A sorta bass autobiography if you will - Part 1

[absolutpepper]

Hey fellow BCers. I while ago I toyed with the idea of staring a blog which would comically and nostalgically look back at my life of basses - the equipment and the events so to speak. I never really took it further, mostly because I couldn't be bothered and I doubted that anyone would actually read it. So instead I figure I'll test the water here and below is Part 1 of my blog covering my first bass. Sadly its also one of the only ones which I don't have any old pics of the instrument but maybe some of you will know what its like. Anyways here it is, hope you enjoy and feel free to leave comments - just don't rip it to shred too much, its supposed to be fun!

'Part 1 - Beginnings

Okay so where best to begin with but at the top...and funnily enough for me the top was pretty much the bottom, but then again that never mattered to me, mostly 'cause, at the time, I never knew any better.

It was 1999, I was in 3rd year at high school and 15 years old. Musically the order of the day was basically anything that was loud and my parents wouldn't like; all the usual suspects were there...Nirvana, Guns, Beastie Boys and Green Day...there were others but that's a story for another time...Green Day were by far my favourite, having saw them on the Nimrod Tour the previous year at the Barrowlands the gig was everything I could've hoped for. It got me away from my parents and out to the big smoke and feeling so mature – I'm sure, in hindsight that couldn't be further from the truth.

At the Glasgow Barrowlands on that night I saw Green Day at their peak (I still like them but Nimrod for me will always be their crowning achievement – yeah yeah Dookie, I know, yadda yadda) and in particular Mike Dirnt impressed me so much. I loved the power of the bass sound and how, for the 3 piece it really pinned things down and held their sound together.

Skipping on a few months I relentlessly pestered my parents to let me get a bass. Eventually they gave in and I managed to pick up a second hand DeVille 5 string for £60 of my hard borrowed money (thanks Mum and Dad!). The bass was deep metallic red and came with a P/J passive pickup system with black hardware. In terms of build quality it was actually okay and more than adequate for the time – given I couldn't play a note. I've since learned that DeVille basses were made in the far east (most likely China) and were sold and branded through many different names such as Westfield, etc. Certainly I saw others very similar that had different names.

Eventually I realised that the 5 string never suited me. I didn't really see the need for a 5th string (whether Low B or High C – I tried both) so I guess I was already moving on from there and starting to show some promise, hey I knew the strings and the tunings; thats more than most who are taking their first foray into all things low-end.

I recently sold the bass (2007) and it was strange; I guess I expected to have more affinity for it, but even while I look back with great memories and how I learned so much over the year or so I steadily played it I've never felt bad about selling it. Truth is my first expensive bass (see later) has a lot more personal value and that one's getting buried with me. The DeVille on the other hand went to another young boy starting out so it's went full circle and good luck to him.

The DeVille was, I suppose, like SO many starter basses; quality and sound didn't really matter. It was mine and I wanted to learn it all (somewhat misguidedly, see slap later on). I even used it in my earliest attempts to play in bands...which leads me onto another story. Technically the first band I played in saw my tenure last about 4 days – and even that was probably kind of them - which consisted of one rehearsal at a youth club where we played Love Buzz by Nirvana for about 3 hours straight, but you know I was just happy to be playing something somewhere other than my bedroom and with other people - albeit very badly.

I knew the song inside out as a listener but not how to play it. I distinctly remember playing f – fsharp on my E string for the whole song because I simply didnt know what else to play and was actually nervous about moving around the neck. Needless to say I was humoured and was later told at lunchtime by another friend who had also recently taken up playing bass but was about six months ahead (light years for a learner) that the band were letting me go. That friend was Andy Monaghan, who has gone on to be a very well respected musician in his own right and plays with an excellent band called Frightened Rabbit, of who I am a big fan!

After this first abortive attempt at being in a band I actually gradually got better through a lot of bedroom playing. I don't think I ever quite lived down the reputation I cultivated from my first attempt and subsequently my friendship set at school never really sought my services for their various adolescent school projects.

Undeterred I plugged away and after making some excellent friends, in particular Matt Thompson - who is and will always remain one of my best friends, I joined more bands with people who hadn't heard of my previous ahem 'experience'. Skipping a few months (and bands) I then joined (at Matt's request) Chester Says – a collective Ska band which would go from around 6 core members (including myself) to anywhere close to 12 depending on who was playing. We had a great time, I learned a lot, and although I don't hold much of a torch for Ska music these, I loved playing those sorts of lines; that deep dub walking style that really kept a groove going; it was nice to not have to hang around the root notes so much – by then my progression was coming thick and fast. We played with a fair few big bands around this time including The Beat, Bad Manners, The Damned and Stiff Little Fingers – there may even be more but I cant honestly remember. It was great fun, I used a few basses over the 3 or so years we were together but none of it would've started without that little red DeVille!

Epilogue. The other MASSIVE thing that happened to me at the Green Day show was meeting my Cousin's - at the time - girlfriend Debs (thanks), who was having a bit of a flat clearout and handed me a box of cd's and told me to help myself. I only took two in the end, thinking, of all things that my Dad would like them (and then promptly left them in my room for years unplayed) - those cd's were to have the biggest impact on me musically; they were Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, nothing was the same again, but you gotta admit, in picking those CD's the boy had style!'

[lowdown]

[quote name='absolutpepper' post='882335' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:51 PM']Eventually I realised that the 5 string never suited me. I didn't really see the need for a 5th string (whether Low B or High C – I tried both)[/quote]

Should this bit not be in the Basses for sale section?


Garry

[OliverBlackman]

This should have a new section really. I would love to hear about other bassists begginings and how things developed.... Good idea

[absolutpepper]

Thanks, my plan is...if people like it...to do a post every month or so and chronologically focus on each bass i've owned (although some might be very short stories! )

[FlatEric]

[quote name='absolutpepper' post='882335' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:51 PM']Hey fellow BCers. I while ago I toyed with the idea of staring a blog which would comically and nostalgically look back at my life of basses - the equipment and the events so to speak. I never really took it further. . .[/quote]

Great thread!

I had the same idea, started and then realised that to do it properly, it was going to take a long time.
I decided to stick with it but have found my postings have been sparadic, to say the least!
I think the idea of a seperate section would be good, so if you want to keep up with the stories,
you don't have to hunt around to find them.

If you want to have a look at my humble attempt, look here. [url="http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.com/"]Flat Eric's Bass & Guitar Collection - Blog[/url]

At the rate I am going, it is going to take a while to work my way through it, so don't expect too much to happen.
Some of the posts took me 3 lunches - saved as a draft and then published.

absolutpepper, I look forward to more.

Right, lunch over - back to the grind.

Cheers.

[OliverBlackman]

[quote name='absolutpepper' post='882766' date='Jul 1 2010, 10:13 AM']Thanks, my plan is...if people like it...to do a post every month or so and chronologically focus on each bass i've owned (although some might be very short stories! )[/quote]

Why not focus on everything? auditions, learning, teachers, inspirations... Although gear is my favourite thing and i love how every bass will have a storey

I dont mean to be disrispectful to anyone but if any of the "older guys" wrote blogs on basschat i definately would be reading. 1960's p basses and all that

[allihts]

You were almost in Frightened Rabbit? I'm impressed!

[absolutpepper]

[quote name='allihts' post='882976' date='Jul 1 2010, 01:53 PM']You were almost in Frightened Rabbit? I'm impressed![/quote]

We'll maybe in a seven degrees of separation type way!