Jolltax

OK, guitar Bass it is! Message received loud and clear, the good news is that you got me on day 2 so no damage done ... I realise after tuning my bass a couple of times with the free Fender app on my phone that I would probably be better off with a clip on tuner, so I ordered a Snark one today after 2 minutes research Thanks for the warm welcome, by the way J

I have never even picked up a bass before but finally plucked up the courage to fulfil a lifelong ambition (I'm 54) and bought a Sire Marcus Miller M2 from Andertons, and it arrived ..... v exciting. I also bought a guitar stand, strap and cable from Amazon. I was encouraged to post this by the nice people in the 'Introductions' group. I wanted something relatively 'budget' to learn on, I guess if I make progress I can upgrade later. Today I subscribed to the Bassbuzz online lesson programme, successfully tuned my bass and then completed my first lesson! It definitely makes bass-like noises and I am very proud of myself! I don't have an amp, my plan is to play through my Focusrite audio interface into my computer, which seems to be working OK so far. I use headphones which seem to cope quite well and sound great but unsurprisingly my 'high power' computer speakers completely crap themselves if I try and play through them, I hate the way they sound anyway so I kind of enjoy torturing them to be honest but its not an issue, I'll just use the headphones. Here are some photos of my guitar (is it OK to call it that or is it strictly a bass?), hope I haven't gone over the top. It seems sturdy and seems to work well, I am very happy with it - but if I was being hyper critical I would probably say some of the details/ finish look a bit basic - bear in mind this is the only bass I have ever held (heh) : I am a complete beginner, watching too many videos of people adjusting their guitars on YouTube has freaked me out a bit, the 'action' on my bass at the 12th fret appears to be about 3 mm - which from what I read is OK? I have also twiddled all the knobs vigorously on my er ... bass... and can definitely hear the passive / active switch, but the tone ones not so much. Anyway, I am really enjoying the whole experience so far, on Day 2, heh Hi etc! Jolltax

Will do! I am super excited about it tbh

Oops! No, I bought the 4 string, not sure why the default on the website I linked is the 5 string, sorry that was a bit misleading! 🙄 (I had a quick panic and checked my order and its deffo 4 strings - I was super paranoid about not ordering a left handed instrument by accident but forgot about the number of strings) When I get a bit of time I will try the trial for scotts bass lessons, have read a lot of good things but feel like a real human being might be a better way to start for an oldy like me. J

In the end I decided I couldn't really afford the Yamaha, and didn't want to wait as I wanted to start learning to play. After a bunch of further research I pushed the button today on a purchase of a Sire Marcus Miller M2 from Andertons, very exciting! Next question is lessons, I am hoping to get some face to face tuition once lockdown is lifted. J

After decades of humming the bass lines to tracks and never even picking up a guitar I have recently been nerding out on 'Beginner Bass' videos and reviews and like the idea of buying a Yamaha TRBX 304 - strangely difficult to find one in stock in the UK right now, for some reason. I found a teacher near me (hope he is patient!) and hope to start learning after lockdown. Am already learning a lot lurking in here. Wish me luck, and Hi! Jolltax