Thundr

After an interval of many years, just listened again to Quincy Jones’ Turn On The Action. Wicked. Does Abraham Laboriel have eleven fingers in each hand, or how does he manage those tremolos in such proximity to other faster notes?! PS: Just received my first bass, and starting bass classes next week. Pumped! Keep thumpin’ T

😊 I know what you mean ref anaemic look. (I think Hofner calls it “pearloid”.) What did you do about the control-panel surround? Protection can be elegant. Beats me why many manufacturers pay designers to come up with beautiful guitar and bass bodies, and then slap on unsympathetic, jarring pickguards in the name of “protection“. The most important feature of a fast car is not its engine - but its brakes. Next time you see a Ferrari, look through the wheel spokes at the brakes: protection made elegant. Elegant, sympathetic scratchplates should be a no-brainer. (Says a non-Ferrari-owning cybersecurity product designer 😉...)

Thanks, Andy. Safe to conclude that neither the Violin Bass nor your playing of it suffered for the removal of the scratchplate?

Hi all, Newbie question: I don’t know why, but I find scratchplates or pickguards spoil the look of otherwise beautiful basses. Should I just get over it, seeing as they fulfil an important function? Or should I steer clear if they put me off so much (other options do exist after all, eg Yamaha’s TRBX series)? Or - third way - is it OK to remove the pickguard/scratchplate off the yummy Hofner HCT500/7 Verythin Bass, for example? Thanks & safe thumpin’, T

I thought this quite amusing: Married Man’s Guide to Buying a New Guitar – Without Lying. I particularly like #6 🤣. Enjoy, and keep thumpin' T

"Frightened" doesn't come into it: I asked because I read a piece that mentioned tab as being a widespread notation for guitarists and bassists. And yes, I can read, and do arithmetic (as a physicist turned cyptosecurity manager). 😉

You guys SO rock! Many thanks. It's looking like any two of: Hal Leonard Bass Method: Complete Edition Spiral-bound (Leonard); Music Theory for the Bass Player (Cap); and Bass Guitar For Dummies: Book + Online Video (Pfeiffer) Amazon.com's and Amazon.co.uk's Look Inside features have been useful -- and lay-flat spiral bindings are better than sliced bread. How important is it that these books cover "Tab" notation? T

Thanks. Alas, lockdown in the UK excludes in-person lessons for the time-being. Some of the recommendations here look v good though...

Thanks, guys. My musical background is 93% listening, 5% helping my daughter thru grades 1--6 piano, 2% messing around on piano and percussion over the years: in other words, square root of diddly-squat of bass or theory or even guitar ;-). (Doesn't stop me from being the world's biggest bassline snob..: Atifoh, Edwards, Johnson, Miller, Mingus, Ndegeocello, etc... lol 😉)

Hi all, I need your experience and expertise here. In addition to (or instead of!) the many online resources available, what’s the best book you can recommend for someone looking to learn (from scratch) to play the bass guitar? Thanks and keep thumpin’, T

😊 Gosh, the stick you get for trying to have a bit of fun! I understand your intent - but perhaps others would rather you’d put things more mildly, like: “nominate a bassline that is probably better than its song” etc. Anyway, first random one that comes to mind: 🎸 1992/Charles & Eddie/Duophonic/Unconditional. ‘Course it’s subjective - heck, even the same listener could change his/her mind upon playing back the tune. But, harmless fun... 😊

@OliverBlackman: Superb!! Thanks...

Thanks, guys. You've all been very kind, and I appreciate your many perspectives. I myself am newly coming at this as a one-time scientist (physicist!) who grew up on basslines as diverse as those of Charlie Mingus, Louis Satterfield, Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards, Marcus Miller, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Reg Veal, Meshell Ndegeocello, as well as numerous (unnamed!) tumbaos. My musical heart tells my scientist brain to take a chill pill, but I can't help wondering why, for example, some basses have split pickups (not sure if that's the term for "staggered" neck pickups that capture the signals of only two strings each), and whether/how such basses compensate for the distances of each pickup from the bridge or nut! Such internal debates are compounded by my quirky aesthetic dislikes and likes, but I am nonetheless in no doubt that it is the sound and playability that matter! 🙂 I'm in the UK, and for lockdown reasons it's unlikely I'll be able to audition anything in the flesh anytime soon, so I'm looking to order something online. I think I'm about halfway between the Yamaha TRBX605 and a Hofner VeryThin (CT3 or HCT500/7) -- but I'm also learning a lot from you guys, and your insights are a kind of proxy for an audition..! Btw I did not mean to set a cat amongst pigeons -- so let's all be cool with one another here. Many thanks again ;-), T. PS: Some random basslines that make me want to play bass (there are many, many more): Grits Ain't Groceries (Louis Satterfield for Little Milton) The Champ (anon for The Mohawks) Al Monte (anon for PALO!) Mr. Follow Follow (Nweke Atifoh for Fela Kuti) Do Like You (Nate Watts (? disputed) for Stevie Wonder) Deja De Criticar, Salsa Dura (Luis Arona for La Excelencia) Reggaemylitis (Robbie Shakespeare for Peter Tosh) Snoopy and Woodstock (Reginald Veal for Wynton Marsalis Septet) Betece (anon for Africando) The Way (Meshell Ndegeocello for Meshell Ndegeocello)

Hi, What’s a good first bass for an adult? I’m into funk, jazz and salsa, and would like to eventually jam along to some of my favourite tunes. I’d like to noodle along plugged or unplugged, and also confess to being a sucker for some aesthetics, hence my current wishlist: Yamaha TRBX605; Hofner HCT-500 VeryThin Bass; Yamaha BEX4 (can’t find one!); Ibanez AGB205. Good ideas or bad? Any further ideas? Thanks & keep thumpin’ T

@Jean-Luc Pickguard: Right first time: I am indeed hoping for a decent experience both plugged and unplugged. In your experience, do some hollowbodies do better than others in that respect? My search has narrowed to Hofner VeryThin H500/7 and H500/8, Ibanez AGB205 and AGB200, and *maybe* Warwick RB Star Bass. Appreciate your sharing...