TinRoofCeilidh

Thanks to Bass Tractor for explanation of gaugeless strings. For 1 second you even had me going on Air Bass before I clicked......... Just goes to show you can't fool an old man ALL of the time. Are there any books you can recommend on playing air bass? John

As a beginner on bass 2 years ago (at 65 then), I think you youngsters need to reconsider your use of the word "old". I did consider starting an "arthritis" thread on this forum but decided against. Happy playing John

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1337879827' post='1666949'] Hi John, Welcome to BC! As another noob and old git, I learn a lot from the people here, so I'm confident that you will too. Can't recommend gaugeless strings highly enough! best, bert [/quote] Hi Bert thanks for the welcome. I didn't start playing sax until I was 40; now here I am at 67 starting on bass! I shall keep taking the tablets and hope for enough time to get good!! What are "gaugeless strings"? please. regards John

[quote name='shaundixon666' timestamp='1337863313' post='1666545'] Welcome to the forum mate We all have to start somewhere and once upon a time everyone on here was in the same place you are now. A very exciting place in my opinion. So much to learn and so much fun to have along the way [/quote] Hi Shaun (and the number of the beast is 666........etc etc....) Sounds scary and you are only just up the road in Newcastle! Many thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward both to developing as a bass player and meeting more people on this forum. Regards John

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1337863006' post='1666536'] Welcome, John! I agree with Bremen re the D'Addario Chromes. Smooth to the fingers but bright in sound, which to me is the best of both worlds. They work fine on fretless and fretted basses, including 5-stringers. Feel free to ask for any bass- and amp-related advice on here, as the community is infinitely helpful and patient - they surely have been with me, for one, from the start! [/quote]Hi Bluejay thanks for the welcome and advice. As I said to Bremen, I will give the "clangy" Rotosound Jazz strings a while to see if I get used to them. I'm always wary of swapping things around as a beginner when I scarcely know my basic scales yet - I teach sax and warn my students not to go out and buy a new mouthpiece until they can play the instrument reasonably well so I will try to follow my own advice. however, next time around I will certainly have a look at the D'Addarios. Good to hear that you have found the forum helpful and patient - I look forward to swapping more ideas. regards John

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1337858359' post='1666424'] Welcome John. If you like groundwound on your fretless (and I do) there's no reason not to use them on your 'ordinary' bass, unless you specifically want a zingy clangy sound. For what it's worth I love the feel and sound of D'Addario Chromes (flatwound) on my fretted Precision. welcome to BC [/quote] I've learnt something already! I thought groundwound were for fretless only. Thanks for the advice. The strings that came with the fretted 5 string are (apparently) Rotosound Jazz ones which sound incredibly clangy at the moment but I'm giving them a while as I'm only used to the smooth groundwound sound. I have noted your recommendation for D'Addario Chrome for next time around. best wishes John

greetings all, Having been a sax player for decades, I've recently (2 years ago) got myself (ebay) a Westone fretless (comes with fretted neck as well) which I love playing and then, within the last few weeks, a 5 string Warwick Streamer LX (a long way to go to get to terms with this). My sax playing has mostly been jazz and most of the bass players I've worked with have been into Stanley Clark, Jaco Pastorius, Gary Willis etc. I have far more modest amibitions and am happy to start off in any musical genre to develop my playing. As a beginner with basses, I am almost completely ignorant about the technicalities - e.g. I have no idea about gauge / type of bass strings and the effects on sound and feel. For my fretless, I have been using groundwound and like that but for my fretted I've no idea where to start. Any advice about information on this site would be gratefully received. I'm based in northeast of England. am retired and very keen to develop some bass playing skills before the arthritis really kicks in (!) I look forward to exchanging ideas with fellow bass players. regards John