josie

I bought my first acoustic bass on eBay, and collected it in Wolverhampton train station car park from a cheerful young tattooed guy, with a good long chat about all things to do with bass guitars and tattoos. So maybe not only on Basschat

I muddled about for a while with Hal Leonard and YouTube, but got nowhere. My tutor, Andy, is a guitar player, not a bass player - and doesn't gig much - but he understands bass, and my love of gigging, and is passionate about understanding his students' goals and helping us towards achieving them. I'm very lucky to have found someone who I work well with and learn effectively from in normal times, who has adapted and supported me through emotional and physical trauma over the past two years with great flexibility and imagination. Eight months ago when I couldn't reach my left hand past the 12th fret of a bass, he simply used our lessons on ear training, which I did badly need. I would have given up without him. That said, I've been lucky enough to have worked with Steve Amadeo, a fine pro bass player (Aynsley Lister, Ash Wilson) and have learned things from him that Andy just doesn't know. My life, and my bass playing, are utterly the better for both of them.

My [s]excuse[/s] reasoning is that each new bass is a new challenge to my playing technique, so once I get [s]good[/s] kind of ok with it, it suggests a new challenge. So my GMR Bassforce 5 (first, and still the ultimate keeper!) inexorably led me on to my monster GMR single-cut 5, and my beautiful acoustic 5 (also a keeper) paved the way to her fretless sister. I honestly do not want a bass I won't play regularly, and looking at the six around me, there's nothing to add and nothing that could be better. Oh, except that if I could find a GMR fretless 5 it would replace my superb GMR fretless 4. What I do want is a new MarkBass amp, my old Marshall is kn@ckered...

[quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1487594136' post='3240969'] If anyone is ever in Morecambe pop into Promenade Music and ask for Gary. A great selection of basses and a welcome assured. [/quote] Gary sold me my first bass, my wonderful GMR 5 - it took me 2 1/2 hours and two cups of coffee to decide what I wanted, and his balance of advice and leaving me to noodle around was perfect. He was clearly not going to let me leave with anything that I was not completely happy with. (And "completely happy" was, and still is, an understatement.) My Jazz Plus 5 also came from there, and last week he sold me a beautiful fretless acoustic 5 for a silly price and re-strung it with flats into the bargain. Very well worth the trip up from Manchester each time, for the huge and varied selection of both standard and unusual basses, the quality of advice and friendliness of welcome.

[quote name='NickD' timestamp='1487445393' post='3239901'] It's all down to personal taste really, but mine wears Daddario Black Nylons, and when the time comes I'll replace them with exactly the same. I love the fat, plummy tone and they feel really nice. [/quote] That fits with my point about thinking about the sound you want. Most peeps seem to want fat and plummy. I'm trying for a slide / shimmer sound, like a low-range slide guitar, and the chromes are much better for that.

I've put D'Addario chrome flats on my new fretless acoustic 5, just because they were the only ones Promenade Music had in stock at the time (and I trust their judgement) - I'm happy with the sound and feel, but have no other experience of flats to compare with. It's worth thinking about the sound you want, too, and checking YouTube. I've seen tape-wound strings recommended, but by peeps who were clearly aiming for a sound more like a double bass - I wanted something crisper and brighter than that, while still within the "warm mellow" flat sound.

Birthday treat to myself https://www.michaelkellyguitars.com/en/products/view/dragonfly-fretless-5 The build quality is good, it's smooth and tight everywhere it should be. The neck is comfortable, overall it's much easier to play than I had feared. It came with the factory spec phosphor bronze rounds, but after a discussion with Gary, the reliably excellent head of the bass department at Promenade Music in Morecambe, he re-strung it for me with chrome flats (at no extra cost). Most people who play a fretless seem to want it to sound like a double bass, but some of my favourite blues bands include a slide guitar, and I'm trying to re-interpret that sound as a slide blues bassline - the flats are perfect. As well as being easier on wear on the fretboard, which is rosewood rather than anything harder. The Fishman electronics and pickup are a revelation after my Vintage acoustic - they give it everything from a deep punchy growl to a much lighter brighter sound, even with the flats. It's also absurdly good looking (someone on another thread described the fretboard inlay as looking like "a tart's handbag", but I love it). Really looking forward to gigging it

Fairport Convention at Burnley Mechanics Tuesday night on their 50th anniversary tour. Good mix of classics and new material, great rapport with the audience, and Peggy superbly versatile - very sparse bassline on some numbers, carrying the melody line with a fiddle and mandolin shimmering over the top on others. First time I've seen anyone gigging a fanned-fret bass - Ibanez 5, visually understated, lovely.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1486940837' post='3235809'] Oh, and next time, I'll share the cost of the cakes. My birthday was on the 9th. [/quote] Happy (slightly late) birthday! Next time you can share the embarrassment of being sung "Happy Birthday" to as well

Many thanks lurksalot and funkgod, excellent afternoon! Venue worked well, staff were very pleasant (please pass on my thanks to them if you get the chance), just enough catering laid on, good call. And thanks to Bassman Sam for the pictures, I meant to take some and completely forgot, too busy looking and listening and talking And to Ribbetingfrog for getting me (and six basses) there and back. And to everyone who agreed with me that GMRs are really rather nice bass guitars. And to everyone who brought other kinds of really rather nice bass guitars to show off and share. If we have the next one same time next year I'll hijack it as my birthday party again and bring more cake, but I don't want any left for me to take home next time! (Ok, there wasn't much...)

