Moving to Boston

[RogerdFuentes]

I might be moving to Boston to go to college at Berklee. I was wondering if i should buy a new bass when i arrive or should i try to take my DB with me. What basses should i consider to play at college?

[Snarf]

If you're flying, shipping the bass becomes a major hassle. Luckily, I'm within driving distance. But people I know who have shipped basses have spent a couple hundred on the shipping itself, and some even bought hard cases for $2000.

I guess it's a matter of what you want to spend to get your bass there and how safe you want it to be.

[Freddels]

I wouldn't bring a very expensive bass. From what I remember, the lockers at Berklee are not really secure and people have had instruments stolen. Also, getting it knocked around in the halls and ensemble rooms might not be so great.

Unless your budget is really tight, I'd suggest getting a nicely setup Shen, Upton, or other quality ply bass to bang around school with.

[RogerdFuentes]

I live in Los Angeles,California. What would i need to do to transport my bass?

[Freddels]

Either bag it and purchase a seat on the plane for it or ship it. Do a search of shipping a bass here on TB. There have been several threads about it.

[RareBear]

No advice. Just an endorsement of the city of Boston from a NYer. Nice, clean town with a lot of character.

[JonnyY]

Hey I'm applying to Berklee too. Have you auditioned yet? If yes what was it like? Anyway, I live in Canada and its somewhat within driving distance so thats what I'm doing for the audition and if I get in. If you like your bass though, and its good quality I'd suggest a hard case and flying with it. The hard cases are good and the bass won't brake but it'll cost you for the case of course, and then oversize and overweight. The case is a good investment anyway in case you end up going overseas to play or something. Anyway, keep in touch about the application process and good luck.

Keep on Swingin

Jon Yellin

[RogerdFuentes]

I just had my audition on Jan 7th. It went really good. They gave me a lot of feedback. And they told me i had a great audition.

[JonnyY]

congrats on the good audition. I'm pretty worried about the eartraining bit though. how did that work?

[RogerdFuentes]

First i played my prepared piece, then they played a blues with me and had me solo. Then they did the sight reading part of it. Then we had the ear training part. They played me the note and told me E. They first had me sing what we played. He played the E major scale up to the fifth. Then i sang it. Then in thirds. Then i had to play what he played on my bass. The whole thing was laid back and relaxed.

[JonnyY]

thanks a lot for the info. its going to make me much more relaxed. hope to see you at berklee in september

[SLaPiNFuNK]

I went to Berklee as well! Went as a bass major...

I would wait till you get to boston... There are alot of good shops to go to to get a nice bass... As well as students selling them!

I used to live in the dorm... id wake up, roll down the stairs in my bath robe and marvin the martian slippers and go to class... heh

[jazzbass72]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

I went to Berklee as well! Went as a bass major...

JASON! How have you been? Those were the good ole days... remember the Alembic you sold me in Boston? It weighed a ton, but it was a nice bass! If you're on MySpace, add me up so we can catch up.

-Marco

[LouisF]

Amtrak can ship your bass from LA to Boston for less than $100- but you have to have it packed yourself (or have one of the local shops do it). They only do it station to station, but I've shipped several basses out that way and they've all been safely handled.

Otherwise, you can get a good bass from Volker Nahrmann and other dealers in the area

LF