Fancy licks in a music shop...

[nipperooney]

OK, I'm in the market for a decent bass, looking to spend upwards of £2000 - £3000. My problem is I play bass lines to pop and rock songs and I know I'm gonna go itno a shop, ask for their most exensive bass and then play something like 'Come up a see me, make me smile' on it!

What I really should be doing is demonstrating how technically wonderful I am and show that I am truly worthy of a £3000 bass. Touble is I don't do any flash stuff cos I just play the bass lines to songs.

Should I try to learn a fancy lick or two, or just chug along to myself doing a few tonic - dominant simple things?

If I should try to learn a lick or two, can anybody point me in the right direction?

Thanks a lot.
Joolz

[ThatGermanDude]

play something that gives you a god idea of the sound and feel of the bass. so play what you will use the bass for, and maybe some scales across the strings and up and down the neck to get an idea of the feel and eveness in tone. and no shop owner in his right mind will try to talk you out of an expensive bass, regardless of what you're playing. the really good people might show something that would suit your sound better if you play your regular stuff.

so in one word: no you should not learn some flashy lick just to play in store

[DocBop]

Reality adjustment.... The only thing they are concerned with is how deep your pockets are, if they think you have the money your are a virtuoso in their eyes.

I would say play what you normally do. Try some new stuff you play to work on. Work that bass the best you can and that is all without the amp. The bass needs to play well first and foremost. Find one you love acousticly then plug it in and see how it sounds. I would say if you have a friend who plays similar to you bring them too. One you can stand back and listen, also if sales person gets chatty your friend and distract them.

Most important take you time you're spending a lot on what will be your new best friend so get to know the bass before deciding to buy.

[202dy]

Some of the best players sound like beginners when trying out a new instrument. They thump, bump, and slam. They play scales really slow. They play long tones on open strings. They slide just to slide, up and down. Sometimes they sound like they do not know how to play. They do this acoustically and through an amp. They are listening to the instrument. They put it in the proper perspective. They are not auditioning for a job. The bass is being auditioned for ownership.

[iplaybassguitar]

the only reason people show off in stores is simply to show off. the best things to play when trying out a new bass are things in the same style as the music you would use the bass to play. it doesnt matter how good the bass sounds when you do melodic two handed tapping if your gonna be in a blues bar band with the bass.

i would also suggest trying out the bass on an amp similar to yours, this will give you the best idea for how your bass is going to sound out in the real world.

[colorblindbass]

what i do is i have a bass testing song,
Chromatic fantasy

and however easy it is to play it on it is how much i like it

(then again that might be why i like fretless fender jazzes so much.......

[El Bajo]

I just play scales all over the fretboard. I really dont care what I think, I want to listen to the bass and how weel it plays and the quality.
If you start pulling out riffs at breakneck speed you may miss that the G string doesent sound even compared to the others, or their may be fret buzz in some places. Just play slow scales, with may be a few passing notes and dynamics.

[Depth_Charge]

Originally Posted by nipperooney

What I really should be doing is demonstrating how technically wonderful I am and show that I am truly worthy of a £3000 bass. Touble is I don't do any flash stuff cos I just play the bass lines to songs.

LOL! Thats' gold mate, thanks for the chuckle. Noone in the sales team will give a toss what you play if you hand over the dosh after playing it.

When I test drove my Tony Franklin Fretless Fender P I played what I wanted to play. Stuff like Sunshine of your Love (Cream), Hail Hail (Pearl Jam), the intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls and yep, a bit of Anaesthesia (Pulling Teeth) as well.

Then I played some running lines out of Pink songs, the obligatory Money (Pink Floyd) lick, a quick 12-bar blues in A followed by the major scale in E and only E, then some huge slides up and down the whole neck on each string.

I was out of tune/wrong noting most (being a fretless)of the time, making mistakes on it and I didn't give one flipping hoot if people thought I was good or not. I was playing to pay for it! And I did!!

[tkozal]

I run scales, check out every note on every fret...ring the open strings, hit some looooonnnnggg tones...I don't think I have actually played a tune demo'ing a bass in a long time...

but when I do, I play Conference of the Birds in 5, or some Mahavishnu thing in like 20 or 7, just for amusements sake..

