Richard R

They put up with me at the 2019 Midlands Bash! Everyone genuinely welcome 😁 Though I was too scared to go and embarrass myself on the green Shuker Uberhorn, I did at least play simple scales on a couple of others.

There seems to be a lot of goodwill towards the HB kits over on the build diaries. @stewblack has a couple of HBs and can tell you what the necks are like.

The horrid bits bits of wire? Make a funny clanking noise and the instrument sounds better without them? They're called strings.

A bit of a chill time before the rest of the day, having already been up since before 6. https://music.stevelawson.net/album/the-best-of-steve-lawson-pt-1-solo-2000-2013 All from one bass, with loopers and pedals.

Oooh, about 2 years & six months. I had been off work with 'flu and it hammered me for a week or so then another week woozy and surfacing afterwards. During which time I must have wandered disorientedly about eBay because the next week I started getting odd "Recommended for you" emails from them. The oddest one was " Non working 5 string bass in Worthing, Sussex", which was so funny at the time I shared it will friends at work. One friend said, "well I have an unused bass, I'll bring it in and you can have a noodle if you're actually interested", and rocked up the next day with an Aria Sinsonido silent travel bass. So I messed about with this for a couple of days, then asked the best bassist at church to show me some basics. He taught me a simple riff and said "Yep, you can do this, I'll teach you". So I bought a used bass online and have never looked back. Sadly Kev died a couple of months after I bought my bass but I will forever be grateful for his initial enthusiasm and encouragement. I'm still too slow round the fretboard and my timing is a bit ropey, but I can follow the chart through a worship song, play more interesting lines than I used to, and am making progress. And enjoying myself even though I'm not in any band at present.

And since nobody is allowed into the office these days you probably won't. Unless Andy has a photocopier at home?

This may be old news to many of you, but I hadn't realised it. Scott Devine has been running a long series of interviews with notable bass players. If you're an academy member then the videos are in there, but the audio recordings are available to anyone as podcasts at https://scottsbasslessons.com/podcast They are really interesting, not at all manic, and well worth a listen. I've never heard of some of these guys and girls, but then have gone on to get their albums. Others I have heard of like Mo Foster and Gail Ann Dorsey, but don't really know anything about them.

What?? Does that happen in real life??

- a deer, a female deer, Ray - a blind soul-singing bloke. I uses to have an FEA programme stashed away somewhere, but it was on 3.5" floppies and wouldn't run on any current O/S. However a quick google search shows up loads of free and open source options. Need to wait until I have a working pc though.

Just looking at my bass and thinking- that's the best impulse purchase I have ever made and the best £250 I have ever spent 😊 (Cost does not include subsequent purchases of strings, gig bag, tuner, metronome, pedal and amp.)

Slightly off topic, but I do remember a bunch of the fourth formers forming a band called Stoned Leech. I have no memory of whether they were any good or not, but I do remember the name.

Yet another who didn't learn much in music lessons, but all I ever wanted to study was physics, so music didn't even last beyond the second form. According to my reports I was good at theory, and I remember a lesson on tonic triads (why that one???). I also briefly tried the trombone, but the lessons at lunchtime with a teacher who had obviously wet his whistle in the pib beforehand were unpleasant. Beery, smelly trombone noises from his side of the room. Trying not to vomit noises from mine.🤢🤮

Sounds excellent, here's hoping it works out! Three of my best friends from school all independently moved down that way. Nice part of the world.

Don't rush and overdo it. You wouldn't suddenly decide to run 10K if you hadn't done any running for the last 20years, and it would hurt like hell if you did and you would injure yourself. Fingers are the same as legs, just smaller and they have to move faster. Hard to do these days, but a real bass teacher is the best thing for starting.The online resources are good if you can sort the wheat from the chaff. Check out StudyBass.com (free) for a really solid foundation including technique, theory, avoiding injury and all sorts. A good complement to learning tunes you like. Scotts Bass Lessons has a good video on warm up somewhere as well. His style is marmite, but I like it and evntually coughed up the £100/year for the paid for stuff. Just to encourage you: I started 2 and a bit years ago aged 51. I still consider I am a hopeless beginner, and I don't practice anywhere near enough. However I can hack my way through a worship song and not embarrass myself of the band, I can make up basslines that aren't just roots and fifths, and am thoroughly enjoying myself. Most students over estimate what they can learn in a week or two, but underestimate where they could be in a year. Happy days!

Only the imported American ones. The homegrown variety are a bit delicate. Back to the topic: @Dom in Dorset, do you sell these basses as part of the piano refurb business, or make them just for your own enjoyment?

New, Original, Unbreakable and Shatterproof. What's not to like?

Last time I played with a band I couldn't quite get the timing right for one song, so the BL and I stayed after to go through it. At one point I said something like " Ah, it goes like this.." and sang the part. He looked at me and just said "You're no singer are you." Which then cracked me up because it was totally deadpan, not a joke, and completely accurate. It's now a catchphrase:-)

On this song do NOT try to swing your bass around by the lead like Roger Daltrey used to to with his microphone. Otherwise that howl of pain and rage will be from the bandmate who gets your bass in the back of his head!!

Must have been that 🙃 Later stuff is better. I must have bought the earlier stuff as exploring the catalogue. In the days before you could use Spotify to cheat.

Welcome aboard! Three Little Birds is the classic reggae learner piece 🙂 I bought my practice amp from here, a better amp second hand than I would have bought new for the same money. Check out the market place - but promise yourself you will NOT buy another bass until you can play the one you have!

Finished the Yes collection, now playing early Neil Young. He was/is an awful singer and wrote depressing dirges. Anyone know why I bought these????

I hadn't heard that one before. Nevermind, I have now.

I can't offer useful advice, but it does sound like a fantastic gig. Congratulations 👏 👏

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-Wood-Guitar-Bass-Pick-Plectrum-Case-Box-Container-Holds-4pcs-Picks/254102905719 But it is solid wood. And heart-shaped.