Bass Idiot Day Negative One.

good luck nick

Thanks, I'll need it.

Don't anyone get the idea that I think I'll be good in 30 days. I just hope for not obviously bad.

Great challenge to yourself, Nick!

What's the gig you'll be playing?

Margaret

Hmm -- maybe you'd be ready for a day-after-blackfriday-jam performance if I find a venue? Dave and I are thinking about it ...

Ooooh, playing with the big boys. I'll practice extra hard.

Here is what's up so far:

I checked out Craigslist and picked up a brand new under the bed/in the closet bass,(I swear it has maybe two minutes of play time) Ibanez GSR-200 in translucent red and a Fender Bassman 25 practice amp. The amp is really cool and also unused. Not an out of this world deal, but I got them both with a decent gig bag and an extra set of GHS boomers for $250.

One of the reasons these were both unused is the setup was horrible. It must have come from an online store. The poor kid probably hated playing the thing. I had to shim the neck in order to get the action in an adjustable range. When I first looked at it there was almost 10mm between the last fret and the bottom of the fourth string. We're now down to about 2.5mm.

The relief was way out of whack with way too much bow in the neck. The Truss rod is now a full turn from where it was and it could probably use another half turn. I'm letting it settle first.

The intonation sucked. If you tuned the open strings they were all out of tune by the fifth fret.

Now it's all setup and ready to go.

Tonight I have perhaps the most important decision of all though.

Should I play bass up near my chest or down at knuckle dragger height?

I've read chapters 1-4 of David's book "BOB" and I'm ready to start practicing tomorrow.

Nick,
When I play it, I play it just a tad bit lower than I hold my guitar, but then again, I'm not a real bass player.

hmmm time for a poll.

Really high is known as "jazz geek" a la Stanley Clarke. It's rumored to be a bit hard on the wrist

You're a brave man, Mr. Torres!

Feel free to call the special "author's hotline" anytime! And I'm truly looking forward to reading these reports. Any idea of your song list yet? Maybe we can all give you some pointers... :wink:

By the bye, like Tim, I hold mine slightly (very slightly) lower than guitar height. But I've got small hands as you know and need all the leverage I can get.

Best of luck, sir!

Peace

Sorry - this should've been in a new thread... :oops:

But best of luck nick!

You really are brave :lol: I played bass at a gig back in the late 70's. The bass player Got sick at the last moment and I had to share the bass duty with the other guitar player.It was lots off fun and no one walked out or threw anything at us :lol:
I find that using flat wounds helps me sound better...I can use all the help I can get. Well, its off to read Davids book now :D

You'll do fine, Nick. You've got a good teacher in David, with the book and a lot of practise the gig should be OK.....I took my bass to the pub, I'd only been playing it for a month and managed to play for a good couple of hours with very few mistakes - if I can do it, anyone can!

Good luck mate,

:D :D :D

Vic

hold the bass where ever you can play it most comfortably. adjust it as necessary.
if you're going to be standing during your gig, stand. move if you're feeling it.
get into the groove.

How's it goin' Nick???