ambient

They're amazing basses, I miss my Q6 every day. The shop is called planet bass.

Lessons, at least to start with are a great idea. Maybe have a look on the music teachers UK website for one near to you. One of my students is 79, so proof that you're never too old. He loves his lessons and playing stuff.

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1471967394' post='3117316'] Ah, but they don't do they? When did they last play down their local dive just for the love of it? They carry on on their own terms because they are not forced to do otherwise because of financial constraints. [/quote] They're still working is what I meant. They could have stopped years ago, but continue to tour and play, when they don't have to. One mans dive is another's friendly old jazz club.

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1471960635' post='3117266'] I was just exploring your comment "[i]... so it really bugs me when guys on here have suggested they care too much about the music to do it for a living and they're better off cos they can pick and choose what gigs they take,[/i]". In short, who would carry on their lives exactly as they are now if they won the lottery? ie would a pro musician whose only source of income is from playing music still take on every bit of paid musical work they could even though money would no longer be significant. I've never earned my living from music and so the only reason I have for playing and gigging is because I enjoy it. Simple as that. I'm a free agent and can pick and choose what I play, when I play and (within reason!) where I play. If it was my only source of income I wouldn't have that freedom because I'd have bills to pay etc etc. I'm not suggesting that people don't enjoy their paid jobs (I guess some do, some don't) but how many actually enjoy it enough that they would keep it if they could still live perfectly well without it? There's no right or wrong answer, I'm just curious. [/quote] So why do guys like Sting, Peter Gabriel or a miriad other successful musicians carry on ? I love my job, which is not only playing, but also teaching and writing music. It's extremely tough, especially when I'm having to finance my MMus course, but I consider myself to be really fortunate and would never give it up.

[color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I'm playing a solo gig at St Martin's church in Birmingham city centre, at 12:30 on Friday 25th November. [/font][/color] [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I'm really excited about this.[/font][/color] [attachment=226251:St Martin gig.jpg] [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][url="http://www.bullring.org/"]http://www.bullring.org/[/url][/font][/color]

I think being a musician is something of a vocational thing, maybe like a priest or something. I remember going to an Anthony Jackson master class a few years ago. He said something similar.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1471948441' post='3117143'] when i woke up one morning and all i wanted to do was play music and when i would put playing music ahead of everything and everyone (yes i lost GFs to music). even tho bass is my main instrument, i have never considered myself to be a bassist/bass player, as my drive is to create music by whatever means necessary. [/quote] Sounds like me. Bass is just a means to an end, a bass guitar is just a tool.

[quote name='XB26354' timestamp='1471932311' post='3116985'] Then again a bass player who needs a bass player to play bass behind them is always in trouble. [/quote] Why ? Care to expand on that ? I love hearing two bassists working together. There's a great Stanley Clarke album with a couple of tracks where he's playing with another bassist.

I've been pondering this the last couple of days, mainly after seeing the amazing athletes in the olympics. If you jog in the evening after work, and do the occasional fun run does that make you an athlete ? If you play football on a Sunday morning, does that make you a footballer ? I'd say no, so at what point does what you do as a hobby, even a serious one, enable you to elevate what you do to a level comparable with someone who's been trained and educated, and has a very large skills portfolio ? I still maintain though, that if you play music, then you're a musician.

Both his book and the DVD that he bought out are very rewarding, and recommended.

His technique is phenomenal, he's one of those musicians along with Marcus Miller and probably Richard Bona that bass players are maybe meant to like. I'm not a fan either though, to be honest. I'm an odd bassist in that I'm not into funk or groove 😊.

Nice. I'm not sure about a fretless fanned fret bass, it'd be interesting to play it. It's just strung in 4ths from a standard low E, a bit different. I'd have it with a low B up to a Bb personally. Edit, looking at the gauge of strings maybe it's tuned to E an octave lower than standard bass ?

He was great on the Jaco album, that's unfortunately probably my only encounter with him.

One of my students is 79, you are never to old to do anything .

Find a teacher in your local area, it doesn't haver to be a bass player. You're never too old to learn to read.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1471774556' post='3115703'] A musician is a profession, if I were to book a musician I would fully expect them to turn up dot read whats put in front of them and get it perfect. Hence why I am a "bass player" if anyone asks. [/quote] From your definition then, neither Wes Montgomery, Errol Garner, Buddy Rich or Dave Brubeck would be classed as musicians because they don't read music ?

From the dictionary. One who composes, conducts, or performs music, especially instrumental music

I'm a musician that plays bass, amongst other instruments. A musician is someone who plays music. I don't think the instrument or proficiency level comes into it.

I use Thomastik, brilliant strings. Very flexible and reasonably bright sounding. I just wish they did a lighter gauge B string in their 5 and 6 string sets.

I have a solo gig coming up soon, now that's a scary prospect .

Probabky sounds stupid, but I usually find a quiet spot somewhere and meditate. In-between sets I buy a coffee and read a book.

[quote name='bassbiscuits' timestamp='1471615682' post='3114500'] In general I never take a spare bass to a gig - i just make sure that the one i'm taking is working and maintained properly. I've broken strings live before now on rare occasions, but i've just managed to restring it quickly with an old, pre-stretched string with minimum delay to the gig (i.e. make sure the next tune has a long guitar/piano intro, or the singer can do some banter!) Can't be arsed carrying extra gear unless absolutely necessary. Recently gigged in Poland but only had room to take one bass, so made sure it was a good one! [/quote] That's it for me. Just make sure everything is well looked after. I don't think there's anything I couldn't play anyway with a broken string. I recently did a last minute dep gig on a borrowed 4 string, so for me that's like 2 broken strings 😄.

I don't have the luxury of having duplicates for each piece of kit. I own one bass, and one combo. I think you have to look at your gear and think seriously what's going to go wrong ? With my bass, maybe the battery could die, even though I'm pretty good at changing them regularly and use quality ones. So I carry a spare just in case. Strings can break, but I've never broken one in 20 years. I have 6 anyway and I'm more than competent at playing not to miss one if I did ever break one. The cable is maybe another weak point, possibly actually the biggest one. So I carry a spare cable. I figure if my amp goes then I'll just plug into the pa along with the keyboard. I've also started carrying a spare battery for my music stand light recently, (yeah I have a music stand on stage 😊).