Regret

[tubbybloke68]

Wish I’d taken music theory more seriously and learnt to read.I think it’s really held me back 🫤x 

[velvetkevorkian]

It would probably have required a full rebuild of my personality at the time but I do wish I'd been more inclined to practice my DB when I was 15-18, instead of just doing enough to get by what my teacher gave me. Ended up as a big fish in the small pond of the local authority schools orchestras, and promptly got eaten when I got the chance to venture outside it.

[alyctes]

Starting too late.

Not nabbing my dad's DB from his wife after he died.

[fretmeister]

Not having lessons, studying theory, proper notation etc.

 

I didn’t start looking at that until well into my 40s and of course now I understand how damn useful it is.

I would have been able to take far more gigs if I had studied properly.

[jezzaboy]

Putting up with two utters tossers in the band at different times for far too long.

 

Apart form that, nowt.

[TheGreek]

After seeing Laurence Cottell today I wish that I'd been more committed to learning bass properly - you know, learning to read and having a proper practice regime that last more than an hour.

 

Yep, I could have been a contender...

[Skybone]

Not learning more theory and spending time practicing.

 

Turning that offer down to audition for that name band.

 

Selling that Westone Thunder 1A.

 

Being left with no option but to sell that 4003.

[martin8708]

There’s a few instruments I regret selling , two stunning Yamaha BB1200’s  , a 72 Tele and my Larrivee OM3-R , ( for some reason I felt I had to have a Martin acoustic ) , man , I miss the Larrivee.

Playing wise , possibly just the regret I did not practice/ push myself more . The day job meant I was never meant for the bright lights of stardom .

My only niggle is that I did not learn to play drums as well , I always felt I could possibly been a better drummer than guitarist .

[Dan Dare]

I've had a few. Too few to mention.

[Geek99]

5 hours ago, neepheid said:

Starting as late as I did.

This.

i still say you’re actually me and that I have two accounts and randomly use one or the other depending on my degree of tartan-affinity on that day 

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, jezzaboy said:

Putting up with two utters tossers in the band at different times for far too long.

 

Apart form that, nowt.

I read this as “putting up with two otters in my band …” 

[Geek99]

Not insisting on more support from my parents to nurture my desire to learn music rather than abandon me to just get on with it.
 

A book or two would have killed the budget ? 

[leschirons]

None really.  Played probably a thousand gigs over 55 years, played with some great players, made some great friends and quite a few quid without having the pressure of relying on it to keep a roof over my head or put food on the table.

However, selling the Roscoe Beck was a big mistake.😂

[Guest]

Not recording gigs, misplacing some of the recordings we made in studios.

Not following up on offers from labels, not following up the offer of US tour with a band we liked and gig'd with.

It is what it is or rather it was what it was.

We were a disorganised mess but we're all still here and are all still good friends. And we did have a lot of fun on our very long "mission" that was mainly taking place in a reseal space three times a week for over a decade. 

 

I don't know if they really are regrets but the missing recordings do bug me a bit every now and then. Still time to record it all again.

We sometimes talk about it so at least there is continuity.

 

edit: I'd just like to add that if this reads like I believe we were about to "make it big" in any way that none of us ever thought or wanted that. I would have preferred to have more recordings though.

Edited November 14, 2023 by HornetPinata
some yada yada removed.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I wish I'd stuck at it when I first started learning to play at 15 instead of packing in for the next 25 years. I may have been proficient by now. 

 

I regret trading in my old Ibanez lawsuit era Rick for a guitar that I never really learned how to play. I think I got £50 for it trade in value. Closest thing you could get to a real Rick for under a grand now. 

 

I also regret selling my orange 4x10 cab and Marshall Guvnor distortion pedal for fifty quid because I needed to tax my car. 

[musicbassman]

Declining an invitation to audition for a backing band for a new up and coming artist in the late 70's, as it clashed with my long awaited driving test.

.....and that person was Elvis Costello.............. 😳

[Gasman]

Not working harder on my lead vocals, just being content with doing BVs... 

[Paul S]

About my playing and musical 'career' I am OK with the path I have taken.  A few blind alleys, plenty of room for improvement but, on the balance, there is nothing much I would change and certainly nothing that keeps me awake at night.  The band I am in at the moment is the most enjoyable I have ever been in and most likely my last hurrah, so a great way to finish it all off, whenever and however that happens. 

