Bassists of Singletrackworld….

Also, Killing Joke : 80’s, ideally in D# tuning, really simple but satisfying.

Cover Solutions on YouTube create the highest quality play-along to tabs type content so look them up.

I stand by Yousician though. It’ll get you through the most boring, monotonous, complete beginner stage where almost every quits by having you playing full songs from day 1 but at a manageable level. Seven Nation Army is on there of course.

I guarantee there’s nothing better for building stamina and accuracy and making a satisfying noise.

I’m a bit of a Yamaha fanboy so I approve @clubby 🎸

You said you’re doing SBL, of course that’s important but absolutely obligatory is a few iconic basslines that you can whack out on loud

The SBL beginners basic was just one of the vids I’d watched before I took the plunge. Watched it again today and plucked along with it. Started a 14 day trial with Fender play and have a half price code to use if I find it suits me. First couple of lessons pretty similar to SBL one, then cheated and went straight to easy riff section. Badly banged out some Queen and Rolling Stones. Two hours of practice and my left hand feels like an arthritic claw! Had a look at Yousician as well, may try that free trial at a later date. 

NBD (new Bass day) today, haven’t been this excited about a purchase in years.

Oooooh! What are you getting??

Well, as long term readers of this thread will know, I got my start in a borrowed japanese P-bass that had lived in an attic for the last decade.

It was great but had very low output and a super mellow, warm tone. Loved Reggae, really objected to anything nasty, I actually think it had slightly corroded Pups but it wasn’t my bass so I couldn’t change them

That bass has to go back, I now have a 5 string LTD for pure silly clank but its a one trick pony.

So, I know I like active basses with bridge pick ups, but I also want to still play mellower stuff.

I had a hankering for a US Stingray but by golly they’re expensive, even 2nd hand.

After much research I’ve ordered one of these.

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/precision-bass/troy-sanders-precision-bass/0143120391.html

Pretty much a hot-rodded P but in theory I can switch it to passive and neck pick up only and it will sound like a standard vintage jobbie.

Im not even a huge mastadon fan but should be very versatile and tick all the boxes in one bass.

In theory the PJ is a good idea, however having had PJs in the past, I have found that even on just the P setting it didn’t have the same focused ‘P’ sound. The description for this mentions the growl from the ‘J’. I’d be looking for a pure ‘P’, personally.

I definitely wanted a bridge pick-up so that would have meant a N +1 situation and potential marriage endangerment.

Fair play. 

One thing I think is awesome is a ‘PH’. A humbucker in the jazz position. If it’s got a series/ parallel/ single coil switch then you really do open up tonal options. Sandberg and Maruszczyk do some great basses in this style.

I’ve now had a bit more time for a fiddle with it and as a direct result of Sam’s comments I’ve assiduously tested it in ‘neck pick-up only’ mode in both active and passive settings.

In conclusion: way more percussive thump than the old school japanse pure P it replaced.

Seems to do everything from full-on metal chug to mellow blues, a versatile wee beast as hoped.

So I’m a month into bass-life and progressed from the two whales having sex in a wheelie bin phase, to actually being able to produce something that sounds musical. Had already taken a half price year of Fender play but also took the black friday half price Yousician offer. Very different styles of teaching but using the two compliments each other really well. Fender does the theory better and actually makes sense of the practical side of the lessons where Yousician is very like a Youtube channel that’s shows you something once and assumes you can just do it. Yousician songs are longer and more fun though but can kick in brutally quickly when you click start. The jump between song levels is also quite marked and can go from repetitive and easy to holy crap complicated in a single level. Good fun though. Signed up to various mailing list for the free starter guides so trying a few of them as well. Main niggle bugging me is fret buzz on the lowest couple of frets of the E and A strings. Bought the bass from a proper music store and assuming it was set up properly, so I think it must just be a technique thing. Have watched a couple of set up videos though and it does look pretty straightforward to check, just needs a lot of time and patience. Not sure if it’s worth checking it myself or if I’m more likely to muck it up? Also made the mistake of looking at a few (ok a lot) of videos on pearls. Oooft, that’s a rabbit hole and a half. Now have a fancying for a Pork and Pickle even though I have absolutely no use for it!

@clubby I wouldn’t assume that it was setup before leaving the shop. The theory of tweaking the truss rod and adjusting saddle height is pretty simple, but chuck intonation into the mix and I prefer to get my setups done by a pro. The tech at Kenny’s in Dundee is self employed, but works there a few days a week. I’d recommend him to sort it out for you.

hey bassists;

while watching the rain at the weekend and browsing facebook, I happened across Carol Kaye posts on facebook. While not great from a layout / structure (I don’t think when written they were aimed at FB) I found some quite interesting. Anyway – I’m not a proper player (lockdown project, copying some vids on YT etc.) and having a lot of fun, but I’ve always been playing with all four fingers. Then I read this – and while I’m quite big handed and never playing enough for CTS to become an issue, it made (some / a lot) of sense.

