before MusicMan introduced the double pickup and piezo bridge models.

[Alvabass]

I remember that, at that time, I was still overwhelmed by the Bongo's incredibly powerful tone and I used the 4-band EQ at maximum, and just slightly rolling off the low mids. The problem was, I couldn't set the volume at maximum with those settings, and no amp couldn't handle such amount of power properly. (Continued...)

[Alvabass]

What I do now is try to keep the same EQ relationship (low mids slightly below the other bands) but with more reasonable settings: Now, my low mids are in the middle (flat) and the other bands (lows, hi mids and highs) are slightly above, by the same amount (Think of low mids at 5 and the other bands around 6,5). :)

[LDXaborg]

man you got one nice bass there love the tone!

[darren15509]

solid playing man, and great tone!

[ExploBass]

MAMMA MIA! I love Bongooooooooo!!

[TRIARII117]

What is that on the headstock?

[SebModulus]

Ahh, I think I got it. By the way how much would a Musicman Bongo Fretted bass would be? 4 and 5 strings?

[Alvabass]

It depends on the electronics configuration. Current prices move between 1300+ (4-string with a single humbucker) and 1600+ USD (5-string with two humbuckers and piezo bridge).

[SebModulus]

Whoa whoa man. Your final chord is way different than the one i play. I ussually bar the 9th fret of the g, d and a string, and harmonic the 13th-

Which are the ones your playing here?

[Alvabass]

Thank you for your comment! Well, putting aside the fact that I couldn't get the chord to ring as intended, it's exactly the same chord you play, but using different order harmonics. You use 5th order harmonics. I use the 7th order, based on fretting the strings at the third fret and finding the node behind the 6th fret (I mean, like two thirds between the 5th and 6th fretwires). (Continued...)

[Alvabass]

Two other possibilities are: Use the 6th order harmonics by fretting the strings at the 6th fret and finding the node exactly over the 9th fret, OR use the 8th order by fretting the strings at the first fret and finding the node around one third between the third and fourth fretwires. In all four cases, the pitches are exactly the same. (Continued...)

[Alvabass]

It's a compromise: Higher order harmonics are harder to get to ring loud, but the hand doesn't need to stretch that much to find them. The 5th order option has been pretty much uncomfortable to me and the 8th order is the most difficult to get loud, so the 6th and 7th order harmonics are the happy medium for me. :)

[HrapovikPlush]

Awesome job. Do those Bongo basses have any neck dive? Or are they pretty balanced?

[darren15509]

thewre fairly balanced

[ciolamorta]

You're only good at editing your videos. This is speeded-up.

[UncleBalsamic]

What makes you think that he does that?

[ciolamorta]

Look at his arm and at his head at the beginning of the vid. So. Am i right or not? Why editing videos to look more good at playing? That's no sense for me.

[UncleBalsamic]

I think that's just a hitch, it's definitely not sped up when he starts playing. I can see where you're comin from though.

[UncleBalsamic]

*coming. A little typo there, oh well...

[ciolamorta]

Oh. Other videos are speeded too. Anyway he plays, indeed.

[MostNotoriousVIP]

Errrm, your a retard. This is a hell of alot easier to play fast than it is slow, and, if he had sped it up, his voice and the notes would be much higher. This is authentic. Hes good and you suck, deal with it.

[cricketfever32]

i wouldn't say that ciolamorta sucks only because i havent heard him/her play, but alvabass is very good

[VulgarMongoose]

why would he speed up a song this slow dumbass

[SirJuice48]

Portrait of Tracy isn't a hard piece. The skill is getting the harmonics to sound completely, and the phrasing.

Speeding this up would be a wasted exercise

[Gorgalisin]

ill bet you can swing your head like that =D

[prettylaydee]

Hey I Got A Bongo Fretted 5 String About 4 Months Ago And I Can't Find A Setting For It I Really Like, I've Been Toying With It For A While, You Have A Really Really Nice Tone Going, Any Suggestions?

