JapanAxe

I started on guitar in 1978, but didn't get round to bass till 2000. Although there were some transferable skills (fretting, plectrum playing, fretboard note knowledge), bass is a very different instrument to guitar, and needs a different approach. It was about 3 years before I got anywhere playing bass fingerstyle, and 2 years ago I completely re-thought my right-hand technique. It was a massive advantage to be able to read music (feel free to argue about this in another thread!), and I have always transcribed guitar and bass parts from recordings, so that gave me a stock of sheet music to work from. I got into playing bass in bands pretty soon, so that gave me the impetus to learn entire bass parts. At the start it was rewarding to work out and play a bass line, and thinking about it, it still is!

[quote name='Dazed' timestamp='1419120149' post='2636872'] Yip hot rods and deluxes from various years left the factory in this format. Here's a few I just found mooching through the Precision gear porn thread [/quote] Tried a Fender hot rod P (or possibly 2 of them) when I spent a day at Bass Direct, and came home with this Sandberg VM4: Reason for purchase: The Sandberg urinated all over the Fender(s) from a great height!

Has Anthony Jackson joined Basschat as a newb?

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1418873053' post='2634348'] I going to be 60 on 9th February and my future wife, we marry on 9th March, wants to buy me a new bass for my birthday. We went to see The Who last Saturday and on the way to the gig, popped into Dawson's in Manchester. I was looking at Squier basses but she liked the look of a Gibson Thunderbird in walnut and said if I liked it, she would get it for me. [/quote] Does she have a sister? I'll get me coat....

I am happy to be in the position of the OP's putative deps, as I consider time spent learning material is never wasted; however I understand not everyone is going to share that view, or have the time to spend working on songs.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1418672903' post='2632242'] Any musician that has to be loud to get 'their tone' has bought the wrong gear. [/quote] This again. Want Fender amp breakup at low volumes? Get a Deluxe Reverb. Still too loud? Get a Princeton Reverb.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1418680783' post='2632351'] With 13 people on stage they should be. Did they have ....music stands..... [/quote]

This is one of the reasons why I don't bother with big name gigs any more. Others include:[list] [*]Being so far from the stage that you can only 'see' the performers on TV screens. [*]Grossly over-priced refreshments. [*]Grossly over-priced parking. [*]Huge queues to leave the car park. [/list] I have much more fun these days seeing tribute bands. Last weekend I saw a Steely Dan tribute (£0) and Pink Floyd tribute (£5 to charity), and both were excellent. I cycled to the first gig, and (at Mrs Axe's insistence) drove 4 miles to the second, where parking was free.

Depends. In the band I front (on vocals and skinny-string), I never use a music stand. I occasionally forget my words, but it's worth it for the fact that I am free to engage with the audience, not looking down at a piece of paper. If I am depping on bass, I generally aim to learn my part, but if it's at short notice or very involved, I will sometimes take out the sheet music I have transcribed. Obviously if it's a sight-reading gig then a music stand is essential, and the issue then is whether to sit or stand. I am generally more comfortable standing than sitting, but this means having the music stand quite high if I want to avoid a painful neck as the gig progresses. As a gig-goer I hate to see (or indeed not see) a band obscured by a forest of music stands at chest height. IME brass and woodwind players can rarely get away without the music in front of them.

I generally go for Stax, Motown, or James Brown stuff, and listen out for phatness. If the bass starts making me improvise lines, it's a winner.

Very happy with lightweight cabs and my micro head, but also 'regressed' and got a traditional tranny head (with full valve front end) a while back. For sound, I wouldn't say I like one better than the other - they are different, and suit different gigs. EDIT: That's the Ampeg I'm talking about btw, and it's only 16kg. The Selmer is just for fun.

[s][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Available New Year's Eve [/size][/font][/color][/s] Got a NYE gig now!

[s][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Available New Year's Eve [/size][/font][/color][/s] Got a NYE gig now!

Not unusual for bridge pins to want to pop out when re-stringing. As a former Godin Acousticaster owner, I wonder where they got their inspiration. Hmmm....

Micro schmicro, get yerself one of these:

Not bass kit, but the original Sampson-era Matchless combos had hideous rigid handles like these:

Personally I am way too risk-averse to countenance doing anything like that.