2004gdavi

At my school there was no music teacher but the art teacher was interested in music so set up a band and ran classes. I found out years later that he had played keyboard in a group called "Band of Joy" along with somebody called Robert Plant and another guy John Bonham. Not sure if they had much success thereafter.. ha ha. Anyway this meant music was very forward thinking and not the typical school band of the time. I start on double bass and then got the hande down electric bass. A Rossetti with a very narrow neck, out of tune frets and falling apart - not the greatest of basses. Still I wish I had it now. Happy days.

I've had a couple of scares with eBay but provided you've played by the eBay rules you should be okay. I had paid £400 for a guitar which didn't turn up and received a refund via eBay as I had paid by PayPal. My only gripe was that if they had acted straight away when I asked them to they may have caught the b***er who had stitched me up.

I've also seen that Bruce's Wal bass is on eBay as well. Im a fan of the Jam and Wals but £7500 starting price is just too rich for me.

My first bass cost me £15 and though it was a bit nasty I sort of wish I still have it. I now play some high end stuff, Alembic and Wal, but have found reasonable performance from a Squire precision special and even a Ministar bass. At the end of the day its down to personal preferrence and how you choose to spend your money. Having said that the only way you'll take my Wal from me is out of my cold dead hand.

I was so taken with the series that I bought the companion book. Not as good as watching the series though. Some of the musicians involved are associated with the current Rockschool grade exams.

Hi Having read the comments here there is obviously much to consider and buying an Alembic is a big step. For my part I've been over 40 years without an Alembic until this year and that's 40 years too long. I now have a SCD, which I was introduced to by Loz (many thanks). Since I've had it I've gigged with it several times in a variety of different styles of music. For each of these occasions it has performed admirably. It's a delight to play and begs to be played. One day I hope to be good enough to do it the justice it deserves but until then I'll just enjoy the ride. Sure it was a lot of cash but if there's one thing I've learned is that you only live once and to seize the day. I can't say that an Alembic will be to everyone's taste but for me, in the words of Edith Piaf, 'je ne regrette rien'.

It's the beauty of playing bass - you can fit in with all sorts of styles. But whatever the music, there's nothing like it when you dig into that big low end. Dave

Hi there everyone I'm new to sites like this but thought it would be good to join a community and you can't get better than bass players. I'll tell you a bit about myself. I started playing orchestral double bass more years ago than I care to remember. Whilst at high school I got my first bass guitar - a Rossetti for £15 - and it was crap and I sold it shortly afterwards. Since then I moved through a series of basses until I settled on a 1978 Fender Precision fretless and a Jaydee GA24, which was custom built for me in 1987. I've played in orchestras and groups but mostly in big bands. I used to play regularly until about 15 years ago when I stopped due to family commitments. As my children are now much older I'm now playing again and enjoying every minute. Having taken such a break it's amazing to see how much things have changed - in the industry, through technology and the wealth of information now available (including this site). Mostly these things are for the better but I do have my doubts about the kareoke programmes on the old goggle box. Other than the basses mentioned I have a double bass, Fender Jazz fretless, Ashbory bass and Hagstrom 8 string (if you haven't tried one of these then give it ago). I also play guitar, but not very well, and have a Fender Strat and Ibanez something or other. For amplification I have my trusty old Trace Elliot 15 inch combo with a bright box of 4X5 inch speakers and GP11 graphic. I've also got a PJB briefcase for practice and and Orange Terror Bass amp with 2X10 cab for something a bit different. Thankfully my son also plays bass so the equipment can be used there as well. However, he's building his own collection of guitars. I hope this has given an insight and I look forward to reviewing the site in the future. Keep on spreading the word of the Bass All the best Dave

New to basschat today and to learn of this - very sad. Thanks for creating something for me to aspire to. Remebered as the legacy goes on. Dave