peteb

It is a moot point indeed. It always amazes me when people who say they want to be in bands also claim to be painfully introverted...

Harvey Vinson seems to ring a bell and I'm pretty sure it's the same book, but mine had a different cover and a flexi-disc instead of a CD...!

Welcome! Where n the Costa Del Sol are you?

No need to apologise and I would certainly recommend learning the basics. How you do so is another thing and as we have seen from this thread, some of those who set themselves up as teachers are not necessarily the best people to do so. Obviously, things have changed since we were kids. There was no YouTube, Basschat or Scott's Bass Lessons but there were more gigs and opportunities to play in bands. I don't know about you, but from the age of thirteen to my mid-thirties I used to regularly just hang out in music shops, talking to friends, staff and more experienced musicians. Unfortunately you don't really get that anymore. A lot of the stuff I learnt was from impromptu lessons in music shops, not to mention pretty useful advice from guys who been playing a lot longer than me!

The thing is that isn't quite what I said. I got a cheap bass for my 14th birthday, along with a book with loads of photos of a smiling dude with an afro playing a P bass to illustrate the various exercise. About two years later I had four lessons with a guy who was really a keys player, who taught me a bit of theory and told me I ought to learn to read and go to music college! But how I really learnt was listening to Free & Thin Lizzy records (constantly dropping the needle back to repeat sections over and over), then playing in bands and talking to guys who had more experience than me who would show me things. But most of the technique I learnt (at least initially), was from the dude with the afro and the P bass! In all, I've probably had less than ten lessons in 45 years, but I have learnt from other sources. JPJ is indeed a very impressive player, but no one is going to call me for a Weather Report tribute! You need a different level of knowledge of harmony and technique to be able to play Jaco's version of Donna Lee than JPJ's brilliant version of the Lemon Song / Killing Floor. Both are astounding in their own way and I appreciate both, but my interest in jazz is limited and I'm much more of a rock guy and that is what I have learnt as a bass player.

Give it up Dad. He's kinda got a point here. It's Christmas, let him have this one...

Actually, it wasn't! From what I recall, it was Einstein (or whoever) saying that if you keep on doing something that doesn't work, it is ridiculous to think that it will work if you keep doing the same thing again (a point I have often made at work)! To be honest, it is more an example of stupidity than a definition of insanity. I think that is exactly what whoever actually said it was trying to get at...!

The thing is that these are examples of the symptoms of insanity, rather than an actual definition of insanity. People can be very literal when they feel like it...

To be fair, there is a bit of a difference there - Fodera are based in NYC (one of the most expensive places in the US), while Overwater are based in Cumbria (one of cheapest areas in the UK)

Pretty much this, although a few hours might be pushing it, but around 30 minutes or so when the shop isn't too busy (i.e. not a Saturday afternoon) should be fine. Just go to Bass Direct (or the Bass Gallery or wherever) and tell them that you are considering buying a new bass at some point in the future and am interested in a Sandberg. I'm sure that they will be happy to let you try a few and make suggestions about alternatives you might want to consider. From what I remember, if you go to the Bass Gallery, you could be there all day and the only time they will interrupt you will be to ask if you want a coffee!

That is kinda the point I as trying to make before I started getting challenged to a bass duel at the OK coral...!

Having said that, the Fender Am Std Jazz bass that I bought from Bass Bros recently had a very good set up!

Hang on a minute, it's not me who suggested a willy waving contest about who's the best technical bass player. I'm not claiming to be a monster technician and I have no idea if laughing boy is or isn't. But I do get plenty of gigs and there is a reason for that. The only thing I would suggest that people like you take from this thread is to develop a reasonable technique and then be open to breaking the rules when it suits.

Funnily enough, most engineers seem to like the DI on my R-400

Not getting any work then these days. I wonder why? I can do a passible version of Portrait of Tracy, but it's not really my forte to be honest. How about The Song Remains The Same or Ramble On? Back in the real world, if you want to see me play, all you have to do is buy a ticket...

Shall I ask again, what gigs are you doing these days?

Because I'm too busy playing in a Led Zep tribute band that plays all over the country, not to mention a few other projects. What gigs are you playing these days?

I do't really think that's going to happen. I will tell you what, I play in a Led Zep tribute band that plays all over the country. There's bound to be a gig somewhere near you, so you can pay your £20 or whatever and come and take notes. Can't say fairer than that...

Despite laughing boy’s best efforts to make it seem as unappealing as possible, you really should learn a decent technique allow you to play as efficiently as possible. Once you have a reasonable mastery of technique, you no longer have to be a slave to it! It really doesn't matter too much if you use a pick or play fingerstyle, as long as you can do so efficiently. It is much easier to make people dance and sing if you can play the music with ease and can then concentrate on actually entertaining the audience.

I am all for people learning a 'proper' orthodox technique when they start out and if you are new to playing an electric bass then, yes, you should learn playing with your thumb behind the neck. Once you have that down and it is second nature, then you can look at times when it works better (for you) to ignore that technique. So when you are playing a major scale you will have your thumb behind the neck, but when you are playing, say Jeremy by Pearl Jam (a random example that you will probably know), then you will probably use your thumb to mute the open E string while you play the riff (basically a box pattern with hammer-ons) with the open A. I would hope that a good teacher, when teaching anyone other than complete beginners, would accept and encourage that. If anyone is going to tell me that Steve Vai, Van Halen & Hendrix have bad technique (and in the bass word Bobby Vega & Billy Sheehan et al), then I am just going to laugh at them.

Enough of this...

So me, Billy Sheehan, Bobby Vega, Andy Fraser, Joe Dart and countless others have poor technique but your tutors are right. OK...

All I can say that I'm glad that I didn't go to your teachers. To be fair, if I was teaching a beginner I would get them to keep their thumb behind the neck. But as they progress they need to develop both right hand and left hand muting techniques. Muting seems to be a very personal thing and you need to find out what works for you. For most electric bass players, that isn't necessarily strictly adhering to classical guitar technique.

Regardless of BV using a pick, it is a perfectly valid muting technique, just as it is when Billy Sheehan or many other players do it. Most players use a mixture of left hand and right hand muting techniques, whatever works for them. I would expect a decent teacher to be aware of this and to be capable of teaching it, rather than trying to enforce a classical guitar technique that isn't necessarily the best way of playing an electric bass.