Unknown_User

You are Eric Cantona and I claim my five pounds! 😀 I wasn't trying to imply I was in demand or anything. In fact part of the problem is that I worry I will struggle to find a decent covers band gig if I spew the band I'm in currently. Sorry but I'm not sure I follow the bit about lawns. I admit I do like a decent churn of different types of songs to learn. Keeps things interesting. Even if it's something I wouldn't necessarily listen to, there's loads of covers I've had to learn which I wouldn't have given the time of day but listen to regularly since learning how to play them.

Here follows partly a rant, but mostly a request for some perspective and good advice from the BassChat collective... I wonder if I'm going a bit crackers and wanting to basically be in every band going. I love playing bass, gigging, learning songs and playing with and speaking to other musicians at rehearsals. However I also have a job that demands I put the overtime hours in (thankfully overtime is done from home) and a (thankfully supportive) wife and three young nippers who I want to keep spending quality time with. Ideally I'd like to be in a decent originals band, a covers band that brings in enough dough to keep my old banger of a car in petrol, insurance, etc. and maybe get back to doing a bit of songwriting of my own on the side. At the moment I am in the following bands (in chronological order of joining): 1) Covers band - Was precisely what I was after for about two years. Unfortunately so far this year we've only gigged about eight times, rehearsed about three times and added zero new songs. I'm a bit cheesed off with the lack of progress because they're all good musicians and when we're on form we are, without trying to blow our own trumpet, pretty tight and do some good songs. I've voiced my concerns at rehearsals and mentioned this a few times to the BL separately but with little success. I think the rot started when one member joined (great musician, but always on holiday or ill), while the BL contends that another member is the problem. This other member is also a great musician but is too always on holiday. Though I think the main issue is a personality clash with him and the BL. While I see the BL's point, I think he's a decent fella myself and would prefer to keep him in the band. 2) Originals band #1 - I really love their songs and get on well with all of them. No politics and it's enjoyable to be part of, but the levels of unarsedness from everyone else are truly off the scale. I think they see me as the organised and driven one, which is about as damning an indictment as I can possibly think of. Been a part of it for two years and we've only done one gig - the one and only gig I've ever organised myself for any band. This even though we've got a good set and have had it together for ages. We haven't rehearsed for months. One's member has been ill, one's got a new job, one is expecting his first child and the other is currently AWOL abroad for an indefinite period. No idea when we'll next rehearse. No one seems bothered. 3) Originals band #2 - Joined a few months ago and loving it. They're properly organised and have a decent fan base. I just turn up and play bass and that's exactly what I want. If I could only be in one band it would be this one. Although there's no money coming in from it, which I could do with. THE DILEMMA For some reason I find myself constantly scouring JMB looking for new bands to join. Particularly covers bands but also interesting originals stuff. Not sure if I'm in the grip of some sort of mania or if I'm just annoyed that bands 1) & 2) aren't giving me a source of regular gigs. I think the covers band I'm in is fizzling out and will sink early next year and I have come to the conclusion in the past couple of days that I want to jump ship. I would of course offer to play the few gigs that are already booked in if I did that, but I'm really not getting anything from it and haven't been for almost a year. Although I don't really see the others socially I'd obviously like to avoid falling out with anyone or having them think I'd let them down or been dishonourable. So I'm not sure how to approach it. I'm thinking of just letting everyone know that I'm not feeling it any more and handing in my notice with them. That said I could really do without losing the (admittedly very meagre) income if I struggle to find something else. As for Originals band #1 I feel that since it's no drag on my time I should just let it ride and wait until I'm required. However I worry that in the unlikely event that they did get their act together then I would be spread too thin and I don't want to let them down as Originals band #2 would take precedence for me as they're on the ball and doing stuff. I don't really want to leave them in the lurch if they become active and I can't commit, but then again I really like their songs and I don't want them to potentially fizzle out because everyone's busy with other stuff and the bass player quitting being the straw that broke the camel's back (because obviously how could they go on with out me?) 😀 Still without letting anyone know about the above I'm currently communicating with three people on JMB. Two are covers bands - though I'm unsure if either would be a good fit for me - and one guy who wants to start an originals band from scratch which sounds exactly like my kind of music. Even more so than the two originals bands I'm in at the moment. Do I need to calm down with all this? I don't want to waste anyone's time or leave anyone hanging but I want the right mix of bands. Which would be a decent "covers for money" outfit, Originals band #2 and a low intensity songwriting vehicle for my favourite style of music. All advice; sensible, jocular or abusive welcome! 😀

