DaveAlex_ZAR

Your right synthaside.... who needs it translated, whats important is that it works. and its good to know its a Belarus. Your right about sitting down with it Paul. I'll take it on stage... in a wheel chair

Thanks Cato, I think thats where he is at at the moment, I'm just conscious that when I moved from playing by myself in my apartment to actually playing with others... it was almost like I had to start over in a way. Theres probably no easy answer.,

So.. my son has been mucking about with one of my basses for a few years on and off, basically working out Green Day patterns and the like, but he has no knowledge of theory, chord construction etc. I have put a few wall charts up for him that have a fretboard map, scales and arpeggios, and we sit and go through some things and the question arose.... Where do you actually start? Which got me thinking that when I was playing the six string , I started the same way... trying to string together a few chords, some tabs and copying what I heard on the radio, I only really got into theory, patterns and progressions when I started playing in a band and that was because I needed to know how to stay in key (or else). Cut a long story short, I've been on the web and theirs a minefield of instructional material and videos and all sorts supposedly telling us what to do but without wasting money, time and effort on putting him in the wrong direction. If I was to clean the slate on his ability and treat the project as a fresh lump of clay, where would you more experienced players start to mold.

I had the Commie Bass plugged in this morning, just on a Peavey practice amp and an overdrive pedal. Didn't sound terrible but the thickness of the neck is so damn noticeable. Just ran a few riffs and scales up and down to check I had the tone better. For £60, I reckon I can practice with it and it will be a good conversation piece when my mates come about. Thanks again for your help Bassassin

Thanks for the comments Bassassin, it got me thinking that perhaps its not a Borisov, but is connected with Belarus. So switched the Google search over and low and behold..... on Reverb its listed (without a picture) as a Belarus Bass, In production from 1993-1997 only 3000 ever made. https://reverb.com/uk/news/guide-to-soviet-era-guitars WHich lead me to an obscure picture of the head of a bass.... with the same cheesy writing, and the blogspot article has it all including a manual (in Russian) https://sgerasimuk.blogspot.com/2013/04/bass-guitar-belarus-1990.html Theres on for sale on ebay for $299, with $90 shipping (I paid a lot less than that, and shipping was a car drive) So unless your a collector, not sure I would recommend, but I have it set up OK.... just so damn heavy. Now I wish I could find the same on that Romaxe.,

Well, after trawling though pages and pages of useless articles (I thought Google knew everything, or is that the ex), I can find very little info about this Belarus Bass I got my paws on, the previous owner called it a borisov, but Borisov Bass comes up with something that doesn't look quite like mine. So, fellow pickers, fingerers, pluckers and slappers... anyone know any info on Belarus Bass guitars? Oh, I found what looks like a serial number (just three numbers 682)

i was just browsing the web and saw this thing on offer.... stranger the better...my neighbor fixes up guitars for spare cash, so I will try and get it sounding a bit better, intonation seems off, but the neck is straight. Its in mint condition,.

i reckon anyone that takes that to a stage will need a chiropractor after the show.... must be about a stone, and thick neck.

I have seriously gotta stop buying strange stuff.... Anyone know anything about the Belarus made Bass, the guy I bought it from calls it a Borisov, not much on the net. Action is a bit high, so will look at setting that down, but seems to hold tune and could do with new strings..... and before anyone asks... here is some pics

gotta love the Zappa version

When I was student I spent more time watching cover bands and one man shows than the traditional "plastered at the disco" which my mates loved. If the group can play and get the crowd on their side, no matter the genre, I would generally enjoy it.

NIce.

Yup, and actually am, since I left SA they had to replace me. Going back for a holiday soon, and hope to see them in action with the new bassist.

