Music Shop bass playing

[thisnameistaken]

TBH I've had the same bass for about 10 years that I really like so I basically don't play basses in music shops. The last bass I did pick up in a music shop was a '60s Hofner hollowbody and I didn't plug it in.

[Big_Stu]

The last one I tried n bought it was Merry Xmas Everybody which was appropriate for the time, last time was a long time before then wasn't in a shop but in JayDee's workshop after he rewired my bass - where I'd just discovered that in the recent past he'd had Mark King Jimmy Lea & Tony Iommi in as visitors, the thought of any comparisons being made between their abilities and mine made my fingers instantaneously change into a pack of Captain Birdeye's finest.

[Phantomnin]

I always feeze in music shops...yet I can go to Jams and play fine..and I have grade 7, so I can play some funky stuff.

I used to play Dune Tune in music shops in the 80s...and I played it very badly. LOL

Now the riff I seem to hear most is Hysteria by Muse. One kid segued out of that into Level 42...

[brensabre79]

Same here, I go through a horrid few moments when I see something I like in that I want to play it, but I don't want to play it. In this moment I freeze completely, except perhaps to point at it, after which it is usually handed to me by a helpful salesman who plugs it into the loudest and most expensive amp in the shop and says "go for it". At this point I begin to shake a little, and all of my fingers lock into a kind of claw shape.

When I eventually compose myself I play it with the volume completely off, to see how it feels, work myself up to playing very very quietly for a bit. If I get past that point, its probably going home with me anyway, but then I know what I like and 90% of the basses I try don't get past 5 notes.

I'm the first to get up at Jam nights, and the words "Bass solo" are like a red rag to a bull, but for some reason, in a music shop I am a gibbering wreck! Maybe this is why I built my last 3 basses at home

[mrtcat]

More Than Words by Extreme, Half The World Away by Oasis, Delilah by Plain White Tees, A Team by Ed Sheeran.

I can play the bass part in those as well as the original recordings so they're my choice.

[Pete Academy]

I work in a music shop. What I find most with people, especially younger ones, is the need to play everything at top speed. Drummers are terrible for this. Don't forget we've heard it all before, so we don't judge anyone.

Just be yourself.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1357927575' post='1930809']
Don't forget [b]we've heard it all before[/b], so we don't judge anyone.

Just be yourself.
[/quote]

I've been known to give it "Purple Haze" with the OD full on?

[stingrayPete1977]

Another freezer here

[Dingus]

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1357927575' post='1930809']
I work in a music shop. What I find most with people, especially younger ones, is the need to play everything at top speed. Drummers are terrible for this. Don't forget we've heard it all before, so we don't judge anyone.

Just be yourself.
[/quote]

I remember a friend of mine who worked in a guitar shop in the late 80s claiming that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from hearing the guitar intro to Sweet Child Of Mine played ( usually wrongly ) so many times .

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1357926551' post='1930786']
More Than Words by Extreme, Half The World Away by Oasis, Delilah by Plain White Tees, A Team by Ed Sheeran.

I can play the bass part in those as well as the original recordings so they're my choice.
[/quote]

I see what you did there....

[Lozz196]

I generally play a medley of Jam songs, Tube Station, Its too Bad, Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice, Funeral Pyre etc, Pump it Up by Elvis Costello, Babylons Burning by The Ruts, Magnificent Seven by The Clash, Nice & Sleazy by The Stranglers. I figure if I`m looking to buy I want to hear how the bass sounds and plays with the type of music I play live.

[JapanAxe]

I have been known to take a list of song titles with me when auditioning kit, just to propt me to play something.
[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1357924291' post='1930752']
Another blanker here, same as soundchecks, then it's comedy bassline time, Good Times, Under Pressure, You Can't Touch This etc
[/quote]
Err... I played [i]Good Times[/i] last time I tried (and bought) a bass - to be fair, it's a good test of how the tone changes up and down the neck, at least if you play it like I do

[Dingus]

Ideally , they will be playing some background music in the shop that I can play along to or , even better , that I actually know how to play well already . That way I can jam along , and if I'm lucky I can effect a look as if I have just picked up the tune on the spot and am some kind of bass guitar genius .