1-2-4-4 fingering rather than 1-2-3-4

I mean, I know a lot of the brilliant women bassists don’t have big hands and must have managed beyond big stretching to cover the fretboard, should we all be taking leaves out of their books?

Welcome @clubby

A bit of fret buzz is almost unavoidable if you like a really low action and for heavier, more distorted styles it’s almost considered a feature rather than a bug but it is annoying when playing unplugged.

There’s an old video of Al Cisneros (Sleep, Om) with his testing out a new Ricky unplugged, fret buzz galore and I  suspect Al knows how to set up a bass.

Fretbuzz is one of those things, love it or ate it, it should be consistent across and down the neck on all strings. It is directly related to neck concave/ convex and also string height.

If you do go down the line of setting it up yourself I would definitely recommend buying feeler gauges and a capo to properly set the truss rod, then rough out the intonation using a tape measure, then intonate precisely from there.
There are lots of videos online, however, Fenders downloadable PDF instructions work best.

@theotherjohnv I read that piece as well and realised I’ve been doing it wrong for many years but I have to say I dissagree with what she said in that my third finger is much stronger than my fourth and if I use my fourth I almost always have to back it up with the third. The fourth just feels too weak on it’s own.

is that though because of lack of use / practise – can’t think of much you use the pinky for in normal life. And with a bit of effort, then it will be stronger?

Could well be, but I’m not going to try and change things now. Band has recently retired so I’m not going to be playing much in the future.

Some tips for using Yousician….

You can move the slidy things to parts of songs so that you don’t always have to play the whole thing, you can concentrate on different parts.

You can adjust the speed. Everything is easy when it’s slow enough. You can the speed to auto so that every time you get a section right it speeds up slightly. This is the technique that most amazed me, I couldn’t believe the stuff I was building up to in a relatively short amount of time.

I started by trying to complete the levels and score points. Then I stopped treating it like a game. It’s frustrating when the game misses a note or gives you an inaccurate score, so I stopped caring and I only measure myself by ear. If it sounds good, I nailed it, I don’t care if the program heard it.

I spend almost all of my time in practice mode rather than performance.

I just find songs I like but there’s hundreds of them so I save them to my favourites and go back to them regularly. Current favourite is ‘I Get Around’ by the Beach Boys.

Other advantages include learning to play without looking at your fingers. You basically have to look up constantly so you learn to feel your way around. My stamina and accuracy went through the roof compared to when I was playing along to YouTube stuff and constantly stopping and starting.

It’s not very educational. For theory you have to go elsewhere. Don’t baffle yourself with scales as a beginner. Learn a few chord shapes and you can immediately play along to backing tracks. Garageband is great for creating drum loops and backing tracks if you have a Mac or iPad.

This thread has been great! I used to be a drummer, and really, would like to be a drummer again, but for reasons of space and noise thats unlikely. Biggest reason is availability though. I don’t have a kit any more. But what I do have, is my son’s old Squier jazz bass.
So, I’ve decided to give that a try. I’ve tried guitar before, but don’t have the patience for it, but bass? It’s only 4 strings and all about rhythm, right? Should be good.

I think I’ll give Yousician a try over the christmas break, when I’ve a bit more time to put into it.

Another tip I should have added early is a block of foam under the strings at the bridge. It cures all kinds of rattling and buzzing. Clean technique is the main thing obviously but the foam is there to mop up the messy bits.

Personally I wouldn’t foam block as a beginner – muting is a key part of playing the bass so  better to be aware of that as part of the core technique and sound

I use a block of foam when I’m playing reggae or dub, but otherwise the string squeak, the occasional rattle and twang are all pert of me and my Jazz

Unwanted resonance from unused strings is another matter. I play a lot of fast rock and anchoring my thumb on the E string when I’m not playing it is my favoured technique. It also somehow give greater leverage for Muse style semi-quavers.

I play a lot of fast rock and anchoring my thumb on the E string when I’m not playing it is my favoured technique.

That’s how I started until I learned about the ‘floating thumb’ technique and decided that’s the way I ‘should’ be doing it. I spent ages trying to change the habit. That’s where Youscician comes in. Hours and hours of string hopping at slow speeds and building up.

Garageband is great for creating drum loops and backing tracks if you have a Mac or iPad.

Fender Tune app has a decent selection of drum tracks in its metronome section. Actual tuner part is crap but it’s a free app so didn’t expect much anyway. 

A foam block or sponge is great, just make sure it doesn’t push the strings too much, it can cause issues with the intonation.

Flat wound strings are also a good way of eliminating string noise.

