knirirr

Yesterday I took a trip to the physiotherapist with both DB and BG. This revealed that part of the problem is when playing BG (or guitar) seated; the position of my right shoulder is drawn backwards such that it causes pain to go down the arm after a few minutes. For the moment, practicing standing up will be required until I can work out a good seated position, perhaps with a proper stool (something that can fold to go to jams & gigs).

Thanks for the replies. For some reason I didn't get any notifications and only spotted them whilst browsing. This could well be something other than bass (I certainly spend plenty of time on a computer) but it's currently not clear what.

Indeed, I am currently in the queue to see a specialist at some unknown time in the future. I might drop in to the local physio again, just in case. Good to hear that the gym worked for you!

I hope this is a suitable place to post the following; I think it is probably related to DB playing, though there may be other factors. Currently, I'm having a bit of trouble with both elbows; pain in particular when having the elbows bent for a few minutes, e.g. the right elbow when playing a bass guitar, and also some general fatigue and loss of grip strength in both arms making it harder to play upright for longer periods. The local physiotherapist thought this was all in the forearm causing referred pain to the elbow. Unfortunately, the exercises they recommended have not helped. I contacted my GP but there will be a wait for any further assistance, and it's unclear how long. Perhaps the DB is the cause, given that it's a repetitive activity that will give the hands and forearms a lot of work. I've already got light strings (Evah Pirazzi) and I'm not sure what else could work. A week or so ago the local luthier had a look and told me that what was needed to reduce the tension was shooting the fingerboard so they could improve the action. This made the instrument a little easier to play but produced unpleasant buzzes and rattles. Reducing these requires raising the action again... In any case, whatever it is is making double bass more tiring to play and guitar (bass or otherwise) painful. When I had lessons I don't recall any issue with my technique, though I might book another lesson just to check on that. Perhaps it needs someone with relevant medical knowledge to take a look at my posture, though. Has anyone else experience elbow issues like this? Do you have any thoughts if so?

A couple of 45 minute sets to an audience who appreciate some hard bop, ideally in the afternoon so I can get away for a decent dinner and a few beers afterwards (no drinking and playing!). Some pay is nice but the top requirement is that the venue staff appreciate the musicians and we don't have any hassle about load in/out, some refreshments etc. etc. Playing at the Rose & Crown in Oxford is good, but they don't have many openings.

What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road? At the time I had been playing guitar in a big band; this sort of thing, though nowhere near as well, of course. I noticed the following things: 1. Playing jazz was what I wanted to do. 2. Bass looked more and more tempting. 3. I sucked at guitar and would never sound like my then favourite players. When I moved away and could no longer play with that band it was a good opportunity to switch. I could not afford a DB or lessons, but saw an advert in a magazine for Encore's fretless P-bass (E83), which was something I could afford. I'd not heard of fretless bass guitars at the time and assumed they must be for jazz.

I have done that from time to time. These days I usually use a TC Electronics BAM 200 and it's 50/50 if I'll plug my bass into the headphone socket and wonder why there's no sound.

Another tier 2 fail - new tailpiece for the guitar shown, plus a new guitar pickup. Still no new bass purchases, though.

If you would like a horror story then there's one horn player I recall who emailed 15 minutes before we were due to start the set (he lived over 30 minutes' away) to say that he had been feeling a little unwell all day and had now decided that he wasn't up to dong the gig. As we were heavily reliant on said horn player to pad things out with lots of soloing, this was a bit of a pain. "They all tend to arrive 5 minutes before downbeat and leave 5 minutes after" seems right to me. I wonder if I'd do the same if I had an easy instrument to carry (probably not). Reading ability amongst the ones I know varies; most are better than me at reading and most (usually saxophonists) are good at improvisation. I recall seeing a discussion on a trombone forum where a trombonist asked why saxophonists were always so much better at improvising. One answer appeared to be than when it came to a practice session the saxophonists were ready to start noodling away after 5 minutes of adjusting their reed, and so got more practice at it than trombonists, who would have to spend 30 minutes warming up with long tones etc. to get the best out of their instrument (I don't know if this is true). If they've played any jazz then they should be happy with taking a break when they're not soloing.

I use nothing but flats myself, for both the tone and the feel. From what I hear in a jazz context an electric bass with rounds doesn't sound right and gets in the way (though others may disagree), but it's probably quite different in other genres. To answer the question - pedals. Over the years I have tried various ones, e.g. reverb, wah, fuzz because I thought I ought to but always end up discarding them and plugging straight into the amp.