This build is completely ridiculous. Incredible to see such workmanship. The chap you're building it for must think all his Christmases have come at once. It already looks like it belongs in a glass case rather than in someone's hands!

The amount of fine detail in and around that headstock is ridiculous. It looks brilliant!

+1 for the worn out clique. Or are we still talking about strings?

Haha! I would have said it's more of a tired face myself, but maybe I'm projecting! EDIT: Lovely bass mind you!

+1 for the second one. It all looks amazing so far. Looking forward to seeing the finished article!

Beautiful bass and great thread with all the pictures! Appreciate the effort that's gone into the thread. Could I ask a couple of questions? Firstly what clear coat did you use and how did you apply it? Secondly did you do any grain filling on the top?

I played a gig where we had a rider of a slab of ale, but I was driving so couldn't partake. So I decided to stuff a couple of cans in my case to wind down with when I got home. When I got home one of them had impaled itself on a tuning peg and leaked all over the place. Thankfully I managed to clean everything off and the strings were the only casualty. They were absolutely stone dead. I think I would have gotten a better sound out of elastic bands.

I have a beaten up old Squire P bass that is my main gigging bass. I use it very much as a tool and wouldn't sell it as I use it and it wouldn't fetch much anyway. Maybe one day I will upgrade but I can't see that I'd need to as it's a nice instrument that does the job perfectly. I have a J bass I made from a kit which I couldn't sell for a worthwhile amount. Not the most playable bass but it looks nice and I use it mostly for practice. I'm a bit sentimental about it what with all the work I put in to putting it together. Finally I have a white Epiphone Thunderbird which I got second hand. I've always wanted one and have had it for a few months now. I still sometimes see it on its stand and think "Cor!" It sounds amazing too. So in short I have different attachments to all of my basses. They're either functional, sentimental or sexy. I'd quite like a fourth with MM style pick ups. Any more after that I think I'd mainly just be being greedy.

If you've never done it before then I would definitely say go for it. I built a jazz bass from a kit that cost about £100 and I learned so much about how to set up a bass from doing it. How to set the string height, pickup height, intonation, how to adjust the truss rod, etc.. Starting as someone who didn't understand any of that stuff, after setting one up from scratch I would now feel moderately confident setting up a bass. I might not be as good as a professional at it but at least I know how to do it and make it playable. The downside of the cheap neck I have is that some random frets past the twelfth do buzz. So I think it needs the frets levelling, but when I get the time I could happily use it to learn how to do that and not be worried that I was knackering an expensive bass. If I make a real mess and properly ruin it I could either get it refretted or buy a new neck. It's not the best bass you'll ever play with but I've gigged with it a few times and it's perfectly fine to play if you don't go up the dusty end! If you are happy to potentially lose the money on the cheap neck then as you've never done it before I say get it so you can learn about how to put a bitsa bass together. It's a bass you will cherish and one you can upgrade if a better neck comes along later.

Haha! Just noticed "Discover Double Bdonkey" in my message there. Is "b4ss" a dirty word on here now! Testing: Bass Edit: It worked that time. How strange!

I had a crack last night at following a few of the Discover Double Bdonkey lessons that @Burns-bass recommended and they were very helpful. Particularly on explaining the right hand technique. I will go through a few more of those when I get the chance. For now I plan to take it slowly and keep up with those video lessons. Thanks all!

