Recent content by gabehizer

Do you mean rake from the higher string to the lower?

Looking at the three triplets at the start of this Berklee jazz bass exercise, would you use strictly alternating right-hand fingers (1,2,1,2, etc., which can make for awkward finger crossings), or 1,2,1, 1,2,1, etc., which seems slower to execute, or 1,2,2, 1,2,2, 1,2,2 (finger-sliding the 2d...

Well, I was still getting black on fingers of both hands, so I went back to the alcohol wipe for two days in a row, and now, finally, I can play without black fingers! So I guess the answer is to repeat the cleaning process over several days until the alcohol-soaked cloth comes clean.

As a fairly new bassist, when reading exercises or transcriptions I try to work out the fingering first. But I'm stumped if I should use two different fingers when playing on adjacent strings at the same position (is that "legit"?), or "bar" one finger across the two strings. I assume it may...

"Lighter fluid"?

Slightly, but much much less than before I started all this! I'm hoping that in time the Watco will dry out even more and seal better. With two coats of the stuff on, now, there's not much else I can do.

Well, I followed the advice of wiping the strings with 0000 steel wool, and it indeed seems to have helped. It seems to have restored the high end that was suddenly missing after my Watco treatment of the fingerboard and reduced or eliminated the thuddiness. Hardly a scientific experiment, but...

So for just the strings, I only need to run the 0000 steel wool up and down the loosened string. Worth a try!

I just added that they are Spirocore Weich strings. I already tried removing any oil via wiping them up and down with a tightly wound alcohol-soaked cloth, but it didn't seem to do anything.

So I put Watco rejuvenating oil on my fingerboard in an effort to stop the darkening of my fingertips from the black polish the maker seems to have put on in the factory. While the oil did indeed seem to work--or at least reduce the black fingers--I now swear that the strings sound duller...

This makes sense, but wouldn't it depend on the phrasing you wanted (as well as tempo)? After all, a shift can never connect the notes as smoothly as two fingers on the same string, and a cross can never be as smooth with one finger as two.

OK, I ordered the Simandl! I already own a few jazz bass methods, but this will help with the fingerings.

I used alcohol and paper towels for a few days, but the black kept coming off (though eventually lighter). So last night I put on a coat of Watco finishing oil, then wiped it off. It's a penetrating sealer; hopefully it will do the trick!

I'm a new player (but guitarist for 60 years) and can find my way around the bass OK but have questions about fingering. Is there a "right" way to go from this note to that note? Should I shift positions here...or there? What if there are two notes on adjacent strings, same position? Also, do...

Good idea, but how? I can't find the link to do that.