When you pick up a bass off the rack at a music store to try out...

[envika]

...what bassline do you play?

i play:
-meters - cissy strut (i like how it shows that you're not just another dumb technique-less kid whose parents are funding his fifth bass, but that it isn't so technically hard that you screw it up and embarrass yourself)
-shavo's bassline from system of a down's cover of "metro"
-something that fred smith played with television ("prove it", "careful", and "elevation" being my favorites)
-to check the thumb/palm mute sound, i like to play ben e. king's "stand by me", often with my own stylizations on top of it because i can. for some reason i do this one on all the short scale basses i try out...
-on a fretless, i can't resist doing my awful rendition of birdland
-during the occasional "guy's day at a music store" when me, my dad, and my brother raid a local guitar center i play gg allin's "bite it you scum" because it invariably cracks my brother up. when i want to make dad laugh i play "blister in the sun"
-peter hook's high-up line from "dream attack" by new order, especially if there's a nearby chorus pedal.
-wilson pickett's "funky broadway"
-any of the random crap i write

you guys?

[FL Knifemaker]

I play Portrait of Tracy forwards, then backwards

[EagleMoon]

Usually something I make up on the spot. If I pick up a bass in a store, I'm usually trying it out to see if I want to buy it, not to randomly play it.

[moomoocajoo]

Anything that comes to mind really, which at first is usually nout. Tned to just noodle around a pentatonic for a bit then maybe some JPJ smooth style, jaco aggressive stuff and so on. Just testing kind of tonal extremes as it were.

I don't really like playing in store though. At least not a busy one.

[superfunk47]

Portrait of Tracy, at least a bit of it. Harmonics are important to me on a bass.

Scales. Of course.

Sunshine of Your Love/Money. Always at least one of the two.

Stu Hamm's Star Spangled Banner.

Primus' Master of Puppets slap line. It's the only fast one I know

If it can do all of those to my full satisfaction, I'm pretty dang impressed with that bass.

[envika]

Originally Posted by EagleMoon

Usually something I make up on the spot. If I pick up a bass in a store, I'm usually trying it out to see if I want to buy it, not to randomly play it.

Seeing that i'm a high schooler with small cash reserves, I tend to play a lot of stuff without the intention of buying on the spot (i'm uncharacteristically careful with gear and i guess i come off as sincere, because i never get crap when i ask to play something). but i tell you, if i love an instrument and a store was cool about me playing it, i know exactly where i'm going to try and get it first when i have the funds for it.

[Tamarack]

I usually play random notes, testing each string every 2-3 frets down the fretboard.

[Gasman]

Primus- "antipop"
Rush- "Passage to Bangkok"
Something from Jane's Addiction
Something from Tool
Whatever I was listening to on the way to the store (usually poorly)

[laboitenoire]

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze & Little Wing (I would do All Along the Watchtower, but it's still out of my league)
Metallica - Master of Puppets, One, Cliff's opening solo from For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills
Footprints
some random bossa line I happen to know
Pink Floyd - Money

if a fiver:
Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
Threshold - Light and Space & Critical Mass
Thornley - So Far So Good

if fretless:
Aerosmith - Kings and Queens (always sounds really cool on fretless)
Time's Scar (the theme from the Chrono Cross video game)
The Beatles - Come Together (also fun to do sans frets)

[gold_member_321]

Usually anything that comes to mind, which is usually random scales, and parts of songs that I had listened to that day.

[j.a.e.r.i.p]

portrait of tracy
i want you back-jackson five
church-galactic
the chicken
and then i just groove to myself or anyone who might be playing drums in the next room just to see how the bass plays more than sounds.

[lowbass68]

I usually try some songs including:
..Stairway to Heaven (My bass arrangement)
..Natural Science by Rush
..Keep it Greasy by Zappa
..Country Music: A night in Hell

If I really like the bass, then I look for the make or break things:
..I fret each note on each string to see if there are any dead spots or bad frets.
..I play the same note on each string to see if any sound odd.
..I play various scales, arpeggios, and chords.
..Check to see how natural and pinch harmonics sound

[AVWIII]

I'm a bit ADD when it comes to trying stuff out. I'll play a bit of one song, then another, etc.
First off:
Jamiroquai - Runaway, main vein
The police - so Lonely, bed's too big without you
To satisfy my metal side:
Death - Spirit crusher, Crystal mountain, trapped in a corner, symbolic
Unexpect - Another Dissonant chord
Purely for giggles:
Smooth Criminal
Legend of Zelda
Jurassic Park

And the rest would be something I improvised or had previously written.

[Sound Chaser]

YYZ
NV43345
Ramble On
Teen Town
Other random stuff including slapping and tapping and whatnot.

[Jim Breece]

Nothing much. I don't want to fall into playing my favorite song or lick by rote because I tend to forget about the instrument. I usually play a few open voice chords. Also some thirds on the D and G string and let them ring to see how the individual strings decay. Diminished arpeggio low to high to see how the different registers sound and if the response is fairly even. A little flibbity-flibbity-flibbity to see how clearly it comes out. I found that I started learning more about the bass when I stopped trying to impress the salesclerk.

[Captain_Arrrg]

I will usually just start playing or make up some line to go with what's playing in the store, I've even caught myself playing with someone across the room checking out a guitar.

When I pull out Sunshine or Money, I'm not really felling it am just looking for something to play.

[nastyn8c]

My warmups

[RBrownBass]

I Wish -Stevie Wonder (I end up playing a bit of that every time I rehearse or gig)
One Of These Nights -The Eagles
Greensleeves -Coltrane (one of the coolest intros ever)
How Insensitive -Jobim

If I'm really serious about buying, I then play all the notes on all the frets, looking for dead spots, fret buzz, overall feel, etc.

[ibanezcollector]

I want you back - Jackson 5 Can it pull off a some what motown tone
use me - Bill Withers Testing clarity of mute notes
two step - Dave Matthews Band Covers the whole range of strings good test of the speed of the neck as well as string spacing
crush - Dave Matthews Band Tests the higher notes on the fretboard during the verses

[NZBassman]

I usually play something like
Lenny Kravitz - Are you gonna go my way? - especially the bass line under the guitar solo
U2 - New Years Day or Elevation... great bass lines
The Police - Walking on the moon
Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion
Talking heads - Psyco killer
Queen - Another one bites the dust....

notrhing too hard or fancy.... usually I want to see how the bass sounds