FunkyFinger

I'd never tell anyone they needed lessons but I certainly found them more than helpful. It's always good to have an objective eye and ear cast over your work. In my own case I'm sure my tutor saved my wrists/hands from early retirement, before taking lessons I used to play with an almost 90 degree wrist angle. As for learning to read music, since you've been playing for a good while you already speak the language may as well learn how the words are spelt.

[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='791180' date='Mar 30 2010, 09:43 PM']4F - flat? Forward, f***face. Vulgar, but I've never forgotten it.[/quote] I like it FFFF

Thanks for the help everyone. I did try googling a number of different terms but the main problem is that most every guitar shop has a few token basses but very few have large selections so it turns into a massive trawl through every guitar shop google spits out. electro music in doncaster will be my first stop thanks CasaPete. OldGit, Unfortunately I only read the Yorkshire bassbash post the day before and I was already booked for the day, next years? will be in the diary straight away though. BassDirect does look very good and it would allow me to try the lightwave basses out as I can't seem to find another uk supplier.

mike that Ibanez sr 605 ltd looks very tasty. the sr series is now on my to try list. Realistically I think that the most I'm going to be able to save up is £1500 without cancelling next christmas though if I could find something for less i'd be that much closer to funding a lighweight amp and cab (I always thought Bass stuff= Heavy stuff). So for this year at least a million pounds is definitely out of the question. As is the fodera though they are very very nice. As for the fenders I've tried a MIA jazz and P but unfortunately the pair in question where owned by a player who had set a very high action so whilst I liKed their sounds my fingers felt like they were doing a high wire act. I haven't discounted them yet though as I'm sure there's a very good reason why you see more pro's playing fenders than anything else. to me It seems to be the £400+ mark where the quality basses start unless you get a lucky like some of the ones in the bargains thread. To those that say go try out a few thats what I intend to do, unfortunately Hull is not the best city for bass shopping unless I've been missing somewhere. So where in Yorkshire is the biggest selection of basses? or the densest area of guitar shops? where I can get me mitts on some basses so i can narrow my choices down a bit. Or do I need to head south?

I've been a frugal bassist in the ten years I've been playing my first full set up cost me £80 and consisted of a carlsboro 100W combo and a washburn lyon bass and a chuck rainey bass book. I later got rid of the combo and got me a Ashdown mag 400 2x10 combo (£600) as I was unable to compete with the guitards. I got a mild case of g.a.s. last year and splashed out on a second guitar a Yamaha rbx 375 £179 got mainly for the fifth string and the active electronics. I've spent alot of time tweaking these guitars and usually get complimented whenever anyone bothers to ask for a go. But they're all with the exception of the Ashdown firmly at the budget end of the market. I've never really spent much time educating myself about what bass guitars are available I've just got on and played them. Then I went and discovered this place and full blown G.A.S. So how much should I look to be saving up? I seem to be lusting after 4 string lightly coloured wood grain bodies and larger fret markers rather than plain old dots. at least a p/j pickup configuration and active/passive switching (didn't even know that was possible till this year) or the lightwave optical pickup system though I'd want to play one before making a decision. Oh and a detuner for instant drop D. and an inbuilt breadmaker for that freshly baked smell Please don't inundate me with offers to buy your guitar as I haven't saved up yet, tho I'll definitely hit the for sale adds when I've got the wedge together.

I'd Be Interested P/md

Thankyou for the replies people. and particular thanks to Jennifer who has quite possibly saved my Washburn (I'd been toying with the idea of a fretless conversion on it). Lee I've been giving the method you suggested a go and It's working quite well I just need to practice it to gain some consistency. thanks again Gary

[quote name='leebass69' post='777956' date='Mar 17 2010, 08:38 PM']Hiya Gary just read your post with a smile, I think being told something by someone trained on any level is great but bear in mind everyone's different-stuff that works for you may not for me and vice versa. As for fingering techniques, I started off being 'careful', one finger at a time which is fine until you get, erm..a little bored and frustrated which led onto thinking more open mindedly, now I'm using one finger covering up to 3/4 strings-pending what I'm playing of course! If you picture fretting E on the 7th fret on your A string with your fingertip, your 1st and 2nd finger joints can 'snap' onto the 7th fret of your D and G strings...you get it? Now this to me makes my playing so much easier, over time the whole chording, bars I'm playing just roll one after the other. Like I said before, it might not work for you? Oh and over time (if this helps) I've learned, if anything, not to have a 'style' which possibly sounds the dumbest thing ever-it was a kinda epiphany I had and after that point I played the way I think and more importantly feels right to me cos if it feels right, it is! Cheers Gary, Lee[/quote] I get you kind of like 1 Barre per fret

Thanks for the replies people it was in fact the davemarks(and a few other peoples) videos that prompted me to post about this. think I've decided not to worry about it hopefully my left hand has got enough sense now not to get into the tangles it used to do. thanks. Gary

Back when I first started playing if I needed to fret a note on a whatever string and if the next note was on a different string I would very often use a different finger. For example if my 3rd finger had just played an octave and i wanted a fifth next it would be my 2nd finger fretting it. After I'd been playing a while I decided to take a few lessons to rid me of the bad habits I felt sure I'd picked up, the tutor I went to was of the one finger per fret school and he encouraged me not to use the above method and stay 1fpf. I took his advice on board and changed my methods and learnt a good deal from him. Recently I've found that I'm returning to my old way of fretting a different string on the same fret with another finger, but I've also recently found that not every tutor advises using 1fpf all the time which leaves me wondering if I should bother to re-banish my one fret two finger method? I'm not trying to start another 1fpf debate the question is does it matter if two fingers are used on the same fret but different string? Gary

'She caught the Katy' from the blues brothers soundtrack was the first bass line I noticed. but what made me buy a bass was going to watch my friends band practising and being handed the bass as their bass player seemed to be a frustrated guitarist. I bought my own bass the very next day.

thanks guys. I can't believe I never found this place earlier.

just a post to say hi to all you bassheads and introduce myself. I'm from a little town called Hornsea for those that don't know it's on the coast near Hull. I've been playing for about 10 years and like just about any music. gearwise i've not got much, a washburn lyon 4 string, yamaha rbx 375 and ashdown mag 400 2x10", oh and lotsa knackered guitar leads. I'd also like to congratulate you all for this forum it seems to be free of the trolls that lurk in lots of other forums and IME thats a rare thing. :