Song 33 - "Runnin' with the Devil" by Van Halen

Song: Runnin’ with the Devil
Artist: Van Halen
Tuning: Standard (EADG)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLRO4W9pNrQ

Spotify Link

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@JT I’m visualising steam coming off your keyboard!! I haven’t seen you on Ari’s Bass Theory cohort page. I assume you’ve gotten too busy? Hope all is well.

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So one of the things I love about this forum is how much knowledge is laid down all over the place. There was a thread a while back about counting a 16th note pattern and @joergkutter kindly posted this to help. It’s a really nice lesson that simplifies rhythms by breaking them down into 9 elements. At the same time I was working on this VH cover. And while the main parts are just quarter notes, the solos have stuff like this in them:
vhbasssolo
Now this craziness is really low in the mix underneath Eddie’s guitar work. I wasn’t even going to attempt it and just gallop on the roots and octaves which sounded good enough. But after watching that lesson I was inspired to give them a go the official way. So anyway, thanks Joerg and the BassBuzz community for helping me improve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnDt5-fOMLE

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You, sir, just made my day :smile:

I am very happy to hear I could help, and maybe even inspire! This is also what I have experienced from advice or encouragement I received in this community and so it makes me very glad to hear I could give some of that back!

You are right - you didn’t have to play that and would still provide a solid foundation for the song. But, you not only attempted it, you pulled it off as well. And, I think, that alone just made you grow so much in your bass playing and in your understanding of what is essential and what is ornament, and why even (or especially) non-essential stuff can be so much fun to play!

Kudos!

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I’m a huge Van Halen fan and that was fantastic! You’re a busy boy down in that bunker :slight_smile:
136699192

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Thanks for checking it out Joerg! I wanted to let you know because you wouldn’t know that unrelated post helped some guy do a VH cover, but everything is connected here in the bass-iverse. And yeah, non-essential stuff is fun…maybe a little too fun, could get carried away it :laughing:

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Thanks Barney, glad you enjoyed and it is VH fan approved!

:laughing: Yeah, I get some time off in the summer, so spending extra time on music keeps me outta trouble, unlike last summer:

well this is just plain damn good @dlamson13
great stuff all around, and a lot of fun to listen to and watch.
Your light touch guitar fingers made this seem like a cakewalk for you.
well done man.

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Thanks @John_E, really glad you liked it!

Full disclosure, it took some time to get up to speed on the fast parts. Played to a metronome at 70bpm and gradually built up to it.

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Great job @dlamson13 - and I notice the shout-out to JD as well. :slightly_smiling_face: I wondered why this one was so high up in the challenge - now I get it tough little runs there. Well done.

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My 28th in the challenge so far, yeah those little runs are some tricky business @dlamson13!
Finally got this one good enough.
A bit quick on the beat in the beginning (the intro really revs you up to go faster but it just ain’t so.

https://youtu.be/xBtO85HUEZE

ESP LTD Frank Bello Signature (with Active Bello pickups)
Mostly P pickup with a bit of bridge to get rid of mud.
Origin Effects Bass Rig Black Panel Pedal - Black Bassman Amp setting
Compressors in DAW - Waves CLA-76 / CLA-3A

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You did great! Looks like that Jackie Wilson speed carried you through the fast runs on this. Nice punchy aggressive tone too. Love this song, haven’t played it much since recording it because its tuned down.

…and I’m runnin’ AHHHHHHH :scream:

MIM Jazz Bass tuned to E flat and into the Cali76 Comp pedal + Darkglass head. This time in B3K Mode. Drive knob maxed.

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I have started on running with the devil, and something is of right from the start. Seems to me that all of you played the song really well tuned in Eb, and followed the tabs. In the description it says standard tuning and in the tabs it says that the song is transposed up a half step to match standard tuning.

So if the tab is transposed to std tuning to match the original song, then this should be wrong, but it seems to me that the description and tab should say Eb. I don’t hear anything wrong when I tune down? Hmm, maybe it’s my hearing, but there is something I don’t understand here. Hehe:-)

Correct. Downtune for the win. Was confusing for me too, therefore, I ignored that note, lol.

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#33 done:-)

Ibanez SR1820 Premium, passive.
Line 6 pod go Ampeg SVT4 8x10
Distortion KWB

I know it is not perfect, but hope you like it. :slight_smile:

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We have a rule we didn’t tell you about - never put yourself down, ever.
This is about improving and learning.
You post, we give (hopefully) constructive critique.

Sounds good to me!
I likey.
Tone is excellent as usual.
I didn’t hear anything that jumped out at me as bad.

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Thank you @John_E , you are right and that is a good rule. I should have continued with that it is good enough for me to move on, because I didnt think it was bad. :slight_smile: Think I have to edit:-)

When someone takes their time to give constructive critique to help others improve and learn even more, that is the best. I really appreciate it when someone is kind enough to do that on my stuff, and hope to contribute more on that end myself.

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Another great submission man! Are you emulating a 8x10 cab with your Line 6? I can’t say I know much about modelers.

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Thank you @cheeze_pizza :slight_smile: Yes, I think that’s what it’s called. I can choose different amps and cabinets, and a lot of other pedals. I try twisting the knobs and sometimes I find a sound I like, but it’s based on luck. Hehe, that’s why I have to remember to write down the settings.

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