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1357936666' post='1930917']
I generally play a medley of Jam songs, Tube Station, Its too Bad, Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice, Funeral Pyre etc, Pump it Up by Elvis Costello, Babylons Burning by The Ruts, Magnificent Seven by The Clash, Nice & Sleazy by The Stranglers. I figure if I`m looking to buy I want to hear how the bass sounds and plays with the type of music I play live.
[/quote]

I tend to do the opposite and try and play (remember) something related to the bass i have picked up ie, kings of leon on a t bird, chic on a ray, something picky on a ricky! Etc

I always buy the stingray anyway

Edited January 11, 2013 by stingrayPete1977

[mikebass84]

Last time I went to a music shop I went with my bands guitarist and he was busy playing so I walked around, grabbed a bass and plugged in (with permission of course) and then we played songs from our set.

[shizznit]

I don't play anything specific really. A few arpeggios, a couple of chords and some natural harmonics stuff. Just some basic noodling. If the bass/amp doesn't bore me within 5mins I'll spend a bit more time with it and stretch out my playing a bit more with different styles to see how flexible the bass/amp is. I'm really boring to listen to in a music shop to be honest!

[garythebass]

If it's a bass, I won't even plug it in. If it doesn't feel right and sound basically good unplugged, what's the point?

In terms of amplification, i find it so difficult in any environment other than live/rehearsal.

It's what it sounds like at proper volume and in the mix that matters.

To that effect, I usually play some high stuff, some low stuff, some chords, etc, just to see how it handles it.

[WarPig]

i just dont

[gjones]

I bide my time like a tiger at a waterhole. I just sit and wait patiently until I see a small child pick up a bass and plug it in, [b]THEN I LEAP INTO ACTION [/b]playing Level 42 songs at incredible volume until I intimidate them so much they drop the bass and run from the shop in tears with their mothers in tow.

[BassPimp66]

I don't like music shop playing as I find the basses typically unplayable:
1) mega-high action 2) bass out of tune 3) heavy gauge strings (I like lights!).
So many times I picked a bass in a store and it felt completely wrong compared to the way I keep my basses set up.

[paul_5]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1357936049' post='1930911']
I see what you did there....
[/quote]

or not...

[paul_5]

I don't play in music shops. I tend to bimble around tutting and glaring with barely concealed disgust at young people who deign to play music. Don't they know that music shops are run for the purpose of the staff, not the customer (seems to be my experience lately).

[Bilbo]

I don' t go into music shops.

Actually' I never try gear and bought all my gear without playing it first. What am I like?

[Mark_Bass]

I try to go midweek avoiding any lunch rush and never on the weekend
If its a bass I'm looking at I play without the amp first, then through an amp that either know or something close to what I use.
Normally standing up.
If its an amp I bring my bass and cab, I'll play for no more than 5minutes first with the dials set to 12 o'clock have a tweak play for a bit more then try a different amp and then return to the amp I was looking to buy. Last time I did that I ended-up keeping my amp and part xing my cab for a different cab.
And.

I just try to play a few things I would normally play; I wouldn't worry about what it is as if you play metal with a pick demoing stuff with an all out slap fest won't give you a reflection of what you're gonna hear at rehearsal. Don't be shy to bring a tuner or ask for one 90% of basses seem to be out of tune in a store

Edited January 12, 2013 by Mark_Bass

[Dingus]

[quote name='BassPimp66' timestamp='1357956365' post='1931141']
I don't like music shop playing as I find the basses typically unplayable:
1) mega-high action 2) bass out of tune 3) heavy gauge strings (I like lights!).
So many times I picked a bass in a store and it felt completely wrong compared to the way I keep my basses set up.
[/quote]

+1 on that . I've played so many basses in shops that felt like they were set up for King Kong to play that I've often wondered if there is something wrong with me and I am a nine stone weakling ( actually , I wouldn't mind being nine stone . )