Bridgehouse Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Thought I’d share a few thoughts about my bass journey - mainly because there’s a lot of things I wish I’d have realised earlier on in my playing. The new ACG 5 string has been a bit of a revelation. Combined with the recent fretless acquisition it’s made me realise that I’ve been far too conservative (small ‘c’ !) in my outlook and approach to playing. I’ve attacked the playing side of things and the technique stuff with aplomb - but I’ve cautiously held off on fretless and 5’s for fear that they would be a step too far and knock my confidence or intimidate me too much. Since acquiring one of each I’ve realised I was way off the mark. If anything they’ve boosted my confidence and opened up a whole new world of playing, technique, style and enthusiasm. I don’t see either as being mutually exclusive either - I’ll continue to play fretted, fours, whatever.. but the whole experience has really opened up the possibilities. If you’ve stuck to fours, or been too worried about trying a fretless, then I say do it - I’m so glad I did! And on that note - I’ve been discussing a fretless 5 build with Alan.. lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Cool! Enjoy your journey. I think the 5 is default for bass in the 21 century. 6 and that high 'C' still not convinced but a low 'B' is such a usable option now most makers have sorted the tone, and I'm sure ACG has... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, visog said: Cool! Enjoy your journey. I think the 5 is default for bass in the 21 century. 6 and that high 'C' still not convinced but a low 'B' is such a usable option now most makers have sorted the tone, and I'm sure ACG has... Yep. Always been a sceptic. Mad, I know - but now I’ve tried, I can’t un-try.. just like fretless... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrendall Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 (edited) My bass journey has returned me to a 4 string P bass and the simple but effective world of GK amps, the combination of which has finally allowed me to nail my holy grail P tone (albeit flats to come later!) The lack of knob fiddling options has boosted my playing confidence and allowed me to concentrate on the charts and the music. Going to undo it all soon with a Sadowsky. Edited November 17, 2018 by ianrendall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrendall Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 For illustrative purposes, here is a map of the bass journey, tounge in cheek you understand. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 5 minutes ago, ianrendall said: My bass journey has returned me to a 4 string P bass and the simple but effective world of GK amps, the combination of which has finally allowed me to nail my holy grail P tone (albeit flats to come later!) The lack of knob fiddling options has boosted my playing confidence and allowed me to concentrate on the charts and the music. Going to undo it all soon with a Sadowsky. Much as the knob twiddling is interesting - I tend to use a bit of tone and a bit of eq on the bass to balance for the room/song, but keep the amp flat. In fact, with a DI pedal I set and forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrendall Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 7 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: Much as the knob twiddling is interesting - I tend to use a bit of tone and a bit of eq on the bass to balance for the room/song, but keep the amp flat. In fact, with a DI pedal I set and forget. Bass playing bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Just now, ianrendall said: Bass playing bliss. Amen. No pedals (apart from Preamp/DI with maybe a touch of compression) - and amp eq set flat. Slight tweak of the eq on the bass or the tone depending on the song and I’m off. No tweaking mid song or any of that faffing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 P bass and an Ampeg. Accept no substitute as Samuel l Jackson said. I don’t need Octavers or choruses or any of that stuff. Make the glasses rattle and it’s all good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staggering on Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 If you think 5 string and fretless open up possibilities, upright(EUB or acoustic) will take you into yet another whole world.I am a completely different bass player than I was a few years ago when I fell under the spell of uprights.Not for everyone but a great challenge and another way of seeing bass music. Isn't it wonderful to have all these choices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigyin Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 2 hours ago, Staggering on said: If you think 5 string and fretless open up possibilities, upright(EUB or acoustic) will take you into yet another whole world.I am a completely different bass player than I was a few years ago when I fell under the spell of uprights.Not for everyone but a great challenge and another way of seeing bass music. Isn't it wonderful to have all these choices! I ventured into the world of upright bass about 2 years ago after wanting one for ages but unfortunately I bought one from gear4music for about £650 a lot of money for me but it turned out a big mistake, supposedly solid spruce top, back and sides it duely arrived a Beautiful sight I was over the moon....but quickly realised the adjustable bridge was as low as it could be (so know way of adjusting) the action was so high it was impossible to play apart from about the first 4 frets even then it required a lot of effort....I asked on here for help advice but was told the gear4music uprights are nothing more than ornements, I would one day like maybe to get another one even a plywood one as long as its playable and comfortable to play, shame, but I would advise anyone not to buy from gear4music and shop around. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 I think upright would be a step too far for me at the moment.. I’m certainly not now going to say never.. whereas before I may have done. Fretless and the extra string will keep my learning curve nice and steep for a while ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staggering on Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: I think upright would be a step too far for me at the moment.. I’m certainly not now going to say never.. whereas before I may have done. Fretless and the extra string will keep my learning curve nice and steep for a while ! Great way to look at things...have fun and keep on learning! Edited November 18, 2018 by Staggering on 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 14 hours ago, ianrendall said: For illustrative purposes, here is a map of the bass journey, tounge in cheek you understand. I'd say it's more like this. You come back to where you started, but at the same time you've grown and moved on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 3 minutes ago, Staggering on said: Great way to look at things...have fun and keep on learning! I’ve been playing music in many forms for many years - many different instruments, many different styles and contexts. I will never be a virtuoso, but I like to think from time to time I can do the right job in the right context in the right band. However, I firmly believe that the minute we stop learning and developing - whether through choice, laziness or arrogance - is when we stop being a musician. Hence, it’s always a journey. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 28 minutes ago, josie said: I'd say it's more like this. You come back to where you started, but at the same time you've grown and moved on. Ah , but which end did you start at 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Back before I could afford to have a few basses, I would go from 4 string, to 5 string to 6 string back to 4 string and repeat, selling one bass to fund the other as I went along. Through that journey I've found that I feel most comfortable in a 6 string, just feels like home. The low B sees a lot more action than the high C, but it's still something that I miss when playing a 5er. I'm, currently, lucky enough to have a few 6s and a lovely 4 string too (all ACGs 😎) and much like @Bridgehouse I would encourage everyone to try something different, you never know what might stick! Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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