Hey Ma, I’m a bass player now..

[Azureglo]

So long time session/jazz guitarist now writer producer, starting to get bored with Zoom calls to Seoul at midnight and endlessly staring into this…

 

plus virtually everything I play these days is 2/4/8 bars, looped, processed and massaged into a three minute K-pop song or ten minute house track by various  clients..I have a few basses I use for occasional tracking so I decided to dust my main tracking bass off and head down to the local blues jam last Thursday.

 

Total hoot, despite my wanting to turn everything into a James Brown or Meters track, much fun was had. I was hooked and importantly, was on the opposite side of the stage to the atonal wannabe shredders gurning their way through tuneless and aimless solos, displaying their freshly learnt from YouTube “licks”. Yes I truly hate badly played blues guitar solos at shrieking volume played by middle aged accountants pulling those dying-from-constipation grimaces as they  tunelessly  bend notes ad infinitum…I need to sit down for a few minutes, mother.

 

Have decided that my own live playing henceforth will be restricted to 4 strings and finding tight drummers to lock my groove down with, Bootsy style.

 

Current basses are : 1998 P bass Lyte Deluxe ( bought new) , Squier Mustang stock+ Labella flats and Hohner B2A

 

And this

 

which is also going to receive the bridge pickup from this 1999 Mexican lined fretless J bass which I bought for a session in 1999, used once and put in its gig bag for 34  years due to its horrible ( to me ) colour and back breaking 12lb weight.

 

The neck and neck pickup will be headed to the gorgeous light alder body on the right later this summer with another 62 Pbass pickup.

 

I’m a dedicated short scale player now having used the CV on a couple of dozen paying tracks since Xmas 2021. And my hooley at the jam last week.

 

And then there’s this…

 

Sorted an acquaintances one out last year, with Staytrem hardware, La Bella flats  and US pickups/electrics and used it with the  local Orchestra for some Bond and Morricone nights last year, total hoot. Also made its way onto a K-Pop tune doing the 60s bass octave doubling thang with a foam mute.

 

This one is fresh from the box and is pretty much unusable with a grinding vibrato, weedy strings and emery grade frets plus a fretboard liberally smeared with buffing compound: And it took 7 months to arrive…will make a nice summer project and will join these studio only “ fairy dust” guitars that need similar upgrades.

 

Next jam is week on Monday run by wonderful a local blues harp player, Hugh Budden, who seems to have paying gigs every day of the week. After that there a regular schedule of three jams within a thirty minute EV guilt free jaunt, a month.

 

No amp but have my beloved bought new in 1988  Polytone (jazz guitar use) for practise

 

and mostly play through my Logic/Krk8 rig (above) for practise, using these as DIs.

 

If it gets serious I might buy the Quilter 800 and the wee Ampeg SVT-210AV that Hugh and Harv used at their medium sized pub jam on Thursday, truly terrifyingly loud to the  extent I dropped the volume as I could not hear the drummers kick drum. And teeny tiny to boot, my aging back don’t need no grief.

 

In the spirit of not hiding anonymously behind an avatar, here’s what I look like should you ever encounter me and need to rapidly cross to the other side of the road:

 

And here’s what my bass playing sounds like: Some recent rejected loop/beat ideas including some seriously uncoordinated tenor sax playing/arranging, my new thang for 2023

 

 

Nice to be playing actual songs with actual people in actual venues again. Look Momma,  I iz a four string fool now!

 

Peace,

 

A

Edited May 20, 2023 by Azureglo

[SpondonBassed]

Welcome AG.

[snorkie635]

1 hour ago, Azureglo said:

So long time session/jazz guitarist now writer producer, starting to get bored with Zoom calls to Seoul at midnight and endlessly staring into this…

 

plus virtually everything I play these days is 2/4/8 bars, looped, processed and massaged into a three minute K-pop song or ten minute house track by various  clients..I have a few basses I use for occasional tracking so I decided to dust my main tracking bass off and head down to the local blues jam last Thursday.

 

Total hoot, despite my wanting to turn everything into a James Brown or Meters track, much fun was had. I was hooked and importantly, was on the opposite side of the stage to the atonal wannabe shredders gurning their way through tuneless and aimless solos, displaying their freshly learnt from YouTube “licks”. Yes I truly hate badly played blues guitar solos at shrieking volume played by middle aged accountants pulling those dying-from-constipation grimaces as they  tunelessly  bend notes ad infinitum…I need to sit down for a few minutes, mother.

