Manwithvan

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Some years ago I was in two bands: I was the weakest in the jazz band, and the strongest in the blues band. Both were fun to be fair, but the jazz band involved much less hard work!

The ‘drummers from hell’ stories remind me of one guy we tried many years ago. He stared fixedly at my right arm (I was on rhythm guitard), and hit something only when I did. He didn’t do count-ins of course. btw OP I too have the same metronome, but unless tilted, it seems to swing slightly. it could be me?

There’s plenty to like about Rick Beato’s videos. No ‘fun’ graphics or visual puns, no pretence of cool. Just dense information and loads of enthusiasm.

Now which Yamaha is this? Maybe my old Motion B, or a modern RBX?

No-one has fessed up to this bad judgment yet, but as a teenager in the early 70s I hated Motown. At the time I believe I thought Deep Purple were at the embodiment of good taste. Wrong on both counts.

I'd say try a short scale, yet I think not having to stretch the fingers so much across the frets is not so important as keeping the fretting hand closer to the body. But I'd choose with care. There's a lot of other factors that can cause pain. My favourite wrist-friendly neck is on a 34" Chris Larkin bass. It's P-bass width, 45mm at the nut, and of baseball bat dimensions. The fattest neck I play, but it's asymmetric and fits my quite small hands so that the wrist is straight in most positions. The Squier Jag SS neck feels like a pencil by comparison, and although it's 'easier' to play in some ways, it will never feel as comfortable.

About strings, Rick Beato has published a few YouTube videos saying why he thinks the lightest produce the best overdriven tone. He prefers 8s over 9s. More mids, I think.

I dislike playing with a pick. And I don't like flats either. But together they seem to make sense.

It was also only 50p!

Yeah probably! But I had noticed this listing with three days to go and it was already at £295 with at least five bidders over £200

So my silver one will struggle to make £100?

I thought this didn’t quite qualify for eBay weird & wonderful, but I did find it weird. Why did this ordinary Jaguar get bid up to £395? (I might have one for sale!) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-SQUIRE-JAGUAR-BASS-GUITAR-SHORT-SCALE/233855582184?_mwBanner=1&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11010.m1951.l7534%2F7%3Feuid%3Db432c118186341c68923b0d8693d4324%26bu%3D43413767321%26ut%3DRU%26segname%3D11010%26crd%3D20210121102803%26osub%3D-1~1%26ch%3Dosgood%26loc%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F233855582184%26sojTags%3Dbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cch%3Dch%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Curl%3Dloc%2Cosub%3Dosub%26srcrot%3De11010.m1951.l7534%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3D26aad3391770ac3d5ed0e306ffd74818&ul_noapp=true&pageci=ee34a7d6-1f2d-464c-85b8-acd820eed0be#vi__app-cvip-panel

I was taught never to play an open string (but not much maths, clearly!)

A fiver usually means extra weight, uncomfortably wide fingerboard, uncomfortably narrow string spacing, even extra expense, and all for the sake of four extra notes! A poor trade off, many would say. But you can play R - 3 - 5 - 7 - 11 - 13 in one position. And if you want to do that, you NEED one.

I think it's partly because of the investment in time or even elbow grease that's often needed (instead of money!). By the time the bass is functioning properly, it's personal. I've sold perfectly good higher end guitars (Sandberg, US Fender) ahead of some old bangers which owe me too much effort.

Jermaine Jackson? Many people must think he recorded some famous Motown bass lines.

One example where sustain is very useful is when playing a line originally written for a bowed double bass. An orchestra I play with has plenty of such numbers when fast decaying notes just doesn't work.