Bass Grimoire by Adam Kadmon:
I am thinking of buying a book of scales and I wanted to see if anyone has this book and what they thought of it.

Worthy though it may be, I can't see the point of a book of scales? I mean it's what you do with them and how you apply scales in context that is important. I can't imagine anything drier or more likely to put me off than a book of scales!

My view would be to decide what type of music you want to play and then study how this is created and how musical theory like scales is applied in this context.

I have the Bass Grimoire. It is not only scales, but chords and modes. It is positively encyclopedic in its presentation. Yes, it is dry, but can serve as a very handy reference once you figure out the presentation which is somewhat different than any other presentation I have seen.

There are other books of scales written for bassists that may be just as good or even better for your purposes. I have my books packed away now preparatory to moving, but I think one is called "The Book of Scales and Modes for Bass Guitar" and another one is "The Gig Bag Book of Bass Scales". Both of these should be a great help.

Those books are exclusively scales, modes and chords, but sevearl excellent books have scales, chords and modes plus other valuable information.
I like Gary Willis book, the one on freboard harmony. Of course the exact name eludes me.

Check BassBooks.com for a lengthy list of books for bassists.

www.bassbooks.com

I have the book, but by no means would I have gotten had I not had to use a borders gift certificate before it expired. It is very dry, but like boplicity said it is a very handy reference tool. It gives all the modes and chords that fit over the modes for just about every scale you can think of. I havent really gone into it too much, but I could see how it could aid the person looking for the right sound over a certain progression. Ive only really used it so I could really learn my melodic and harmonic minor scales and how to use them effectively. Its something good to have I guess if you write a lot of music.

Thanks for all the input, I now have the book and it seems very informative in a dictionary sort of way.

Originally posted by Ed Fuqua
It's kind of like buying a dictionary. It's great if you want to look something up, but it's not really going to help you come up with ideas to play. Anymore than having a dictionary to look up words in is going to make you a great writer or poet.

I know I'm treading on very thin ice stirring up an argument with my long time hero Ed Fuqua, but dictionaries do have their place. For one, they teach the correct spelling. For another, they show various definitions, often with synoyms and antonyms, even a little history of the word.

No, one won't write that great epic novel by looking up every word in the dictionary, but one does benefit from having a reference tool if needed. I see the "Bass Grimoire" as a reference tool, one of many. There are several bass books out there that cover the same ground, plus other information that might make Ed feel that a more complete picture is painted...namely how to apply the scales. modes and chords to an actual song.