It happens to me. When I'm under a lot of pressure in general, playing bass becomes another pressure that I resent, rather than an escape from the pressure. I try to focus on simple things that re-assure me and make me smile - my favourite cat (the real Josie) purring in my lap, the snowdrops in bud in the front garden - and the ****ness of life recedes slightly, and at least a bit of spark has a chance to come back. In extreme cases, the medication exists - it's called "antidepressants". But try everything else you can first. If it has just been the last few days, it's likely to be an episode of "low mood" which is within the natural healthy range of human emotions. The fashionable emphasis on being constantly "happy" is misguided and in fact dangerous. I would say ride with it, be honest with yourself, be kind to yourself, have faith that it will pass and the light will be brighter after it. Very best wishes.

Given that BC views on acoustic bass guitars seem to be mostly negative, this. https://www.michaelkellyguitars.com/en/products/view/dragonfly-fretless-5

Sympathy! I'm afraid it's a long slow business. I hope you have a good GP - some are more sympathetic than others. Try to find a physio who works with musicians - mine has a bass player ex-boyfriend and totally understands that if my RSI is limiting my bass playing this is important and should be worked on. I can only play with a pick - any wiggling of the fingers on my right hand triggers pain in the right elbow. So I just work with that. You might find it helps, although you might have to adapt your playing style. Also, you may already be doing this, learn to do as much as you can with your left hand to take the strain off the right elbow. I found it surprisingly easy to use a computer mouse left-handed, and it helped a lot. Very best wishes.

Stockport is pretty lively, with a good community of musicians. And 10 minutes from Manchester on the train if you want the bright lights and bigger venues.

[quote name='MisterT' timestamp='1486634292' post='3233358'] Josie. dunno about the pens & paper thing - idea's good, I get where you're coming from but we all sound old enough to talk to each other. [/quote] I'm sure we're all old enough to talk - my worry is that some of us are old enough to forget things people say to us which we'll want to remember (like "This is what those seven controls on your fancy GMR are for")

I've been thinking, it might be interesting / fun / useful to have some way of sharing comments and advice in writing? There was an event at work (Mcr Uni) recently where students put up posters describing their project work and others were encouraged to add comments on post-it notes. I'm not thinking of anything that formal, but I know I'm hoping for technical advice which I'll forget if it isn't written down, and perhaps we could improvise a way for people to nominate their favourite new discoveries or whatever? I'll bring plenty of paper and pens and post-its, and if - only if - people want to do anything like that, we can make it up as we go along :-)

Spotted an eye-wateringly pretty Michael Kelly 5-string acoustic in the window of Johnny Roadhouse yesterday. It plays pretty well too. I can part-ex my perfectly adequate, but unexciting Vintage 4, so it doesn't really count, does it? :-) And then there's this: http://www.promenademusic.co.uk/Michael-Kelly-Dragonfly-5-String-Fretless-Acoustic-Bass As luck would have it I'll be near there anyway this Weds - which just happens to be my birthday - and Mr Josie has said he'll pay for anything I want, within reason - so unless it turns out to be a real dog when I get hold of it, that's sorted :-) MInd you, he doesn't understand owning seven bass guitars as being "within reason", so quite what he'll think of a eighth will be "interesting"... but not my problem.

[quote name='Bass Culture' timestamp='1486584685' post='3233067'] I'll be losing my Bass Bash cherry on Sunday - really looking forward to it. I understand it gets easier and you get better at it after the first time... [/quote] You and me at the same time. Oh dear, what ever will people think?

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1359488319' post='1955587'] ... I'm having avatar problems. I uploaded a new profile pic yesterday from my iPad, which all went fine, but now it's displaying rotated. [/quote] Mart's rotated image seems to have fixed itself, but mine is more stubborn. The original image is displaying rotated a quarter-turn counter-clockwise (as you can see). I've tried rotating it clockwise in iPhoto, hoping the Forum display would rotate it back to the right way up, but the resulting image then displays "correctly". I thought of setting up the image as a gravatar, but they have to be associated with unique email addresses, which would mean having an email account just for Basschat, and I have too many already :-( Any suggestions welcome.

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1486501584' post='3232370'] ... I would suggest from 1.00 till you've had enough. Myself and Funkgod can get there a touch earlier to make sure all is good , then all may arrive as they wish. [/quote] Due to an unavoidable family commitment I'll now only be able to leave Stockport a bit before 2pm, so I guess I'll arrive a bit before 3pm. [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1486501584' post='3232370'] I have lanyards and name tags done , I have written your BC name on them and left room for you to put your real name if you wish , though I have done [size=6]Les , Josie, Owen[/size] and [size=6]Vinny[/size] quite big , so there might not be enough room for their real names [/quote] I'm a bit concerned at being one of only four [size=5]big names[/size] - was it something I said?

Yes as above technique is important, but so is simple muscle strength. The squidgy balls are good. Don't get them from a physio, go to your local pet shop and get a couple of dog chew balls. Keep one or two in your pockets and just squidge them for two or three minutes as often as you can through the day - waiting for the kettle to boil, waiting for a green light, whatever. Little and often.

Also the uncle of Derek Trucks (Tedeschi Trucks Band). Very sad loss. Sympathy to his family.

Carmine Rojas. Utterly chilled laying down amazing solid grooves holding together all h*ll breaking loose on stage around him. Victoria Smith, bass player with Will Wilde and many others. Again exudes relaxed cool, with basslines that are just a bit more complex than needed but never too fussy. My current role model. http://www.victoriasmith.info/

I'd be happy to make up £8 to £10 with the extra going to a suitable good cause - perhaps split between BassChat and a local scheme to support music in schools if there is such a thing?

David Gilmour, "High Hopes", the "Live in Gdansk" version. I can't listen to it more than once a year, headphones clamped on, weeping. The guitar solo is gut-wrenching. It will be played at my funeral. My epitaph will be "Encumbered forever by desire and ambition There's a hunger still unsatisfied..." [color=#000000][/color]