Well, today I received the first issue of my new Bass Player magazine subscription. After years of subscribing to Guitar Player, I didn’t renew, instead opting for the low-note sibling magazing. As quipped by a good friend of mine (in a decent Darth Vader impression) “Your journey to the Dark Side is now complete…”.
I still don’t consider myself to be nearly as proficient on the instrument as I am on guitar. For one thing, I tend to think and play like a guitarist, so my bass playing isn’t quite as idiomatic as I’d like it to be. But I do feel that I’m making strides on the instrument and look forward to digging in to some lessons with a local teacher.
So for the moment I’ve stashed my guitar Jedi robe in the hall closet. Even if the Dark Side isn’t more powerful, at least the bad guys tend to wear much cooler black outfits.
I’ll never be the official GOD OF THUNDER as that position will be eternally occupied by KISS bassist Gene Simmons. However, I’m fairly pleased with the low-end mayhem that I occasionally wield. Last night at Preons rehearsal during one song I turned on the “ultrabass” feature on my amp, which generates a note an octave below the one being played. It was a fairly satisfying addition to the bass line in that song and added a new dimension of intensity to that part. Our guitarist noticed it right away with approval.
Read the rest of this posting for more.
read more…
Last week I finally got the bass I’ve been wanting. A few years ago I started searching for a great fretless, and the one bass that always remained my reference point has been the Warwick Corvette. They tend to be expensive, and I really couldn’t justify the expense of a new one, so I’ve been waiting for a deal on a very good quality used model. The right deal came along last week, and I have Bass Northwest to thank for the deal. They’ve been very patient during my search and have offered a lot of guidance. My new bass is a four string model with the standard setup: bubinga body, ovankol neck, ebony fretboard. And it goes “mwah!”
Beginning in early December I started putting in more time with my basses. It’s taken some time to become accustomed to the longer scale length of my five string. And I’m still working on my intonation on the fretless. But overall it’s going pretty well and I am beginning to feel pretty comfortable with it. I have always really preferred the tone of (right hand) fingers on the strings rather than the sound of a pick. One small advantage is that I play classical guitar, so I have reasonably good right hand technique for the three main types of plucking strokes. In addition, I know how to slap and pop, so I have some choices for timbre.
Up to this point, I’ve been playing my basses through my trusty guitar rig, but it’s really not ideal. This week I am going to order myself a bass amp. I’ve been looking at specifications and asking other players for advice. I am planning to order a Behringer Ultrabass BXL3000A. With 300 watts and built-in compression/limiting, it should handle my needs easily.
