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What inspired you to learn to play the THUNDERSTICK?


animalfarm

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Haven't seen this question before. I usually hang in the Electrics and Lounge,

but opened the wrong door and ended up here! [biggrin]

 

Actually, I was watching a vid of a tune I'm learning (Hard Luck Woman - Kiss).

and I stumbled across one of a guy playing the BASS LINE for it. The vid quality

is OK, BUT my EARS were REALLY digging what I was hearing.

 

Hearing the Bass line so clearly was awesome. Which is why I ask: What made you decide

to "pick the STICK"? A good bass player adds SO MUCH! [thumbup]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF9h6CeYez4

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Well, it wasnt Kiss, thats for sure. [tongue]

 

I actually started my musical adventure as a drummer. But being partially left handed and partially right handed, it didnt work out so well. Anyway, I started dating this girl in my senior year of high school. She was taking bass lessons and I started going to her lessons with her. It eventually turned in to me being the one retaining the lessons and doing the practicing. I just kept going with it after that.

 

No great inspiration or chasing after my idols. I just kind of defaulted into it. This is probably the lamest answer you'll get for this question. lol.

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I started on piano, but a piano isn't very portable. So, I picked up guitar. There are a whole lot of guitar players who are a whole lot better than me. They were all wishing somebody played bass, but none of 'em wanted to play bass. I'm not completely dumb. Then I figured out what made girls move. It isn't the lead guitar. Sure, the lead guitar gets the attention, but I make 'em jump and twitch.

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I dont think there is a whole lot of dedicated bass players around these parts. At least ones that frequent the forum on a daily basis.

 

I'm probably one of the few dedicated bass players on this forum that dabbles with drums and is fairly competent with guitar. This really is a guitar player's forum, after all. If I was strictly a bassist and never touched a guitar, I probably wouldnt hang out here much, as there wouldnt be much for me to talk about.

 

Though, we havent heard from Stuart yet. Maybe he'll chime in later.

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My story is just the opposite of most. Im the guy who WISHES he could play bass but is stuck being a guitar player.

 

I have a very deep and profound appreciation for bass players as musicians, and the instrument.

 

I have always had one and made attempts at it when I was younger, particularly when I was jamming in a trio situation, but it always did better with me playing the guitar. At one point, one of the bass players around here died, and I became imspired and dedicated myself to it (it had been a few years sinse I played anything besides). I got the best player in town and took lessons from him, and dedicated myself to the bass, but, then I got a call to play guitar, and had to put myself to that (remember, I had not been playing..needed to practice up a bit).

 

I honestly can't say what keeps me from being a bass player. I know the lines, know how to make them. When I listen to songs, I often listen to the bass, sometimes more than the guitar. When I play guitar, while usually they want leads, I usually enjoy the rythm spot more. I understand and dig timing as much as any aspect. But when it comes to actually playing the bass, my timing is bad and my concentration drifts and I can't seem to keep the groove the way it should be or the way I want.

 

To me, the bass player represents the ultimate in musicianship. He has to have his head in the song every moment, he has to have the pulse of the rythm and the groove in his hands at every moment, and he has to understand on a chordal and melodic basis what the song is and what the other players are doing at all times. No other instrument has such demands.

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I've played guitar for 30 years and dabbled in bass playing for a short time. Within the last few years I've been focusing more on bass for no reason other than I'm somewhat bored with the guitar (although I still play frequently) and seek a new direction.

It's certainly improved my hand strength which also improves my guitar playing. Plus, if you get together with a few guitar players, a drummer and a keyboard, you have your own section of the sound spectrum to play in where nobody else can go.

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For me it was a good way to join a band. All my friends got guitars around the same time. Then we eventually started talk about starting a band and nobody want to play bass. So I started to play some of the bass lines on my guitar for the time being and it seemed like a lot of fun to me. A few week later my friend borrowed his uncle's POS bass, it looked like a cross between a EBO and P-Bass, and I gave it a try and it was even more fun than on my guitar. He loaned it to me until I got my first bass, a Squire P-Bass and I guess the rest is history.

 

If there was any one person that inspired me, it has to be Steve Harris from Iron Maiden.

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Thanks for the nudge RTH...

 

COPIED FROM ANOTHER THREAD: Three mates around a table at a local coffee house / drop in centre, me being the only one who even owned any sort of guitar, but none of us capable of playing an identifiable tune, arguing about who would play lead in our proposed 'super-group'. Those two other boys never did end up playing anything.

 

But I had lost the argument that Sunday night... so I stripped two strings off my student acoustic to get me going, & then got my first real bass shortly thereafter from Santa... I joined my first band a couple of weeks later in my 1st year of highschool.

 

Motivation... yeah, chicks!... &, ultimately, that worked out just fine... just ask mrs eggmuffins [thumbup]

 

EXCLUSIVE EDIT FOR THE SOUTH END OF THE FORUMS: When I realised that I could readily play along with the early Rolling Stones track 'Stoned' that was the clincher on the deal [wink]. I had an interesting adolescence [scared]

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Thanks everyone for replying. Reason I ask, is because I've had the

nagging thought in my head to snag a BASS! I play LEAD usually, but

a bass would be a real fun thing for me to fiddle with, I think!

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Bass lines and lead guitar actually use a lot of the same skillset. I equate the two in many ways and use guitar (mainly lead/solo guitar) as a way to improve my bass skills. In their simplest forms they are both mainly scales and arpeggiated chords. The hardest part that a lot of lead players have with bass is being able to scale back the urge to overplay. True, it can be monotonous at times, but it make those licks and runs all the more sweeter.

 

I say go for it! Its good to know both instruments.

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I started learning to play guitar on a shitty 6-string electric, playing the melody lines to Beatles tunes on the high E string. My best buddy played guitar much better than me so i said I'll get a bass and we'll start a band! We did, after I found a used 1962 Jazz Bass. Back then, they were cheap. After a while, I went back to guitar and up until recently that's what I played. But I picked up the bass again and started playing it with another group. I want to keep playing it and get better at it. The thing I like about the bass is that you're really at the heart of the music! You're a basic element. The more I learn about playing bass, the more I realize it's not as much like playing guitar as I originally thought. For one thing, you hang with the major scale much more. The pentatonic fades away. As a guitar player, i play a lot on the upbeats, and employ long spaces, pauses, and fractured rhythms, always looking for unusual things to keep the listener off-balance. With the bass, i concentrate on the downbeat, to help the other players stay oriented to the original beat and key while they embark on their quest for novelty and excitement. The notes BETWEEN the familiar parts of a song - the riff that everybody knows, the big chord change that's so dramatic, the phrase that the lead singer hangs on too long for effect - have become very important to me. It's a very creative form, and it's pretty important to the rest of the band. Next time the lead guitarist is streaking into outer space with his playing, just take your own fingers off the strings and watch what happens! (I'm not saying be mean, just watch how everything sort of dribbles to a stop.)

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I started learning to play guitar on a shitty 6-string electric, playing the melody lines to Beatles tunes on the high E string. My best buddy played guitar much better than me so i said I'll get a bass and we'll start a band! We did, after I found a used 1962 Jazz Bass. Back then, they were cheap. After a while, I went back to guitar and up until recently that's what I played. But I picked up the bass again and started playing it with another group. I want to keep playing it and get better at it. The thing I like about the bass is that you're really at the heart of the music! You're a basic element. The more I learn about playing bass, the more I realize it's not as much like playing guitar as I originally thought. For one thing, you hang with the major scale much more. The pentatonic fades away. As a guitar player, i play a lot on the upbeats, and employ long spaces, pauses, and fractured rhythms, always looking for unusual things to keep the listener off-balance. With the bass, i concentrate on the downbeat, to help the other players stay oriented to the original beat and key while they embark on their quest for novelty and excitement. The notes BETWEEN the familiar parts of a song - the riff that everybody knows, the big chord change that's so dramatic, the phrase that the lead singer hangs on too long for effect - have become very important to me. It's a very creative form, and it's pretty important to the rest of the band. Next time the lead guitarist is streaking into outer space with his playing, just take your own fingers off the strings and watch what happens! (I'm not saying be mean, just watch how everything sort of dribbles to a stop.)

