MarkW Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Hi all![/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Having made a few posts I thought I’d better do the decent thing and introduce myself properly. [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]So, boring bio out of the way first: I’m a 39 year old entomologist/microbiologist working in the crop protection industry, am married to the long-suffering Victoria and have two small boys.[/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]I’m a classically trained musician (piano and bassoon) and started playing bass when I was about 12, with a £99 candy red Precision copy made by a company called Image. I loved that bass, and would probably still have it if a few years down the line I hadn’t tried to make it fretless. That really didn’t work out too well. [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]After killing the P-bass I picked up a second hand Guild Pilot, which I still have. I decided to re-seat the neck a while ago, the pocket for which looked like it had been hacked out with an axe. A few careful passes with the router later and that was another goner. Well, not a goner exactly – it just needs a bit of professional attention to rectify my handiwork. [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]I also have a Cort A5, which my wife bought me about six years ago and made me promise not to tinker with in any way whatsoever. A few weeks ago I bought a 5-string Clover Avenger, and true to form I’m replacing the pick-ups and scratch-plate, so who knows what will happen there. The existing pick-ups will go into one of my little home projects, most of which are too hideous ever to see the light of day.[/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Amp-wise I finally attained my teenage ambition last year and got a Trace Elliot rig. Not the most sensible purchase really, especially considering that the head weighs as much as my 4 year old, but it was a case of finally having a justification for buying something I’d hankered after for 20+ years. And with 1200 trouser-flapping watts on tap I can instantly punish our guitarist at the first sign of any of his widdly-widdly nonsense. [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]I spent years playing in various orchestras as a youngster, and in addition to the usual teenage band thing I also played bass with a couple of big bands. After a lay-off for a few years due to relocating around the country I’m now settled in North Yorkshire and playing in a busy local band, just having fun. [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]I used to be found underwater quite a bit, being a very keen diver, but this year I decided to knock it on the head and either spend my spare time with my kids or trying to improve my bass playing. I’m also teaching myself how to record our band, and have had some great advice from folks on here already. Unfortunately I can’t offer you much in the way of bass wisdom, but if you ever need to know anything about insects, you know where to come! [/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"] [/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]All the best[/font][/color][/size] [size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Mark[/font][/color][/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 [size=4] [/size] [size=4]Glad you've decided to improve your bass playing.[/size] [size=4]The last thing you want is to spend more time with your kids! [/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoNeedsYou Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 talentless bass player.....That makes two of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Welcome to BC. You say you're talentless, but sound like you're better than me! So maybe that says something about me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hey Mark, Welcome! Nice intro you wrote, so I gather you didn't drop out of school when you first started playing the bass. I was quite a funny coincidence that you, like me, would be a classical musician as well as found underwater. In my case the latter is due to my kayaking though. Anyway, enjoy the site, and explain the bug in my bass please. best, bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbeachy1 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 [quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1359920533' post='1962099'][size=3][color=#000000][font=Calibri]And with 1200 trouser-flapping watts on tap I can instantly punish our guitarist at the first sign of any of his widdly-widdly nonsense. [/font][/color][/size][/quote] ROFL! Welcome to BC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Undead Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I enjoyed reading your intro Welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Talentless? Back of the queue, chief - take a ticket and wait till your number's called... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gub Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Welcome, good intro , enjoy your time here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Talentless? You'll be right at home here then... Welcome Mark. I'm off to South America now with my fake passport to start a new life... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leen2112 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Welcome Mark Bass blah blah blah blah.....amps blah blah blah.........picks v fingers yawn blah blah blah................... Now the real stuff.....which is bigger Pharnacia serratipes or Phobaeticus chain? I had a few when I was younger and always wanted something bigger. Cheers Leen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkW Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. This certainly seems like a nice place to spend some time. As for the [i]P. serratipes[/i] / [i]P. chani[/i] question, err… isn’t one longer and the other heavier? I can’t remember. Oh dear – failed on my first outing! I have a colleague in the entomology department of the Natural History Museum I could ask, if that helps… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1359970483' post='1962534'] I have a colleague in the entomology department of the Natural History Museum I could ask, if that helps… [/quote] Yes, please. And while you're on, ask him why it is that bees like honey, yet wasps like jam and ice lollies. What's that all about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote name='Leen2112' timestamp='1359931266' post='1962334'] which is bigger Pharnacia serratipes or Phobaeticus chain? [/quote] Well, a P. chain is longer of course, but you should know that, them being 34" scale each 'n' all. Weird question. b b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yepmop Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hi Mark Welcome to BC, if you're talentless then god knows how far back in the queue I am :-) Have Fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigyin Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Talentless.....i invented that word the Day i picked up the Bass....lol....still trying tho'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkW Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Well just to settle the matter, here's my first (and so far only) YouTube video. I got a Zoom R24 for Christmas, so I thought I'd better try to figure out how to mix tracks together before my first attempt at recording the band! In my defence I'll just say that I had to do this in a hurry because I was supposed to be fixing the bathroom at the time, and my eldest son was just off camera to the left hassling me to build a Lego spaceship with him, so it's not exactly my finest work: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4oqm_TLSQ&list=FLZbalcHIca8rpkKuMOKeExg&feature=mh_lolz"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4oqm_TLSQ&list=FLZbalcHIca8rpkKuMOKeExg&feature=mh_lolz[/url] You can be as rude as you like - our guitarist is a professional musician and regularly offers such trenchant and helpful criticisms as "You're crap", so I'm pretty thick skinned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yepmop Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Sounded good to me - well done! Nice tone by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 (edited) . Nice, Mark! I know what you're saying, but this works very well for a listener who'se not after reviewing sternly. [b]Great tone![/b] But tell me, did you sell this bass, or forget to mention it, or my eyes are deceiving me, or you're already hiding your basses from the eyes of your peers on here or what? That, and is it a Sterling? Couldn't quite make it out. best, bert Edited February 4, 2013 by BassTractor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkW Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Ha! Thanks guys, although the tone has nothing to do with me and everything to do with those clever folks at MM. It's a '93 Sterling (forgot to mention that one - sorry!) in pearl blue, which is a sort of dark greeny-blue. Quite nice. And that definitely [b][i]is[/i][/b] all my basses accounted for now! Due to not having played with other musicians for well over 15 years, and my legendary laziness back in the days when I did, I haven't really developed on the bass anywhere near as much as you'd expect from someone who's been at it for 27 years. One of the things I really love about being in a band again is that everyone else is a much higher standard than me, and it's a great motivation to get to grips with the instrument properly. I never thought I'd say it, by I actually fancy having a crack at some jazz. Nothing too taxing (obviously), but if anyone can suggest a nice easy introduction that would be great. Cheers all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Can you walk on your bass? I'd assume so. In case, there's tons of stuff out there that wouldn't be hard at all. best, bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKAK Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Welcome fellow talentless musician! I can throughly relate to tampering around with a bass followed by the confusion at how things didn't go to plan...well at least its a steep but worthwhile curve learning to fix what you break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkW Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Yup. And just after I inadvertently inflict some fatal injury on one of my basses I always stand there staring at it, and thinking 'If I look at it long enough, that won't have happened...' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKAK Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 So true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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