Tim2291

I used my Ibanez for years, spent ages saying that I don't like Fenders... I still use my Ibanez, but spend a lot of time playing my MIM Jazz!

You've got to have spares, what if the first one were to go wrong!

Can also be more generalised to Gear Acquisition Syndrome ... Which I definitely have and is definitely addictive! If I see some kind of musical equipment I don't have... I need it!

I stand corrected! 🤣

I'm not an expert on vintage fenders so correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't that bridge cover backwards?

As long as they pay, it isn't really an issue. Just frustrating when a venue doesn't advertise a gig, and then doesn't stop the drug use that drives it's clients away. Won't be long until they're shut down if they continue at the rate they are!

Don't forget to allow for inflation, £100 in 1980 would be the equivalent of £476 today (according to a quick google search). Now I obviously have no idea when you started working, but based on that calculation, £2500 in 1980 would be equivalent to £11900 today, current minimum wage for a 16 year old (school leaver) is £4.81 an hour which based on 52 x 40 hour weeks, works out to around £10,000.

Don't see many of those RBX6JM's around!

Looks awesome and a good price too!

Sadly these house prices are already miles out the average house price is now £286,000 (that's UK wide not England). Splitting it by region houses are more affordable in the North than the South(prices are still pretty crazy). According to statista and Gov.uk the average salary in he north east is £27515, and the average house price is £157924, just under 6 times an average salary. In the South East, the average salary is £32810 and the average property is £390513, nearly 12 times the average salary! https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-house-price-index-for-june-2022 https://www.statista.com/statistics/416139/full-time-annual-salary-in-the-uk-by-region/

£31.5 k is apparently the average household income in the UK, not an individual. The average will always be completely wrong for most though, like a one size fits all, in actual barely anyone actually fits. There are people earning far more than the average, there are many earning dead on the average, but there are a lot of people who earn far far below that average. I think the biggest issue at the moment isn't anything to do with however much houses were in 1970, how hard it was then to get a house, or whatever other comments there seem to be going around. This is purely a blame game that pits generations against each other for no reason other than to create unnecessary divides. The issue is how much faster prices are outpacing salaries at this moment. For example, we bought a house around 8 years ago actually... exactly 8 years ago today, in that time it's value has almost doubled.... Our earnings have increased as would be expected, but by no means have they doubled. My house is a simple 2 up 2 down mid terrace in an area that is not particularly "nice" or expensive. If we were to look now at buying the same place as first time buyers, we would be living with our parents still. The other issue with the speed of the increase, for example a couple who between them earn £50 k, a bank will on average lend 4.5 times salary (apparently), so a maximum mortgage of £250 k is available to them. They talk to their bank in June 2021, the average house price is £265 K, based on that they need a £26500 deposit (10%). They save like mad to have this deposit and finally reach their goal in July 2022... The house price is now £292,000, the bank will still only lend them a maximum of £250 K, so with their saved deposit, they have £276500... they now need another £15500 to be able to buy the average house... Even with a 10% increase in salary, which is far more than realistic to budget for, they still can't borrow enough to cover the shortfall. The cycle keeps going like this as the house prices increase beyond the scope of salaries. https://propertydata.co.uk/charts/house-prices https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/householddisposableincomeandinequality/financialyearending2021#:~:text=Median household disposable income in,(ONS) Household Finances Survey. https://www.onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk/mortgage-affordability/how-many-times-wage-borrow-mortgage/

I had two this weekend, Friday night was awesome, venue was packed, the audience were amazing and got very involved which was brilliant. We were booked last minute due to a cancellation (another band had a member who broke his ribs so get well soon), both the owners and I promoted the event instantly and made sure the venue was packed, we got loads of thanks and appreciation afterwards. Saturday night was awful, it had been booked for a long time and I have been promoting it non stop. When we arrived, the pub had a sign outside still advertising the band from 2 weeks ago... the area set aside for the band had 2 people playing pool still, we then had to move the pool table before playing! The place was empty other than a group of 18-19 year olds snorting cocaine in the toilets, each time I went to the toilet they were in there... in between their communal toilet visits, they would be either in the garden, or at the massively overpriced cocktail bar next door who are hotter on drug use. Unfortunately we found out after starting that the place has a reputation for drug use, so it is actually avoided by many in the area! Looking at the positive though, we got paid for a practice!

Apologies, I see the name Nathan when talking bass and the next word always becomes East haha!

