bass tricks

the_witchdoctor · #1 01-04-2002, 12:18 AM

when performing in a band or whatever. what do any of the double bassists here do. (as in spin it around stand on it etc.). i'm curious to know what other bassists do.

anonymous0726 · #2 01-04-2002, 01:38 AM

Anyone caught doing any of that crap within sight of me will have flat tires on their car when they get to the parking lot after the gig.

The above not posted in haste.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #3 01-04-2002, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by the_witchdoctor
when performing in a band or whatever. what do any of the double bassists here do. (as in spin it around stand on it etc.). i'm curious to know what other bassists do.

I had my original endpin replaced with a heavy-duty mechanism that looks like an endpin, but is actually more like a shock absorber. With this apparatus, I can put one foot in the cutaway on each side of the bass and start jumping up and down as on a pogo stick when the song gets really heavy. The chicks dig it, but it's kinda hard to play complicated songs while doing this...definitely more of a technique for "Billie's Bounce" than "Donna Lee", if you get my drift.

I don't do it all the time, though - for some strange reason I often experience car problems after using this technique when I play in New York...

Phil Smith · #4 01-04-2002, 08:28 AM

Well there is a guy doing a broadway show that plays with a woman kind of sitting in the cutaway of his DB. He claims it gives the bass better balance, I would try it buy my girl weighs 400 pounds.

gruffpuppy · #5 01-04-2002, 09:06 AM

I had a refrigerator and a small oven installed in my DB. My trick, I can cook dinner for 4 while playing Mr. P.C.

Phil Smith · #6 01-04-2002, 02:53 PM

Ed, I give the brother xx-tra credit playing in the half position with the bass at the angle with the babe on top. I'm wondering if that baby, the bass that is, broke on stage? I noticed the bassist played another bass after that scene was over when I saw the show.

The show was Swing, I don't know though, if it closed or not.

Don Higdon · #7 01-04-2002, 03:43 PM

A word of caution here...
That rubber tip on the end pin causes friction which can slow down the spin. So I played one night with the tip off, on the spike. The spins were going great on the first set, but I had this uneasy feeling that my arm positions were changing. Half position felt like first position, etc. At the end of the set, I found my bass had screwed itself into the wooden floor. In fact, I took my break with the bass standing up by itself. Indeed, the bass was actually lower, and so were my arm positions. Everybody thought it was cool to see the bass standing by itself, but at the end of the gig the rest of the band was really pissed because I took so long to pack up. I couldn't get the bass out of the floor. I considered loosening the wing screw and lifting the bass off the end pin and coming back the next day with some tools to unscrew the pin from the floor, but the owner went crazy over the liability of having a trip hazard right next to the juke box. One of the guys scrounged up a pair of pliers, but I really gouged the end pin. I got home late, my wife was annoyed, wouldn't buy my "Honey-I- accidentally-screwed-my-bass-into-the-floor" story. So, take a tip (no pun intended) from someone who's been there. If you're going to spin, be careful. Use the rubber tip on your endpin when you spin. Of course, if all you care about is showmanship, you can spin on the spike. A real musician, on the other hand, uses a rubber.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #8 01-04-2002, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Don Higdon
A word of caution here...
That rubber tip on the end pin causes friction which can slow down the spin. So I played one night with the tip off, on the spike. The spins were going great on the first set, but I had this uneasy feeling that my arm positions were changing. Half position felt like first position, etc. At the end of the set, I found my bass had screwed itself into the wooden floor. In fact, I took my break with the bass standing up by itself.

Man, I HATE IT when that happens! That used to happen to me all the time, but then I found the solution: I balance my spins. What, you say? I said I balance my spins - if the first one is clockwise, then the second one will be counterclockwise, etc., so that the bass never actually has a chance to screw itself into the stage. Get out, you say? Nope....it really, really works - try it on your next gig.

Before that, I always had to take a Lazy Susan to all my gigs and place my endpin on that while playing. It worked well, and I actually got greater rotation speed because of the reduced friction between bass and floor. I might still be doing that had I not come up with the POGO PIN idea, which renders the Lazy Susan obsolete.

Good luck, fellow Psychorockerz!

Phil Smith · #9 01-04-2002, 05:42 PM

You know, I use to use the Lazy Suzan. It was kind of cool because I would keep candy and nuts in it while I played so that during a gig when I would get hungry I could just reach down a grab a nibble. I had to give the Lazy Suzan up though, I started getting vertigo every time I spun and started playing in tune, can't have that you know.

Don Higdon · #10 01-04-2002, 07:44 PM

I don't think you guys are taking me seriously.

oldsaw · #11 01-04-2002, 10:04 PM

Should we?

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #12 01-05-2002, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Don Higdon
I don't think you guys are taking me seriously.

Oh, Ye of Little Faith.

lobster_boy · #13 01-05-2002, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris Fitzgerald

I don't do it all the time, though - for some strange reason I often experience car problems after using this technique when I play in New York...

LMAO, good one Chris.

As an encore, I'm planning on having several small children leap out of a secret opening in the back of my bass and do cart-wheels across the stage at the next spring concert.

punkfunkfreak · #14 01-05-2002, 08:25 PM

i think slowly but surely...u will all be picked off by ray parker...

anonymous0726 · #15 01-06-2002, 04:20 AM

Naw -- I love the sarcasm. I didn't choose the humorous route as I had the (only) bass that I played for the first 15 years destroyed in this fashion (at least it's my best guestimate from the damage done as I wasn't there to see the event) and still hold that whole thing a bit close.

Andrew_S. · #16 01-07-2002, 01:28 PM

ROTFLMAO!!!

This is the funniest thread I've read in ages!

Tim Ludlam · #17 01-07-2002, 03:19 PM

This one I actually stole from Ted Nugent, The Motor City Mad Man, but it is really a great show stopper.

Toward the end of the evening I have someone light the tip of my bow on fire (it helps if you soak it overnight in diesel fuel). At the same time, I slightly loosen the tension on my G-string, and I am talking about the one made by D'Addario. I then use the G-string as a bow and launch the flaming arrow/bow into the back of a section mates bass. With a little planning, you ideally have someone spray lighter fluid into the f-holes of the chosen target bass prior to the show.........then just stand back and enjoy.....now that's entertainment. You absolutely bring the crowd to their feet!!!!

I find that it provides a great ending to Handel's Fireworks Music.

oldsaw · #18 01-07-2002, 03:34 PM

Tim,

Remind me to never have you as a section partner again.

Mark

anonymous0726 · #19 01-07-2002, 05:28 PM

100% uninamity on a jazz-standard request? Granted, the magnitude isn't mentionable, but the percentages are great!

Phil Smith · #20 01-08-2002, 06:32 AM

Tim, man, that was a bass burner