It's New Year's Eve and I feel like it sneaked up on me. I don't have any plans, not that there's much to do with covid lockdowns still in full force. What are your plans, comrades? Any good online celebrations?
I'm going to hang out with Mr. Bourbon and post at this site, at reddit. etc.
Ninja edit
I bought a bass online. It was scheduled to arrive today. And then it was pushed back to Saturday but things have changed yet again. I'll get it today !
In transit: On FedEx vehicle for delivery • [MY CITY!]
Scheduled delivery: Thursday 12/31/2020 by end of day
So - my new plan: hang out with Mr. Bourbon, post at this site and drunkenly play my brand new bass. I'm a total beginner guitarist and starting today I'll be trying to learn the bass too.
Edit
It's here! Yay!
Bass is a really fun instrument. I started picking mine up again for the first time in years and I’ve been loving it. Hope you enjoy!
Happy New Year and happy bass playing to you.
I got a super-short scale (28.6") 5-string very cheap Ibanez Mikro so right away I could plonk on it and also get ridiculously low notes. I have serious doubts about the low B string on such a super-short scale instrument. It might be crap but at least I'll still have a 4 string that's easy to play. Haha.
Happy new year!
I’m not familiar with short scale basses but a lot of five strings have touchy B-strings. The string is so fat that it’s kind of hard to avoid fret buzz unless you set it up properly. You can also try finding a smaller gauge string and just playinh more gently. You should be able to get something out of it, it might just take some messing with.
I wish it was 30". I looked at Ibanez's 30" cheapie: the TMB35. The weird headstock is too big (and tuners are too big too), the bass looks like a freak of nature, it only comes in mint green and it has neck dive. If it didn't have neck dive - I might have considered it despite my distaste for mint green and its oddness. Ibanez is the only game in town for cheap short scale basses.
I really don't understand why any sane company makes an instrument with neck dive. Weight distribution is not a quantum mechanics problem. Just design the damn thing intelligently so the neck doesn't dive!
Ngl I kinda love how awful it looks. I’ve always had a soft spot for ugly 70s colours like mint green.
Neck dive is the dumbest thing and it’s not even exclusive to cheap basses. As far as I know gibson thunderbirds still have it and they’re over $2k. Wild but people buy it I guess.
I’ve always had a soft spot for ugly 70s colours like mint green.
I like a lot of funky stuff from the 70s but mint green is not one of them. I really don't understand why they only sell it one color.
Ngl I kinda love how awful it looks.
Maybe if it was available in other colors (like black) - I could grow to like it.
They’re over $2k. Wild but people buy it I guess.
That's another mystery I do not understand: other people.
As far as I know gibson thunderbirds still have it and they’re over $2k. Wild but people buy it I guess.
The weirdest thing about that is that you can reduce neck dive for t birds a lot if you just change placement of the belt strap. I kinda love thunderbirds, but the price is ridiculous. I mean, i get how they arrive at 2k, it's a giant chunk of mahagony with a neck-thru construction, if you get that handmade in the US or Europe, you always end up with about that price, but the epiphone thunderbird sounds almost exactly the same in spite of having a set neck and it goes for about 700 to 800 $ iirc.
oh i skipped over the part where you play guitar. im a total beginner banjoist who is also learning bass. that's pretty funny we're in similar spots
My bass was delivered. I have to set it up properly but it seems pretty cool.
I don't know anything about the banjo but a few months ago at Youtube by chance I found this: Hard Times Come Again No More - clawhammer banjo.
I'd like to learn how to play that on bass and on guitar (maybe tuned like a banjo). There's something about his arrangement that's really great.
It was written by Stephen C. Foster during 1854. Well-known and popular in its day, both in America and Europe, it was a favorite of both sides in the American Civil War.
Edit
I don't use a pick when I play guitar so I have calluses on my right fingers. I figured it would be fine if I just picked away at the strings with my fingers. Everything felt good as I played for a few minutes but after I stopped playing a tiny bit of skin came off the tip of my index finger and it didn't bleed but there's a red dot. Also, my fingertips are kind of reddish.
You can play that way if you want but bass strings are heavier and will definitely be rougher on your hands. It’s probably easier to use traditional bass finger style of you don’t wanna beat up your fingers.
Sorry if this is super obvious but here’s standard bass plucking technique
Sorry if this is super obvious
I've got a loads of learning to do...
Everything felt good as I played for a few minutes but after I stopped playing a tiny bit of skin came off the tip of my index finger and it didn’t bleed but there’s a red dot. Also, my fingertips are kind of reddish.
This is normal when you start playing bass, even if you've played guitar before. The strings are just that much more massive. I picked up playing bass again during the first lockdown and the first week or two, i just went through the whole process of getting callouses again. Don't overdo things, stop if anything hurts, and apart from that just keep practicing until you've adapted to the instrument. Also, it can help to just play softer and turn up the volume a bit more to compensate.
I guess getting a proper setup will also make a huge difference. Almost all new basses have the strings set way too high to avoid fret buzz. Getting it to a guitar tech will make a big difference in how easy it is to play, and will improve sound and intonation as well.
if anything hurts,
That's the weird thing - it didn't hurt. I'm going play just a few minutes a day with my fingers (a bit more and more) and use a pick the rest of the time.
Also, it can help to just play softer and turn up the volume a bit more to compensate.
My "amp" is my effects unit so I can play around with the settings involving dynamics pretty easily.
If you want picks specifically for bass make sure you get the thick ones. You want some with little to no flex to deal with the fat strings. I usually use 1 or 1.5mm.
Thanks. I should have bought some already. Oh, well. My thickest guitar picks will get quite the workout.
That’s the weird thing - it didn’t hurt.
Yeah, then it's just a dead layer of skin that your body is discarding. The skin underneath will probably look weirdly smooth now, but it'll toughen up until tomorrow.
Thanks. I'll check that out. Anything that gets my hands on my instruments more often is good.
I’m going to watch a flash animation for one last time :sadness:
Marathoning lotr sounds awesome, I'm reading through them again and I can't wait to finish and do the same.
Trying to chill on the drinking - decided to microdose 🍄 while playing tabletop rpg. We’ll see how this turns out
:deng-smile: :party-blob:
staying home with my cats. one of them recently got diagnosed with a urinary tract disorder that's caused by stress, so the fireworks suck extra much this year :/
sitting on my ass, just like last year. Do a little wooo when the year changes and going to bed.
🎼 When the bells all ring and the horns all blow And the couples that we know are fondly kissing Will I be with you or will I be among the missing? 🎶
Fuck, it's New Years? Wait ...when was Christmas? Are the liquor stores still open?