Cheers. I've bookmarked the page for when I get home and will check them out. I do understand that lessons would be a valuable way to get things right from the start, but at the moment I just want to branch out and have a bit of fun learning rather than take it too seriously. That's very kind of you to offer but I'm in Liverpool so it would be a bit of a trek!

Thanks @Burns-bass. I'll be honest it's unlikely I'll find the time or money to be able to justify taking lessons at it, but I've found a copy of that book (despite not being able to read music) and will take a look through. There may also be stuff in the library that I can check out.

Thanks! Can I ask what you mean by the first five positions?

Should have been posted in the jokes thread. I might have missed it. 😀

Self taught electric bass player here. I've never played a fretless instrument before and I've recently acquired a double bass for a couple of years, which I'm looking after for my wife's friend's husband while he is working abroad. I've looked through a few YouTube videos which have half gone over my head, but I can work out how to find the fifth and seventh "frets" (as my understanding of it would be) using adjacent open strings and the octave using the harmonics. So far I can play a poorly intonated scale and the ropiest version of the intro/verse from "Lovecats" by The Cure that you'll ever hear! I'm finding the right hand technique pretty tough and physically hard work. I'm kind of plucking like I would on an electric bass, which isn't easy because I normally use a plectrum. 😀 When I've seen people play, they seem to be kind of tapping the string, but I'm struggling to get a meaningful sound doing that. Not to be deterred, can any of you recommend any good beginner songs or riffs to learn? Or any other more general advice or good resources? Thanks in advance!

Some really good acts on there too!

I remember going to this one: Wowser! So many of my absolute favourite bands on there all in one weekend. I'd count Wannadies, Queen Adreena and Foo Fighters as being at the top table of my absolute favourite bands. I also remember enjoying the sets by Slipknot, RATM, My Vitriol, Amen, Deftones, QotSA and particularly At the Drive In were outstanding. What I wouldn't give to go back in time and do that all over again. Nineteen years ago.... Good grief!

To make bass stand out a bit, take your track and click "Effects" > "Change Pitch". Select a "Percent Change" of 100. This will raise the pitch of everything by one octave. Next it's "Effects" > "Bass & Treble". Move the "Treble" slider extreme left and leave the others normal. After that the song itself will sound a bit weird, like Alvin and the Chipmunks are singing it, but the bass is much easier to hear. Just remember it's now an octave higher than it should be. You can then make it even better apparently using EQ but my initial efforts at doing that were so cack handed that I decided to stick to just using those two effects.

Just realised I only answered half your question there so I've added some more details in to the first post. @stewblack gave me some good instructions on how to change the sound of the track so it makes the bass more prominent. I can summarise those too if you like? Finally I think changes you make to a track you load into Audacity can alter the original track if you aren't careful. So when loading a song in make sure it's a copy of the file, rather than the original one in your iTunes library or wherever.

Under the "Effects" menu at the top there is a "Change Tempo" option. Edit: To loop stuff you have to highlight the bit you want to loop and then press <Ctrl> + C to copy it. Then go to the "Tracks" menu > "Add Track" and select the new track it's opened up. Press <Ctrl> + V to paste the bit you want to loop into that new track. Add another track and copy it into that as well. Now you will have 3 tracks and the same section listed on 2 of them, but at the same time. Underneath the "Analyse" menu there are six buttons. Choose the one that looks like "<->". That allows you to drag the sections around. Select one of the sections and drag it to the end of the other so they will play one after the other. You can click the one that looks like a typing cursor (like a capital "i") to be able to select again later on. Then just copy the section into the empty track and drag it to the end of the other one to loop it as many times as you like. Finally click the "Mute" button on the original track so you don't hear it when you play it back. Then you can use "Change Tempo" to slow it down.

Of the things I have actually learned how to play/can get near to playing, I would say "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5. Mainly because of that middle eight bit. After a couple of goes round that at full speed the fingers on my fretting hand tend to be tied in knots!

When he said you were "a 'def' bassist", are you sure you're reproducing the spelling of that accurately? *runs*