The Bassist and Guitarist thread

[Saluki]

We shall try this again. Tanglewood Yada yada, all lonely etc blah.
Man in shop took him and boxed him up, brought home etc. Wrong guitar. Pictured is the ‘Whisky Barrel’ shape. Not the little Dreadnaught that wanted to come home with. I thought he looked different but carried away with new guitar euphoria, and thought that playing on the sofa instead on nice guitar stool made it awkward. I thought that I had made the shape mistake, even though, I knew that I hadn’t. I realise that I have admitted to a particularly special brand of idiocy.
Called the shop this morning and said that chap had boxed a Whisky Barrel style, not the Dreadnaught. He said pop on over and we will sort it. The Dreadnaught was in his box, at the back of the shop. Identical boxes and the nice guitar chap had picked up the wrong box. I now have the right guitar. I also bought him a new gig bag and bought a new headphone cable as my old one is frayed beyond redemption.

Today has mostly been spent remembering and practicing my Stuck 3rd and 4th chords. AKA The Wonderwall Chords. My fingers hurt a little.

 

[DCBassman]

Um. I accidentally went to the local guitar shop, while out walking. Anyway, there was this little Tanglewood and it was all alone and being given the stink eye from really expensive, very shiny and lacquered £2k + guitars.
Feeling sorry for it (and myself, I had a horrible afternoon), I asked the nice man in the shop if I could have a bit of a strum. Then fidgeted about in my wallet for a pick, there is generally one in there for I am a ‘pick pixie’ and find them everywhere, when out walking, and rescue them. I happened to have such a rescue, in my purse. A tonedeafmusic promo one. 0.46mm
The Tanglewood and I had a quick canter through Hotel California, Wish You Were Here and Everybody Hurts and we decided that, although it was early days, that we were made for each other and that we would cohabit immediately.
He is so loud! He sounds really full and rich. I know that tone is very subjective but he sounds like a guitar costing many times more expensive. I did have a quick strum on a slightly more expensive Epiphone too, but that Tanglewood just blew it into the weeds. Also, the Epiphone was blue, lacquered and looked a bit weird.

Back up to 2 guitars then. That didn’t take long.
Apologies for the bookshelf with way too much clutter.

Lovely! And a well-filled bookshelf is NEVER cluttered, just 'interesting'.

 

[Saluki]

Lovely! And a well-filled bookshelf is NEVER cluttered, just 'interesting'.

It’s quite eclectic. Many books from the local book swapping schemes. Some books that I love so much that they have been read to tatters. Few DVDs. I miss my wall to wall bookcases, hundreds of books, mostly read. Sadly, when I decanted, quickly and secretly, from the life of an ex BF, I couldn’t take them all. I did get a couple of cardboard boxes full though. Hence a battered copy of Flanagan’s Run, school copy of I am David and only having 1 Pratchett in there. All my university books are long left behind. If I had a TARDIS, or Bill & Ted’s phone box, I would go back for them all.

 

[DCBassman]

The left hand one is filled to the floor, but in general far less books mow than in the past. To comply with the thread, there are many books on the bottom shelf detailing my nerdy love of all things Fender, particularly those with four strings...

 

[ColinJ]

Santa Bass has come to town!

I will report back shortly...

 

[ColinJ]

My bass and sundries were dropped by the owner of the local guitar shop, wearing a Santa Claus hat!

Anyway, this lot is what I ended up with...

I had decided to start with a cheap beginner's short scale bass. If I get stuck in, I may well treat myself to a better quality full size bass at a future date, but this will be easier for me to start on. It is a familiar length of fretboard. I don't have long fingers, so this will be less of a stretch for me. I am happy to have the slacker strings too.

I mentioned that I had been looking at the Harley Benton basses at Thomann and the shop owner agreed that they were very good for the price. The shop had an Encore beginner's bass kit in stock and said that he thought the quality matched HB. What he actually said was that some of the Encore guitars and basses in the past were 'crap' but the quality had now greatly improved. I said I'd take a look...

He whipped the bass out and plugged it into a big chunky combo amp. I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded. I took a closer look at the bass... The neck was nice and straight. The frets were 99% finished off properly - I found a couple with just a hint of a sharp edge but I could get rid of that in seconds if it ever bothered me. The back of the neck was smooth apart from one tiny imperfection which again I could clean off in seconds. I played every note on every string and there was no buzzing going on. The action was low enough for me. I thought it looked very good. I am seriously impressed at what Chinese factories are churning out these days!

I quickly decided that I was interested...

We agreed a deal to take a few things out of the kit (tiny combo amp, strap, tuner) and replace them with a better amp - a used Vox Pathfinder 10 Bass for the same overall price. (I already have a tuner and strap.)

Obviously, the Vox doesn't match the big combo for deep bass, volume and effects, but it is less than 1/5 the size and 1/5 the price! It is definitely more than 1/5 the quality... It will be fine for practising on at home.

Anyway - Let me have a quick go. [Time passes...] Well, that was fun! Maybe I will actually stick with the bass a bit longer than I stuck with my 6-string guitars...?

(I'm hoping that the bass will be a kind of 'gateway drug' back to those guitars and/or the piano. Have fun recording myself playing simple bass lines, and then try to learn harder stuff to go with those?)

Happy Christmas, y'all!

 

[Salad Dodger]

My bass and sundries were dropped by the owner of the local guitar shop, wearing a Santa Claus hat!

Anyway, this lot is what I ended up with...