New to this thread and picking up bass again after over 30 years I’d appreciate a bit of advice I’m struggling to find the answer to.  Looking to get yousician to start learning  but I need an adaptor like Irig2 to plug into my tablet/phone. However reviews suggest that these work much better with IOS rather than android and all my stuff is Samsung so is there an alternative anyone can recommend? , or are the reviews pants and Irig will work perfectly fine with android devices? TIA

I’ve got an iRig and it works perfectly but I’ve only ever used it with a MacBook. Can’t comment on android sorry.

If you’ve got an amp you can get started with that and Yousician just listens to you. That’s how I did it for months until my deaf neighbour moved out and a young couple moved in. Then I really needed the iRig.

I’ve got a practice amp and hearing that’s on it’s way out so for the sake of the marriage I need to get something I can use with headphones 🙂

Decided to give the truss rod a tweak just to see. Went easy and only loosened it a quarter turn. Figured that if I didn’t like it, it was easy enough to return to where it was. Left it over lunch to settle and rechecked the tuning. Very pleased with result. Much less fret buzz but no harder to press the higher frets. Still a bit of buzz to keep my (lack of) technique honest but nowhere near as annoying as it was. 

Got intrigued by previous replies and looked into an iRig. Got it yesterday and had a play tonight. It’s perfect for when the wee one’s in bed, I can actually use Yousicisn at night now. Bundled software took an age to download and not very initiative to set up but looks fun at first glance. Good fun adding effects and amp emulators without having to pay for anything physical. 

Playing wise I’m kind of drowning in shapes and theories. Think I need to take a step back and spend some time revisiting earlier parts of the courses. A lot of information to take in and process, but I also don’t want to skip anything I’ll need as I try to progress. 

Playing wise I’m kind of drowning in shapes and theories. Think I need to take a step back and spend some time revisiting earlier parts of the courses. A lot of information to take in and process, but I also don’t want to skip anything I’ll need as I try to progress. 

I don’t know anything of your musical experience, so please don’t think I’m trying to teach Granny to suck eggs, but there are far too many online lessons trying to cram theory into unused space. You will initially feel overwhelmed by many of the online lessons and this doesn’t need to be the case. 

Start slow. You ain’t gonna be Geddy Lee or Jaco Pistorious by next Friday (other genius/heroes are available), so make your initial goals small and attainable.  Your experience may vary, but at its most basic music theory isn’t that complex. I teach  older singers to read music,  and it’s about taking it steady in small, bite-size chunks. 

All the “too cool for school” kids laugh at folk who practise and learn scales, but they are the absolute foundation blocks of playing well. Learning how a major scale works is a crucial start point, and learning that the pattern for a major scale in let’s say C major can be copied/transposed into any key as the intervals for a major scale are exactly the same wherever you start will give you a major knowledge boost and possibly even a lightbulb moment. 

Next, learn the difference between a major and a (natural) minor scale. Understand which parts (steps)  of the minor scale differ from the major. Right now you don’t need to know why, but it will come in handy if you’re jamming to backing tracks or a guitarist. Learn the patterns (intervals) and you’re set for life. 

Next, get a basic understanding of triads and arpeggios. They are the real bread and butter of bass playing, and are another keystone to your knowledge. Happily, arpeggios on a standard tuning bass are once again in fixed patterns, so once you’ve got the shape, you can transpose to any key.  

In doing these basics well you’ll set solid foundations. Concentrate on clean fretting and good hand position and practise to a metronome or drumtrack in order to keep your rhythm and groove tight.  

Take it all a stage further to learn not just “how” but “why”, but that’s for another day perhaps. 

Thanks @Scapegoat sound advice and partly what I’m planning. The “Learn bass in 14 days” book is hilarious, no way anyone is retaining that much information so quickly. I played keyboard back in high school but that was over 30 years ago and never really went into the theory. I learned the scales and chords etc but not the why. It’s been really interesting learning the musical patterns and how they affect the sound. Can read music in treble but not bass and I think that’ll take a lot of adjustment. I can see it’s only a couple steps out but even by after 30 years, long forgotten memories kick in automatically. Other thing I need to get my head around is having the same note is multiple locations over a number of strings. So used to a linear continuation of notes. Have ordered a blank bass manuscript book and plan for next while is to go through the major and minor scales and convert them into tab myself, followed by chords and arpeggios. I know it’s all printable online but hoping that going through the process will cement things in my brain. 

 I know it’s all printable online but hoping that going through the process will cement things in my brain.

Sounds like a plan. I’ve messaged you with a bit of an exercise in using the Major scales to learn the fretboard and build on your theory.

any chance you could message me too? I can play a bit and can play basic scales and arpeggios in major and minor (all patterns as you say) but would like to develop some further theory type understanding as a next step.

