burray

Had a look around at the weekend for one of these but I'm guessing they're long gone. I saw one in our local SR Retro shop, but that was before I got back into playing bass and I ignored it after a quick glance. Bugger.

[quote name='Randy_Marsh' post='1165962' date='Mar 17 2011, 04:39 PM']Knee deep at every gig... [/quote] Up to our nuts in guts.

[quote name='charic' post='1154118' date='Mar 8 2011, 05:24 PM']1986 Rickenbacker 4003 Shadow Bass[/quote] That is bad ass. Brilliant. Now I want want a birth year bass. Mine is 1984, for the record.

It's all subjective anyway though isn't it? We obviously all think it's cool otherwise we wouldn't be doing it, just like guitarists/drummers/violinists/whatever all choose and stick with their instruments because they appeal to them individually. Even if it's as simple as "I saw my friend/someone famous playing and fancied trying it".

Here's a small rant. [size=1]Rant[/size] Arf.

Anyone play Schecter basses? I completely forgot the company existed until just now, and a guitarist I used to work with swore by his (although I can't remember the model) but I just wondered if the basses are just as good. Chance are I can't and won't be able to afford one for ages, especially along with the millions of other basses on my 'want' list, but I'm just curious about them really.

[quote name='tomb' post='1165041' date='Mar 16 2011, 09:47 PM']somebody told me that the best ones at the moment are the ones right here on the forum by Major [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74284"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74284[/url][/quote] Forwarded link to check out at home. Looks iiiiinteresting.

On a completely basic level, the coolest thing about the bass for me is the fact that it's something most people don't notice is there, but would notice if it was gone. I know that's pretty pedestrian, but that was the first appeal about it for me. Like, you can do pretty much anything you like and you're often left to get on with it. It's the reason why there are a lot of boring players out there, but I like the competition of trying to make people notice the bassline.

I appreciate all the advice, info and help guys. I've got an idea of where to start pushing my abilities and look forward this thread continuing.

[quote name='Faithless' post='1163111' date='Mar 15 2011, 02:09 PM']TAke this exercise and do it everyday, at least 10 minutes: [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Random-Note-Finder-Exercise.pdf"]http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/u...er-Exercise.pdf[/url] Believe me, If you really 'sit' on this, it will help your fretboard knowledge no end - I"m doing this for quite some time now and I feel the benefits of it.[/quote] I think the operative word is "YOINK". Cheers!

[quote name='chaypup' post='1162974' date='Mar 15 2011, 12:37 PM']Take lessons, learn to read music if you don't already. [/quote] I had years of lessons back in the day (I'm only 26, but this was still a while ago) and I can read notation but have never used it for the bass. I've always used tab. I've never had a problem learning songs and playing lines, but find it difficult to improvise. It's weird really. I can write bass lines for our songs, etc, I just think it's a confidence thing or maybe a case of getting to know the fretboard and where to go during a jam.

My bass playing and I were "on a break" for a while recently, but I'm back at it now and didn't cheat while we were apart, so it's all OK. I was tempted by a dirty affair with a couple of other instruments, but managed to resist temptation.

So I've been playing for however many years now, and I've been gigging for what's probably pushing ten of those years. The band I'm don't play easy route note punk stuff or anything (not that there's anything wrong with that) and I like to make basslines a bit more interesting, but my ability when it comes to freestyle or jamming should be far beyond what it is considering the years I've played. Yes, it's down to my own laziness, but I'd like to fix it. Does anyone have any advice for some decent practice lines/riffs/runs/etc to help me improve my ability in general? The stuff I play is [url="http://www.myspace.com/columbiannecktie"]HERE[/url] for anyone interested. This isn't an advert for the band, that's just so you can hear the kind of thing I play. We had a break for a year or so but I'm back on the bass and loving it again now. Much appreciated!

[quote name='mcgraham' post='183862' date='Apr 23 2008, 02:56 PM']Supposedly it's a dominant gene.[/quote] I think you'll find it's an awesome gene. Mine does this, only a little bit more... And no, funnily enough that's not me.