Some from Oxford: Blackwell's, which used to be a good place to go for sheet music. Later, it became a discount bookshop and then a restaurant. Now it's part of Wadham college. ABC, where I got my first decent bass amp (Trace Eliot BLX130) in 1994. Later a Threshers, then Sainsbury's, now to be demolished. Russell Acott, old location shown here when they had moved out of the centre and the site had been taken over by All Bar One. I never got around to visiting after they moved and it's too late now.

Sound Control in Dundee; I bought a Gibson Flying V there in the early 90s (worn out and so "cheap") and it was a source for tutorial books, accessories etc. when I was an undergraduate there. They closed fairly recently after spending years under another name: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/money/14363301/music-store-to-shut-after-20-years-dundee/

My other half (brass bands) informs me that bandsmen consider anyone whose brass instrument (inc. saxophones) isn't silver or brass lacquer to be a coxcomb. The pro jazz players I know use them and they play very well, though I realise that this issue isn't going away. Eventually, there will be complaints about those performers who have iReal project chord charts into their peripheral vision via smart glasses or ocular implants. An irrational prejudice of mine is against acoustic guitarists who confuse their preference for performances where the audience sit in silence listening to Dylan covers for a universal truth that the acoustic guitar has a pure, clean and true sound, unlike nasty electric guitars which sound bad and are always too loud (so if your genre uses them you should switch genre). Though I generally avoid them they end up living rent free in my head.

Amongst the jazz pianists some I know take pains to practice rootless chord voicings, given that the roots are the bassist's job, as well as playing more sparsely. Playing with these pianists is great. Others play as if they are playing for themselves and/or a singer, and leave all the roots in, which is less fun and muddies things up. I recall one at a jam telling me that he hadn't got any charts, but I could just watch his left hand to find out what all the roots of the chords were...

Some developers near where I live have had a planning application to build houses accepted where the directly adjacent neighbour is the shooting club. Next to the chaps firing rifles (and not just .22) there are the Rugby and football clubs. I suspect there will be a few noise complaints once those houses are built. Before moving I took a few late walks through the area and asked locals; the conclusion was that it was a quiet area. What I didn't discover was the plans to build a hotel nearby, with my street being on the quickest route back for hotel guests who've been trying the local pubs. New windows have dealt with most of the nuisance from that.

Never had a strap fail (yet) though I did once enjoy something like this on stage at a jam:

At present I've only got this: I'd quite like another fretless but I almost always end up playing double bass these days so it seems a bit of an extravagance (and I will be knocked out of the gear abstention challenge). This one (with Villex pickups) also crosses over with the fake Fender decals thread... Taking the neck off reveals a "Fender" stamp due to it being licensed (the body's from the same source). The decal (easily removable) is only there for the "well, you didn't bring a proper bass but at least that electric one's a Fender" crowd.

I will admit to having been compared to Mr. Tickle, but I'm afraid that in this case I cheated, as my best bass is this:

Number of strings: 4 Number of frets : 28 Scale length: 41.5" Number of pickups: 1 Number of controls (switches/knobs): 0

I sold mine (eventually) via this forum, during one of the lockdowns, for a lot less than the £404 I paid for it in 1994. Though it never failed to provide sufficient volume I definitely don't regret selling it; the weight was far too much.

This is certainly an unusual-looking instrument: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116684725531 I wonder if the lack of frets near the top was simply because it's too hard to reach that part of the neck. The same chap has a Roland Cube of the sort jazz guitarists like, but this one is filthy: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116691148146

Year Started Playing : 1993 Number of basses : 4 Music Theory : 7 (*) Technique : 3 Groove : 5 Swing: 7 (nice!) (*) I think my theory sucks, but I did manage ABRSM grade 5 (classical) and understand jazz chords so this score will perhaps suffice.

I'm not sure about any other genre but in the jazz world there are more bass solos than one could ever need. I even use the bow for some and yet the solos keep happening.

In Chipping Norton there's a "community piano" provided by the town council for the use of the general public. They even tune it from time to time and most of the keys work! This afternoon we used it to do a bit of busking as a means to promote the local jam session. A recording of Blue Bossa (a well-known jazz standard often used at jams) can be heard here. The public passing by seemed to like it; a few compliments were received and around £19 and four cans of beer were dropped into one of the drummer's cases. A nearby bakery offered free pies/cakes which the pianist was pleased to accept. The only passer-by who appeared less than fully pleased was one who commented that we needed a guitar in the band (we don't agree).