Jump to content

New to bass, coming from regular guitar some thoughts so far....


Emory

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Had earlier post about bass for less than $300. Been playing 5 string bass I bought for a few weeks now. Bit of "my journey"

My brain has been hardwired over the decades of reg guitar to use low E for road map or landmarks, whatever for journeys up and down the neck. That low B opens up all sorts of new territory for sure, but messes up my rapidly declining mind as to the rest of the strings & notes. So... for the present, I took it off. A wise man knows his limits (not that I'm that wise). Once I get down the other 4 I'll bring it back... check back in a decade or two (haha).

I'm putting together a DVD for high school reunion, only music from 64-68 (yes, I am that old). I've turned up the bass on my sub/sat I use with computer. Used to listen closely to git parts, now really listening to the bass. Yes, it is a beast of a different stripe for sure, not just git parts lower ("duh" you may be thinking).

At home I use pandora PX5D (nice section of bass programs in there) with decent phones to hear those deep lows. Not about to invest in some 500 watt monster and probably would be kicked out of apartment if I did anyway.

When I play out, it is at the beach with my friends, battery power only, a bit limiting ya think? Been playing with permutations and combinations

Blackstar Fly3 with extension seems to work okay if others acoustic. Put pandora ahead of input. Speakers same as Fly bass, so dreaded cone separation not an issue...

THR 10 has a decent bass, but not much volume. My gripe always been shut down when using 6 string git, but for some unknown doesn't seem to do that with bass. Who'd a thunk?

I got a cheap 6.5" car sub woofer at Thai electronics joint (did I mention I live in Thailand?) and have moved that about see what works best. Crammed into micro cube (stock is 5"). Small box so not much bass. Vox DA-5 easy fit, has certain qualities that are interesting... but favorite (so far) is putting into my Fender Passport (2 channel version of mini mustang which I love for 6 string, so don't want to mess with that one).

Initial sound was promising, decent volume and tone. Went home and got into Fuse program to tweak the settings. 2 seem pretty good: using bassman amp and speaker models, rolling off the sag, etc gives good enough basic bass thump box. For fun I used the Marshall sim with bassman speaker model, tweak tones and gain, and come up with something like Jack Bruce Wheels of Fire thumping. That will be good for when I play with my rock and roll Thai buddy at beach on weekends.

Going back to USA in August for that 50th (ouch!) reunion... wondering if I should pick up a short scale while there, either Ibanez mikro or Squire VM jag SS. Not that important if go "low low" as amps can't go there anyway.... something easy to pack, not too much weight, important. I'm not getting younger, and every ounce counts when humping this stuff on my back for 15 minutes or so in Thai tropical heat to beach ("Poor baby, I should be so lucky"). If I'm feeling spendy, might even consider a cheap Hofner Beatle bass (they are light, and darn you Paul McC!)

So maybe a question: how's weight on jag and mikro?

Thanks for indulging me and spending 5 minutes you'll never get back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

I've been playing 4-string bass for a long time now. I find the 5-string to be a different beast and, like you, the low B throws me off. I'm not at all sure that learning on 4 strings first will help much. If you were to ask my advice, I'd suggest going straight to the 5-string rather than learning to play on 4, then re-learning on 5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I've been playing 4-string bass for a long time now. I find the 5-string to be a different beast and' date=' like you, [b']the low B throws me off.[/b] I'm not at all sure that learning on 4 strings first will help much. If you were to ask my advice, I'd suggest going straight to the 5-string rather than learning to play on 4, then re-learning on 5.

 

same here.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Might cause warpage.

Yeah, probably a good idea to keep an eye on it. OTOH, I played a 12-string acoustic guitar as a 10-string (without the octaves on the low E and A) for years with no issues. Personally, I'd either play the bass as a 5-string and ignore the B, or trade it for a 4-string.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks for input. I think I failed to mention I'm going down the slope to dementia, at least big time short term memory loss. The pisser of this is holding on to ideas for more than a few seconds. It's like the white board of my mind has been sprayed with WD-40: things just don't stick. Extremely frustrating, to say the least. Long past info, no problem. Still can name a 60's tune by 2 notes, at times 1. Not looking for sympathy (or expecting any), but the picking up of new skills and wiring in new neural connections is restricted, shall we say. So for now I'll stick with 4 strings til I can get those pathways running. And keep a close eye on for warping.

Oh yeah, another thing I like about bass is getting those harmonics and somewhat percussive fun ya can have.

I taught somewhat retarded kids and emotionally disturbed high school kids. So now I get to apply that to myself... "Physician, heal thy self and get that music thing going".

I had something else I wanted to share, but it has slipped my mind. haha or cry. I prefer to laugh.

Oh yeah, that's it. After playing bass for a few weeks and then picking up std guitar, it felt like someone had strung guitar with wires they got off some cheese slicers.... plus side is just those few weeks improved my guitar playing (plenty of room for that!). Playing is my therapy (that could be whole separate thread). Not trying to impress anyone, not trying to "nail" any cover, just enjoy going where the music takes me. I drop breadcrumbs to find my way back, in case that urge strikes me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Thanks for input. I think I failed to mention I'm going down the slope to dementia, at least big time short term memory loss. The pisser of this is holding on to ideas for more than a few seconds. It's like the white board of my mind has been sprayed with WD-40: things just don't stick. Extremely frustrating, to say the least. Long past info, no problem. Still can name a 60's tune by 2 notes, at times 1. Not looking for sympathy (or expecting any), but the picking up of new skills and wiring in new neural connections is restricted, shall we say. So for now I'll stick with 4 strings til I can get those pathways running. And keep a close eye on for warping.

Oh yeah, another thing I like about bass is getting those harmonics and somewhat percussive fun ya can have.

I taught somewhat retarded kids and emotionally disturbed high school kids. So now I get to apply that to myself... "Physician, heal thy self and get that music thing going".

I had something else I wanted to share, but it has slipped my mind. haha or cry. I prefer to laugh.

Oh yeah, that's it. After playing bass for a few weeks and then picking up std guitar, it felt like someone had strung guitar with wires they got off some cheese slicers.... plus side is just those few weeks improved my guitar playing (plenty of room for that!). Playing is my therapy (that could be whole separate thread). Not trying to impress anyone, not trying to "nail" any cover, just enjoy going where the music takes me. I drop breadcrumbs to find my way back, in case that urge strikes me.

 

If you haven't yet, look into trying Aricept. It did my father-in law a world of good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
So maybe a question: how's weight on jag and mikro?

 

The weight on a Jag bass is about 7~8lbs depending on the wood type. The Mustang is about the same. That's quite a bit lighter then my Precision which is around 11lbs. I cant even wear that one out any more. Even playing sitting down tends to cut off the leg circulation.

 

My short scale Gretsch G2220 is light at 7.15Lbs which isn't bad.

 

My Hofner Club Bass is just stupid light at 4.4 Lbs. I can play that one all night and still walk without limping.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...