I’m tempted also to have a few lessons as there’s some stuff I’m probably doing wrong – eg: as clubby says, the same note being in multiple positions on the fretboard but whether it’s just preference to for example play 7th fret on a string or 2nd fret on the next string or whether there are actual reasons why one is right or wrong. I can understand (and tonally they are a bit different in play, for me at least) there being a difference between 5th fret vs open string but others – IDK.

eg: as clubby says, the same note being in multiple positions on the fretboard but whether it’s just preference to for example play 7th fret on a string or 2nd fret on the next string or whether there are actual reasons why one is right or wrong. I can understand (and tonally they are a bit different in play, for me at least) there being a difference between 5th fret vs open string but others – IDK.

It’s more often than not about where you are going next with your fingering. A classic example is when playing arpeggios.  Let’s say we want to play a G major Arpeggio. We start at fret 3 E string, and now want to play a major 3rd, then a perfect 5th. So we want to play a B then a D . We have the choice of Bs, either at fret 7 E string, or fret 2 A string. The B at fret 7 is four frets away from the root, so we’ll need to stretch our pinky or shift position a smidge in order to land the note, which is fine, but it’s less of a stretch to play the B at fret 2 A string.  We then play the D at fret 5 A string, and here is where the choice makes a difference….. where do you want to go next? Say we want to play the full arpeggio and hit the octave, which is the G at fret 5 D string, then you can hit that from either choice, but if the guitarist is playing a Dominant 7th, you may want to outline that with an F natural at fret 3 D string, and that  makes the B at fret 2 a more “efficient” choice.

Your next chord in the progression also determines note choice to an extent. Let’s say you’re playing a I, IV, V blues or rock progression and simply playing major triads or arpeggios, the 3-7 major third pattern means your fingers are already in the right zone to hit the 4th or fifth roots to move through the chords without a drastic change of position.

Thanks – that’s either experience or maybe there is a right and wrong way based on preference. Another example – and thanks for the scale exercise you messaged. That was very interesting and yet – the pattern for a major scale you outlined is different to what I’ve been teaching myself.

Trying to notate in a form that makes sense, but you pattern a (G) major chord as

D- 4-5

A- 3-5-7

E – 3-5-7

and i’ve been learning

D – 2-4-5

A – 2-3-5

E – 3-5

and trying to learn to stretch pinky across the four fret range so I can play without moving same hand position. Which i can do because I have big, manly size 10 hands (and a short scale bass)

But then – there are many way better bass players with smaller hands that me (I’d guess most/all women bassists for one, and we know women bassists are the ultimate gods of the rock world)  who have to move their hand position to cover 4 frets. And i’ve read the link I posted a couple of weeks back where Carole King (who knows stuff, i assume) saying that your ring finger is a bit of a liability in fact and work on 1-2-4 fingers and hand movement. And if I do that I can play your pattern of scale almost as well after 5 mins fiddling this morning as my pattern after 2 years….and that as you say opens up choices for what next.

And then after 5 mins more fiddling your pattern is already in my brain better, because the root note and the changes to play a minor scale

D- 4-5

A- 3-5-7

E – 3-5-6

are all still in the same box covering the same 5 frets and 3 strings whereas the other way even the box is different because you’re now down to 1st fret on the A (or 3-5-6 on the E)

Thanks for the ‘advice’ and making me think a bit more about shapes and patterns.

As someone who’s been interested in bass since discovering Yes and Chris Squire, along with other jazz influenced prog bands in the late 60’s, early 70’s, and seeing Geddy Lee mentioned a few times, it seems that Fender P/J bass is the go-to instrument, and Rickenbacker 4001’s get no mention at all.

As it happens, I’ve got a JHS (John Hornby Skewes) Rickenbacker 4001 from the 70’s in a case up in the loft. I bought it with every intention of discovering my inner Squire, and instead discovered I have no talent at all when it comes to music, so the instrument has sat neglected for around half a century! As far as I know, it’s still ok condition-wise, it’s really never been used, so if anyone is interested, and lives within a reasonable distance to Chippenham, I’d be perfectly happy to drag it out of the loft and meet up somewhere and hand it over for an interested party to take home and try out for however long they want, and then make me an offer, based on any work it might need, which may be new strings – it has black flatwound strings on, and it’s the classic black with white scratchplate. The control pots might well be a bit crackly after all this time, I can’t say, but honestly, it’s doing bugger-all where it is, I’d rather give it away for a few quid to someone who will get some pleasure from it.

Rickies have a very narrow neck, which has little taper, so may suit some people more than Fender style necks. I always loved Chris Squire’s sound, which I think was due to him having maximum treble on the neck pickup and maximum bass on the bridge pickup, but I could be Mis-remembering.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, let me know.

just reread my post and of course I mean Carole Kaye, not King.