[lomo]

The very last thing to consider (ie not worth wasting brain space on) is how other people perceive your noodling. As listed above, it's good to check the instrument for flaws and setup by checking every note, open and fretted, SLOWLY enough to hear string buzz, bad intonation, dead spots, etc. Play enough stuff you're very familiar with to compare the feel/ergonomics with your own bass(es). Ask yourself: Do I like the neck feel? Does it balance seated/standing? Is it a nice weight (whatever that means for you)? Then decide, and let all the wanking onlookers go and play with themselves in a dark corner somewhere :-)

There is no such thing as being good enough to merit a certain instrument, all you need do is enjoy it!

[nipperooney]

Thanks guys, some excellent advice for me to consider. I've never properly tested any of the basses I've bought - more concerned with how they look than how they played and sounded, so thanks for your help.

Joolz

[KayCee]

I hope you're joking. You're not doing an audition. You're auditioning a bass.

It's really easy to get caught up in the NAMM-show-tappity-slap mentality when you're trying out instruments, especially when a bunch of people are standing there watching you.

Why not play a slow ballad instead? Maybe you won't get any "gee whiz" reactions, but you'll respect yourself in the morning.

[JimmyM]

Are we being hosed here? Something doesn't seem right.

[Oh! Henry]

I was looking into an acoustic guitar once at a local music store here in Montreal, I saw a guy leave with a Taylor worth about 1200$, then heard the guys salesman turn to another salesman and proceed to badmouth the client, saying how he's a beginer and shouldn't be buying such an expensive guiter and so on....... I turned around and left, bought my stuff elsewhere. This store has a very bad reputation for being arogant asses.

So I understand where your coming from. I'm self concsious sometimes when trying out instruments, but in the end It's my hard earned cash, and I test the instruments until I'm good and ready to pay for it.

[Scottgun]

Guess I'll be the lone voice of reason--you have an obligation to play the most azz-kiking, OMG THAT ROXORZ TEH BIG ONE111 licks possible in the store. Where else will you get to do it live? Not on stage, because your bandmates will kick you out. How else will you help people make their daily quota of indignant eye-rolling and inspire them to come and post grumpy threads on bass forums?

Go rent the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Near the beginning the is the first scene of the criminal kid's hangout/hideout and the is a shot of a punkish bass player going blibbity bloobity blibbity bloobity blibbity bloobity on the bass.

That's the kind of lick you need to be playing in the store. Don't forget to swish your long hair around like the cover of a pirate-romance novel. Don't have long hair? Rent a wig.

[57pbass]

Here is my list when looking at a new instrument..

Play every single note on the neck ...whole notes...let them ring..it will help identify dead spots - fret problems and will allow you to hear the full range of the bass ...take you time

Listen to the open strings too....

Check that all the electronics are working properly...

Check the finish on the whole instrument for damage...

Check the weight..

Run a few scales to get a feel for the neck and the finish..

You should also play the bass acoustically..

Check the case and warranty too...

[Depth_Charge]

Originally Posted by Oh! Henry

I was looking into an acoustic guitar once at a local music store here in Montreal, I saw a guy leave with a Taylor worth about 1200$, then heard the guys salesman turn to another salesman and proceed to badmouth the client, saying how he's a beginer and shouldn't be buying such an expensive guiter and so on....... I turned around and left, bought my stuff elsewhere. This store has a very bad reputation for being arogant asses.

Sounds more like jealous whining than arrogance!

[nipperooney]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Are we being hosed here? Something doesn't seem right.

No you aren't being hosed (whatever that means!). I'm serious. I think it's the intimidation factor that I'm talking about. You go in some shops and people are there blasting around on their basses, and then some bloke walks in, chooses a really expensive bass and tthen plods about on it. I've never considered just playing scales on every note and checking it out that way so, despite it being a bit of a daft question, I've learnt some valuable advice on how to try out a bass.

So cheers. I'll let y'all know what I eventually end up buying, although there will no doubt be many more questions from me before I make a decision - thanks for the patience!

[Flongoid]

It's worse when you're young >_>

[eedre]

I'm guilty of slapping the WHOLE time when trying basses out... not even intentionally and I never use it in any bands! It's so much fun when you're solo though and I think it squeezes every last ounce of tone out of the instrument.