The very first gig we did was a type of charity event, we had been jamming together for about 7 or 8 months, if anyone read my intro, the genre of music is Afrikaans Boeremusiek, and in SA they locals take it very seriously. Anyway, the rhythm guitarist, Henk, hears about the gig, a local music school who teach music as well as normal subjects are having a "Review" for the 6-10 year olds on a Saturday night and were looking for some local bands to play afterwards as entertainment. He decided that if we dont gig, we never will and signed us up (to play for free) and informed us via WhatsApp. This was the Tuesday. (Have a video of some rehersal tracks, if anyone wants to poison there ears with Boeremusiek). Frantic three days of getting together a setlist, working out keys as well as an inexperienced drummer, we come to gig night. Now, first up are the kids, two sessions, packed hall full of parents, friends, teachers and community..... we go on second to open for a more established local band, and the idea being, if there is time a second set each later. So we work on a 12 song setlist, and have about 6 in the bag if needed for later. On a side-note Boeremusiek is 90% instrumental, so no singer. The kids go up, and its basically about 12 kids each with various size guitars strumming a few chord progressions, and the music teacher playing some solo stuff with them. For seasoned music lovers probably painful, but for young children they tried, so friends and family were wildly cheering after each number... Kumbaya and the like, and locals from the community who were here to see the big band later were fighting to get to the bar or plug each others ears... stray cats were no-where to be found around the hall that evening. Then we were up, started with a fast 12 Bar boogie settled in to some more traditional staff and got through about 4 songs, people dancing, got the applause, was going good.... and then.... Side-note, in the Afrikaans language the letter C.... pronounced "See-ah" can be very similar to the letter G.... pronounced "Gee-ah". As Afrikaans and Boeremusiek was not my style of choice, everytime we would play a tune, Ian on lead would shout the name of the tune to the other members, and shout the key to me, so as long as I know where the majors and minors were, I could fit in pretty well (Circle of fifths work). So Ian starts the lead intro, and myself and Willem on drums come in after 4 Bars, with Henk following.... easy.... Except... Ian shouts C.... Dave hears G.... Ian kicks off the tune, Dave and Willem kick in... Dave's out of key... Henk, who plays barre chords most of the time and follows me, hears there a fault and sees me struggling to find the key, kicks in on a minor, it sounded like 3 buskers fighting a music battle with three different tunes on a Brum street corner, and Willem just bashes the crap out the drums.... so it collapsed into silence, Ian trying to apologize on a mic. And there... from the crowd below is this 6ft square Afrikaaner, who takes his music seriously, look at us... and screams "Bring terug die kinders" (Bring back the kids) echoed by a few other drunk patrons behind. Well, we didnt get chased out... but the sorta embarrassment made sure we were faultless for the rest of the night. The fear of those purist Afrikaner music lovers made sure of that!!!

You cant unhear that.... Ever.

Thanks for the welcomes, I grew up in Middelburg, Mpumalanga (the old South Eastern Transvaal), moved over here 10 years back, but then went back to work in SA for 4 1/2 again, in the Limpopo province where I started playing in a "Boereorkes".... roughly translated, Farmers Band.

Nice gear that.

Greetings from the Midlands !!

Been lurking on a few forums, but see the benefit of chatting with others more in the know. Sorta novice/intermediate bass player, started on six-strings, brother played bass in a death metal cover band for a while but never did anything more than jam with them. Got my first bass as a gift from him, and watched it gather dust for many years until my P.A. was round at my flat and noticed it in the corner, and introduced me to her hubby who was in a band looking for a bassist, so had a crash course in "Boere-musiek" bass riffs and the circle of fifths, and found if I can stay in key I can hold a few tunes. (That was all in South Africa) Moved to the UK and brought my stuff with, busy teaching my kid how to play. Gear wise: Guitars - Academy Bass, got as a gift 20 years back, Korean I believe, blue in color. Used it on stage a lot. Does the business. Emex Romaxe, blue, £56 on e-bay, never played on stage, know nothing about the make, but sounds good through effects. (See my other post), has a free bottle opener. Rocktile Replica of the Hofner beatle bass, Christmas present, a beach to set up, had that on stage twice, needs tuning every hour, could set a clock by it. Small frets so surprisingly good to teach the kid on. Dean, 4 string acoustic bass, using that for when I cant be bothered to switch the amp on. Nice sound. Amps - 2 x no-name practice amps, one 10 Watts and one 15 watts. (£20 for both - Car boots rock) Peavey 10W practice amp, small but nice sound, that, a pedal and a crate of Carling = hours of practice fun. Fender Frontman 212 R, 100W. Good for small venues, quite powerful. Does the neighbors head in (shouldn't mow the the lawn on a Saturday then should you). Pedals / Effects Boss ODB-3 Overdrive pedal, strangely enough not really needed if you mess about on the Fender Amp iRig 2 Guitar Interface used with IPad mini and the full Amplitube app. Used this set-up on stage a bit, takes a bit of time to get used to for what you want the sound to be, but if you are playing "Boeremusic" a bit of Chorus, noise reduction and occasionally Octave is all thats needed. Surprisingly better than I thought when I bought it. Zoom BFX 708 Bass Pedal, combo unit... still messing about with this. Anyway... thats my lot Cheers D.A.

heres a better pic of the strange beast.

I think that any guitar that has the potential to assist in getting you hammered, while your hammering the strings is worth having. I have no idea how much it is worth and you have a better chance of buying chicken teeth on e-bay than finding any info on it. I bought it because it was just weird, and Its going nowhere now, teaching my kid to play and he has sparkles in the eyes for it.

Picked it up for $56 quid and it sounds pretty solid. Bottle opener is a must, cant see me picking another bass up without one.

Thats what my ex said.... On a more serious nots, a pic from the listing when i bought it, and a demo of the bottle opener.

Picked up a Emex Romaxe on e-bay for a bargain, just liked the look of it, doesnt sound bad, neck straight and holds tune well. Have just never heard of the make and Google tends to draw a blank, and was interested if anyone has. Can post a pic if someone wants to see it. Has a bottle opener on the head (and it works well) Cheers DA