Right now after their reunion tour it may be even higher! If the owner waited until Nikki Sixx dies (gonna be waiting a while as that dude seems invincible or at least hard to keep dead) it may go up even more!

It could get used for banger racing now... bet it will be a champion car 🤣 Having said that, I did banger racing for my stag do... highly recommend it if you've ever wanted to make your siblings crash a car into a wall at speed... but they didn't have any Volvos on site at all, i'm going to take that as they're too reliable and give the driver an unfair advantage!

I love this! Yes it's ugly, but that's the appeal!

If you're going to only have one lesson, then you could do much worse than learning from Nathan East! How did that come about? And if you don't mind me asking... how much did he charge?

Thank you! I've done most of the bits for the DBS check... laptop then died on me last night so I will finish that off over the weekend! I'll look into some suitable songs for beginners so that they can finish the lesson knowing a full song rather than theory! Not many beginners are going to be particularly interested in learning basic major scales in the first few months let alone going any deeper in to theory, need to give them a reason to do so! Introductory rate is a great shout, I would probably offer first lesson free/half price even once experienced, give them the free trial and sell them on the rest! I could potentially ask some family members/friends if they want to do a few beginner lessons (FOC for them) so that I can gain a bit of experience first! One thing I have realised is that my teachers weren't great, never really taught me much that was useful, I have had to learn that on my own from books, you tube and experience! I had one brilliant teacher when I was in school who actually went into things properly! I ended up skipping the bass workshops at college because none of the tutors were interested or capable, one of them actually spent 6 weeks teaching the C major scale... another disappeared midway through a term (turns out he went on tour with Pixie Lott without telling anyone). The other kept telling people how he knew everything and struggled to teach it to them... In hindsight I should have taken the guitar workshops in college, the tutor was a jazz guitarist and an amazing teacher, would have learned far more! I guess the point of my rambling here is that I wouldn't want to be like them at all.

Late to the party... But I have got a fretted 4 string Dragonfly for my 18th birthday, its built well, sounds good and plays well! Obviously its different to play than an electric... but it's an acoustic bass so that's expected! Really happy with mine, been used on multiple recordings and a lot of gigs as well! When it's at home it has the added advantage of being the art on my wall!

Ah, Aircon may pack in, bit like the paint may start to fail on a Jazz bass! But it will keep running until the nuclear apocalypse... And probably afterwards!

Thank you everyone for your comments so far! I will read them in depth and come up with some lesson plans (guides of course that can later be tailored to a student). I am constantly doubting myself when it comes to anything bass related so I need to get over that I think! With regards to being a good teacher, what resources are available and how do I know if I am portraying it well? Is it simply trial and error with a student? I guess I should try and convince my siblings kids to let me teach them... although none of them have any musical interest!

And both are very good, but unlikely to get the blood pumping! I have a Jazz bass, not gone Volvo yet but I do have a VW Jetta, does that count?

So I've been debating trying my hand at teaching bass for a while but put it off for various reasons, mostly self doubt! After a few comments on another BC topic I've decided to give it some more serious thought so I thought, the best place to start would be to ask the hive mind for some advice! A bit of background on me, I've played bass for around 20 years (I'm 31 now), before that I played Sax for 3 years. I have an HND in music performance and gig around 2-4 times (at least) a month. I have never done a grade on the bass but do have a good working understanding of musical theory and regularly try to improve this. Whilst I can work out notation, I wouldn't say I am particularly proficient in bass clef but I am actively trying to get better. Below are a list of my questions, any help would be massively appreciated. Where do I start? What equipment would you say is essential? - I have plenty of basses and probably would leave the 5 strings at home at least to start with, but what about amps (I have a gigging rig and an audio interface I use for practice), books etc. How do I find students? Do I need insurances when starting out? What would you focus on in a beginners lesson? - Whilst I know I'm far from the worlds best bassist, it's been a very long time since I could call myself a beginner! I have a baby due in January so my thought is to travel to the students at first, is that a good plan? Any other advice would be really appreciated! Thanks Tim

Not as many people use "ugly" instruments, helps to stand out in the crowd!

Those like myself looking for a career change but who aren't lucky enough to have backing of a company, are fully entitled to a student loan as well! Degrees are accessible for everyone, I have a student loan from my HND, I think I pay about £50 a month despite earning well in excess of the threshold! I earn far more than that a month from gigging so I have to say it is money well spent! Whilst in a perfect world, education would be free for everyone at all levels, the issue with that is the pre mentioned graduates who don't go on to contribute to the field.