You too will love playing this U2 song.
Song: With or Without You
Artist: U2
Tuning: Standard (EADG)
For a backing track with bass removed, join the Discord or contact @gcancella
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1 Like
Did this one with the ātestbed Ray4ā.
The SIMs pickups are in J-J (full jazz bass mode), which is what the green lights mean.
Active Glockenklang preamp with treble and mids down a bit, bass up a bit.
Simple but fun tune. Tried to match dyamics of tune to the bass plucking.
20 Likes
Great job @John_E you nailed it perfectly! I had considered adding that song to my list of projected covers until I saw it was part of this contest. Adam Clayton would be proud of you!
The interesting story about this song is that itās one of the catalysts to my finally playing bass . I was at the U2 concert here in Phoenix and spent the entire concert on the floor at the right side of the stage affixed on Adam Clayton (my date was in front of the center of the stage admiring Bono). It was a moment that stuck with me, and one of the stepping stones to getting me off my āIām too oldā excuse and fulfilling my dream.
Thank you @John_E for giving me something enjoyable to listen to.
4 Likes
Hereās my take on U2. 4 cord progression I-V-VI-IV, D-A-B-G. Lots of chugging. Decided to leave bass high, so I can here it,with all my mistakes 
15 Likes
Sounded very nice. Love those pickups. Great job John_E
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NAILED IT! The tone sounds like the original recording and great job matching the tempo @John_E !!
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Nice job @BigAl
Man you have a lot of nice basses!
Your backing track has a high pitched squeal in it.
For some reason, I get this sometimes when importing the tracks, and have to reboot my system before recording to get rid of it. What DAW are you using? This happens to me in Abelton btw, no clue why.
I also notice you are using a different set of notes than what was in Joshās score, and struggled to get to the next note in time some times further up the fretboard and back. Was there a reason you used these fingerings? Joshās score moves between frets 0-2-3 and 5.
5 Likes
There the same note. D-A-B-G. I have a U2 bass book and itās transcribe with a slide G to D on second bar, I didnāt even look at Josh transcription. That why I record the bass high so I can hear my mistakes and people can tell me my struggles, thanks. That why I took the 50 song challenge
so I can get better and strive to be perfect like you.
3 Likes
Interesting.
I just watched Constantine on YouTube and he played it the way you did too.
Must be official if out of the book.
I guess @JoshFossgreen easy-ified some of the tunes?
Hmmm, I would have liked to learn all these songs the āproper wayā I think.
No going back now, done is done.
That said, great job keeping up, it sure makes it trickier getting around but the slide seems to be a part of it!
4 Likes
Oh I am not perfect, and I hope this is not a sarcastic comment by you.
I am trying to learn as well. On this one obviously not even the right version.
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I have not looked at it yet. If I have time after dinner Iāll start working on it.
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You played your piece, to me sounded perfect. You played the all right notes. There still D-A-B-G. I think we all strive to be perfect. Sorry if you think itās sarcasm.
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Excellent performance John! 
I havenāt been keeping up with the Challenge so I probably missed a few songs.
You did a great job as always!
3 Likes
I wish your line of thinking was more along the lines of āhey I wanted to do that cover anyway, so hereās an opportunityā, but whatever makes you happyā¦ This isnāt a ācontestā - itās just a chance to learn by doing the covers that come with the course. You donāt have to do them all - just do the ones you feel like. But, Iām not trying to change your mindā¦
Great job @John_E ! Great tone, great chuggingā¦ excellent job. And I donāt think changing the fingering makes anything āeasy-ifiedā or ānot officialā. Unless you were talking about the slide - maybe that didnāt come thru when the transcription was being done. I dunnoā¦
Also great job @BigAl ! The only thing that jumped out at me was that the chugging seemed more staccato than Iām used to hearing (moreso in the beginning). Maybe itās just because the bass was louder, but Iām used to it being more legato. Maybe itās just me. Overall though - great job!
5 Likes