Barking Spiders

Metallica and metal aren't my bag but I respect his ability and like the tone of the low notes

Well I can't and don't wanna play improvised solos. A while back I set myself a target of being able to play 100 fave bass lines off pat which I now can do including a fair few Stevie Wonder, Level 42, Jacko and Japan tunes, several JJ Motown classics and bass classics like Too Shy and Rhythm Stick. Could I jam along to unfamiliar Vic Wootten, Billy Sheehan or Stanley Clarke numbers? Not very well! Do I wanna improve? You bet. Next target up, Stu Hamm's 'Country Music'. A big ask but you've go to aim high even if you don't get there.

I live in Leamington Spa at weekends and often nip into Bass Direct. I'm always tempted but sense always prevails. I've yet to spend more than £500 on any baas or electric guitar.

I started playing flamenco guitar before taking up bass and have never known any other approach than arched . How can you get speed if your fretting hand is parallel?

I've always liked to try out different ways to experiment with my basses including using just 4 strings, all the same gauge but tuned differently, mixing up flatwounds and roundwounds, downtuning all strings to several notes below standard tuning and pulling the strings up and letting go to get a 'thwacking' sound and using them like a hammered dulcimer. I don't always get a great sound TBH so has anyone else got any suggestions for getting interesting noises

I thought being guitarded is having a guitar but unable to play it or being great on Guitar Hero but clueless when presented with a real guitar. I think when peeps talk about too many guitars that INCLUDES basses. They are a type of guitar after all.

I speak as a drummist (as well as a bassist) but what about getting a drum machine instead, seriously? There've been a good number bands with guitarists, bassists and vocalist that used machines e.g. Sisters of Mercy, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry , Curve, Big Black, early Echo and the Bunnymen, Sunn 0)) and I believe quite a few speed metal bands use machines as mot drummers cant keep up. Purists may complain about lack of human touch but you can get that from the singers and guitarists

As mine all came in under £500 I'd only get a few tenners for each so it'd be a waste of time trying to sell 'em. Hypothetically I would. If I had a proper Stingray or a John Taylor type Aria Pro II SB 1000 the answer would be nivver! Don't agree with Daytona Rik who says there are more important things in life. Viz any cherished things, it's not what they are but what they do for you.

Aye, I too thought Sting's stuff was just discarded outtakes from his Police days. Never cared for KoL but I liked the basslines on the tunes they played. I quite liked Banks though methinks Roisin Murphy does this kind of stuff better.

Good choice there with the Brass Construction nom though I' d say a 1980s cover by 400 Blows is even better although the bass is done on keys

I'm far removed from my senses and while I've downsized pretty much viz all other possessions I'm a bit bonkers about instruments. I could cut my basses down from 5 to 3 but I can't bring myself to do this. If space gets tight one of the kids'll have to go. I've got a spare so that's not a problem.

Yes I've seen that clip of the ZZ Top cover. Ha ha, the bloke in this vid is priceless. Mind you, what's with ABC gold lame jacket look? Doesn't really match the music. Anyway, a good explanation by the guy in the OP's clip. As drummer myself I can't stand Keith Moon's playing nor Mitch Mitchell's nor Ginger Baker's. Too busy for the songs and too loose. Give me Ringo over them any day.

I'm no fan of Yes or Rush but I do like Squire's and Lee's tones. As I mostly play funk and general dance stuff though these would never fit

Not a fan of P basses meself. If I were only ever limited to owning one bass it's a toss up between the EBMM Stingray and the Aria Pro II SB-1000. I need three basses at a minimum - my Sterling SUB Ray 4 for funk slap n pop, my Peavey Cirrus BXP 4 for fingerstyle and my Cort B4FL for fretless stuff. The Peavey is good for slap but not as powerful as the SUB. For fingerstyle the Peavey is better as I can rest my digits on the pickup which I cant do with the SUB as it's closer to the bridge.

Afro Celt Sound System in Brum In November. They were also the last band I saw . Then Underworld at Ally Pally next March and errm that's it.

I'd say that the lines for Reach Out and Want You Back are for the more advanced player than what 'every' player should be able to manage

I guess we're nomming stuff that are among the best known riffs but also less tricky to suss than famous but harder to master lines like Rhythm Stick, I Wish, The Real Me etc?

I like playing guitar and bass equally but is there anyone here that used to play or tried out the guitar but preferred the bass. If so, what swung it for you?

I don't listen to classic rock, punk, prog or metal so can't come up with any suggestions from these genres. I mostly play stuff from funk, soul, reggae, disco, New Wave, pop and post punk. So from these I'd say Peaches - Stranglers Disco Inferno -Trammps For The Love of Money - O Jays Another One Bites The Dust - Queen Taxman - Beatles / Jam Exodus - Bob Marley Under Pressure - Queen Fools Gold -Stone Roses Ball Of Confusion - Temptations Good Times -Chic

Still four years to go but as with all my 'zero' birthdays I go to some flung corner of the planet with the incumbent mrs Spiders. For my 40th it was Patagonia and for my 30th, Oregon. I like informal get-togethers but can't be doing with organised functions. Just the way I roll.

I'm a huge fan of classic soul, 70s funk, jazz funk and disco. Over the last week I have been mostly listening to Songs In The Key Of Life, What's Going On, the Funk Brothers Millennium Collection and Heavy Metal Bebop by The Brecker Brothers. Tasty bass all over the shop

But at the same time don't overestimate the difficulty of rocket science

16,000, pre and half time entertainment at a match between Gloucester RFC and Leicester Tigers and Bath carnival errm albeit in a samba band. Indoors probably no more than a couple of hundred.

My main instrument is fingerstyle acoustic guitar so I pretty much transposed this technique the bass. But what I say is don't ignore using the thumb on its own. You get different tones compared to fingers or pick. Back to fingers the best exercise is playing walking patterns up and down the neck, alternating between index with middle and middle with ring. Boring but effective

There's the double whammy of a shrinking nightlife scene across the UK and more guitar bands you can shake a stick at, all competing for a dwindling number of venues. Nightclubs are also closing down left, right and centre as well as pubs. From a punter's perspective when I check out to see who's playing what and where it's mostly 'yet another' pub blues rock combo or indie rock band. If I was told there's some incredible band with an amazing stage act like you've never seen my interest would be aroused. At the thought of watching 4 blokes in jeans and t-shirts pumping out 'Mustang Sally', 'Sex On Fire' etc I'd rather stay in and watch re-runs of Miss Marple on the Drama Channel.