[Alvabass]

Thank you for your comment! Well, tone is a matter of personal preferences. Mine are: Both humbuckers full, also full piezos, low mids flat (center detent position) and the other three bands (lows, hi mids and treble) slightly boosted (like 20% after the center detent position).

Continued...

[Alvabass]

Now for your amp: First, if it has a "mid scoop" or "mid contour" button, TURN IT OFF. Then set lows and highs slightly above middle positions and mids slightly below middle positions. Of course, it varies depending on how your amp is voiced, but that's a good starting point for me. Hope this helps.

[danielrickenbacker]

just a question about the bass

is this bongo bass really confortable to play on a sitting position?

[Alvabass]

I find it very comfortable, man. Actually, I don't have any complaints about it. It's simply such a fine instrument. Thank you for your comment!

[SuperSnake2012]

Wow... the harmonics are extremely clear on the Bongo. Sweet vid, great job!

[Jazzydazza]

Wow. Pretty much perfect. Jaco would be proud

[animalslaughter]

jeez that was even better than on your fretless

[xapexi]

dude.. too good lol

[advancedbballer]

could you tab it pleease. i've been looking for a tab everywhere and can't find a good one

[IvanovBR]

great sound. More metalic the the fretless, consequently, more JAco

[Alvabass]

(Why some posted comments never appear? This is the third time I post this one)

Thank you for your nice comments, Alex. Man, the key is in my reply to basslow91 (above). If you follow that, it's just a matter of finding the "sweet spots" on the strings by repeatedly plucking them near the bridge. If your tone has a good amount of mid frequencies, it will be very easy. Let me know if you need further assistance. Thank you again!

[MistaMarko]

Amazingly done, love the feeling in the way you play! AWESOME! I just started to learn this piece, and on the part where you rake down the harmonics on fret 2, after that you move even closer to the first fret and do it again and it sounds even higher. Are these 1st fret harmonics, or just below the 2nd fret?

[Alvabass]

Hey man, thank you for your nice comments! Those are the 8th and 9th order harmonics, respectively. The 9th order harmonic (the ones closer to the nut - you hear a high A on the G string)can be found placing your finger exactly over the second fret. The 8th order harmonic (a high G can be heard on the G string) can be found between the second and third fret. After finding the middle point between the two, just move your finger SLIGHTLY towards the second fret.

[Alvabass]

(Only 500 characters are allowed) Let me know if you need further assistance, man. Again, thank you so much!

[Alex156]

Really nice sound man!

How do you make ring the highests harmonics @ fret 1 & 3 (on DG & AD strings ) ?

Sounds really cool... and nice bass also :)

[Rodrosgod]

Does the kind of strings I´m using affects the sound of my harmonics?

[Alvabass]

I don't think so, man. I also play this piece in my fretless with flats and no problems. Just don't be stingy with your mid frequencies.

[arandaz]

jaco recorded the song on a fretted bass

[omgdave]

i find this recording and the fretless recording to be vert sticatto playing it's a different sound from the origional recording and it's cool

[basslow91]

I can never get those damn harmonics down =P

how do you do it?

[Alvabass]

One of the most important things to get harmonics to ring loud and clear is: Don't scoop your mid frequencies. Many people seem to think that harmonics are about highs and that's a wrong notion. It's all in the mids, so if your amp has a "mid contour" button, turn it off. Also, favor your bridge pickup (in this video, my bass' pickups blend is 80% bridge - 20% neck) and pluck the strings in that area as well. Thank you for your comment and hope this helps.

[basslow91]

thanks, it really did

alos, i only have a bridge pickup, i play a stingray XD

[Mahavishnu80]

is it more difficult to play harmonics on a fretless bass?

[Alvabass]

I don't think so, man. The thing you should really care about is your intonation on "real" ("fretted") notes because since harmonics are fixed pitches, you may create horribly out of tune chords when combining them if you have intonation flaws. Thank you for your comment!

[jmvaz]

Que bien Alvaro.. me ha encantado Cathedral tambien.