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Music Shop bass playing


yepmop
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Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before but.....

When you go to a music shop to test out a bass/amp etc what do you play?

For me I find the music shop experience a complete and utter nightmare, I'm not sure what to play, what I do play, sounds really crap (well to me at least).

Anyone else suffer from this or similar.

Cheers

Tony

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There used to be a period in the 80's when 'Dune Tune' got played a lot (as well as the general 'slap fest').

Although I haven't been to a shop for ages, these days I'd play scales up and down the neck to get the feel of a 'new' instrument, rather than play a particular tune. If you're into playing a particular style, I'd recommend trying that.

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Apparently it's compulsory to perform a whirlwind of slapping that sounds like an explosion in a cutlery factory... :D

Seriously though, I don't try out gear in shops. There's no way of telling what it's going to sound like until it's played in a band context. Alex Claber at Barefaced offers a One Month Free Trial, which is a great idea.

[url="http://barefacedbass.com/why-barefaced.htm"]http://barefacedbass...y-barefaced.htm[/url]

Edit: *zero9 got in before me!* :)
[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited by discreet
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[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1357912165' post='1930453']
I play really hard stuff to show everybody what a badass I am. I do it every weekend because showing everybody what a badass I am is the most important part of my involvement in music.
[/quote]

Haha! So YOU'RE the 14-year old kid who goes into the music shop and harasses the staff to let him try (show off on) the vintage Rickenbackers...

But yes, I'm much the same as Jellyfish; my default setting seems to be to dance up and down the neck in a pentatonic scale. Or a minor if I'm feeling flash. (Though if anyone else is trying a bass at the same time I have been known to get childish and wheel out the Bach or the Grieg.)

Edited by EliasMooseblaster
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[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1357912313' post='1930457']
i have a complete mental blank and forgot every song i know, so i end up playing my own bands stuff.. using the logic that its what i will play most with the instrument so would be a good test
[/quote]

Generally this and a walking bass line which was one of the first things I ever learnt.

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My band's stuff (Some of them have some technical sections too so i can show off with them if i want) as well as some of the stuff i like to play, whatever comes into my head at that moment in time. I've played the Braveheart and Ghostbusters theme tunes often too, no idea why. The best experience i actually had was trying a guitar with a friend. There was another guy on the opposite side of a pillar testing a PRS and i decided to join in with the song he was playing (Trivium's Dying In Your Arms). Sat there for 4 minutes and played through the entire song with a guy i couldn't even see.

Liam

Edited by LiamPodmore
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Usually just play two octave scales or Sailor's Hornpipe (starting at the octave on the G string) when trying a bass (note I'm in Portsmouth) and those two and 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' when trying amps - the latter is good because it needs a fair bit of definition and is a good low-down (not as in badass :-)) workout for the speaker.

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[quote name='yepmop' timestamp='1357911580' post='1930435']
Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before but.....

When you go to a music shop to test out a bass/amp etc what do you play?

For me I find the music shop experience a complete and utter nightmare, I'm not sure what to play, what I do play, sounds really crap (well to me at least).

Anyone else suffer from this or similar.

Cheers

Tony
[/quote]
Is that why Rimmer is you're profile pic! ;)

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It's even worse when you get to my age, I look like an elderly gent who's mistaken the music shop for the local library.

Things get even worse when handed an instrument, my mind goes a complete blank.
A bit of fumbling around a blues riff at best which coupled with fact that many basses are virtually unplayable off the shelf makes the whole thing a complete nightmare.

I could play a three hour set with my covers band but fail to impress miserably in the music shop which I find a far more daunting experience .

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[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1357916002' post='1930555']
open e for half an hour, 4 to the bar 15 bpm, then A, then D, then G.

Repeat until somebody throws you out.....
:)
[/quote]

The advantage of this is you can fend them off with your left hand at the same time...good for about twenty minutes, which is usually how long it takes for the bloke with the tranquilliser gun to arrive...

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This is where a shop like Absolute Music in Bournemouth is useful. They have 4 dedicated rooms to go and try and instruments (only one with bass amps in it) so you can sit and play anything you want without any feeling of nerves/stressing out what to play coming in.

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If I see a bass I might like and it look interesting, I might give it a closer look to see whether I could even play it.
If I can play it..then I might go through a few motions, but if it is going to be any sort of struggle, I put it straight back.
As for what I play..?? whatever comes into my head which will probably be a few default exercises that I am
going through at the time

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[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1357916002' post='1930555']
open e for half an hour, 4 to the bar 15 bpm, then A, then D, then G.

Repeat until somebody throws you out.....
:)
[/quote]

That'll explain the sign in most Devon music shops that has your picture on it with "DO NOT LET THIS MAN IN!" written underneath then.

:)

Edited by Marvin
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[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1357922721' post='1930722']
Shake a tail feather, then gradually the whole street joins in
[/quote]

Genius.

Another blanker here, same as soundchecks, then it's comedy bassline time, Good Times, Under Pressure, You Can't Touch This etc

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