Happy Jack

I agree with most of the posts in this thread, but it's all a bit 'black & white' where there are a few 'greys' to take into account.

While you're learning the basics, playing at home alone is essential and far from boring. In the early days, you can detect an audible improvement from week to week, sometimes from day to day, and that's immensely satisfying. Trying to play with others at this stage is more likely to embarrass you and destroy your confidence.

This situation is sufficiently recent for me that it's an easy thing for me to write about.

Once past the basics, playing at home is still valuable: to learn new songs, to learn new riffs/basslines to songs you already know, to experiment with your sound or your playing techniques, you know what I mean.

Boring? Only if you insist on endlessly repeating what you already know.

Tempted by that TSB-350. Anything I need to know before deciding whether to bid?

I actually contacted the vendor to ask if there were any chocolates in the tin.

He replied "no".

That's all.

Now THAT I like.

6-string? SIX?!

I have enough trouble playing four of the buggers ...

Aww, why not? Bump.

Piano - and I still routinely visualise the keyboard when working out certain relationships.

What a great bass - according to the advert, each neck has ITS OWN TRUSSROD, so they don't have to share one. A real category-killer ...

Is it in a hard case? If not, most Hags had a bolt-on neck - ask him to unbolt it and he should save a packet (sorry) on the postage.

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='157149' date='Mar 14 2008, 06:43 AM']Did 'Crossroads' this week, great fun.[/quote]

[i]Crossroads[/i] is a funny one for me. For some reason the only version which sounds "right" to me is the Cream version where, at the V, Jack Bruce goes E / F# / C# / A. Whenever I hear [i]Crossroads[/i] played as a straight boogie or shuffle it irritates the hell out of me.

Completely irrational, of course. No version is "better" than any other ... it's just a matter of what floats your boat.

Outstanding! Well done.

In June last year I did exactly the same thing (though a blues jam rather than jazz) and I haven't looked back since. Earlier this week one jam session invited me to join the House Band for the next few months - I've been walking on air ever since.

Keep going.

+1 on the Motown Chartbusters series. You can find them as three box sets on Amazon, or in bargain bins as well. Get 1-3 and 4-6 but don't bother with 7-12.

If you haven't bought a copy of [i]Standing in the Shadows of Motown[/i] then do it ... no really, just do it.

[i]Heard It Through The Grapevine[/i] by Marvin Gaye may be better known, but the bassline on the Gladys Knight version is absolutely THE one to play.

Is it a through-neck, do you think?

Reviving a long-dormant thread ...

Real name is ... you guessed, didn't you? I have a pretty serious grown-up sort of job where meeting the expectations of others is crucial - so I have to be boring, reliable and very po-faced.

Happy Jack is my [i]alter ego[/i] on various music and motorbike forums/websites, and is the real "me".

Hijacked my teenage daughter's unplayed bass two years ago and started learning, as part of my carefully-designed midlife crisis, and have become steadily more obsessive about playing and improving.

Realised early on that I loved vintage basses and that some represented good investments. Now have an extensive collection of vintage Hofners (1958-71). Collecting basses is easy - it just takes money. Playing them requires talent.

I don't usually wear a tux on stage. It was Xmas.

I live just down the road from CrazyKiwi's converted power station but I haven't seen him in Carluccio's yet.

[quote name='Sibob' post='151287' date='Mar 4 2008, 07:58 PM']Lets try for an altogether better and definitly more musical application of the technique:
[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-wxurZAFJWA"]Adam Nitti[/url]

Si[/quote]

Yeh, well it's always easier when you look at your hands, innit?

You'll find that near impossible without two basses - one strung with flatwounds (1952 - 65) and the other with roundwounds (1965 - date).

You'll never get near the sound of Macca on a Hofner violin bass or Jamerson's P-bass without flatwounds.

Bump #3.

It's a bit harsh, describing her as a "massive maple corpus", but that's German bluntness for you ...

Two dislocated, one broken ... tell me you're not playing bass again! Give 'em a chance, mate.

Jon, why not just contact your local Customs and ask them?

In my experience, these guys only get nasty if they catch you trying something on. If you approach them and ask their advice, they're invariably as helpful as can be.

Didn't some guy try that in Market Rasen the other night?

Be prepared to shop around A LOT to find the right courier. You're looking at >£50 whatever you do, and quotes will range right up to £200. I kid you not. And check when they quote if they're including the VAT!

Make sure you have accurate measurements. They'll want to know LxDxH plus weight, and if your measurements are significantly off they WILL come back to you.

Depending on the bass, consider taking the neck off. You'll get a much smaller and cheaper parcel, but possibly a less happy buyer.

Bump #2.

GAK sell it new for £224 at the moment. If you want a hardcase to go with it, that's another £42.

£150 BiN + £60 postage. I don't think so.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='148343' date='Feb 28 2008, 12:10 PM']I was just implying that if you placed a dead rabbit under the front of your cab to angle it back, you'd be able to [color="#FF0000"][b]hare [/b][/color]yourself better, that's all mate.[/quote]

Homer, was that deliberate? You should be ashamed of yourself ...