Chest Rockwell

I did post this in the Geddy thread but figured it might be more useful in a thread of its own, as it's a general 'get used to your new bass'/learn new techniques type deal... ----- it's funny everyone talks about how thin the neck is cos im having problems getting my hands around it!! I just managed to snag one from Ebay for £421, pretty much mint, cos i wanted to Fender up and get a nice tone and smooth neck. 'bout time I upgraded I thought. Everything's great on it, but with the slightly wider frets and slightly wider spacing between strings, I'm finding I cant play it too low down (when standing) as I can only just get my hand round the fretboard, like, I can't reach the E string on the 14th fret or above... not that I would much, but it's nice to have coverage. And I have fairly big hands! The bass is too heavy, weight-wise, to have high up, and thats not my style anyway (Rock, maaan ). My old Aria Pro II SLB, only bass I've had since I was 18, has a thin neck too and I dont have any problems getting around it. Seems like it's got a slightly fatter rounded edge than the Geddy, which may have 'trained' my fret hand to 'cup' around it. now that there's no cup since the Geddy is a little flatter, maybe my hand is missing that support? practice practice... It's starting to make me question my 'style', for what it is, as I tend to use a pick to get that specific attack sound, but seems like fingers are more natural or 'real' on a bass this size. if it's higher i feel like im playing it like a guitar and i hate it when guitarists pick up a bass and play it like a guitar. im a bass guy, not a guitarist. ew! but fingers bring up the pickup sound, the string spacing now what im used to... arg! I really hope I dont fall out of love with this Geddy due to an inability to play it naturally unless it's above my waist! It sounds awesome though, when I do crank it, with a tiny little extra from a Big Muff pedal, it has plenty of scope for a crunching powerful bass sound. Guys in 'the band' were both impressed with it and it was nice to sit back and go 'right, there she is, lets play...' I wondered about starting a thread about this as Im sure it's a common thing, playability, height,

it's funny everyone talks about how thin the neck is cos im having problems getting my hands around it!! --- Started a new thread on this as it covers more ground than just the Geddy... (which I just got on ebay for £421 and sounds great to me!!)

cheers

Hi, thought I'd better say hi as I post very occasionally. I'm just in the market for a new bass and never been a gear head and dont really know what's out there. I'm 36, live in Cardiff and have the same Aria Pro II SLB that I bought with money I had for my 18th birthday! I've just started a new band in the stoner rock/doomy riffing kinda vein and im after a nice easily playable bass with a nice tone and character to it. and no I dont even know what that means. I just got a Big Muff pedal which I'll be testing out Monday at volume. rather excited... I'm a Metalhead through and through. Came up on Thrash and Maiden, etc and still love it, though I'll argue the merits of the first two Duran albums, Michael Jackson's good stuff and a lot of old skool Rap! I do find 80% of basses hideous looking I must say! Headless basses just too much! Anyways I think I've settled on a Geddy Lee Fender, played a bunch of Fenders at a local guitar shop and that just felt really good, just above the Highway One. Fender based on the rep and tone I've heard. They're like nearly £800 in the shop, £700 online and £4-600 2nd hand, if I can find an un-dinged one that someone'll actually sell me and that I can retrieve easily! I'll likely lurk as you guys are way above me, but this site is pretty cool and I like the vibe. so yep, Hi! Neal.

[quote name='witeter' post='701482' date='Jan 5 2010, 12:31 PM']Hi guys sorry to add this onto this post, but i thought id try and increase my chances of getting the attention of any bassists in the cardiff area we are a band who are looking for a bassist to complete our lineup (we have a drummer, 2 guitars and 1 vocalist). We play heavy rock/metal style music with influences ranging from Metallica, Opeth, Inflames,etc. We have a female vocalist which adds a melodic dimension to our music. We currently try to rehearse weekly and are enjoying the creative processs of coming up with new songs. Our next aim is to start gigging and thats where we need YOU! lol So if anyone is interested or would like to hear some songs let me know. Thanks Chris[/quote] Hi Chris, you should try SouthWalesMassive, plenty of musicians/local kids on there. Not my thing personally. At all (Heavy Doom Riffs only, melody is for softies )