Bass setup and string height - Vlog #189 June 6th 2017

[milopfultz]

I appreciate how vulnerable and honest you are on your channel. Thank you for everything you give on your vlog

[tripledoubletroubful]

Rick Beato's videos and interviews have been really pulling me out of a playing rut as of late. Hearing Steve Vai talk about Zappa's drive, nested tuplets, and being awed by other musicians was humbling and incredibly inspiring.

[yes_its_THE_Dave_Alleckna]

Hi Janek! Thanks for sharing a part of your bummed-out day since we all have been there and it is cool to see this part in our world of always happy Instagram faces. I like your attitude of using this energy to find something new that might inspire you afresh. All the best and big cheers from Hamburg!

[GOSPELFUNKADELIC]

Always inspiring !!!! I'm trying to figure out how people could ever give a thumbs down Odd. Much love from NWI!!!

[thirdfiddle]

I don't know if what I will say is of any help or if it's even intelligent, but I'll throw it anyway : Janek, when you say you''re not feeling well, you can come up almost sponaneously with a crazy solo from another world that is beyond my musical ability even if I spend the rest of my life practicing... We all have our bad days I guess, but to be honest it doesn"t seem much so from this side of the video...
World Class. Period.

[EthanHenley]

Janek,

Thanks so much for showing your bass setup, even in abbreviated form. I asked about it the other day not so that I could set up my bass like yours, but so that I could get an idea of what you consider high action, and to get a feel for the difference in pickup height, string to string balance, etc...

Just holding it up gave me a great idea of what you've got going on, and helps me to relate to what you've referred to about JP and the inspiration towards higher action.

Also, thanks for being real about how you feel.

[aoxomoxoanyc]

wow- really high action. goes a way toward explaining that Fodera's great clarity & articulation. tremendous benchmark playing, as always.

[gilbertofinolmusic]

Come on Janek! You killed it in today's jam! Keep it up man!

[stevenyates]

Dude. You are amazing. You are amazing on your off days. In fact, if my 'on' days were like your 'off' days I would consider myself to be an incredible player. :-) keep on keepin on.

[TaylorWheeler]

I think its great having high or higher action, so good on you, Growing up i was drawn to super skinny wizard necks with no action at all between the strings and the frets - which is cool i guess when your learning and getting more fluid but honestly i found basses setup in this way lose their character and soul. maybe you could use a pbass or even your mustang with some disgusting action to put you out of "the comfort" zone when your practicing, i mean your fodera is all about your style that you are known for, in its build, electronics, high c and fast action / neck feel. if you feel a little stagnated go play an ugly stick for a bit and your ideas may flourish for the better haha

[marcogallerin]

It'd be nice to see you on a different bass!

[JermaineMorganBass]

Janek thanks for being honest and true to yourself man! 👊🏾😎... people tire me sitting behind their computers COMPLAINING and wanting you to become the image that they've created. Thanks for FREELY sharing your ideas with us. I get it! #respect

[jarczan]

I agree Janek. The string height is a personal thing. On my fretless and one fretted I use higher action.
This fretted is used to play chordal stuff, picking and fingering. The action is too high for me to slap on it with a comfortable feeling.

On another fretted bass, I set very low action because I slap and tap on it a lot ;)

[thomasjakel]

Hey Janek, don't forget, there is a crack in everything, that lets the light come in, by the way, it's not the amp that makes the noise, it's you who makes it, anyway, silly joke, keep on groovin your excellently sincere, that's so important in life, thank you for that, you are an master in that.

[FrancoGrimoldi]

one question: have you considered ditching the looper and starting a fresh-new non-looper based compositional style?
(thanks for sharing this very emotional, honest moment!)

[micahjared]

Nice, this juuust what i wanted - it only took 334 other videos to find it. Janek, i give 2 shits about tech specs myself- but it would behoove my curiosity to know: when you are 'raising it up', how many turns on the set screw's are you typically using as you seek your magic height goal? one turn up -2 turns- 3 !!!
Beautiful Playing. My wife and I are watching from the catskill mountains in the middle of the boondocks of New York State. Winter is being stingy - REFUSES to leave us - When your video ended their was 2 bars of silence and sadness - and then my wife quipped " God Damn all i wanna do is plant some flowers"

[jazzbrew]

Janek - quick question... have you considered meditation? I meditate daily for 10 minutes in the morning or when I feel the need. When I have days as you describe (and I have them more than I'd like) I will usually meditate to try and figure out why I'm feeling the way that I do. I won't bore you with the details of how it works but it's something to consider if you're not already doing it. Thank you, thank you for all your great music, hard work and THIS VLOG. It inspires me EVERYDAY.

[DrBulbulia]

Perhaps constrain your focus in some bold way. Compose something using Sonata form, or try to play one of your albums with less than 1/2 the notes, or reinterpret the film score of some film you like. I just heard Bill Frissell tonight. A big part of his show was his reinterpretation on the film score for "Once Upon a Time in the West." Took me a while to figure that out. Seriously constrain the universe of possibilities and then see what emerges...

[AlmadenJeff]

9:18 -  Your string height reminds me of a long time ago with my first bass.  My instructor said something like the eiffel tower can fit under there with regards to the string height.  I didn't know anything as I just bought the bass at GC with tip money saved up from bussing tables. I didn't lower the strings and stuck with it for several decades before attempting it to lower it.  I've found that I tend to creep back up over time.

[FrancoGrimoldi]

it's late nigth here so... hello wine drinkers!