I hate when this happens

[dbase]

I walk into the Guitar store to check out this Mesa M6 Carbine amp I want... At first sight, I'm in love with it. The salsman asks "You want to try it?". Just as I get ready to say "YES DEFINITLY" a father brings in his 10 year old with a Rickenbacker bass and the kid begins to wail all over this thing like Wooten, unbeleivable. I tell the salesman, "Nevermind"... I'll sneak back in when nobody is around. I know you must have run into this before. How do I get over this intimidation at the guitar store. Sombody help me!!!

[Broadbent]

Take the punk rock approach and don't give a F*&^. You're at their store willing to fork over YOUR money. Plug in the bass, do what you do, and enjoy yourself!

[phatbass]

I ignore it and start playing REALLY boring stuff like long tones at every fret position on the neck to actually hear what the Bass/Amp sounds like.

[Bassmec]

Simple! employ the real Victor Wooten to test equipment for you.
Or you need to practice up a music shop gear testing set list,
include some Jaco some Stanley Clarke and some very low tempo groove reggae bass lines.
PS. You know kids cant play slower tempos accurately.

[Alucard817]

it can be intimidating, but no matter where you go someone will do/have something better then you. its a simple fact of life you just have get over it.

[sevenyearsdown]

Not that kid was there for this reason, but I think there are dudes that hang out at the music stores just get thier wank on in front of customers. I've seen it several times. Dude plays out of his mind for like 20 minutes and then buys nothing. It's just like that Wayne's world scene.

[Oopsdabassist]

Originally Posted by phatbass

I ignore it and start playing REALLY boring stuff like long tones at every fret position on the neck to actually hear what the Bass/Amp sounds like.

HAHA thats exactly what I do, no fancy stuff for me, I wanna hear how things sound all over the neck, and long single notes are the way to do it IMO!!

[mercuryl]

I often find that the salemen themselves like to try a little bit of intimidation. They plug it all in for you, then indulge in a some amazing solo sequence ..... and hand the guitar or bass over to you with a strange look on their face. I am yet to figure out what they are trying to say. Are they (a) saying, look at me, I'm better than you? or (b) Hey, you are a time-waster and as you can't play as well as me, you are obvioiusly not going to buy this product? I just ignore it, test the equipment the way I want to and decide if i like it, despite the idiot sales person. I don't find it intimidating. Why shoud I be intimidated by an inadequate fool?

[RNV]

I started playing bass when my old singer had a new project and couldn't find a bass player to save their lives. I always wanted to play so I learned. That being said, anything outside of our songs, I'm a terrible bass player. I've been using my time unemployed reading books and absorbing what I can online. But, we do have a song that is slower tempo and several parts that have me playing all over the fret board and that is what I play when noodling around at stores. I will drop D every bass I pick up so I can play our stuff, and retune it when I'm done. The guys at GC know when I'm there by the same crap coming out of the bass room, but some of the guys tell me when I leave it becomes a pleasant earworm. Do what you do, at eff what what they think.

[Jaco who?]

Old age and the ability to groove overcomes youth and technical wankery every time.

[ausf]

Plat the cab like you're really interested in how it sounds and not about how you are playing. It's the equipment that's being checked out, not you. Do you warm up before trying out basses?

I was cured of what you're feeling by a misspent youth on 48th Street. Didn't matter how much you practiced or how good you thought you were, the guy next to you was so much better. If you were this kid, then the real Wooten would be next to him. If you were Wooten, then Mingus would be behind him chomping on a cigar.

When I was looking for a fretless Roadster, I found the last one in NY, in Sam Ash (this was '82 when it was a real store). After unpacking it, the salesdude went to give it to me and then pulled it back and said 'not so fast, last one ever, this doesn't go to just anybody, let's hear you'. I was 17 and actually nervous, even though it was a line of BS.

[ZiggyDude]

I remember a few years ago that happened to me. I went into a local store and this kid was playing a 6 string bass and just amazing everyone. Lightly touching the strings and letting the amp do the work. More of a tap than a slap. Some chords and a lot of fast riffing about. He was a piano player and was basically playing the bass like a piano. His approach was that he does not play a bass like a bass but it is simply another mechanism to play music as he hears it. His wisdom was beyond his years as he also admitted what he was doing would be totally useless in a real band that needed a real bass player.

The rest were joking about how the wall would soon be filled with used basses as everyone else was just going to quit.

Shaken, I emailed the story to a few friends. Their reply was basically similar to the above replies - "So What?" After all - if you are grooving and making your band sound right and people dance - you are then the best bass player your band can find.

Most people at music stores have some “Canned Riffs” they do that sound really good – yet many can’t play that instrument. So, a keyboard player might hand you a guitar and do something cool – but that is all he knows.

Myself – when I try stuff I am boring. Methodical and just working the range of tones. That is what the serious types do.

[Sten]

Originally Posted by Jaco who?

Old age and the ability to groove overcomes youth and technical wankery every time.

I hope you are not saying Wooten can't groove?

[username1]

Originally Posted by Jaco who?

Old age and the ability to groove overcomes youth and technical wankery every time.

+1
Having worked in music stores for years i have seen it all, i have seen many players come in and play their amazing lines they have rehearsed endlessly but found out them lines were all they knew and they wernt good enough to play in a band. If you feel uncomfortable just make the salesman play the bass so you can be free to tweek the settings while he is playing.

[basskababble]

That little kid with the rick would wail on a headphone amp. Test it out, turn every knob, turn it up, turn it almost all the way down... it's a product and you're interested in buying it.

That being said I go in for entertainment purposes all the time. I do feel your pain then. I usually wander over to the keyboard section, fire up a microkorg, get the delay going, hit one key and fiddle with the knob. It makes those wankers feel like douche because making random sounds can be done on anything. You trained your fingers to wank. I trained my brain to write.

[MooseKnuckle]

I know how the OP feels. When I was in my Rap/Metal band, I dreaded the stores. I would go in there, and not even really play anything. I would listen to how amps would respond to certain "bass effects" from my playing(i.e. playing notes on the LowB near the 12th fret bass response, and etc.). But I did have to take the "Punk" approach. And thats what it boils down to.

[Livewire]

I used to have this problem the first couple of years I was playing. Seven years in and I really don't care anymore. Everyone learns differently, some people put more effort into it than others and it shows in the end. I'm 23 years old and I've seen a 11 year old wailing on a Musicman bass at GC once. It happens, there will always be people that are better than you. I don't play anything fancy. The one thing I hate is the cocky teens who come in and start noodling on the basses with 4 of their friends around them playing ****** panic at the disco basslines

[Morning Beer]

I'm in the same boat as the guys who don't play much. Usually I just play single notes at variable tempos a couple runs nothing fancy. I rather concentrate on what the amp can do and sound like rather then diggin into some crazy lines.

[twangman]

I usually just ignore it and do my thing when hes done...I get some guys like that in the bassroom at guitar center..I agree with Livewire... nothing more obnoxious than a bunch of ass hats standing around in a small bassroom, while one is showing off.. the best way is simply to not care. When i try stuff, like people have stated, i just play some really simple stuff, turn knobs, and i kinda zone out, so its just me, the bass, and whatever amp im trying. occasionally tune back in when my wife says "cmon.... lets go now... please?"

+1

Originally Posted by Jaco who?

Old age and the ability to groove overcomes youth and technical wankery every time.