Fireflye

I started playing bass around 18 years ago, having always been fascinated with the low-end of things. My first bass was a Marlin Sidewinder which had a neck like a banana and was very difficult to play, which was typical of most budget instruments of the time. After persevering for a couple of years I gave up in frustration. Fast-forward to today and the quality of budget basses now is like night and day compared to back then. I picked up the bass again last year and with a budget of around £200 (probably not much more than what I paid for the Marlin in today's money), I set out to buy a bass. I weighed up a VM Jazz against a BB414, both great basses but ended up walking off with the BB414 as it just had the edge in tone, playability and overall finish, though the VM certainly has the BB beat in looks alone. I've played a few basses since, namely MIM Jazzes and some others in the same price range as the Yamaha but I've yet to find one as good as the BB. I've only a couple of gripes with it, the lack of a blend pot or individual volume pots for the pickups limits your options a little. Also if you like to anchor your thumb most will find the P pickup too high. This has in fact been a good thing for me as it has encouraged me to use floating thumb to the point that anchoring now feels unnatural to me. You can't go wrong with a Yammy but as always, try before you buy and make sure you are comfortable with it.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='192086' date='May 5 2008, 10:24 AM']Tch tch tch......... Shouldn't that be '3 Statii' - no 's'?? Which one do I win for pointing that out? [/quote] Plural of Status is Statuses As a rule only use 'ii' if the word ends in -ius and is a second declension Latin noun, e.g radius - radii And don't let anyone fool you, the plural of octopus is octopuses and virus - viruses Ahem, coat please, the one with 'smart arse Latin nerd' on the back

[quote name='astar' post='134984' date='Feb 6 2008, 01:32 PM']Oh before I forget, I'm from the Netherlands, which some of you might have spotted due to my spelling/grammar but I'l give it my best Best wishes[/quote] Most Dutch people I've met speak and write English better than.. the English! Welkom!

As subject I'm putting the feelers out for a bass tutor in the Wrexham/Chester area, will travel as far as South Wirral or North Shropshire if necessary. Seems to be a lot of 'guitar tutors who also teach bass' around here but I'm a bit wary of them having heard some stories that the bass tuition skills of some of them are lacking. Maybe I'm wrong to be too picky but would prefer a dedicated bass tutor and would like people's opinions on this.

'ello all Well I actually made the effort and signed up. Was a BW'er for a few months before the site became defunct, hopefully this one is not disappearing anytime soon! I'm a semi-noob bassist having picked one up again in April last year when I treated myself to a new Yamaha BB414 which I'm totally happy with. No GAS! Well that was until I was eyeing up a Geddy Lee Jazz recently, mussst resssist! Now looking for a good bass tutor to put me on the right path, so if anyone knows one in NE Wales, West Cheshire or maybe South Wirral, do let me know. Oh, and if you really want an insight into the type of person I am, I like Marmite [i]and[/i] Marzipan. Expect to see that as an off-topic discussion soon.