Time to stop lurking and say hello :)

[Guest canonman]

Hi everyone

My name's Dave and I've been lurking on BC for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd better say hello and explain why I'm here.

I've always been a big music fan and back in high school I decided to have a go at playing the drums. It was always a toss-up between drums or bass (I could never really see myself playing lead guitar!) and I ended up settling for drums because school didn't have a bass guitar! A year or so down the line I managed to get hold of a cheap drum kit and carried on playing for while, until I had to sell it to pay off my university debts. I was quite peed off about it at the time but, looking back on it, I wasn't all that good at it anyway so it was probably for the best!

Jump forward in time to this summer and I'm now pushing 39 and married with two kids, and getting the urge to take up an instrument again while I've still just about got the ability to learn new things! Having another drum kit wasn't really an option because of the space needed and the racket it makes (especially the way I played them!) so I decided to do what I should have done as a teenager and buy a bass guitar instead. it's only taken me just over twenty years to see the light

I decided to get hold of a bass amp first, as I'm more comfortable with amplifiers and the like, being an electronic service engineer for most of my working life. Of course, I only wanted one amp but ended up with two, a Marshall B25 MkII to use at home and a Laney Linebacker L30B (don't laugh!) to practice on at work.

I've spent my time lurking on BC wisely, reading up and trying to figure out what bass would suit me best, and finally got hold of a nice Squier Jazz bass off eBay this week. I've spent a few evenings with a copy of Bass Guitar for Dummies, trying to make sense of it all.

The J-Bass seems to be in pretty good nick for a second hander, but it does have a bit of fret buzz on the E string. I don't think the strings were replaced before I bought it, so I'm going to put some new ones on and see how I go. A colleague at work used to play bass and he's offered to have a look at it for me, so hopefully he won't find too much wrong with it!

Anyway, that's enough waffle from me for now. Hopefully I'll learn plenty while being a member of BC, and it'd be nice if I can give something back in the form of tech help and advice when it comes to amplifiers and general electronics.

Thanks for reading

Cheers,

Dave

[Myke]

Hello

What ever you do, stay away from the market place. You may end up with so much gear that it would have been easier to get a drum kit

[madshadows]

Hello and welcome

[BassTractor]

Welcome, Dave!

bert

[Emanew]

[quote name='canonman' timestamp='1383476328' post='2264748']
Hi everyone
My name's Dave and I've been lurking on BC for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd better say hello and explain why I'm here.
{...}
The J-Bass seems to be in pretty good nick for a second hander, but it does have a bit of fret buzz on the E string. I don't think the strings were replaced before I bought it, so I'm going to put some new ones on and see how I go. A colleague at work used to play bass and he's offered to have a look at it for me, so hopefully he won't find too much wrong with it!
{...}
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
Dave
[/quote]

Hi Dave !
Welcome in the low frequencies world !


According to me, your buzz is not a big problem and comes mainly from :
- How high your strings are from your fingerboard. Check your E saddle on the bridge and get your E string higher.
Or if it is a little more serious
- How is your neck ? Perfectly straight or bowed ? If bowed you will fix this by turning the trussrod. It is better to bring it to a luthier if you don't master.

What is your old strings gauge ? Choose carefully your new strings gauge.
Good groove

[thebigyin]

Hello and Welcome....it's a great Forum very helpful.

[Guest canonman]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome

I managed to completely forget to mention anything about the kind of music I'm into..... rock music mainly, although I'll listen to most things bar dance music and classical. Particular favourites are The Who, Led Zep, AC/DC and Red Hot Chili Peppers, so you can see how high my standards are when it comes to bass

[Guest canonman]

[quote name='Emanew' timestamp='1383867516' post='2270348']
Hi Dave !
Welcome in the low frequencies world !


According to me, your buzz is not a big problem and comes mainly from :
- How high your strings are from your fingerboard. Check your E saddle on the bridge and get your E string higher.
Or if it is a little more serious
- How is your neck ? Perfectly straight or bowed ? If bowed you will fix this by turning the trussrod. It is better to bring it to a luthier if you don't master.

What is your old strings gauge ? Choose carefully your new strings gauge.
Good groove
[/quote]

Hiya

Thanks for the welcome

I raised the saddle slightly on the E string the other day and it seemed to reduce the rattle a bit. I've just put some brand new Fender 7250M strings on (0.045 to 0.105) and, after spending ages getting it in tune, it seems a bit better still. I'll leave it an hour or so and check it's still in tune. Hopefully it will be!

Being a complete noob, I'm still not sure if the rattle is because of the way I'm striking the strings or the height of the saddles. I don't mind adjusting the saddles but I don't really want to touch the truss rod in case I muck it up altogether.

I have a mate at work who used to play bass, and he's going to give me a second opinion it sometime next week. I hope the news is good

[discreet]

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[sprocket123]

Welcome aboard canon , enjoy the forum , A great place to learn .