EXACTLY!

 

Another thing, the bass takes far more concentration I think. You MUST be in the music at all times. I think that is a big reason why a lot of times it is more common for rythm guitar players to sing than bass players.

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for me it was the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Seeing PM was a lefty as I am (we were far & few in those days) anyway that's why I'm a Bassman!!

 

1974 lefty Ricky

2007 lefty Fender Jazz

2006 lefty Hofner (icon)

 

PS if anyone at Epiphone should read this where are the lefty EBO or EB3 models???

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SaxDragon - Very Eloquent analogy. Been a-lookin' at snaggin'

a Bass...Searchin high, searchin' low, waiting for one to surface

at just the right price.

 

Thanks to all for taking the time to answer!!!!

 

bassplayer2en7.jpg

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I've been trying to learn bass off and on for the past year or so, but just can't seem to get the hang of it. I've got a nice Ibanez Gio bass, so it's not the instrument, I just can't seem to find the correct groove like I can when I'm playing lead. I'll just have to keep working at it I guess. What made me want to play bass was my guitar teacher, he got me in one of his gigs, and on stage showed his bassist the correct way to play the bass line to Black Dog. Great memory!

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SaxDragon - Very Eloquent analogy. Been a-lookin' at snaggin'

a Bass...Searchin high, searchin' low, waiting for one to surface

at just the right price.

 

Thanks to all for taking the time to answer!!!!

 

 

What kind of bass are you looking for? And what features?

 

As far as features, and you probably know this, but I'm partial to 5-string basses because of the string spacing and nut width. The low B gets very little use, but comes in handy at just the right moment. The nut width on my EBM is 1.65" - just like most Epiphone guitars. It makes the transition really easy as far as the feel of the neck. And the string spacing on a 5-string is closer together making it a little easier to switch between guitar and bass as well. I can barely play a 4-string. I miss the strings constantly and land right between them.

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Not being a bass player, for what it is worth, whenever I end up at guitar center, I am always drawn to the 200$ squire basses. They are a lot of fun. They got the long stings like I think a bass should have and for some reason sunburst on a bass does something to me. Some of them have a nice, deep growl accoustically that I think makes the bass worthwhile.

 

I am sure they have drawbacks that a REAL bass player would be hip too, but for 200 bones and the fact they have the traditional size and mojo and are fun, That to me is what a starter or experimental instrument is all about.

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Not being a bass player, for what it is worth, whenever I end up at guitar center, I am always drawn to the 200$ squire basses. They are a lot of fun. They got the long stings like I think a bass should have and for some reason sunburst on a bass does something to me. Some of them have a nice, deep growl accoustically that I think makes the bass worthwhile.

 

I am sure they have drawbacks that a REAL bass player would be hip too, but for 200 bones and the fact they have the traditional size and mojo and are fun, That to me is what a starter or experimental instrument is all about.

 

They aren't too bad, believe it or not. I don't like the thinness of some of their necks, but you can find a Squier with a good neck if you pick up a few. I actually found one I really liked this afternoon but didn't buy it because I already have a P-Bass with a big ol' baseball bat neck. If they growl unplugged, they will growl plugged in, too. Don't let the name put you off - a good Squier is every bit as good as a Fender and better than a mediocre Fender. They are all different, so if you try them out, don't look at the price or the name until you decide whether it's an instrument you like or not.

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What kind of bass are you looking for? And what features?

 

As far as features, and you probably know this, but I'm partial to 5-string basses because of the string spacing and nut width. The low B gets very little use, but comes in handy at just the right moment. The nut width on my EBM is 1.65" - just like most Epiphone guitars. It makes the transition really easy as far as the feel of the neck. And the string spacing on a 5-string is closer together making it a little easier to switch between guitar and bass as well. I can barely play a 4-string. I miss the strings constantly and land right between them.