View attachment 623469

I had decided to start with a cheap beginner's short scale bass. If I get stuck in, I may well treat myself to a better quality full size bass at a future date, but this will be easier for me to start on. It is a familiar length of fretboard. I don't have long fingers, so this will be less of a stretch for me. I am happy to have the slacker strings too.

I mentioned that I had been looking at the Harley Benton basses at Thomann and the shop owner agreed that they were very good for the price. The shop had an Encore beginner's bass kit in stock and said that he thought the quality matched HB. What he actually said was that some of the Encore guitars and basses in the past were 'crap' but the quality had now greatly improved. I said I'd take a look...

He whipped the bass out and plugged it into a big chunky combo amp. I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded. I took a closer look at the bass... The neck was nice and straight. The frets were 99% finished off properly - I found a couple with just a hint of a sharp edge but I could get rid of that in seconds if it ever bothered me. The back of the neck was smooth apart from one tiny imperfection which again I could clean off in seconds. I played every note on every string and there was no buzzing going on. The action was low enough for me. I thought it looked very good. I am seriously impressed at what Chinese factories are churning out these days!

I quickly decided that I was interested...

We agreed a deal to take a few things out of the kit (tiny combo amp, strap, tuner) and replace them with a better amp - a used Vox Pathfinder 10 for the same overall price. (I already have a tuner and strap.)

Obviously, the Vox doesn't match the big combo for deep bass, volume and effects, but it is less than 1/5 the size and 1/5 the price! It is definitely more than 1/5 the quality... It will be fine for practising on at home.

Anyway - Let me have a quick go. [Time passes...] Well, that was fun! Maybe I will actually stick with the bass a bit longer than I stuck with my 6-string guitars...?

(I'm hoping that the bass will be a kind of 'gateway drug' back to those guitars and/or the piano. Have fun recording myself playing simple bass lines, and then try to learn harder stuff to go with those?)

Happy Christmas, y'all!

Congrats on your new purchases!
When I got seconded as bass player into my mates band this Spring, not having played bass before, YouTube was my friend for some beginner lessons. (I play guitar and ukulele but had never tried to play bass properly).
Enjoy!

 

[CanucksTraveller]

My bass and sundries were dropped by the owner of the local guitar shop, wearing a Santa Claus hat!

Anyway, this lot is what I ended up with...

View attachment 623469

I had decided to start with a cheap beginner's short scale bass. If I get stuck in, I may well treat myself to a better quality full size bass at a future date, but this will be easier for me to start on. It is a familiar length of fretboard. I don't have long fingers, so this will be less of a stretch for me. I am happy to have the slacker strings too.

I mentioned that I had been looking at the Harley Benton basses at Thomann and the shop owner agreed that they were very good for the price. The shop had an Encore beginner's bass kit in stock and said that he thought the quality matched HB. What he actually said was that some of the Encore guitars and basses in the past were 'crap' but the quality had now greatly improved. I said I'd take a look...

He whipped the bass out and plugged it into a big chunky combo amp. I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded. I took a closer look at the bass... The neck was nice and straight. The frets were 99% finished off properly - I found a couple with just a hint of a sharp edge but I could get rid of that in seconds if it ever bothered me. The back of the neck was smooth apart from one tiny imperfection which again I could clean off in seconds. I played every note on every string and there was no buzzing going on. The action was low enough for me. I thought it looked very good. I am seriously impressed at what Chinese factories are churning out these days!

I quickly decided that I was interested...

We agreed a deal to take a few things out of the kit (tiny combo amp, strap, tuner) and replace them with a better amp - a used Vox Pathfinder 10 for the same overall price. (I already have a tuner and strap.)

Obviously, the Vox doesn't match the big combo for deep bass, volume and effects, but it is less than 1/5 the size and 1/5 the price! It is definitely more than 1/5 the quality... It will be fine for practising on at home.

Anyway - Let me have a quick go. [Time passes...] Well, that was fun! Maybe I will actually stick with the bass a bit longer than I stuck with my 6-string guitars...?

(I'm hoping that the bass will be a kind of 'gateway drug' back to those guitars and/or the piano. Have fun recording myself playing simple bass lines, and then try to learn harder stuff to go with those?)

Happy Christmas, y'all!

That little Vox 10 looks a little bundle of fun! Nice practice amp.

Enjoy. 😊

 

[ColinJ]

That little Vox 10 looks a little bundle of fun! Nice practice amp.

Enjoy. 😊

Yes - I had seen it at the shop after watching this video. It's not a brilliant video, but it gives the idea. The Vox is fine for home use.



I have a cheap pair of headphones which don't sound brilliant on music because their treble response is a bit lacking, but it turns out they work really well for bass through the Vox. No problem practising late at night then.

 

[Drago]

I got a Steinberger for crimbo.

 

[delb0y]

I got a bottleneck.

 

[Drago]

Ah, a slide boy.

 

[Drago]

In my Christmas stocking was a new MM type humbucker for my Harley Benton. Its a Warman 10% overwound, and the magnets must be depleted uranium because I swear it was quivering in my hand with pent up power. I also received some Wilkinson tuners for the same bass, so spent a bitmof time this avo fitting them.

The HB, an MM4 BLK, was a very decent instrument beforehand, and for £96 an unbelivable bargain, but with these new trinkets its a snarling, deep chested rottweiler of a bass. Fanbloodytastic!

 

[Drago]

Now got the bass to She's Not There down pat. What a bloody brilliant song it is too.

 

[ColinJ]

Now got the bass to She's Not There down pat. What a bloody brilliant song it is too.

The Zombies? My sister used to have the single - I liked that. 57 years since - blimey, where did the time go!