 

Have decided that my own live playing henceforth will restricted 4 strings and finding tight drummers to lock my groove down with, Bootsy style.

 

Current basses are : 1998 P bass Lyte Deluxe ( bought new) , Squier Mustang stock+ Labella flats and Hohner B2A

 

And this

 

which is also going to receive the bridge pickup from this 1999 Mexican J bass which I bought for a session in 1999, used once and put in its gig bag for 34  years due to its horrible ( to me ) colour and back breaking 12lb weight.

 

The neck and neck pickup will be headed to the gorgeous light alder body on the right later this summer with another 62 Pbass pickup.

 

I’m a dedicated short scale player now having used the CV on a couple of dozen paying tracks since Xmas 2021. And my hooley at the jam last week.

 

And then there’s this…

 

Sorted an acquaintances one out last year, with Staytrem hardware, La Bella flats  and US pickups/electrics and used it with the  local Orchestra for some Bond and Morricone nights last year, total hoot. Also made its way onto a K-Pop tune doing the 60s bass octave doubling thang with a foam mute.

 

This one is fresh from the box and is pretty much unusable with a grinding vibrato, weedy strings and emery grade frets plus a fretboard liberally smeared with buffing compound: And it took 7 months to arrive…will make a nice summer project and will join these studio only “ fairy dust” guitars that need similar upgrades.

 

Next jam is week on Monday run by wonderful a local blues harp player, Hugh Budden, who seems to have paying gigs every day of the week. After that there a regular schedule of three jams within a thirty minute EV guilt free jaunt, a month.

 

No amp but have my beloved bought new in 1988  Polytone (jazz guitar use) for practise

 

and mostly play through my Logic/Krk8 rig (above) for practise, using these as DIs.

 

If it gets serious I might buy the Quilter 800 and the wee Ampeg SVT-210AV that Hugh and Harv used at their medium sized pub jam on Thursday, truly terrifyingly loud to the  extent I dropped the volume as I could not hear the drummers kick drum. And teeny tiny to boot, my aging back don’t need no grief.

 

In the spirit of not hiding anonymously behind an avatar, here’s what I look like should you ever encounter me and need to rapidly cross to the other side of the road:

 

And here’s what my bass playing sounds like: Some recent rejected loop/beat ideas including some seriously uncoordinated tenor sax playing/arranging, my new thang for 2023

 

 

Nice to be playing actual songs with actual people in actual venues again. Look Momma,  I iz a four string fool now!

 

Peace,

 

A

That was an interesting little post -enjoyed reading about what your gear is and what you're going to be doing. Sounds like you are walking back to happiness. Very best of luck will all the plans. Snrk. 👍

[snorkie635]

Just now, snorkie635 said:

That was an interesting little post -enjoyed reading about what your gear is and what you're going to be doing. Sounds like you are walking back to happiness. Very best of luck with all the plans. Snrk. 👍

 

[ezbass]

[Richard R]

Welcome aboard!

 

Sounds like you always were a bass player, you were just "diverted" by K-pop. 

 

Groove on!

[Azureglo]

2 hours ago, Richard R said:

Welcome aboard!

 

Sounds like you always were a bass player, you were just "diverted" by K-pop. 

 

Groove on!

 

There is an ulterior motive, I'm looking for an "edge" as K-Pop is seriously competitive and I have noticed a lot of interest from my paying masters for my retro bass guitar driven beats, samples and demos: nothing like playing with live drummers to keep your grooves honed and in the pocket, them drummer boys don't do quantised , especially after the third pint of Stella...Plus I'm loving the female action, Pub Cats cant leave or my charcuterie  platter alone🤣

[Richard R]

I know nothing about K-pop, other than a half-remembered Sound On Sound article about producers working in the genre. It does sound like extremely competitive hard work!

[Azureglo]

3 hours ago, Richard R said:

I know nothing about K-pop, other than a half-remembered Sound On Sound article about producers working in the genre. It does sound like extremely competitive hard work!

Pour yourself a stiff drink and watch these:

 

 

 

Now go have a cold shower. You have been educated.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Azureglo

[Richard R]

 Well that's a long way from Marvin Gaye! 😳 

[snorkie635]

4 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 Well that's a long way from Marvin Gaye! 😳 

It's even further from me! 😭

[Reggaebass]

1 hour ago, Azureglo said:

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Azureglo

Hi and welcome 👍, I’ve never heard of them but this one has a good vibe