 

Being a GIT player, I can tell the difference between a DECENT entry-level Git and

a total P.O.S. entry-level git. But, I know NOTHING about what to look for in a Bass.

I know that all I know is that I know that I'll get a 4 stringer, ya know?

 

No RICs or Warwicks for a BEGINNER Bass Playa. I play mostly Lead on Git, a Bass will be

an entirely different creature, so I'm thinkin': VALUE PACK!

 

Fender Affinity Precision Bass Pack - $299

http://backstage.musiciansfriend.com/Bass/Electric-Bass/Value-Package-Electric-Bass/Affinity-Precision-Bass-Pack.site1prod513289.product

 

Any recommendations?

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Being a GIT player, I can tell the difference between a DECENT entry-level Git and

a total P.O.S. entry-level git. But, I know NOTHING about what to look for in a Bass.

I know that all I know is that I know that I'll get a 4 stringer, ya know?

 

No RICs or Warwicks for a BEGINNER Bass Playa. I play mostly Lead on Git, a Bass will be

an entirely different creature, so I'm thinkin': VALUE PACK!

 

Fender Affinity Precision Bass Pack - $299

http://backstage.mus...d513289.product

 

Any recommendations?

That outfit would be the equivalent to buying a Special II value pack in guitar terms. You pretty much look for the same things in a bass that you would a guitar as far as quality. Comfortable neck, solid construction, good hardware & tuners, nut, bridge yada yada...

 

Squier makes good stuff. Its definitely a safe bet money-wise. Just be sure to try one out first. If you are looking for something without an amp, I'd suggest the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz bass. Quality and inexpensive...and they look sweet too!

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IDK...if I got a good deal on a Ric it just might MAKE me turn to the bass. I love those things.

 

But being serious, just as with any value pack, I think you can do a lot better spending just a LITTLE more and getting something that is good enough to stand in for a pro instrument.

 

And also, as with any axe, something that INSPIRES you to want to play it is way more fun.

 

Oh, and another thing. Some guitar amps make GREAT bass amps. Buying a cheap practice amp made for bass may be futile if you have a guitar amp that does the job better.

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Squier makes good stuff. Its definitely a safe bet money-wise. Just be sure to try one out first. If you are looking for something without an amp, I'd suggest the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz bass. Quality and inexpensive...and they look sweet too!

 

OK, I'm looking at one now. I will defer to "Y'alls" experience in this matter. I also looked at the EB-0 out of curiosity,

but the "New Verion" of the MF website had flagged the Bass as possibly being NON-RETURNABLE? HUH? Doesn't say that on the

"Old/Regular" version of the site. The "New" version pops up randomly when you go visit MF...

 

 

Oh, and another thing. Some guitar amps make GREAT bass amps. Buying a cheap practice amp made for bass may be futile if you have a guitar amp that does the job better.

 

Ok, I have my "spare" little Marshall MG-15 15Watter. Can't use my CRATE 50W - TOO loud. and I

REFUSE to attempt to put a bass thru my VOX. Obviously, if I like the Bass, I'll most likely

HAVE to grab a REAL Bass Amp. I just have visions in my head of blowing a speaker cone on the

Marshall...

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I dont know about the EB series. Just remember all of the "top-heavy" and "neck-dive" complaints we see here all the time. You dont want anything that is going to be physically challenging in that manner. I also dont really like SGs as a bass, but that is personal preference.

 

I'm not to hip on running a bass through a guitar amp. If you just play at low volumes, you'll be ok. But if you try to keep up volume-wise with other players, you will probably eventually blow the cone or a filter on a small guitar amp. Even a bigger guitar amp isnt really meant to handle those frequencies, but it will be more tolerable of it longer. Sometimes I'll play my bass through my Fender Princeton Chorus amp at "bedroom" levels and its fine. I wouldnt ever crank it up though. Having blown several guitar practice amps with a bass in my youth, I'm not willing to chance it on the Fender amp.

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