 

One fairly serious bout of seller's remorse is the main thing.  Despite plenty of advice against it I sold my especially lightweight example of a Yamaha SB-35 when I 'moved permanently' to 5 strings.  Which lasted about a year.😂 

[MichaelDean]

I regret not saying, "No, I don't want to join this band". I've accidentally joined a couple over the years that weren't what I was really interested in. They were a learning experience, so not a huge regret, but I feel like I wasted my time a bit while I was living in Leeds by not being in better bands. There didn't seem to be a lot around at the time for me to join and I didn't have the confidence or direction to start something new.

[Nice Guy Rich]

I try not to dwell on the past as it can't be changed, as long as we learn from our decisions, be them good or bad, then we should count them as a win. 

 

Having said that, trying to open a jammed sliding window back in August 2010, resulting in me severing both tendons in my left wrist and, completely severing the Median nerve which has left me with vastly reduced feeling in my left thumb and the first 2 fingers (20% max on a good day), wasn't my best decision.  Luckily, I can still play but some days are painful whilst others, I can't feel sh*t.

[BigRedX]

The only regret I have (and it only with hindsight that I realise it's a regret) is not working harder when I could and making more of the opportunities I had musically in the 80s. In particular I turned down the chance to work with William Orbit. In my defence, at the the time he was still to have any kind of commercial success, and I didn't think much of his band at the time (Torch Song).

[Lfalex v1.1]

I started a bit late.

Went too long without an amp (2 years) when I started. 

 

Not buying that  Ken Smith sixer at the Bass Centre. Bought a Warwick Streamer LX6 instead. 

[casapete]

12 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Not having lessons, studying theory, proper notation etc.

 

I didn’t start looking at that until well into my 40s and of course now I understand how damn useful it is.

I would have been able to take far more gigs if I had studied properly.

 

12 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

Putting up with two utters tossers in the band at different times for far too long.

 

Apart form that, nowt.

These two posts beat me to it really.

 

Having more theory skills would have undoubtedly been better for me.

 

Also being in a highly regarded function band for a long time and watching some of the members

gradually wrecking it (drink and other stuff) was quite detrimental to me on a few levels. When I

joined my current band I couldn’t believe how great it is to be surrounded by players with the 

same goals and attitudes. 

[asingardenof]

12 hours ago, tubbybloke68 said:

Wish I’d taken music theory more seriously and learnt to read.I think it’s really held me back 🫤x 

 

Same, I gave up on piano lessons way too soon at 11 and only decided to get back into music when I was 18 and all my mates were getting guitars so I asked for a bass for my 18th. And then I never took it seriously until I was well into my 40s. So trying to get back into it now is tricky what with life happening at the same time.

[Baloney Balderdash]

My single biggest bass related regret is without doubt choosing to drop out of the hardcore and noise rock influenced math rock band, Menfolk, that I was part of, in the role of the sort of "lead" bass (band, beside a guitarist/vocalist and an incredible drummer, featured, and continued to feature after I dropped out as well, 2 bass players, the other bass player filling out a somewhat more traditional supportive role),  which, beside missing out on continuing to be part of a really cool band, caused me to miss out on getting to play on the biggest Scandinavian rock festival, The Roskilde Festival, about a year after I dropped out.

 

As far as goes bass gear related regrets, my top 3 is following: Being stupid enough to sell the Ampeg B-15S 60W all tube amp I used to own, same with the Jerry Jones Neptune Longhorn Bass (sort of a high end/boutique clone of the Danelectro Longhorn Bass) that I used to own, and also selling the 4 string 28 5/8" scale bass that I had made out of Warmoth baritone parts, those were all some relatively rare, really astonishing, and truly great sounding, pieces of gear.

 

4 hours ago, Nice Guy Rich said:

I try not to dwell on the past as it can't be changed, as long as we learn from our decisions, be them good or bad, then we should count them as a win. 

 

Having said that, trying to open a jammed sliding window back in August 2010, resulting in me severing both tendons in my left wrist and, completely severing the Median nerve which has left me with vastly reduced feeling in my left thumb and the first 2 fingers (20% max on a good day), wasn't my best decision.  Luckily, I can still play but some days are painful whilst others, I can't feel sh*t.

Ah, yeah, similarly I really regret managing to rip open my left hand ring finger, starting from the palm a bit bellow the finger and almost all the way to the tip, on bard wire, drunk deciding to take a short cut down a muddy slope to catch a train home, a New Years Eve some 15 years back or so, which has caused some slight impairment of flexibility and movement of that finger.

 

Definitely regret that too, and mainly because it does have some negative impact on my bass playing.

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash